"Brother Mingtian, you’re building him up while putting yourself down. You know, your Martial Arts Level has gone up by one in the past few days. You’re already a Two-star Battle Grandmaster, almost as strong as the Elders. That Tang Yi is just a Battle Master. He’s definitely no match for you!" Tang Fanghua pouted, unconvinced.
Then, she looked at Tang Mingtian again and said seriously, "Brother Mingtian, no matter how highly you think of Tang Yi, it’s a fact that he killed my brother. Our feud is irreconcilable. When you get in that arena later, you absolutely must slay him. Otherwise, you’ll be failing my brother’s spirit. If you can’t kill Tang Yi, I..."
Tang Fanghua paused, then said with grim finality, "If you can’t kill Tang Yi, Brother Mingtian, then I might never speak to you again!"
"Th-this...! Agh!" Tang Mingtian was stunned. He then sighed and agreed, "Fine. I promise you. If I can defeat Tang Yi, I will cut him down in the arena. I won’t hold back, and I definitely won’t go easy on him!"
’Just as Tang Fanghua said, no matter how much I respect Tang Yi, he’s still my rival. We both have to fight for supremacy within the Tang Family. And Tang Fanghua will be my partner for life; Tang Fangzhou was my future brother-in-law. If I don’t help her, who will?’
As he thought this, a ruthless glint appeared in Tang Mingtian’s eyes.
「On a high platform in the distance.」
This was a high platform reserved for the Elders and the Clan Leader. It offered an expansive view, allowing them to see every move on the Martial Arts Arena below. Delicacies and fruits were served, but unfortunately, no one was in the mood to enjoy them.
At this moment, Tang Haotian and the Elders had already been waiting here for quite some time.
The Elders were all discussing the upcoming match, whispering amongst themselves. Only two men remained silent, their expressions grave.
One of them was Tang Yi’s father, the Tang Family’s Clan Leader, Tang Haotian.
And the other was the Seventh Elder, his eyes filled with boundless hatred, desperate to see Tang Yi killed.
"Clan Leader, regarding this match, will you do as you promised and not interfere, regardless of the outcome? Even if Tang Yi is killed?" the Seventh Elder asked, breaking his long silence.
"Of course. If Tang Yi loses, it will be because his skills are lacking. If he dies, he’ll have no one to blame but himself. However, I believe Tang Yi will win," Tang Haotian said slowly.
"Heh. Confidence is a good thing, but this is just arrogance. Mingtian is already a Battle Grandmaster. How can Tang Yi possibly compare to him? I just hope that when Tang Yi is defeated, you won’t get too worked up and go back on your word, Clan Leader," the Seventh Elder said coldly.
"Don’t worry," Tang Haotian promised. Although his eyes betrayed a hint of worry, he still believed Tang Yi could handle it.
"By the way, Clan Leader, we haven’t seen any sign of Tang Yi these past few days. Do you know where he went?" an Elder close to the Seventh Elder asked with feigned innocence, his eyes narrowed.
"I don’t know either. Tang Yi only told me he was going to hone his strength to prepare for today’s battle with Mingtian. He didn’t tell me where he went," Tang Haotian replied, shaking his head.
"Clan Leader, the match is about to start, and Tang Yi still isn’t here. Could it be..." The Elder paused, then added with mock caution, "Could it be that he got scared and ran away?"
"That’s right. There’s only one double-hour until the match, but there’s still no sign of Tang Yi. It’s possible he really did run away," another Elder chimed in.
"Hmph!" The Seventh Elder snorted coldly, his eyes fixed on Tang Haotian. He said in a sarcastic tone, "Could it be that the Clan Leader knew this was a lost cause and arranged for Tang Yi to escape ahead of time?"
"You! Seventh Elder, I respect you as my senior, so I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. But if you continue to spout such nonsense, I wouldn’t mind having a ’spar’ with you myself after Tang Yi and Tang Mingtian’s match!"
Hearing this, Tang Haotian shot to his feet, his face flushed with anger. He was clearly infuriated by the Seventh Elder’s words.
Martial Artists value honor and reputation above all else. Anyone would be angry to have their character questioned.
"Clan Leader, calm down, calm down. The Seventh Elder was just joking."
"Yes, yes, just a joke. Everyone knows the Clan Leader’s character. Why would he have Tang Yi run away?"
"Maybe Tang Yi was just held up by something. There’s still one double-hour left. It’ll be fine as long as he shows up."
Seeing the two on the verge of drawing swords, the other Elders quickly stepped in to play peacemaker, calming Tang Haotian and urging him to sit down.
"Clan Leader, this old man misspoke. I hope you won’t take offense. It’s just that Tang Yi has been absent for so long, and my anxiety made me careless with my words."
Tang Haotian was, after all, the head of the clan. So, no matter how deeply the Seventh Elder hated Tang Yi, he still stood up, cupped his fists toward Tang Haotian, and offered an apology.
"Hmph! Rest assured, since my son Tang Yi agreed to the match, he will not flee at the last minute. Don’t you worry. He will definitely be here on time."
Hearing this, Tang Haotian gave another cold snort and sat back down.
The atmosphere immediately grew cold, and silence fell over the high platform once more.
Unlike the silent high platform, the atmosphere in the Martial Arts Arena was already electric.
"Why isn’t Tang Yi here yet? I can’t wait any longer."
"Yeah, I’m really looking forward to this match too. It’s a battle between the two most talented geniuses of our Tang Family’s younger generation. Just thinking about it is exciting."
"Two geniuses? I think you’re giving Tang Yi too much credit. He’s only a Battle Master, while Tang Mingtian is already a Battle Grandmaster! You don’t even need to watch to know Tang Mingtian will win. I only came to see just how powerful our Tang Family’s number one genius, Tang Mingtian, really is."
"I agree. I wasn’t there when Tang Yi defeated Tang Fangzhou, but I heard he relied on a High-level Martial Technique. His own strength isn’t all that great. If my dad was the Clan Leader, I could reach that level too."
"Yeah, it was really unfair of the Clan Leader to give Tang Yi special treatment and teach him a High-level Martial Technique."
"Shh, are you looking to die?!"
"Er... Anyway, Tang Yi’s strength isn’t that impressive. I’m the first to disagree with calling him a genius of the Tang Family’s younger generation."
"I don’t agree either!"
"Me neither! If Tang Yi didn’t use that High-level Martial Technique, I’m confident I could beat him easily!"
"Let’s just wait and see the match!"
A double-hour passed by in a flash. The appointed time for the match was fast approaching, but Tang Yi’s figure had yet to appear in the Martial Arts Arena. The crowd was growing impatient.
"What’s going on? Don’t tell me Tang Yi got scared and fled before the battle?"
"He’s only a Battle Master, after all. There’s a gulf-like gap between him and the number one genius, Tang Mingtian. If it were me, I never would have agreed to this duel in the first place."
"It seems trash is trash, after all. Even with high strength and a powerful Martial Technique, his Martial Arts Heart is still so pathetically weak!"

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