Chapter 167: Timid?

  Xia Yan put on the white dress sent by Xiao Qing, stretched out her arms, and felt very suitable, even more suitable than the one she had chosen in the clothing store.

  "This fabric is also very comfortable." Xia Yan's fingers lightly slid over the clothes, the fabric was extremely soft, although not those very expensive luxurious materials, but wearing it on the body felt very pleasant and comfortable.

  She put the golden ticket and the brocade box found on Su Li's body in the cabinet, and Xia Yan finally went out. After bidding farewell to Xiao Qing, she hurriedly left the small courtyard and headed towards the house of Patriarch Xia Fei Long.

  "Master Xia Yan!"

  Just after turning the corner, Xia Yan heard someone calling him.

  "The clan leader is in the living room, hurry over as soon as you return." The guard said respectfully to Xia Yan.

  "What's going on that's so urgent?" Xia Yan frowned again in surprise, puzzled in his heart, what exactly was going on that made the clan leader so anxious to find him?

  The guard bowed and said, "Return to Young Master Xia Yan, I'm not too clear about the specific matter either. However, Miss Xia Zixing, Young Master Xia Liu, as well as the First Elder, Fourth Elder, Seventh Elder, and Eighth Elder of the Xia family are all in the reception hall at present. Apart from that, there are also several important guests."

  "Important guest!" Xia Yan's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He repeated it again.

  Xin Dao thought: "The problem is probably with these few guests. The clan leader must be anxious for me to meet these important guests."

  "I understand, it's all over now." Xia Yan smiled lightly at the guard.

  With a step forward, his spiritual power instantly reached the soles of his feet. Then, Xia Yan transformed into a clear breeze and disappeared in an instant at the gathering place.

  Just as the guard had finished listening to Xia Yan's words, he felt a gust of wind blow by, and a white figure flashed before his eyes in an instant.

  "Huh?" The guard was taken aback. "Where is Young Master Xia Yan?"

  When the guard was looking for Xia Yan, Xia Yan had already disappeared.

  Welcome back!

  Right in front of the main gate of the front yard, it is the largest building in Xia's house. Usually, this reception hall is used to entertain distinguished guests. There are many rooms inside, and even if there are hundreds of guests, they can all live comfortably at the same time.

  At this time, outside the door of the living room, there were sixteen people standing. Eight of them were guards from the Xia family, and eight others wore guard uniforms but were clearly not from the Xia family.

  Xia Yan's eyes moved around, thinking in her heart, these people are not from Yushui City.

  "Where did these people come from?" Xia Yan recalled, "It seems that I haven't seen them before either."

  In fact, he was still hiding in that abandoned small courtyard a year ago. Even if these guests came to the Xia family, he would not be seen.

  "Master Xia Yan!"

  When Xia Yan's figure appeared in the sight of the eight guards, they all bowed and said.

  The other eight people, however, cast their gaze at Xia Yan, their eyes sharp.

  Xia Yan didn't mind either. He waved his hand and smiled, saying: "You've all worked hard, brothers!"

  "Master Xia Yan, I'll go inform the clan leader!" A burly captain of the guard said with a fist in hand, speaking respectfully.

  Xia Yan nodded, "Okay!"

  A moment later, the captain of the guard who had gone in to report came out of the hall quickly and shouted to Xia Yan: "Young Master Xia Yan, the clan leader asks you to go in now!"

  Xia Yan nodded slightly, lifted her foot and stepped up onto the stairs, her waist swaying a few times before entering the living room.

  This was Xia Yan's first time coming to the living room. The interior decoration is very elegant and simple, with various utensils made of high-quality wood, divided into two layers. The guest rooms where guests stay are all on the second floor. The large hall on the first floor is where the host and guests discuss business or chat.

  As soon as Xia Yan entered the gate, he saw Xia Fei Long and several elders sitting on the main seat, while the guest seats opposite were all people Xia Yan had never seen before. Among them, an old man's eyes shone with a brilliant light that seemed to be flashing, obviously a powerful master.

