"If he can beat him, then sure." The Clear Jin family Patriarch already thought of ways to handle the situation. But it all depended on the results of the fight and if Leroy died. 'The Shentai Family is not too bad to get involved with if he is even coming out of this unscathed.'
Not to mention the lingering presence that affected his cultivation, the Jin Family Patriarch could swallow his pride if it meant he advanced in his cultivation. At least long enough to gain an advantage or something out of this situation.
"Humph!" He charged forward wanting to solve it martially. "You now face a true Cultivator of the Noble Families!" He was aware his qi was inferior after thinking of the rumors told in his clan about Leroy and the power display he just witnessed.
"Tsk!" Leroy grabbed the extended fist and twisted it forcefully. "Qi pushed subtly as well through the body, how sneaky!"
To match that, he did the same. Lighting laced Qi trickling along his hairline to help as additional receiver input. Something about his opponent caused his instincts to slow just a bit.
Or to be precise he felt a bit of lag in his own thoughts.
The power of the Demon Beast's parental Blood flowed strongly into his opponent. Leroy was not expecting that. Not many competed with Beast Martial Artists head-on without a strong cultivation base. Tearing a few tendons and burning the nerves with his flame qi something else not expected happened.
"Nice!" Leroy was impressed as he actually had to push his muscles further. But the feeling of disorientation prickled warning signs to prevent later issues. "Oh?" A few spots in his vision almost prevented him from dodging a strike directly to his temple.
*Shine!* A brighter purple light left from the Shining Demon member hitting against Leroy's own sensory field. The sensory input was way above normal humans, which almost meant they needed to protect against a lot.
The flashing lights were not a problem for normal cultivators who bathed themselves in qi to block it all the time but the Shining Demon Family had a special technique that pushed it even further. Something he was trying to use against Leroy who did not fight against a lot of cultivators as far as he knew.
Using only as support, their fighting capabilities with the body were higher to take advantage of such a thing. Not to mention pelting enemies with long-range or sneak attacks.
"Can't handle me, Leroy?" Seeing his opponent have some difficulty, he wanted to taunt him just a little to help make it worse and cause panic. Anything to create a opening to strike. "I Sigui expected more from you!"
"Nice trick but easy fix!" Coating himself in lighting around his eyes and spine Leroy sent a jab straight to his opponent's jaw after slipping in real close. It was dodged with ease by his opponent. Misjudging the attack entirely as the air near Sigui's head heated up.
*Boom!* A small explosion of fire racked against Sigui's eardrum and caused the lights to dim a little. The flash of heat blinds him on that side momentarily and creates an opening in his fighting technique. Before he could recover, a blow was delivered to his ribcage.
"Ugh!" Sigui took a few heavy steps back and gasped for air that was just not coming in. Clutching his side unbelieving the pain he was under as his body was injured so easily. "A Flamelighting Martial Artist... should not be this physically strong!"
The Shining Demon member jumped back as he tried to get more air and reestablish his technique. But the difference in speed between the two was to different.
"Pft!" Leroy pursued his opponent with a lung up and grabbed the back of his head. Doing a clutch and his opponent's poor stance without footing, he pushed him over onto the arena floor. Not out of the ring but onto his stomach. "Hah!" Leroy punched at the air with full force as a flash of light hit his eyes.
Sigui hopped up circulating his qi as he pushed his family's Beast arts. A barrier of light blocked the fist attack. The solid mass of Qi didn't waver at all and caused some damage to the arena floor.
"I am not that easy!" Sigui had little horns appear on his head as his body's started to enlarge a little. His arms almost doubling in size with the hairs becoming thick like fur. "Time for the offenisve!" He shook as light crackled around the air and formed into a type of moving shield.
Boosting his speed as he moved, Sigui moved the light dome and scattered it into balls of light.
"Haaaa." Leroy exhaled as he activated Firelighting Body. All across his skin, lines of qi formed. Lighting circled the arena as he used it to disrupt the sensory issue. "There!" His lighting was able to pick up the different charged lighting of his opponent despite the light disorientation that increased in his brain.
Palm raised guiding to block against it, Leroy really hated the way the eyes worked sometimes.
*Wham!* Palm met fist in a deadlock. Sigui's other fist charged in Qi came around surrounded by the Light balls glowing even brighter. Another palm strike blocked it and flames caused a few to burst.
"Heh, we are evenly matched it seems!" Sigui taunted.
"Heh!" Leroy pushed his qi towards the Metal Seed. Little small metal lines filled the qi lines on his body already that showed. "We are not evenly matched! I deny it completely!"
The muscles in Leroy's body were finally getting pushed as needed and could feel some sort of craving getting filled. Exactly what he needed to push his techniques more to the next level with his changed body. His hands clutched Sigui as he pushed back in a power struggle.
*Crack!* The tile under Sigui's feet started to break as he held his ground. Feet sliding back he had to push with everything he had. He released his cultivation even harder, very determined to win the power struggle. But he gained no ground and his lights were starting to dissipate due to Qi loss.
