Tomb of God by Chen Dong

[TakoEmperor]

I have read up to volume 1 chapter 8, and I was wondering...

click to show/hide spoilers

Will Chen Nan will stay that demon princess's slave for much of the series, or will finally be free of her at some point?

I really hope the latter! I am liking the premise of this series so far, but that princess is driving me nuts!

Thanks for the translation Zoeng!

i am wondering this myself....i want him to take his bow and blow that castle apart lol

[Ren Wo Xing]

Wow, this is really quite a good translation! Keep on at it!

[faerro]

i am wondering this myself....i want him to take his bow and blow that castle apart lol

After catching up to V02 Ch04, it seems to be the latter!

click to show/hide spoilers

The relevance of the demon princess seems to be shrinking by the chapter!

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 2: Dragon Soaring in the Imperial Capital 第二卷 龍騰帝都

Chapter 5: Dragon Rider 第五章 龍騎士


After Xianhuan Continent and Mohuan Continent merged together, eastern martial study, Daoist arts, western battle qi, and magic all collided intensely. Vital qi against battle qi, Daoist magical weapons against magic, sword qi and battle qi raged haphazardly across the battlefield. The might of Daoist magical weapons and magic dazzled and flared.

In the early stages, from the huge resistance put up by western practitioners, no one doubted the might of Daoist arts and magic. Every somewhat successful Daoist and magi ranked Intermediate or higher all possessed super horrifying strength. They were capable of directly manipulating the world’s original vital qi. A single Daoist could handle ten western pugilists. A magus ranked at Intermediate or higher could also deal with ten western martial artists single-handedly.

However, the amount of Daoists and magi was incredibly small. The required constitution for cultivating Daoist arts or studying magic was exceedingly harsh. Therefore, Daoist arts and magic were not at all widely popular. Additionally, many Daoists isolated themselves from the mortal world. Very few showed their presence to commoners. Because of this, in the eyes of the people, Daoists were the most mysterious. For someone to cultivate magic, one would require tremendous amounts of expensive magical materials. There was no way of becoming a successful magus without having vast wealth.

Although there were also requirements in regards to one’s constitution in order to cultivate eastern martial arts or western battle qi, they were absolutely not as severe; even an average person was capable of cultivating them, but because there were differences between everyone’s constitutions, there was naturally a notable difference in success between practitioners. In comparison, martial artists who cultivated their bodies were inferior to Daoists and magi. Other than melee combat, these martial artists were simply not able to be opponents to those practitioners who could directly control the world’s original vital qi.

It was only natural that not all circumstances were absolute. There were a few eastern martial artists who could cultivate to the highest, most profound, level. Any practitioner who came across such a formidable eastern martial artist in battle would have a headache.

Furthermore, there would occasionally be an eastern martial artist who was capable of cultivating unrivalled power. Their super petrifying strength could even be said to be without rival under heaven—a practitioner’s worst nightmare to face in battle. But as everyone knows, progress in martial study is sluggish. Even during the span of many centuries, a martial artist capable of cultivating up to the highest profound level is rarely seen. It was because of this that martial arts began to gradually decline.

It was the same situation with western martial artists. Although there were many western martial artists who cultivated their bodies, the average strength of their population was far from the levels of Daoists and magi. However, there was a unique practitioner among these martial artists. Their super strength was not at all weaker than Daoists and magi. In the common people’s eyes, these figures were known as dragon riders.

In order to become a dragon rider, one must first directly tame their own dragon.

Naturally, there was also a division of strength between dragons. Western dragons could be divided from weakest to strongest in five ranks: Land Dragons, Flying Dragons, Auxiliary Dragons, Monolithic Dragons, and Holy Dragons. As it turns out, these five ranks corresponded with their practitioner counterparts, so there were Land Dragon Riders, Flying Dragon Riders, Auxiliary Dragon Riders, Monolithic Dragon Riders, and Holy Dragon Riders—these were the five ranks of dragon riders.

