## AST 403 - Killing To Xiao Clan, 2nd Master Xiao The Expert

Xiao Clan was located in the northeast direction in Yan City and was not far from Yan Clan. In Yan City, the strongest few clans which had been passed down for a few hundred years or even up to a thousand years were as followed: Yan Clan, Xiao Clan, Guo Clan, Lai Clan, and Luo Clan. They had a strong root, and without absolute powers, one would not be able to do anything to them.

Getting involved in one would bring all the others in. It was just how Yan Clan and Xiao Clan were in-laws. Xiao Clan was backed up by 2nd Master Xiao who was an Elder in Sword Tower and was considered quite an important Elder.

Guo Clan, Lai Clan, and Luo Clan were also on quite close relationships. The daughters from Guo Clan and Lai Clan were both Luo Clan's wives. It was undeniable that relations by marriage had a great impact no matter where one went. It was also the most direct and effective means.

Guo Clan, Lai Clan, and Luo Clan's ally was actually a bid to compete with Yan Clan and Xiao Clan. This just about allowed them to maintain a balance with Yan Clan and Xiao Clan. It was because Guo Polu's father, Guo Yanglong, was actually the Protector of Jiuzhou City’s Qin Clan.

While Qin Clan was slightly inferior compared to the Heavenly Palace and the Sword Tower, if they were to fight to the bitter death, they might not necessarily lose. Most importantly, Qin Clan was especially biased to their own people.

This was also the reason why Xiao Clan did not dare to touch Guo Polu!

Xiao Clan's residence was very big, and from the fire bird, Qing Shui and the others could see that the interior was formed from many small residences. Each of them was filled with beautifully engraved pavilions, as well as exquisitely designed structures that glittered in the winter's sunlight, appearing to be very splendorous and majestic.

The heavy snowfall from the previous night had once again painted the whole world white. However, Qing Shui new that this place would soon turn into a battlefield soon, and everything here may disappear very soon.

Qing Shui's glanced across Xiao Clan and he noticed that there were many martial arts practitioner here. As Qing Shui looked at them, all of them had also sensed the pressure from the sky, and therefore lifted their head to look up.

"Look! What a big demonic beast!" A martial art practitioner shouted out, astonished.

"It's the mutated beast Red Luan!"

"Look! It’s even a Phoenix Crown level demonic beast!"

"Go report to 2nd Master. That demon from Qing Clan is here."

...

"Grandfather, you guys stay here and don't come down!" Qing Shui said as he smiled at Qing Luo, Qing Yi, and the others.

"Qing Shui...be careful." Qing Yi said, worriedly.

"Qing Shui, be careful!" Huoyun Liu-Li tugged on Qing Shui's hand and said.

...

Qing Shui smiled and nodded. Almost all of them said something to Qing Shui to express their worry and encourage him... Qing Luo, Qing Yi, Qing He, Qing You, Shi Qingzhuang, Canghai Mingyue, and Huoyun Liu-Li.

Qingqing was the only one who looked at Qing Shui seriously, unlike the others.

Towards Qingqing, it was enough for Qing Shui to have seen this gaze with a hint concern. Thus, he looked towards Qingqing and smiled, preparing to jump down.

"Qing Shui!" Just then, Qingqing called out softly.

Qing Shui gradually turned, only to discover that Qingqing had walked up to him. Amidst his astonished gaze, Qingqing hugged Qing Shui without saying a word.

At that moment, Qing Shui felt a very mysterious feeling. It was very warming, and his heart felt very calmed. Qing Shui initially felt uneasy over the decision to come to the Xiao Clan today.

After two breaths of time, Qingqing let go of Qing Shui. Her lips curled up slightly, curving only a little bit. There was a hint of smile, but it seemed as if it was not there in the first place.

It was a smile, and while it was almost nonexistent, Qing Shui was sure that it was Qingqing happy expression!

She was very happy. That extremely faint smile would forever stay in Qing Shui's heart, hiding all the winter sunlight completely. It was a pity that Qing Shui was the only one who had seen it.

The fire bird's location in the sky was not very high, so Qing Shui jumped down directly. With Qing Shui's current physique, he would still be fine even if he were to jump down from an even taller height.

Qing Shui did not let them alight. After all, it was safe on the fire bird's back. Qing Shui was confident that the rides in Yan Clan and Xiao Clan, even the one 2nd Young Master Xiao had, would not be better than the fire bird. Moreover, he was still around too, together with his heaven-defying Soulshake bell.

Qing Shui didn’t land loudly, but he caused the accumulated snow to fly in all directions.

The people from Xiao Clan had already came out, with a tall elderly wearing a suit of silver-colored armor at the very front. The elderly's height was at least a head taller than Qing Clan. He had a wide mouth and big, lion-like nose, along with a rectangular shaped face and thick brows. His eyes were like bronze bells, and he was holding onto an extremely large longsword.

The longsword was completely pitch black, nearly 2 meters and similar to the elder's height. It was about two palms width. Its thickness was about 1 inch and it did not have a sharp edge.

Through his aura, Qing Shui could feel that he was Xiao Clan's pillar, 2nd Master Xiao. Through looking at his weapon, Qing Shui could also tell that he was the Elder of Sword Tower's Heavy Sword Tower.

Behind the elder, Qing Shui saw a person which he detested, Young Master Xiao. Qing Shui only knew that he was called Young Master Xiao, and he had met this flirtatious young man when he first came to Yan City. He was a person Qing Shui extremely detested.

When Qing Shui landed, all the cultivators in the area immediately surrounded him, squashing the thick layer of snow on the ground. There was even a batch of archers among the most exterior of this encirclement, and there were no less than a hundred of them.

