"First Elder, isn't this a bit too double-standard? When his grandson beats others, you call it a sparring match between juniors. But now that his grandson has been beaten, he flies into a rage and uses his seniority to bully a junior!"
"Exactly, and he calls himself an Elder! So it's only okay for your grandson Xiao Ning to hit people, but nobody is allowed to fight back?"
"Using seniority to bully a junior, what a mighty display! If Fourth Young Master Xiao Ze hadn't been there and Patriarch hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid he would have continued to strike, relying on his Grand Dou Shi strength to suppress a talented Dou Zhe of the clan!"
The First Elder's face twitched. He was old, not deaf!
These words poured into his ears like sharp thorns, stabbing straight into his heart.
The First Elder found them grating beyond measure, and his heart filled with deep depression.
Yet what he had done was precisely as Xiao Ze had described, leaving him completely at a loss for words to refute.
Added to this was the furiously enraged Xiao Zhan standing right beside them.
The First Elder felt caught in a dilemma, filled with immense regret. Why on earth had he come here, allowing his anger to cloud his judgment?
At this thought, the First Elder suddenly realized that the root cause of him being here in the first place was Xiao Ning!
This good-for-nothing grandson who did nothing all day but cause him trouble!
In his heart, the First Elder cursed Xiao Ning to high heaven, but on the surface, he remained silent.
Xiao Ze naturally overheard the remarks made by the observing Xiao Clan members, and a faint smile touched his heart.
If an Elder could not command the respect of the crowd, then his days as Elder were surely numbered.
"Why is the First Elder keeping silent? Have you nothing to say in the face of the facts?"
Pressing his advantage, Xiao Ze watched as the First Elder finally smoothed the surging blood inside him and slightly parted his lips, wanting to offer some explanation.
"Hmph! First Elder, no need to explain. Everyone has seen what happened today with their own eyes!"
Xiao Zhan spoke abruptly, glancing sidelong at the Second and Third Elders who had just rushed over.
"As an Elder, your behavior fails to command respect. You openly violated the Xiao Clan rules, used your seniority to bully a junior, and even attempted to stifle a clan genius, obstructing the growth of the Xiao Clan!"
"Now, in my capacity as Patriarch, I impose the following punishment upon you: temporarily strip you of your position as First Elder of the Xiao Clan. Should you offend again, your cultivation will be crippled, and you will be cast out of the Xiao Clan!"
"Hiss—"
Hearing Xiao Zhan's words, everyone present drew a sharp breath.
The First Elder, as the one directly involved, was even more stunned, his face turning pale with shock and anger as he demanded,
"Xiao Zhan, for the sake of your son, you want to strip me of my position as First Elder?!"
The other two Elders exchanged looks of astonishment. They had arrived last and had only witnessed Xiao Zhan flying into a rage and moving against the First Elder.
What on earth had the First Elder done to warrant such a severe punishment from Xiao Zhan?
The surrounding Xiao Clan members also began to murmur among themselves.
"This punishment... is it perhaps a bit too harsh for the First Elder? Although bullying a junior is disgraceful, the First Elder is still an Elder after all."
"Indeed! To strip the First Elder of his position for the sake of a genius who hasn't even fully grown yet—isn't that a bit out of line with tradition?"
"The Patriarch's punishment is simply too severe. If things are like this, who will dare to give their all for the Xiao Clan in the future? Any Elder's position could be stripped away over a minor mistake!"
Hearing the surrounding discussion, the First Elder suddenly stopped panicking.
Although I may have been at fault first, your handling of this, Xiao Zhan, is unjust. A minor fault met with a major punishment—this will never win the approval of the clan.
Sure enough, the other two Elders also stepped forward to persuade Xiao Zhan.
"Xiao Zhan, your punishment is far too heavy. The First Elder is at fault, but it doesn't warrant stripping him of his Elder's position. This will dishearten many in the Xiao Clan!"
