The dust eventually settled to reveal John standing on the shattered arena completely unharmed. Standing directly in front of John was his father Barden, who had appeared at the last moment to block the attack.
"Die!"
Barden shouted in rage and suddenly flew towards Warren Gildar, who had struck out at John with the intention of killing him. Warren was surprised to see the attack had been blocked in time, and was also unprepared to respond to Barden's sudden attack. What Warren didn't know was that Barden had been keeping an eye on him the entire fight as he was the greatest threat to John, and was prepared to aid John in a moment's notice.
Bang!
The stone stands where Warren was standing exploded into bits as Barden struck out with his sword, sending Warren directly through the stone stands and crashing into the Skycleave Mountain range hundreds of yards behind him. The mountainside exploded into a shower of rocks and dirt, and Barden flew directly towards where Warren was sent.
Bang!
A powerful flaming inferno was sent out by Barden and exploded where Warren had crashed into the mountainside. The mountainside once again exploded outwards as an even larger cloud of debris was upheaved. Barden's figure quickly disappeared into the cloud, and devastatingly powerful explosions continued to rock out for some time.
By this time, both the Fenix Clan Elders and Crimson Valley Sect Elders had taken out their weapons and stared murderously at the others. They were just about to start fighting when another incredibly loud explosion appeared on the mountainside, and two figures were soon seen leaving the mountainside and stood up in the air, staring at each other.
Barden Fenix stood there staring murderously at Warren Gildar, and looked quite tired, but was otherwise unharmed. Warren Gildar on the other hand was both injured and completely surprised. He knew Cade Fenix was his match, but other than Cade, no one at this tournament should have been able to threaten him.
However, he could feel from those exchanges that Barden had the power to fight him equally, which completely shocked him. It should be known that Warren Gildar was hundreds of years old, and was at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, while Barden was not even fifty yet. Despite this age difference, Barden showed combat prowess on par with the Crimson Valley Sect Leader, which was shocking to any who saw it.
Barden was just about to lash out in another attack when he quickly paused and stared at Warren's hands. In Warren's hands appeared a blood red sword, and a powerful aura radiated outwards from it.
"If you want to die, then we can keep fighting."
Warren's shock was quickly replaced with confidence as he stared at Barden. In his hands was the Crimson Blood Sword, which was the Crimson Valley Sects most powerful weapon. It was a Meridian Forging grade weapon, and was even impressive amongst Meridian Forging weapons. The weapon was so heavy and powerful that even Warren was unable to fully control it.
But the power it could unleash was devastating, while Barden's own sword was just an average Core Formation grade sword.
"You think I'm scared?" Barden began to defiantly charge forward when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Father!" Barden called out as he saw his father Cade standing directly in front of him with a bright fiery orange and red sword in hand.
Warren Gildar narrowed his eyes as he stared directly at Cade's sword. He hadn't expected Cade to bring his clans most prized possession as well.
"The Fenix Fire Sword?" Barden opened his eyes wide in surprise. Much like the Crimson Blood Sword, the Fenix Fire Sword was the Fenix Clan's strongest weapon, and was also a peak Meridian Forging grade weapon.
"Give me an explanation for your actions, or don't blame me for killing you right now." Cade Fenix was absolutely livid that Warren had struck out at his grandson with the intent to kill.
"Hmph, I don't have to explain anything to you." Warren responded with a dismissive tone. "Don't think because you have your Fenix Fire Sword that I'm scared of you. If you attack, I promise that all your juniors will die today."
Cade Fenix narrowed his eyes as he stared directly at Warren. If Warren truly wanted to attack the juniors below them, it would be impossible for Cade and the Elders to shield all of them. A battle between the two powers today would surely result in mutual destruction of their youths, and that was something Cade did not want to see.
Waylon Varis suddenly appeared in the air between the two of them and spoke to Warren in a cold voice. "I don't care about your reasons, but you stuck out at a junior during a tournament hosted by my Clan. This is a grave violation of our agreements, and the second place prize won by Dylan will be forfeit. Leave my clan immediately."
Waylon was livid as well, as he considered John like a second son to him, but did not want an apocalyptic battle to take place within his clan grounds.
Warren was angered by Waylon's interjection. Not only had he sided with Cade, but he had stripped them of their prize for Dylan. Although it was not as amazing as the Golden Marrow Condensation Pill, it was still quite a substantial prize which was hard for even the Crimson Valley Sect to get their hands on.
He stared at the two of them with defiant eyes as his aura continued to project a battle intent. Both Cade and Waylon were surprised to see Warren refuse to back down, as they were both his equal and could easily defeat him if they worked together.
All of a sudden, an incredibly powerful and oppressive aura covered the entire Varis Clan. Everyone felt as if they were ants in comparison to the powerful aura they were feeling, and only Warren, Cade, Waylon, and a few other Elders were able to resist the aura without much effort.
"Meridian Forging!"
Some extremely shocked shouts echoed out in the crowd at the recognition of the powerful aura. Clearly it was being projected by a powerful Meridian Forging expert, and was something almost none of them had ever felt in their life.
"Leave my clan now. Or don't blame this old man for being impolite!" An ancient sounding voice echoed throughout the entire Varis Clan.
