"Elder Lei Ou, this matter was originally your grandson's fault for speaking disrespectfully first; he brought it entirely upon himself. On my side…"
Ya Fei took a few steps forward, blocking Xiao Tian, and tried to speak to the old man, but the old man interrupted her directly, his face ferocious.
"I don't care about any of that 'who's right, who's wrong' nonsense. I only know my grandson is dead, and whoever killed my grandson will pay with their life!"
"Ya Fei, as the acting supervisor elder of the Mittel Family, you colluded with outsiders to kill your own clansman, and now you even protect the murderer. Even if I kill you now, the Elder Council would have nothing to say!"
"Lei Ou, you…"
Ya Fei's face turned ashen.
"Profound-tier Mid-grade: Bone Shattering Fist!"
The old man's face was cold and venomous as he looked at Ya Fei and Xiao Tian. The Dou Qi in his hand condensed into a fist, which he directly swung at Ya Fei.
Looking at the giant fist attacking her, Ya Fei stood stunned in place, not expecting the other party to not even give her a chance to speak, directly resorting to violence.
A chilling sensation of death instantly enveloped her. Ya Fei tightly closed her eyes.
After a small energy explosion, Ya Fei felt no pain.
"Am I not dead?"
Ya Fei opened her tightly closed eyes in confusion. After seeing that her body was unharmed, she looked up, and what met her eyes was a sturdy back shielding her.
Ya Fei stared blankly at the figure in front of her, her mind in a daze.
The one blocking Ya Fei was Xiao Tian. With a single hand, Xiao Tian directly shattered the illusory fist formed by the old man's Dou Qi.
"Old man, since you can't wait to reunite with your grandson, I'll send you to him. Flame Lotus!"
Xiao Tian looked at the old man with sharp eyes. His hand directly summoned a lotus, and he threw it at the old man.
A lotus Dou Qi roared and pounced toward the old man.
"Earth Wall!" The old man's earth-attribute Dou Qi condensed into an earth wall in front of him to block Xiao Tian's trident.
The lotus instantly broke through the earth wall, crashing into the old man. The old man coughed up fresh blood mixed with some fragmented internal organs, and his body was heavily slammed against the wall behind him.
Blood continuously spilled from the old man's mouth. Using his last bit of strength, he pointed a finger at Xiao Tian: "Dou… Dou… Dou…"
Before he could finish speaking, the old man's hand went limp, and his life force instantly vanished.
Watching the old man die, Xiao Tian extended a finger and pointed at him. A dark purple flame shot from his fingertip, piercing through the old man's glabella.
Killing without a follow-up strike only invites trouble.
"Alright, next time, with people like this, there's no need to say too much. This is an irreconcilable hatred that can only be handled with violence. In this world, whoever has the bigger fist gets the final say."
Xiao Tian looked at Ya Fei, whose face still showed a hint of post-calamity relief, and gently stroked her long black hair, speaking softly.
"And next time, stand behind me. Just let me handle these kinds of things."
"Your Excellency, may I ask for what reason you have caused such a commotion and killed an elder of my clan?"
A voice rang out in the study, carrying seven parts caution and three parts inquiry.
The figure of an old man appeared at the study door. The old man cautiously sized up Xiao Tian.
Because he sensed a dangerous aura from Xiao Tian. Although a clan elder had been killed, for someone who looked less than eighteen years old yet could kill a Dou Spirit with a single strike, which would require at least a Dou King or above to achieve—
A person so young who was already a Dou King, and a Third-Rank Alchemist at that, might have a powerful force behind him, so he had to weigh his options carefully.
"Grand Elder…" Ya Fei looked at the old man who appeared in the room and said anxiously.
Xiao Tian scrutinized the old man who appeared. The old man was dressed in luxurious clothes, his eyes slightly narrowed, and although there was a lot of anger hidden deep within his eyes, he concealed it very well. He thought to himself: Is this the Grand Elder of the Mittel Auction House, Miteer Tengshan?
Xiao Tian gently pulled Ya Fei, indicating that she didn't need to worry and that he would handle it. He then shot a glance at Hai Bodong.
Hai Bodong instantly understood Xiao Tian's meaning: if you don't step forward to resolve this, then I will resolve the problem, and perhaps Mitel will have one less Grand Elder.
Hai Bodong clearly understood Xiao Tian's character and actions; for enemies, he adhered to only one principle: death!
However, Mitel was a force he had once been a part of, and Hai Bodong couldn't bear to see Mitel completely stand against Xiao Tian.
Given Xiao Tian's cultivation and the power behind him, if the Mittel Family stood against him, there would only be one outcome: annihilation.
Perhaps not complete annihilation, as Ya Fei, who had a close relationship with Xiao Tian, would certainly be spared.
"Miteer Tengshan, you good-for-nothing, you're still alive?"
Hai Bodong sighed helplessly and stepped forward.
The calm voice was like a thunderclap, exploding in the ears of Ya Fei and the person involved, Miteer Tengshan.
Even with Miteer Tengshan's excellent upbringing, his eyes still showed a hint of anger at these words. He looked up, about to reprimand, but after clearly seeing the speaker's appearance, his expression instantly changed from anger to excitement.
Miteer Tengshan's current appearance could be described with one phrase: he was angry for a moment then stopped being angry.
"You are Elder Hai?"
"Mmm."
Hai Bodong nodded faintly.
"Elder Hai, you left and never returned back then. I used all the resources of the entire family, but found no news of you."
Miteer Tengshan quickly walked up to Hai Bodong.
"There was a problem back then, so I lived in seclusion for a while. Tengshan, you've managed the family and the auction house very well, but there are too many parasites in the family."
While the two were talking, Ya Fei looked at her Grand Elder's suddenly fawning demeanor and quietly moved closer to Xiao Tian, almost pressing herself against him.
"Little Brother Xiao Tian, who is he?"
"Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, have you heard of him?"
As Ya Fei drew closer, a faint, musky fragrance lingered in Xiao Tian's nose.
"Ice Emperor? The mysterious Dou Emperor-level Supreme Elder of our family?"
Ya Fei clamped her hand over her mouth, her eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
She looked at Little Brother Xiao Tian beside her. After just over a year of not seeing him, he was now accompanied by a Dou Emperor expert, and none other than the famous Ice Emperor. This little guy was truly becoming more and more mysterious.
Xiao Tian nodded calmly.
"Lord Xiao Tian, I have understood the entire sequence of events. This was entirely Lei Ou's fault; the young friend merely acted in self-defense, and no one else is to blame."
Miteer Tengshan approached Xiao Tian with a smile, speaking with a slight grin.
Miteer Tengshan, after Hai Bodong's subtle hint, knew that the person in front of him, whether in terms of strength or background, was powerful enough to annihilate his family dozens of times over. Although a powerful elder had died, what was that compared to the survival of the family?
Looking at Miteer Tengshan, who could still smile after a powerful elder had been killed in front of him, Xiao Tian raised an eyebrow: "As expected of someone who can manage an auction house so successfully in the Imperial Capital."
"This junior was also forced to act, and I deeply apologize for what happened today."
Since the other person offered a way out, Xiao Tian accepted it. There was no need to strike at a smiling face.