Chapter : 29 : Dou Qi Affinity Test : ( Part 1 ) :
Location : Flower Palace : Throne Room :
" Little Yanran I need you to visit the Xiao clan for me . "
Hearing this a shocked expression appeared on Long Yanran's face for the second time since the start of the conversation .
Xiao Clan ? She will have to visit them ?
Obviously as the daughter of the king and the princess of the kingdom she was well aware of the major powers within the kingdom .
And this obviously included the Xiao clan who held power in the glory city .
This meant they literally had the second most important city in the entire Kingdom after the capital city under their influence .
Moreover she was good childhood friend's with Xiao Yun of the Xiao clan .
Both of them were considered geniuses from a young age and have met each other on multiple times during official and unofficial visits .
During these visits overtime they formed a sisterly bond with each other .
Both of them also rivalled with each other silently to see who can do better in cultivation .
But for sometime due to various reasons they have not been able to meet each other .
So when she understood that going to the Xiao clan would mean that she can meet her close friend again , Long Yanran became even more dilighted .
It seems today was a day of full of happy surprises for her .
However it was then that that she finally noticed the serious expression on her father's face .
" Why does father look so serious ? Is there something wrong with the Xiao clan ? ' - Long Yanran asked a little worried from inside .
After all if the Xiao clan was affected it would mean her friend Xiao Yun would also be affected .
Especially since she is the eldest daughter of the Xiao clan head .
Moreover the Xiao clan is one of the strongest clan's in the kingdom holding much authority , power and responsibility in their hands .
At the same time they are also the greatest supporter of the royal family and helped her father Long Chen ascend to The throne when he was young .
So if anything happened to them this would undoubtedly affect the kingdom and the royal family .
" Sigh ! It's nothing too big . It's just that some troubles are happening here and there and it's related to the Xiao clan . " - hearing his daughter's question Long Chen let out a sigh while massaging his forehead .
Recently there have been a lot of activities within the Xiao clan that has got the attention of every powerful force in the kingdom including the royal family .
When investigated they found that it was the matter of marriage engagement promise cancellation between the Xiao clan and the Zhao clan .
Even he was surprised to know about this kind of agreement between these two clans .
After all the difference between the Xiao clan and the Zhao clan is like day and night .
Who would anyone agree to such an agreement to begin with .
So Long Chen after researching on the matter throughly also came to the same conclusion as the 4th elder Xiao Fu did .
It was that there was something suspicious about this entire situation .
But since it's a matter of internal affairs between the Xiao clan and the Zhao clan the royal family had no reason to interfere.
While they were the ultimate authority of the kingdom they also had to respect the clans and one of it meant not to interfere in there internal matters .
And only in cases of the matters have the effects of influencing the kingdom's future would the royal family interfere .
And since the Xiao clan had a good relationship with the royal family for such a long time this non interference became even more apparent .
However they wouldn't interfere but that doesn't mean the other powers within the kingdom will do the same .
His greatest concern was the Gu clan who considered them the rivals of the Xiao clan .
Historically the relationship between the Gu clan and the royal family has always been good but it was no where near their relationship with the Xiao clan .
However in recent times since the era of his father the previous towards the attitude of the Gu clan twercy royal family had changed .
While they didn't openly rebel against the royal family but they did secretly and covertly what against them .
This has become a great problem for him in recent days as he found out from his sources that the Gu clan had also discovered about this engagement promise situation .
And apparently they are thinking about making the situation even more muddy .
Obviously Long Chen had no intentions of allowing it to happen .
" Yanran , when you go to the Xiao clan estate just take this letter with you and give it to your your uncle Xiao Fang and tell him that I have sent this personally . " - Long Chen said as gave a letter to Long Yanran .
" Alright father . " Seeing this seriousness in her father's face Long Yanran quickly took the letter and accepted the task .
' Xiao Yun your friend is coming to meet you . '
Location : Xiao Clan Training Ground :
" Everyone gather around in a proper line we are about to start the Dou Qi affinity test . " - the announcer said as rows of young cultivators excitey joined the lins along with their friends .
Today is the day for which almost every young cultivator's have waited eagerly since the competition .
The Dou Qi affinity test was perhaps the second most important day for a new and young cultivator after the day when they unlock their Dou Qi .
Because today they will finally learn their Dou Qi affinities and it will determine a huge portion of their future cultivation path .
Obviously everyone were excited about it .
But another reason that made people more excited was because they didn't know what kind of Dou Qi affinity they will get .
This mystery initself was a grand feeling .
Will they get something common like the earth affinity or will they get the rare Ice affinity .
It was like an unknown reward that excited people just by being mystery .
And to showcase the importance that the clan put on this matter they have send the second elder the fourth elder and the other elders to observe the process .