Thus, in order to become a dragon rider, one must first attain a rank, and then they must also directly tame a dragon of the corresponding level. Therefore, all dragon riders were powerful. In a way, the reason why dragon riders sought after dragons as mounts was to prove that they possessed formidable strength.

In the western continent, Monolithic Dragon Riders were very few in number, and the scarcity of Holy Dragon Riders rivalled the rarity of phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. But to be able to attain such a high level, all these dragon riders possessed supreme, tyrannical strength. Even those successful practitioners—those magi and Daoists—didn’t dare lightly oppose their attack.

After Chen Nan returned to the Residence of Eccentrics from the imperial ancient book room, he still felt some lingering fear recalling the ancient, underground tomb he had just traversed.

“This old man is truly hard to make out; he actually didn’t kill me in order to silence me. However, I should nevertheless prematurely leave this troublesome place…”

After going through this experience, he finally understood that old saying: “Outside of people, there are people. Outside of heaven, there is heaven.” That old man’s outward appearance made him seem to be utterly senile and incomparably feeble, yet he was actually an exceptional expert with terrifying cultivation. And this was following his encounter with Zhuge Chengfeng. He had seen yet another fifth ranked practitioner. In fact, he may even already exceed the five ranks.

“Boy, why are you so dazed again? You seriously haven’t grown up yet!” With two hands, the Old Poison Devil clung onto the wall of the courtyard, looking at him.

“****! Perverted old man, you were peeping on me again!” Chen Nan exited his house.

“A heart beating is inferior to taking action. Come on, let’s go take a look at your cool water^[1] together.”

“You…” Recalling Nalan Ruoshui to his mind, Chen Nan hesitated. If he were to leave, he feared that he’d never be able to see the girl he favoured again.

“Oh, I forgot, it’s Ruoshui, heihei…” The Old Poison Devil was all smiles.

If not for that fact that the old fellow was saturated with poison from head to toe, Chen Nan really would have given him a good smacking.

The Old Poison Devil smiled. “A dragon rider came to the Residence of Eccentrics today. Many people have gone to see his dragon. Your Ruoshui originally wanted to come get you so that you two could have gone to see it together, but you weren’t here, so she went first. Come on, let’s go join them and have some fun.”

Dragon rider was synonymous with strong practitioner. Dragons were powerful yet mysterious creatures. Chen Nan’s interest was immediately piqued. He followed the Old Poison Devil and left.

Today, the Residence of Eccentrics wasn’t as peaceful as it normally was. The sparring ring within the residence was full of people gathered together. Even the ordinarily rarely seen Old Witch deserted her ‘great magical research project’ to come here.

It was also Chen Nan’s first time seeing this many eccentrics gathered together. The overwhelming majority of these people were formidable practitioners. Of course, there were also people that belonged to fields similar to that of the Old Poison Devil—outstanding researchers with immense talent. These people were mostly above the age of thirty. Young people around the age of twenty like him numbered no more than thirty five, so he was quickly able to find Nalan Ruoshui within the crowd.

Nalan Ruoshui was wearing aqua blue clothing, appearing just like an elegant orchid in a secluded valley: naturally graceful and tranquil, indifferent and enlightened. Seeing Chen Nan and the Old Poison Devil enter the sparring ring, a faint smile appeared on her peaceful face.

Chen Nan waved at her. “Ruoshui!”

The Old Poison Devil beside him strangely shouted, “Ruoshui, I’ve come! I haven’t seen you in half a day, yet it’s as if we were separated for half of autumn~!”

Chen Nan stomped on the old man’s foot. The roaring of a dying boar erupted from the old man, garnering strange looks from everyone present.

A smile was evident on Nalan Ruoshui’s face. “Chen Nan, how could your steps be so careless!”

The Old Poison Devil shouted, “He wasn’t being careless, it was deliberate!”

