Ding.
An incredibly faint sound.
An auditory sensation that tore through the visual darkness.
On the high platform, it seemed as if nothing had happened at all. Only Jiang Chen and Jiang Wuyong stood facing each other, their long swords pointed at one another.
Tip to tip, Ever-Longing against Beauty's Waist.
They had clashed only once, and so gently.
But.
A massive shockwave suddenly rippled outward, like a violent gale sweeping through. Those with weaker cultivation below the platform swayed unsteadily.
Jiang Chen and Jiang Wuyong drifted back from each other.
Jiang Wuyong's expression was one of surprise.
He clearly hadn't expected Jiang Chen to withstand his Violet Qi Blotting Out the Sun palm strike, or to hold his own against the Imperial Swordsmanship of Da Qi.
But as he retreated, violet light had already染 his eyes.
The supreme cultivation technique of the Da Qi royal family that he practiced was the Supreme Purple Star Midheaven Canon.
Swordsmanship, momentum arts, Dao techniques, eye techniques... it encompassed everything, its might suppressing all sects.
He had almost no weaknesses, which was precisely why he dismissed the so-called winner of the Celestial Residence Secret Realm.
However, Jiang Chen retreated only half a body length before spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, forcibly halting his retreat at the cost of injury.
Above his head of white hair, a phantom of thorns manifested.
Thorns grew thick, most obstructive to the path ahead.
A sharp, stinging sensation surged forth, but Jiang Chen's eyes instead cleared.
Dao Technique: Thorn Crown!
Its effect was to amplify the power of the next Dao technique.
He had held very high expectations for Jiang Wuyong's strength. When he swung the Sword of Sun, Moon, and Stars, he had already prepared this Dao technique.
To halt his retreat with injury was, of course, to seize the initiative.
At the same moment the Thorn Crown appeared, three Flameblooms bloomed one after another before Jiang Wuyong.
Through his violet pupils, he clearly perceived that the middle one held power far exceeding the others.
With a fixed gaze from his violet pupils, the core of that Flamebloom was stripped of its elemental energy and dissipated into the air.
Then Beauty's Waist flashed, easily slicing through the other two Flameblooms.
But in the next instant, his hair stood on end!
Because Jiang Chen was coming at him with sword in hand!
He came from a small, distant city in the State of Zhuang.
He emerged from a dead domain lost to the Nether.
An eighteen-year-old youth, traveling alone through the nations, crossing mountains and rivers, refining his sword and his heart.
Every day, he gave his all.
Every step, to become stronger.
This sword contained all the mountains, rivers, and streams he had passed through on his journey of ten thousand miles.
It was everything that had made Jiang Chen who he was, everything he had experienced.
The Sword of Mountains, Rivers, and Streams!
Jiang Wuyong wanted to avoid the blade's edge, but found he simply couldn't dodge.
This sword was too vast.
He struggled to raise his sword in defense, but Beauty's Waist was gently deflected.
This sword was too heavy.
As if heaven and earth were merging, mountains toppling, rivers surging.
Jiang Wuyong frantically searched for a solution, scouring his mind for those miraculous techniques and extraordinary arts.
Yet he stood frozen, unable to move a muscle.
The tip of Ever-Longing was pointed directly at the space between his brows.
With just the slightest push forward, everything he was would turn to smoke.
He had lost!
The platform was utterly silent, the crowd below dead quiet.
A member of the Da Qi royal family, the fourteenth son of the current Emperor, had actually lost a duel to an opponent of the same realm?
Until now, only Wang Yiwu, disciple of the Da Qi War God Jiang Mengxiong, had achieved such a feat in public.
And the opponent he faced was the far more powerful Ninth Prince, Jiang Wuxie.
But what manner of person was Wang Yiwu? He had been praised by War God Jiang Mengxiong as the foremost Heaven-Piercing cultivator of the age. Defeating royal family members seemed to fall within everyone's expectations.
How could this Jiang Chen compare to him?
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, speechless.
Elder Lian Luyue of the Lian clan stared wide-eyed, unable to believe it.
Clan leader Lian Zhuping's gaze shifted, suddenly feeling that the previously promising cooperation might not be so appropriate after all.
Perhaps no one but Chongxuan Sheng could have imagined this outcome.