"That's right! You're seizing upon a minor error to inflict a heavy penalty! Such a punishment is grossly unfair!"
Facing the general skepticism and the persuasion of the two Elders, Xiao Zhan smiled coldly.
"Do you all feel my punishment is too harsh?"
He swept his gaze across the surroundings. Anyone whose eyes met Xiao Zhan's instinctively looked away, not daring to stare directly into the eyes of this enraged lion.
"Ze'er, show them your current strength!"
Xiao Zhan suddenly turned his head and said to Xiao Ze.
Hearing this, Xiao Ze made no further waste of words and stopped concealing his strength.
The imposing aura around Xiao Ze began to climb steadily from its previously unremarkable level.
Very soon, those with a discerning eye keenly noticed that Xiao Ze's Dou Zhe aura was far too dense—he was by no means someone who had just stepped into the realm of a Dou Zhe!
At the very least, he was a high-level Dou Zhe, and a top-tier one among high-level Dou Zhe at that!
The two Elders were struck dumb with astonishment. Of course they could tell that Xiao Ze's current cultivation was unmistakably that of a Nine-Star Dou Zhe!
The First Elder was even more shaken to his core. Xiao Ze was only eleven years old right now!
Back then, when Xiao Yan advanced to a One-Star Dou Zhe at the age of eleven, he was crowned as the greatest genius of the Xiao Clan in a century.
So what should Xiao Ze be called now, at eleven years old and a Nine-Star Dou Zhe? The greatest genius in a millennium?
"You've all seen it—an eleven-year-old high-level Dou Zhe!"
Xiao Zhan's voice was filled with pride. "If his life is not cut short and he grows smoothly, his baseline in the future will reach the level of a Dou Wang."
"There is an extremely high probability he will become a Dou Huang, and even the legendary Dou Zong is not entirely impossible!"
"If the Xiao Clan has a Dou Wang to anchor us, we will be considered a first-rate power throughout the entire Gama Empire! Wutan City won't need a tripartite balance anymore; the Xiao Clan alone will reign supreme!"
"And if we have a Dou Huang, we can rank among the top powers of the Gama Empire! It will allow the Xiao Clan to flourish, possessing countless resources for all of you to cultivate with!"
"As for a Dou Zong, that is far too illusory! I don't harbor extravagant hopes for that, but even so, Xiao Ze remains the hope for the Xiao Clan's flourishing future!"
At this point, Xiao Zhan's tone abruptly shifted, his impassioned speech tinged with fury.
"Yet the First Elder actually dared to make a move against the future hope of the Xiao Clan!"
"Using the strength of a Grand Dou Shi against a Dou Zhe! If this wasn't an attempt to deal a fatal blow, what was it? Seniorly guidance?!"
Uproar!
The entire crowd erupted in an uproar. After listening to Xiao Zhan's explanation, everyone looked at the First Elder with resentment and indignation!
This wasn't just any ordinary genius—this was a future Dou Wang or even a Dou Huang!
If they had previously maintained an attitude of detached indifference, right then and there, they felt a personal stake in the matter.
People only truly feel pain when their own interests are compromised!
They naturally knew the benefits of having a powerful expert guard the clan: not only an abundance of security, but more importantly, massive cultivation resources!
Advanced Dou Techniques and Cultivation Methods, medicinal pills to aid cultivation, guidance from a stronger master—these benefits were more than enough to tempt them.
This was even more true for the other two Elders. They were well aware of just how advantageous it was for a faction to have a high-level expert watching over them!
The cultivation resources they had longed for, and even the medicinal pills to break through critical bottlenecks, could all be obtained through the presence of a high-level expert.
A higher level of cultivation meant a longer lifespan for them!
Yet the First Elder had actually dared to strike at the family's future—and neither of them had lived long enough yet!
In an instant, even the two Elders glared furiously at the First Elder!
The First Elder was utterly dumbfounded, never expecting that the target of his furious strike was actually such a peerless prodigy!
His heart was instantly filled with overwhelming regret!