Nalan Ruoshui ignored him and continued speaking to Chen Nan. “Next time the ground is unsteady, use a little more strength so that you won’t stumble.”

The Old Poison Devil was left speechless.

Seeing Chen Nan and Nalan Ruoshui head towards the ring together, the Old Poison Devil indignantly shouted, “Destroying the bridge after crossing the river!”

In the center of the sparring ring, there lay a gigantic, fierce creature. Its body was covered in dark green scales that flickered in the light. It was vicious and terrifying. There was no need to ask. This was the dragon rider’s dragon. The dragon’s body was about seven zhang long. There was a pair of horns growing out of its head. On its flank, a pair of giant, fleshy wings protruded outwards. Its appearance seemed quite ferocious.

A tall youth stood beside the dragon. The youth appeared outstanding and bright. His build was tall and sturdy. His rugged physique was brimming with explosive power. He possessed masculine beauty.

A peculiar look formed on Nalan Ruoshui’s face. “Can you see? That person is the dragon rider. He is Great General Sima Changfeng’s son. His name is Sima Lingkong. For ten straight years, he cultivated with experts in the western continent. He recently finished his studying and has returned. The emperor already conferred upon him the title of eccentric. Today, he officially enters the Residence of Eccentrics.”

Chen Nan nodded. “Oh, so it’s this big of a deal. En, eccentrics are conferred the title?”

“Of course. Every eccentric enjoys the status of a state official, how could they not be conferred the title?” With that said, Nalan Ruoshui glanced at him. “You’re classified as an exception, of course. You’re a secret state official, but… ai! You… It’d be better if you recovered your power already! Even though you don’t possess the envious glory of a state official, at least have formidable strength…” When she finally finished, she seemed slightly emotional.

Chen Nan didn’t notice how bizarre Nalan Ruoshui was acting, but his heart felt somewhat bitter. He was going to depart from this place soon; it was possible that he’d never be able to see this beautiful doctor again. But here and now, he was still unable to say anything.

Nalan Ruoshui said, “Look, this dragon is truly powerful and brazen. I’ve never seen such a huge, valiant creature before.”

“Powerful and brazen? No matter how I look at it, I still think it looks like a winged, pregnant lizard.”

“Puchi,” Nalan Ruoshui giggled.

“Goodness, what are you looking at? That’s a dragon!”

Chen Nan said, “Last time when I was in the mountain range at the western border, I saw a green dragon at least thirty zhang long. In comparison to that green dragon, this one is simply a dragon’s grandson—a baby dragon.”

“Oh really? Was it actually that big?” Nalan Ruoshui looked doubtful.

“Gaga, this little boy is right. What he saw was a Monolithic Dragon. Monolithic Dragons have a length of thirty zhang or more. This is nothing more but a run-of-the-mill Flying Dragon. It’s only at a level a bit higher than that of a Land Dragon.” No one knew when the Old Witch had arrived behind Chen Nan and Nalan Ruoshui.

Chen Nan turned around and greeted his terrifying neighbour.

The Old Witch nodded in acknowledgement as she continued, “Western dragons have five ranks. In order, they are Land Dragons, Flying Dragons, Auxiliary Dragons, Monolithic Dragons, and Holy Dragons. Other than Land Dragons, the remaining four ranks of dragons are all capable of flight. Land Dragons are about five zhang long, Flying Dragons are about seven zhang long, Auxiliary Dragons are between fifteen and twenty zhang long, and Monolithic Dragons are at the very minimum thirty zhang long. As for Holy Dragons, I’ve never seen one before, but I’ve heard others say that Holy Dragons are all incredibly rare. Their powerful strength absolutely isn’t proportional to the size of their bodies.”

Nalan Ruoshui smiled. “Magic-popo’s knowledge is indeed extensive.”

“Gaga, I stayed in the western continent for quite some time. If I didn’t even know this, then wouldn’t others laugh at me? However, girl, your mouth is quite sweet. Truly charming. It’s much better than that little girl Chu Yu’s. Whenever that little girl sees me, she wants to run away.”