They had silver-colored strong bows, and while the bows were not big, their thickness was comparable to that of a person's arm. They were made from the bones of demonic beasts. As for the bowstring, they were made from demonic beasts' tendons. The swords were black in color.

Poison arrow!

Qing Shui now knew why Xiao Clan could be so calm. Apparently they were waiting for his arrival. Qing Shui was not sure of the prowess these bows and arrows had, but he knew that they would definitely not be weak.

Qing Shui was very confident in his current defense, as well as in his Seven Star Armored Vest. The reason he had not came to Xiao Clan the day before was because the Seven Star Armored Vest could only be used once a day.

Having taken the "Pure Gold Mystic Turtle Core" and increased his defense by another fold, Qing Shui was heaven-defying in Yan Jiang Country. Moreover, Qing Shui was also very confident in his Ancient Strengthening Technique. However, Qing Shui still told himself that he needed to be extremely careful. He knew that he must not let himself fail miserably despite this being an easy task.

"Great courage. The rising generation is really to be reckoned with. To think that you would really came to our Xiao Clan. Yan Clan is truly too shameful. " That tall elder said while looking at Qing Shui with great interest.

"Yan Clan had placed their last hopes on Xiao Clan, haha, but Xiao Clan did not take any action. I wonder if if anyone else will ever want to work together with the Xiao Clan in the future." Qing Shui activated his Spiritual Sense, and at the same time, pondered about how to fight this battle.

"This matter concerns your Yan Clan, so how could I possibly step in? Shouldn't you be thanking me for not stepping in? If I did, would you still have the chance to come to our Xiao Clan?" When the elder said this, he released immense confidence.

It was only now that Qing Shui understood why Xiao Clan's people were all at Xiao Clan, and now, most of them were not far away. From the beginning, they had never given a hoot about him.

Qing Shui gave it some thought before smiling at 2nd Master Xiao and said, "Are we having a 1-on-1 battle?"

2nd Master Xiao smiled, shaking his head, "Although I have the confidence to win against you, I can't afford to lose. There're many people who're still relying on me. That's why, my goal today is to kill you. As for the method, I'll use whatever's the safest."

Qing Shui was stunned. "This old chap is realistic, or rather, very cunning. These kind of people who goes after results is the most terrifying of them all. It's because they can they can disregard the means and look only for their goals. As long as they can achieve their goals, they don't care about anything else."

"Do you think that what I've said is right?" 2nd Master Xiao chuckled and said.

"Right, very right!" Qing Shui nodded, smiled and said.

After saying that, Qing Shui made his move!

Seven Star Armored Vest!

His right foot fiercely stomped onto the ground! In that instant, the surroundings were filled with snow. Everyone's vision was even affected.

Mighty Elephant Stomp!

"Let out the arrows!" 2nd Master Xiao immediately gave the command, then pounced towards Qing Shui. His speed did not lose out to Qing Shui's.

Since Qing Shui had not mastered his "Mighty Elephant Stomp", he was not able to split the ground. Qing Shui only wanted to let those archers lose their targets.

After the stomp, Qing Shui pounced towards those archers in front of him and simultaneously shot out rocks towards those behind him.

Sweeping through a thousand men!

Qing Shui speed was raised to the extreme. His Big Dipper Sword immediately become a fatal weapon, and his sword took away many lives.

In an instant, over ten archers immediately died. However, the remaining archers continued to shoot towards Qing Shui. Qing Shui's speed was too fast, however, and he had left the central spot, causing many archers to be injured.

In almost an instance, the whole place was in chaos. There many warriors present but almost half of them were killed. Those who were shot down by the arrows died in less than 2 breaths worth of time.

Terrible cries rang out and the skies were had a thick bloody smell. Very quickly, the snow was splattered with red, dissolving from the deceased's blood.

Divinity Protection!

When 2nd Master Xiao's heavy sword smashed towards Qing Shui's head with a great aura, Qing Shui used this superb skill from the Heavenly Palace. Despite so, he still did not dare to confront 2nd Master Xiao's attack with his head.

Dodging the attack, the Big Dipper Sword in his hand suddenly turned and thrust towards 2nd Master Xiao's throat!

Just as a faint layer of gold light appeared on Qing Shui's body, 2nd Master Xiao retreated without any hesitation and swung his sword to block Qing Shui's thrust.

He knew better than anyone how terrifying Heavenly Palace's Divinity Protection was. When the opponent was caught unaware, it could be a matter of life and death.

During this time, Qing Shui once again killed over ten people with concealed weapons. Although these archers were all at Xiantian, they had just attained Xiantian recently. There were also not many people around him who had reached the Martial King level. Most of them were at the higher grades of Xiantian or at the pinnacle of Xiantian.

Xiao Clan's formidability was all due to 2nd Master Xiao. Without him, Xiao Clan would only be a third rate clan in Yan City. This was the prowess of a high level warrior, the importance of a strong warrior to a clan and to a sect.

The time the "Divinity Protection" could last for was actually very short. It was only less than the time required for two breaths. But it was sufficient for Qing Shui. Qing Shui had been shot by an arrow once, but his Golden-Ringed Battle Armor had completely fended it off.

Within another two breaths of time, Qing Shui cleared up the remaining tens of archers who were holding poisonous bow and arrows, as well as the other cultivators. Leaving them alone would not give him a peace of mind.

After killing the last archer, Qing Shui suddenly charged towards Xiao Clan's direct descendents! However, 2nd Master Xiao blocked Qing Shui's path.

"Without "Divinity Protection", let's see what else you can use to pit against me!" 2nd Master Xiao did not show any reactions because of the deaths of over a hundred Xiantian cultivators.