  Next to the old man, there was a young man who seemed to be about the same age as Xia Yan. He held an ancient long sword in his hand, with a hint of evil spirit between his eyebrows and a natural flow of arrogance in his eyes.

  "I've seen the clan leader, all the elders!" Xia Yan said as he entered, his eyes scanning the room before bowing and greeting them.

  "Xia Yan, come over and meet our honored guest from the Xia family. This is Liu Jiazhang from Guangyuan City, as well as Liu Kai, the son of the clan head! And behind him are a few more young masters from the Liu family." Xia Feilong saw Xia Yan enter and beckoned him to come over.

  "Hehe, Old Liu, Young Master Liu, this is our Xia family's Xia Yan!" Xia Fei Long turned around and smiled as he introduced to the guests.

  "I've met Old Man Liu! Haha, Young Master Liu is indeed a talented and handsome young man, truly admirable!" Xia Yan said with a slight bow of his fist, smiling.

  Old Man Liu looked up and down at Xia Yan, then his face showed a mixture of smile and seriousness as he said: "This Xia Yan, is he the most outstanding young master of the Xia family in recent years?"

  There seems to be a hint of disdain in his tone.

  Liu Gongzi also smiled coldly: "Xia Yan Gongzi, you're really a busy person!"

  His meaning was obvious. These guests had arrived at the Xia family yesterday afternoon, but Xia Yan only rushed over now, apparently wanting to take advantage of the situation to bully Xia Yan.

  Xia Zixing, standing behind Xia Feilong, gave Liu Kai a cold glance and let out a low hum.

  "In order to cultivate, I have no choice but to keep myself busy, sometimes leaving my family for a day or two. Please forgive me, Elder Liu and Young Master Liu!" Xia Yan smiled slightly, without any hint of dissatisfaction on his face.

  Liu Changlao saw that Xia Yan didn't have the slightest displeased expression, and he was slightly stunned, with a somewhat shocked look, then recovered.

  "It doesn't matter!" Old Liu said with a wave of his bony hand, his droopy eyelids fluttering.

  "Summer words, our summer family recently has an important business cooperation with the Liu family, preparing to jointly develop a copper mine on the border of Yushui City and Guangyuan City. This time, Old Man Liu came to Yushui City is to discuss this matter." Xia Feilong said slowly with a light smile to Xia Yan.

  Xia Yan nodded, although Guangyuan City was also a county town, it was more prosperous than Yushui City. The master of the Holy Hall in Guangyuan City was one of the executives of the Purple Leaf City Temple! The master of the Holy Hall in Yushui City was not an executive of the Temple!

  "While Liu Gongzi and the other two Liu family young masters are also heading to Zǐyè City to participate in the entrance examination of Zǐyè Academy, so they will be staying at our Xia family for two days along the way." Xiahai Long continued.

  Xia Yan glanced at Liu Gongzi and the two young men standing behind him with a smile.

  "Liu Gongzi's skills are impressive, yesterday during the sparring match, Zixing was defeated by him with just one sword. Luckily Liu Gongzi showed mercy, otherwise Zixing might have gotten hurt." Xia Feilong's tone remained unchanged.

  Xia Yan was shocked in her heart and suddenly looked at Xia Feilong.

  "What's going on?" Xia Yan thought to herself, "Is there another meaning behind this 'tempering'?"

  Xia Feilong secretly gave Xia Yan a look. Then he smiled and said, "However, Zixing is not the most outstanding young master of our Xia family, so when Old Man Liu said that our young masters are not as good as those of the Liu family yesterday, I refuted him. At that time, I said that our Xia family still has a Xia Yan, who is the most excellent and should be no worse than Young Master Liu."

  By this time, Xia Yan roughly understood.

  However, Xia Yan found it strange that the clan leader was so particular about the sharpening.