At the center, the dragon rider Sima Lingkong was explaining something to everyone watching. Everyone listened with ardent interest. At that moment, Princess Chu Yu suddenly appeared like a thief. She constantly peered towards the center of the ring. It seemed like she was looking for someone.

Chen Nan and Nalan Ruoshui looked at each other, both unable to contain their grins.

The Old Witch furiously said, “This damn girl! Am I really that scary? Every time she comes to the Residence of Eccentrics, she always does it so covertly. Hmph, it really pisses me off!”

With her reconnaissance of the ‘enemy positions’ complete, the princess let out a breath of air. Like an effervescent fairy, she ran to the center of the ring.

“Sima Lingkong, how audacious of you to not report to me, the princess, after returning!”

After everyone present saw the gorgeous little demon, grins covered their faces. But Sima Lingkong, originally in glowing spirits, looked like a deflating ball, immediately withering.

“Greetings, Your Highness the princess.”

The princess’s unruly nature erupted in full force. “The several people who went to the western continent to cultivate all reported to me after returning. Only you did not. Speak, is it because you failed to prepare a good present for me?” With that said, she circled the dragon, examining it. “This dragon is not bad. Is it the present you are giving to me? But it’s a little ugly. Oh well, I’ll make an effort to reluctantly accept it.”

Upon hearing her words, Sima Lingkong’s face turned green. He gave her a pained, apologetic smile. “Princess Yu, this is my mount. The present I prepared for you is still at home. I will have it delivered to you shortly.”

Chen Nan finally understood the meaning behind the little demon’s ‘external reputation’ in the imperial capital. Whoever saw her all seemed to come down with a headache. One could imagine how difficult it must have been for the noble children within the imperial capital to survive such miserable childhoods growing up with her.

“Are you trying to say you don’t want to give this dragon to me?”

“It’s not that… This…”

The princess humphed and said, “Miser, feel at ease. I don’t want this small and ugly creature. In the mountain range at the western border, I saw a dragon that is much bigger than yours.”

Sima Lingkong wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. “This is merely a Flying Dragon. It’s natural that it’s not as big as a Monolithic Dragon.”

The princess said, “Is this dragon obedient? Can I ride it and fly?”

“Of course.”

“That’s great!” The princess immediately looked excited.

Sima Lingkong gave the Flying Dragon a few pats. “When you’re in the air, be smooth and steady, okay?”

The Flying Dragon nodded its head. It actually seemed to understand human speech.

Everyone was astounded.

The princess was also somewhat startled. She asked, “Can it understand human speech?”

“Of course. Dragons are intelligent creatures. Although it’s only a Flying Dragon of the second rank, it can still understand some simple human words.”

The princess excitedly climbed up onto the dragon’s back. Just then, the Old Witch shouted from the back of the crowd, “Yu’er, if you want to fly, you can learn magic from me! Look how relaxed this is. Why should you need to ride other people’s dragons?” With that said, the Old Witch floated up into the air and landed at the center of the ring.

The instant the princess saw the Old Witch, her face took a massive turn, but she quickly assumed her sweet smiling expression again.

“Hello, grandma. I actually have something to do, so I have to go back to the imperial palace.” Immediately after her words, she swiftly slipped off the dragon’s back and, like a loach, bore her way out through the crowd.

All the eccentrics in the crowd looked at each other in dismay. Then, they all broke out into great laughter.

The Old Witch loudly shouted, “When that little girl sees me, she wants to run. Come back.” She read aloud an incantation and, using the wind element Wind Soaring Technique, she quickly chased after her.

From afar, the princess could be heard shouting, “Don’t! I really have to go back to the palace…!”

…

The princess was finally caught and brought back. She pouted her little mouth, but she didn’t dare have a fit.