"You study light techniques so deeply as well!" Sigui was more surprised than angry at the way the fight went so quickly. Only paid half as much attention to what he heard from his clansmen before. This was the kind of fight he wanted. "After I win, we can discuss techniques in a nice exchange!"
Leroy looked at him incredulously with a slight wince because of the bright lights.
Pulling on a forbidden technique Sigui's Beast arts transformation increased further. "Wooo!" He bellowed more like a Demon beast than a person.
"Damn, can't have you injuring your cultivation base." Leroy smirked. He finally remembered some more about the young man he was fighting. He let his arms relax just a bit changing the stance of them both. Sigui slid forward from the momentum. "Hup!"
Leroy planted his legs in his chest with a double press, during the little stun period of having the little air knocked out, he grabbed the arms and used them as a holder. He then did a back flip with his qi at the tip of his feet.
"Urk!" Sigui felt the qi gathering in his throat and mouth start to heat up in the wrong way. 'How could he stop it and when did this strange qi invade my body!?'
Flame and lighting connected just right i, introducing more of Leroy's qi into him. While disrupting the light show that was about to shoot out the other's mouth that would led to more than just temporary sensory issues.
*Bam!* A turbulent force left the arena on impact. Leroy's foot connected with Sigui's chin again. The flame knocked it back forcefully with lighting causing the other to seize up. The abrupt shake and qi poisoning disrupted the way Sigui was able to deploy the forbidden technique.
The lighting from Leroy making the rattling of the brain worse as it clashed against out of control within Sigui. Even with all his understanding of the human body, it was still a big gap in the way the body worked with qi. Not to mention a technical hybrid like those of the Shining Demon Family.
The fight was quick and most enjoyed seeing a member of the HSining Demon Family actually fight. It was usually done so quickly that most had no idea how to block against them or had the confidence to confront them head-on.
"Hah!" Leroy exerted a force of qi that turned into Fist Intent. "Well, that was something."
It was not consciously done but gave him more clout and a bit more power when not having a weapon. At least that is what the watching cultivators thought.
The crowd said nothing out loud as this was one of the most interesting Elemental Festivals in a long time. A few of the Noble Families openly spoke up as they enjoyed the Shining Demon Family knocked down a few pegs was more than satisfactory.
But a few were not happy and had to think of ways to exploit the situation. The Shentai family's young master was growing into a problem and his ties to the Akademy also posed an issue.
A few making plans to deal with the political fallout right now. But not all who were at a disadvantage from this acted just yet. The ones who knew that Leroy was more of an Academic and not a Noble who sought power could let the situation develop more.
"Well, we have our winner." Jing Van announced conflicted a little. But he was not prepared for the next action taking place. His daughter started chuckling under her breath while looking at a bag that was brought over. 'How much did she wager he would win?'
The young Heiress walked forward into the arena and addressed the winner.
"What are you doing?" Jing Van asked his daughter that stood so defiantly next to this young man. "Do you not heed your family member's words anymore?"
"Leroy is a new friend, he won't let me forcefully get married so easily. Do you think you can force him? Do not forget his position as an Inspector." Jing Lin smirked. She walked away from her father after passing the bet money over. More than done with the events of the family, for now anyway. "I Jing Lin will carve my own path, I am no longer just a daughter of yours! Find another puppet among the others!"
Before he could forcefully bring her back, someone with more authority than him jumped in the way. Having understood matters like this herself before, she felt more than pissed off.
Not to mention it was a way to help Leroy further.
"Your daughter has already left the family, surely you wouldn't make things worse." Princess Jasmine said. Her hand on her hip looks very imposing. The patriarch took a step back. He could deal with his daughter later in quiet. "Hey, Chu Xue!"
Jasmine jumped away and ran over to him. Looking no different than a lovesick teenager. At least that is what Leroy thought anyway.
"Why are you here?" Chu Xue asked sheepishly. He remembered the last time they talked to each other did not go over well with the matter of the rebels. Also soured things further for his Family.
"I came to find you!" Jasmine said cheerfully. She grabbed his arm but was brushed away. "Haa, gonna be like that huh?" She asked cheekily thinking he was just playing hard to get.
"I say again, what are you doing here?" His eyes looked a little odd. Lacking focus really. He was looking at her but not really looking at her. 'Hopefully, she doesn't ask about the letters I haven't responded to.'
"I've wanted to see you this whole time, but I couldn't find a good reason to sneak out until hearing about the bet." She gave a playful smile. "I heard you and Leroy were in a match-up that involved a martial competition and couldn't pass that up. Hearing about a woman was also the grand prize was odd. I mean, you are not that type of person, right?"
It was the first time her look went from playful to serious.
"Oh, and I am?" Leroy scoffed at that notion he was winning someone. 'Hmm, Hector would find such a thing funny though.' Thinking of his friend for a moment, he switched to keep track of those moving around the town.