"I still think I did the right thing, we were not supposed to have killed the soldiers but for the safety of the sect and the young mistress, we had to kill them but Huo Li has already tortured him so there was no need to land him a final strike when he was going to die," Huo Qiang said

"Alright, just make sure that father doesn't find out about this or else, you will have to go through what I went through," Huo Ying said ​​

"Young mistress, although you seem to have recovered from your illness, you still have to be careful," Huo Mei said

"Okay, by the way, I have seen my mother since I came back, just how strong was the sleeping pill you gave to her?" Huo Ying said

"the sect leader was worried that you might not come back soon so he asked me to make her sleep for three days but with madam's cultivation, we didn't have anyone that could last till three days so might wake up very soon" Huo Mei replied

"When she wakes up and she finds out that you gave her sleeping pills, she would definitely be very angry at you even if it was my father's order, I am worried that she might punish you when she wakes up," Huo Ying said with worry written on her face.

"Young mistress…...oh Huo Ying, you don't need to worry about that, I have already prepared my excuse in case of such situation," Huo Mei said with a confident smile on her face.

"As expected of you," Huo Ying said

"It has been long since we are all together like this, why don't we have some fun instead of just talking about these boring things," Bingchen said

"Hey, the four of us have always been like this, you are the only odd one here," Huo Mei said

"But…what is your problem, do you have to nit-pick anything I say?" Bingchen said with frustration on his face.

"She is right, you are the only one missing from the clique, if you want to become close with us then you have to show that you are capable," Huo Ying said

"What clique…. tch, I don't have to prove myself but if you really want to see my capability then it doesn't hurt to show you how capable I am, who is competing with me?" Bingchen said

"Huo Qiang should be the one to compete with me but he hasn't fully recovered so it won't be fair to him, why don't you choose between the three of us," Huo Ying said

"Hmmmn! I can still defeat him even if I am not fully recovered, the only person I am not confident of defeating amongst us is you, Huo Ying" Huo Qiang said

"You heard that so who will you choose?" Huo Ying asked with her eyes fixed on him, he looked at them one by one then his eyes landed back on Huo Ying.

"Why don't I compete with all of you starting from Huo Lian, I don't believe that I can't beat you, Huo Ying," Bingchen said

"then since you want to fight all of us, why don't we let our disciples have some fun," Huo Ying said

"You mean you want them to watch the fight?" Huo Qiang asked

"It has been long since anyone has had fun, so let's invite all the sect members to watch us compete, including….my father," Huo Ying said, then three disciples passed by.

"Young mistress, guardians, senior disciple" the disciples greeted, they were about to leave but Huo Mei stopped them.

"Stop!" Huo Mei said

"Do you have any order for us?" one of the disciples asked

"Take some other disciples with you and inform the sect leader, the elders and all the disciples that there would be a competition between the guardians and the young mistress on the training round so everyone should gather there," Huo Mei said

"Understood!" the three of them replied, they were about to leave but Huo Ying stopped them.

"Why don't we make it more interesting, inform them that there would also be gambling and the disciples should prepare the training ground for the competition," Huo Ying said with a playful smile on her lips.

"Gambling…... that makes it more interesting," Huo Qiang said

"Understood!" they replied then they left.

"Since we have made the arrangement, why don't we head to the training ground now, we shouldn't keep our audience waiting," Huo Lian said

"Why the rush? Since we have made it an elaborate event, why don't we plan how the competition will go?" Bingchen said

"If we make this all about you then it won't be fun anymore and they might think we are picking on you, this is also a good chance to let everyone see the guardian's capability," Huo Ying said

"Why don't we start from Bingchen and Huo Lian then whoever wins gets to chose another opponent, whoever wins will battle with the young mistress," Huo Qiang said

"That makes sense, let's do it as that" Huo Ying said

"Alright, lets head to the training ground now, our disciples are always quick in doing their job, they must have prepared the training ground for the competition by now," Bingchen said, then they all stood up from their seat and left the garden.

By the time they arrived at the training ground, the place had already been arranged for the competition, chairs were arranged for the sect leader, the elder and the participants. The sect leader and the elders arrived at the same time, then they sat at the peak of the training ground where they could watch the competition without any obstruction when Huo Ying and the others arrived at the training ground, the sat at the high stand below the sect leader but she looked up to see her father but he didn't look at her, she knew that he saw her but he pretended not to so she just looked away.

"Why do these children suddenly decide to compete?" the third elder asked as he stroked his beards.

"I don't think it is a good idea to compete now, Huo Qiang hasn't fully recovered from the golden eagle's poison while Huo Ying was seriously Injured by the sect leader," the second elder said then they all looked at the sect leader, he heard their conversation but he just looked ahead as though he wasn't concerned with what they were saying.

He was regretting what he had done to her but he didn't want to show it, at least not yet but his heart was deeply troubled.

What if she gets injured during the competition….?

"They must be feeling energetic, this is also a good chance to see how capable they are," the first elder said

"First elder, who amongst them do you think will win this competition?" the second elder asked

"I don't know how they plan to compete but I do have high hoped for Bingchen, however, I am not sure if he can win against the young mistress, although we don't know what level she is in her cultivation, I know that she is very skilled," the first elder said

"I don't think any of them stands a chance if Huo Li is also competing, she is the disciple that Madam painstakingly trained and she is older than them, if she is competing then I will place my bet on her" the third elder.