Originally the clan head Xiao Fang was supposed to be the one watching the entire process alongside the first elder .
But due to the recent activities related to the Zhao clan and preparing for subsequent matters both of them were quite busy and couldn't come personally .
As such as the highest authority after the clan head and the first elder - the second elder Xiao Peng toik charge of the matter .
And as for the fifth elder she was appendly busy outside the clan .
And apparently her mission was not related to the visit to the Zhao clan but something else entirely .
But no matter what the elders and the clan leader never spoke about that mission to anyone else as it was kept a top secret .
But that was not a concern for Xiao Ming who was at this moment sitting under a tree peacefully .
Well just as much as peacefully as he can since he was no longer able to stay as a ordinary cultivator who can blend in the crowd .
A lot has happened for him since the day he had acquired the low black grade : nine images piercing the mirage technique from the second elder .
Since acquiring that technique he had visited the second elder a few more time for cultivation advice which the second elder was quite please to give .
To be honest the technique itself was quite complicated and hard to learn .
But fortunately he didn't need to learn the entire thing in one day .
The technique itself was divided into multiple parts .
And with the help of the second elder he managed to divide his training accordingly .
And according to what the second elder told him he needed to learn each part separately one after another .
And he has to remember that he mustn't focus on the second part before truly mastering the first part .
Because in this technique control and discipline matters the most .
Being impatient will only make things go upside down fast and then he won't be able to learn anything at all .
So in order for him to learn the first basics of the nine images piercing the mirage technique the second elder advised him to start mixing the basics he had previously learned from the clan's technique .
As said before Xiao Ming had all most mustard the basic form of swordsmanship provided by the clan .
It was given to everyone as basics to learn and couldn't be used in real high combat scenarios .
So most only learned it because they needed to understand the footwork of swordsmanship in the early days before they can get other techniques .
And at first Xiao Ming also felt the same .
But the second elder taught him otherwise .
According to the second elder the basic techniques that everyone considered to be nothing was actually something made by the several previous elders of the clan together .
And while this were nothing flashy they were the basics for almost every kind of sword techniques in the Xiao clan .
Since then Xiao Ming had started to mix his previously learned knowledge with the new basics of the nine images piercing the mirage technique .
And after that he saw great improvements and progress as his hard work started to pay off .
But there were also some other developments that happened during this time .
The biggest would be that finally the rush of excitement that came over after he became an Alchemist student finally started to settle down .
Although his popularity remained going high it was not on the level as before and now he wasn't constantly followed by people anymore .
But another significant thing that happened during this time was the return of Xiao Wuya the third genius of the generation after Xiao Yun and Xiao Zhan .
" He is quite talented and ...
well popular . " - Xiao Ming said to himself as he looked at the distance where Xiao Wuya was standing surrounded by girls .
Xiao Wuya was considered by most as the most handsome boy of their class .
Many girls were his fans regularly bringing him food and gifts .
If you thought that Xiao Ming getting proposals from girls after he became famous was a lot then let me tell you it was nothing compared to Xiao Wuya .
He was literally the prince of the class .
He was smart , he was handsome he was rich and he was polite as well .
And while it was quite clear to see that he liked this attention especially from girls he never tried to take advantage of them m
And it was something Xiao Ming highly approved and respected .
After all it's easy to bask in false glory then keep yourself level headed and respectful .
He also notice that Xiao Wuya apparently was also at talented cultivator at least on the same level as Xiao Zhan .
In his personal training trip with his father he had made great progress and Xiao Ming could feel that the other side was stronger than him .
But for all his cultivation strength Xiao Ming felt that this person was more of a strategist than a frontline fighter .
Xiao Ming had closedly studied Xiao Wuya's earlier matches and found that there were very few of them .
Apparently he didn't like fighting all that much which was quite opposite to Xiao Zhan .
But even in those matches that he did fought he won them effortlessly except for one he fought against Xiao Zhan .
And even then Xiao Ming felt that he was holding back not using his true power .
It was not because Xiao Wuya was going easy on Xiao Zhan .
No on the contrary Xiao Ming felt that it was because Xiao Wuya did not want anyone to understand his precise strength .
From all this Xiao Ming understood that this Xiao Wuya was a clever tactician with a sharp mind .
And for this reason and some other reasons Xiao Ming felt it was wise to keep a distance from him .
At least before he was sure that the other side was not a threat .
" Xiao Yun come forward . "
At this moment the announces finally called out Xiao Yun's name from the testing platform .
Hearing her name being called Xiao Yun quickly stood up and went to platform .
And while everyone waited impatiently to see what Dou Qi affinity or affinities she gets .
Xiao Ming sat there knowing that a huge storm will follow after this test .
' Well at least it will be interesting see everyone's reaction . '
To Be Continued .