Jiang Chen pointed his sword at Jiang Wuyong. "The reason I agreed to fight you was simply to tell you that the treasures of this world should not belong only to those of virtue. That saying is merely a guise for robbery by cunning and force. The treasures of this world, whoever they rightfully belong to, should remain with that person.
So-called virtue should not be defined by you.
Might is not virtue.
Might is might, virtue is virtue.
Your abuse of power and seizure by force—that is lack of virtue.
Your rash provocation and utter defeat—that is also loss of might.
How noble the Da Qi royal family is. But you possess neither virtue nor might.
All I see is the disgrace of the Qi royal family!"
The sword did not advance, but these words were sharper than any blade.
To avoid greater humiliation, Jiang Wuyong dared not make a move, only clenching his teeth. "The victor is king, the loser is outlaw. Say what you will!"
Seeing his spirit was no better than this, Jiang Chen smiled faintly and sheathed his long sword.
"Do you even deserve the surname Jiang?"
Regardless of Jiang Wuyong's humiliation, below the platform, Chongxuan Sheng had long since thrust his chubby hand toward the pale-faced middle-aged man, like a demon demanding payment. "Hurry! A bet's a bet!"
The chief eunuch under Jiang Wuyong, expressionless, produced two jade slips and a box of ten thousand yuan stones, placing them in that chubby hand that had nearly been shoved in his face.
Chongxuan Sheng first inspected the jade slips, then opened the box and counted, carefully verifying that all ten high-quality yuan stones were present.
Only then did he laugh heartily. "Welcome to bet again next time!"
...
Under the strange gazes of the crowd, the sedan bearers lifted the palanquin once more and carried the fourteenth prince away in haste.
Even after leaving Nanyao City, Jiang Wuyong's complexion had not recovered.
To suffer defeat in front of everyone and be called the disgrace of the Qi royal family—such an unparalleled humiliation!
And the cascade of negative consequences that followed were a massive loss he had no choice but to consider.
Filled with a mixture of fury and resentment, he knew not whom to vent upon.
Now far from the crowd, Jiang Wuyong finally shed some of his restraint and couldn't help but grind his teeth in anger. "If it weren't for Father Emperor's bias, refusing to pass on the two most powerful sections of the Supreme Purple Star Midheaven Canon—heavenly Sutra and Earthly Latitude—to me, how could I have ended up like this today?"
He slammed his fist down on the armrest.
"If he had let me cultivate even one of them, that mere Jiang Chen could have been crushed with a flip of my hand. I wouldn't have suffered such humiliation!"
"Your Highness, please hold your tongue." The chief eunuch spoke gravely. "The Heavenly Sutra and Earthly Latitude are sections only the Crown Prince may cultivate."
"Stop trying to fool me with empty words!" Jiang Wuyong grew even angrier. "Then how did my Third Sister, Ninth Brother, and Eleventh Brother cultivate them?"
The chief eunuch said awkwardly, "They..."
"It's simply because their maternal families are powerful! Our Jiang imperial dynasty will sooner or later be ruined by these consorts' relatives!"
The moment these words were spoken, the ten sedan bearers suddenly went rigid. Their mouths opened involuntarily as blood surged out, forming ten streams of blood that shot into the palanquin.
Each of the chief eunuch's fingers was connected to a blood stream. He clenched his ten fingers, and the blood streams vanished instantly.
The ten sedan bearers along with the palanquin collapsed to the ground with a crash.
Inside the palanquin, the chief eunuch remained utterly motionless.
But Jiang Wuyong's expression turned ugly.
"Your Highness." The chief eunuch spoke in a low voice. "Have you considered what effect these words might have if they spread?"
"The year before last, the Ninth Prince was defeated by Wang Yiwu. Given that prince's usual temper, have you ever heard of him losing control like this?"
"A momentary setback is not terrifying. In this battle for succession, are you afraid of falling a little further behind? Today's loss of face may well become an opportunity to regain your dignity tomorrow. At least the other princes will lower their guard against you, no longer seeing you as a rival."
"But if you cannot even control these emotions and keep speaking out of turn, we should leave the capital as soon as possible and live lives of富贵 leisure. This way, this old servant might avoid dying a violent death on the streets alongside you. And we might secure a path to survival for the hundreds of people in the palace!"
Jiang Wuyong tightly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had calmed down.
"This prince... understands!"