"You are right, although she is not fully from the flame sect, she is very skilled, I also don't think any of the disciples stand a chance against her," the second elder said

"Even if she is sure to win, I can't place my bet on anyone other than my grandson," the first elder said

"If Huo Li is not competing then I will be placing my bet on the young mistress," the third elder said.

Huo Ying signalled one of the elite disciples to come to her, he left where he was standing then he bent slightly before her.

"Announce the beginning of the competition and ...…." Huo Ying whispered to him, then he nodded his head and walked to the middle of the training ground.

"The competition will now commence!" the disciple announced then the disciples started cheering.

"Seems like you all have forgotten that I exist!" someone shouted from the entrance of the training ground, except the sect leader, everyone presents stood up and bowed their heads.

"Madam!" they all chorused, she slowly walked into the training ground with great strides which made her seem like the strong woman she always was before Huo Ying collapsed.

"Mother!" Huo Ying shouted, then she walked up to her.

"You all have forgotten that I exist, no one bothered to inform me of the competition," she said

"We dare not Madam!" they chorused.

"Mother! We thought you were still asleep so I didn't tell them to inform you" Huo Ying said

"I was still asleep…..." she said, then he eyes shifted to Huo Mei, she quickly understood what she meant so she walked up to her and bowed her head.

"Did you give me sleeping pills? There is no way I would sleep for so long if you didn't feed me a sleeping pill that I can't detect" She said

"I dare not Madam, you probably fell asleep for so long as a result of your nutrient deficiency, I gave you a tonic to nurture your health but your lack of nutrient caused the tonic to make you sleep for so long, please forgive me for my thoughtlessness," Huo Mei said with both hands cupped and raised forward.

"Are you sure that is all?" she asked with suspicion written on her face.

"How would I dare lie to you?" Huo Mei said

The sect leader who has been watching from the peak was relieved when he heard Huo Mei response, if she had found out that he ordered Huo Mei to make her sleep for so long, she would probably keep malice with him for a month or longer.

"Dear, don't remain standing, come up here" the sect leader, she looked up to see his face when she looked away.

"Huo Ying, are you sure you are in a good condition to compete?" she asked with worry on her face.

"Mother…. don't worry about me, I am already fully healed," Huo Ying said with a confident smile on her face, she was happy that her mother wasn't aware of how her father punished her and Huo Qiang being poisoned or else she won't let the competition take place.

"Okay, if you say so, I will believe you but you still have to be careful, after the competition we will talk further," she said then she walked to the stairs that lead to the peak.

"Okay, go on," Huo Ying said to the elite disciple she had asked to be the Mcee for the competition, then she returned to her seat.

"The first people that will battle are Guardian Bingchen and Guardian Lian," the elite disciple said then he returned to his position while Huo Lian and Bingchen came down from the high stand and walked to the middle of the training ground.

"two people might be at the same cultivation stage but there might be a huge gap in their ability, your cultivation stage doesn't decide how capable you are but your effort and training does," the Madam said

"Thanks for your enlightenment!" they chorused expect for the sect leader and the guardians.

"the competitor will start now" the Mcee shouted, then the both of them unsheathed their swords.

Both of them took their stance, they both held their swords in their left hand while they placed their index and third finger in front of the tip of their sword.

They dashed towards each other with their swords pointed forward, they both struck at the same time…

Clang!

Both swords landed on each other, they both swung their sword again…...

Clang!

The both of them went towards the opposite side of each other, then they turned around swiftly and clashed their swords together again, the both of them continued swinging their swords while the other blocked the attack with the sword.

Bingchen leapt into the air then he bent downward with his leg faced upwards and his head downward, he descended with his sword pointed at her just as he came an inch close to her, she blocked the tip of his sword with her sword, When he saw that none of them was budging, he directed his internal force into the force making it harder for her to defend his attack, so she decided to do the same.

She directed her internal force into her sword and pushed his sword away from hers, he landed on the ground and then he swiftly turned to her back and slashed towards her neck but she quickly bent backwards and raised her sword up, with a large amount of internal force in her palm, she blocked his sword with her sword and then landed him an attack with her palm but he swiftly responded by directing his internal force to his palm and then he hit her palm with his palm, causing an explosion of internal force while the both of them moved backwards.

The training ground was covered with a spiritual shield so that the competition doesn't destroy the training ground or affect the audience.

She ran towards his swiftly with her sword aiming for his chest, when her sword was close to his chest, he threw his sword up and grabbed the held the sword handle causing the tip of the sword to face his back, he stopped the tip of her sword with the edge of his sword handle while the turned her sword backwards causing the tip of her sword to face her back, the both of trapped their swords by their handles then they used their other hand to fight.

He stretched his palm forward and landed her a strike on her chest while she landed a strike on his chest causing both of them to move backwards.

"Seems like they are both at the core formation stage but I don't know which level Bingchen is, Huo Lian seem to be at the third level of the core formation stage," the third elder said

"We will know once the competition ends," the second elder said