The Roaring Tigers believed they would have the upper hand.
Their veterans were nothing to trifle within their world, and they had experienced a few major scuffles and inter-clan fights. Some even went through military training and had been deployed for overseas operations. Even the newer ‘elites’ who came to have a feel of the Clan Meet had been training hard over the years just for this day. Their internal clan criteria were strict enough since winning the prize money from the Tiger Clan was one of the main attraction for coming to the Meet.
And now this new minor clan which supposedly came to pay ‘respect’ to the Royal Zodiac Tiger Clan had defiled the sanctity of their order and therefore rightfully deserved to be taught more than just a lesson!
For goodness’ sake, who brings little kids and teenagers to a Clan Meet? Does that group really think this was some Chinese New Year Visit? And worse of all, they were dressed as part of the bodyguards.
However, Hao Pai, who had years of experience, knew better than to underestimate his enemies. He already sent a chi transmission to his clan members to disable the teenagers first. If Hao Pai was not wrong, they must be employed as mages, and if they were given a job at this early age, it could only mean they were nothing to scoff at. Some of the veterans within their own telepathic chat thought the young master was despicable for using teenagers as part of his entourage of bodyguards and decided to teach him a lesson he would not forget.
If the kids happened to die in battle, that was their fault, and they would have no one to blame but their young master. (While they could be resurrected, the younger ones generally developed post traumatic stress disorders as opposed to adults.
That was the harsh reality of life that any veteran needed to accept when accepting to go on a combat operation as it always had the risk of dirtying their hands doing so. As for the newer elites, they were tasked to fight with the strongest looking guards and teach them that muscle was not everything. A balance in the manipulation of chi and body strength was most important.
And what if the bodyguards were exceptional? Hao Pai did not rouse a speech at the start for nothing. When he saw the new competing clan that came into the Clan Meet, he had already started coordinating with the other minor Tiger Clans to work with him behind the scenes. All of them knew what was at stake in the Clan Meet and it was better to send those new clans packing home and fight among themselves. Thus, those minor clans would do their best to eliminate the new upcoming clan and kick them out of the Royal Zodiac Tiger Clan’s care as soon as possible, preventing them from getting any favour from the Tiger Head.
Such collaboration had been ongoing for decades, which was why there was no new blood in the Tiger Clan for a long time. Hu Yuan Ba also knew about the situation and the stagnant situation also meant that the Tiger Clan did not have any growth potential for a long time. However, his was not the only clan which suffered from this kind of problem. The Old Guard didn’t wish to be replaced after all in many other Royal Zodiac Clans. The only exception was the Dragon Clan who faithfully based their achievements on meritocracy. This was because they were the guardians of the country, and they only needed the best.
Yuan Ba’s intention had always been multifold, and the inclusion of Jin into this clan Meet was no exception. He might look decent natured, but one always keeps their claws sharpened to threaten, and their fangs were hidden to the enemy. That was why he easily predicted that the minor clans would once again collude against this new enemy and only watched on, despite Yang Ling’s pleas.
The Tiger Princess herself understood her father’s ill intentions and where he was coming from, so she just followed the flow. She was not as innocent as Jin assumed her to be and it was a good decision for him to keep her an arm’s length away from these royal ‘nobles’ despite the System desire to recruit them.
It believed that with the inclusion of these Royal Zodiacs into the fray, the System could not only get confidential information not privy in databases but also subsequently influence them to help make the Royal Zodiac Panda Clan a reality. Unlike Kong Rong who had openly revealed most of his intentions to the point that he had made a vow to not harm Jin, the Dungeon Supplier would not necessarily agree with the System’s way of doing things. However, he was willing to give it a try since it was better than its original agenda to defeat the clans with raw power. (Well, at least part of its wish was getting fulfilled right now.)
Going back to Hao Pai, he had already informed the other minor clan leaders to rush in when they started to engage with the arrogant young master. Some even laughed and already started to think of ways to punish the young master. After all, being a police-related clan, they had access to all kinds of torturing equipment.
However, the reality was often disappointing.
Once Jin’s bodyguards were finally given the go-ahead, the initial outburst of aura they had suppressed beforehand almost crippled everyone on site. It was indiscriminate, and the veterans of the Roaring Tiger immediately changed the assessment of Jin’s bodyguards.
“The killing intent…this kind of stifling aura. There is no way these people are normal bodyguards. They have been to battle dozens of times.” One of the Veterans gasped while trying to breathe properly.
“No… they were not just battle-hardened. This kind of killing intent could only be sensed in battle-hungry monsters who only want nothing but victory!” Another veteran added as fear started to creep up to his throat.
These bodyguards were here to protect, and they would not hesitate to kill and slaughter to achieve their goal. The Roaring Tigers had only been thinking of teaching a lesson, but they were about to get taught life’s final lesson.
Hao Pai recognised at that moment he had made a fatal mistake angering them. That young master was not kidding when he claimed he was giving them face. Being able to turn their killing intent on like a switch, they could not be some battle-hungry monsters. They were professionals. Veteran professionals who had been at the boundary of life and death countless times, making it seem like a stroll in the park.
It would still be manageable if it had only been one on one or two of these bodyguards, but no. Every single one of them had the very same killing intent. Even the young master who had seemed ignorant and lazy a moment ago had the very same aura.
Hao Pai could clearly feel it.
It was not as obvious initially because of the shock, but he could immediately sense there was something different about their master. His aura was not as malicious, and his killing intent was not very apparent, but Hao Pai could feel that he had complete control over these bodyguards as if they all dedicated their lives to him and only him.
Despite their young age, the teenage bodyguards were the same too, all had the very same blind trust to their current master they were willing to fight to the death for him.
But while he was so engrossed with this new clan, he did not notice that these overflowing auras had already crippled their younger elite cultivators who had no experienced war or war-like battles. Some of them were choking, only to get saved at the edge of their final breath. Others had the fear taken over their whole body that they urinated or defecated themselves.
The Roaring Tiger Clan who was next to Jin’s group, suffered the most mental damage but the clans within the garden who could feel the aura especially the veterans already took their arms up in an attempt to protect themselves rather than aiming to fight and win. Even the Royal Zodiac Tiger Family could feel a tinge of the aura from their mansion which made the two Tiger Brothers shut up and finally interested in the current affair.
And as if the intimidating aura was not enough to prove it, that single command word from Jin frightened everyone in the garden.