When Chen Nan saw her look of embarrassment, he couldn’t help but suddenly break out into a grin. Nalan Ruoshui tugged at his clothes. “Don’t smile. Can’t you see everyone else is also restraining themselves? If that little girl sees you, you’ll end up miserable in the future.”

Chen Nan naturally understood the princess’s demonic nature. When the princess’s gaze headed towards his direction, he promptly stopped smiling.

The Old Witch laughed, “Gaga. Don’t be upset, quite a few people beg me to teach them, but I still refuse to teach them. Don’t you want to fly up into the sky? I can teach you!”

The Old Witch cast a spell. A sphere of teal light surrounded the princess, raising her up into the air.

“Is it fun? As long as you learn it from me, you can do it too.”

Although there was a look of excitement on the princess’s face, after she heard the Old Witch’s words, she resolutely shook her head.

The Old Witch immediately ceased her magical energy transportation spell in anger. The princess shrieked as she dropped from the sky. In an instant, when she reached the ground, a ball of gentle light caught her, but her small face was already deathly white in fright.

Chen Nan finally understood why the princess was so afraid of the Old Witch. At the same time, he also understood why she was unwilling to pay respects to the Old Witch to be her teacher.

At that moment, Sima Lingkong took a step forward and said in greeting, “Greetings, Magic-popo.”

“En, spare the courtesy. Lad, you aren’t too bad. You’re so young, yet you already have your own dragon.”

Sima Lingkong said, “Senior, I don’t deserve such praise. Junior is much inferior to senior. That year when senior was cultivating in the western continent, her mighty name was famous and widespread. There are even people today who still mention you.”

The Old Witch quacked in laughter. “You are already pretty good. I reckon that in your generation of youths, you can already be regarded as a valiant individual. As long as you’re willing to put in the effort, someday, you’ll definitely become a fourth ranked Monolithic Dragon Rider.”

No one knew when the Old Poison Devil had arrived behind Chen Nan and Nalan Ruoshui. He quietly muttered, “This damn old woman is really too shameless. Look at her pleased expression. I really can’t tell if she’s a bona fide Grand Magus or if she just stepped on some lucky dog shit. But this boy covered in muscle all over is really strong. To be capable of becoming a Flying Dragon Rider at his age is already quite spectacular.”

Chen Nan nodded in agreement. He had long since sensed the strong power within Sima Lingkong. The reputation of second ranked Flying Dragon Riders was indeed justified.

The princess took advantage of the Old Witch being occupied with conversing and furtively stood up and slipped away into the crowd. After a moment, the Old Witch suddenly realized the princess was absent. In a fury, she left to continue with her ‘great magical research project’.

Just then, Sima Lingkong suddenly found Nalan Ruoshui. His eyes instantly shone. He burrowed through the crowd peering at the Flying Dragon and walked towards them.

“Ruoshui, you also came. If you want to see the Flying Dragon, I can bring it directly to your family home.”

At that time, Chen Nan suddenly felt his right hand tighten. It was being gripped by Nalan Ruoshui’s small, soft hand.

“No need. I only wanted to accompany Chen Nan to come take a look.”

Cold lightning flared from Sima Lingkong’s eyes. Seeing the two of them holding hands, he turned his sights on Chen Nan and asked, “Who’s he?”

Nalan Ruoshui calmly answered, “He is someone I can entrust my life with.”

Chen Nan was expressionless, but then his heart began to feel a little uneasy. Nalan Ruoshui was clearly already acquaintances with this muscular man. It was pretty obvious she had grabbed him for use as a shield. He had a feeling he was being used.

Sima Lingkong’s eyes were about to breathe fire. He fiercely looked at Chen Nan and said, “Boy, screw off. This is a matter between me and Ruoshui. I hope you don’t get involved.”

Standing behind Chen Nan, the Old Poison Devil said, “Youngster, your words need not be so aggressive. Say whatever it is you want properly.”

The eccentrics looking at the Flying Dragon found that there was some commotion going on at the side. They all turned their heads to look.