  "If it were just a simple spar, the clan leader wouldn't have made such a big deal out of it and deliberately spoken in front of everyone at this time. Moreover, if it was just a martial arts spar between family juniors, the clan leader wouldn't have used that tone." Xia Fei Long's voice was calm, but Xia Yan detected a hint of anger beneath it.

  "Old Liu doesn't believe what I said, he wants to see you in person!" Xia Fei Long's whiskers fluttered slightly, his eyes shining brightly. "However, Xia Yan, you went out to cultivate yesterday and didn't come back. Luckily today... finally waited for your return."

  "Xia Clan Head, what I said yesterday still counts! As long as Xia Yan can defeat Liu Kai, the mining agreement will be signed according to your terms. But if Liu Kai defeats Xia Yan..." The old man's eyes narrowed slightly, his tone ambiguous and eerie.

  It seems that he is very confident in Liu Kai's strength around him.

  Xia Fei Long burst out laughing and said repeatedly: "A gentleman's word is his bond, it's hard to take back what has been said, so it's settled!"

  Xia Yan was shocked in her heart and secretly thought: "It turns out that it's under the name of cutting, signing the final mining agreement!"

  Now, Xia Yan completely understood why Xia Feilong was so serious about this matter.

  Xia Yan glanced at Liu Kai and smiled in his heart.

  "Xia Yan, do you need any special preparations?" Xia Fei Long asked, looking at Xia Yan.

  Xia Yan shook his head and smiled: "I'm already prepared."

  Xia Zixing, who was behind Xia Feilong, suddenly stepped forward a few steps to Xia Yan's side. She tiptoed and whispered in his ear: "Xia Yan, be careful, Liu Kai's swordsmanship is extremely overbearing. Yesterday I sparred with him, but couldn't even block one of his swords. Father said that his sword skills are top-notch, from the human-level secret manual, and it's an attacking type."

  Xia Yan nodded slightly, and Xia Zixin retreated with a tense expression.

  Liu Kai saw Xia Zixing and Xia Yan whispering to each other, the corners of his mouth curled up, slightly raised. His eyes stared at Xia Zixing, with a hint of lust.

  Xia Liu also looked at Xia Yan with some excitement.

  "Now that we're ready, let's begin! Liu Kai, be mindful of your moves, don't hurt the most outstanding young master of the Xia family, Xia Yan." Old Man Liu instructed in a low voice.

  Liu Changlao said this, and several elders of the Xia family were moved, their faces turning somewhat dark.

  Liu Kai immediately laughed loudly and said: "Don't worry, elder, I know what to do!"

  Liu Kai's eyes flickered for a moment, and he coldly smiled at Xia Yan before stepping out to the center of the hall.

  "Xia Yan, you can go now, pay attention to your every move!" Xia Fei Long said without any change in his expression.

  Xia Yan smiled and responded with a "yes", also walking towards the center of the hall. The several elders of the Xia family were now looking at Xia Yan with tense expressions.

  To know that this war is related to extremely huge interests. The protocol signed in the end involves a large amount of money, even reaching millions of gold coins.

  So, whether it's the Xia family or the Liu family, they are all very concerned about the outcome of the competition between Xia Yan and Liu Kai.

  It's nominally a sharpening of skills, but in reality they're fighting for huge family interests!

  Xia Yan, at this moment, began to ponder in his heart. "If I use my spiritual power, with my current strength, I can easily defeat Liu Kai. However, once I use my spiritual power, the clan leader will surely sense it. In the past, although I entered the Xiantian realm, I was still using internal energy, even if I used it to its limits, it wouldn't be discovered. Now, however, it's different."

  Xia Yan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her movements were also somewhat slow.

  Liu Kai saw Xia Yan hesitating and thought he was just being cowardly. He raised the corner of his mouth, feeling even more pleased with himself.

  ，

  It's the sixth update, brothers still have monthly tickets?