Nalan Ruoshui said, “Let’s go.” She grabbed Chen Nan’s hand and they headed away from the ring.

Sima Lingkong couldn’t restrain his fury. He shortly pushed his way before the two of them and angrily said, “Ruoshui, I hope you take note of our engagement. You’re currently my fiancée, so don’t be so friendly with others. Not only does this insult my family’s principles, it insults the principles of your family as well.”

Nalan Ruoshui heatedly replied, “Rubbish. Who’s your fiancée? Please act dignified and don’t speak without thinking. Step aside!”

With one hand, she pushed Sima Lingkong away. With the other hand, she pulled Chen Nan into a sprint in the opposite direction. Chen Nan was very unhappy. He wanted to shake off Nalan Ruoshui’s hand, but he hesitated. In the end, he didn’t do anything.

All the eccentrics in the sparring ring began discussing and gossiping in succession.

Sima Lingkong stood in place for a moment. A faint sneer appeared at his lips as he chased after them.

After Nalan Ruoshui and Chen Nan ran away from the sparring ring, they went straight to Chen Nan’s courtyard.

Once they arrived in front of Chen Nan’s gate, Sima Lingkong arrived as well. “Ruoshui, what is the meaning of this? Don’t you know that I like you? In a short while, my dad will propose our marriage to your family. What are you doing right now? How can you follow some irrelevant man?”

Nalan Ruoshui said, “Abandon that thought. I won’t marry you.”

“You…” A severe light flashed through Sima Lingkong’s eyes. “Fine. Let’s see what you’re capable of. Hmph, when your dad agrees, I’ll see whether or not you’ll marry me.”

An ominous glint in his eyes flickered. He said to Chen Nan, “Boy, treat the words I just said as wind past your ears and forget about it, okay? I want you to stay away from me, do you understand? Screw off!”

Chen Nan was already fairly upset. Hearing these words, his fiery anger immediately braved three zhang. This made his ancestral profound skill that he had been forcibly suppressing to violently surge. A colossal imposingness erupted out from his body.

Nalan Ruoshui, afraid of Sima Lingkong attacking Chen Nan, stepped protectively in front of Chen Nan. At the same time, the imperial guards dispatched by the Eldest Princess to protect Houyi Bow also sensed the formidable power fluctuation. Seven figures arrived in front of the three in an instant.

Chen Nan secretly cursed himself in shame and blamed his own impulsiveness. He quickly suppressed his power. The strong aura evaporated in an instant.

Everyone present grew suspicious. Nalan Ruoshui and the several warriors finally concluded that that forceful killing intent had erupted from Sima Lingkong, while Sima Lingkong thought that that strong imposingness had come from the several warriors in front of him, because there was currently not even half a thread of power in Chen Nan’s body. No matter how he probed, he couldn’t sense any practitioner aura on his body.

Sima Lingkong mocked, “Boy, are you a man? Hiding behind a woman, what kind of ability do you have?”

Chen Nan coldly gazed at him. “Dog, what are you barking about? She clearly doesn’t like you. How shameless of you to keep *****ing about it.”

Sima Lingkong shot him a livid laugh in return. “Heihei, you’re a guy who is living off a woman. If I don’t dismember your body into countless pieces, then I—”

“Enough! Sima Lingkong, are you finished? If you remain here making trouble and being rude, I’ll report you to Her Highness.” Nalan Ruoshui’s expression was ashen. She had forgone her usual calmness.

“What’s so great about this guy? What ability does he have? He can’t even be considered a pretty boy. Ruoshui, you—”

“You’re shameless!” Nalan Ruoshui furiously gnashed her teeth. She spun around and dragged Chen Nan into the courtyard.

Sima Lingkong started to follow them in, but the several warriors at the side reached out and stopped him. One of them said, “Sima-gongzi, please halt. The Eldest Princess has ordered: without her approval, no one may enter even half a step into this courtyard.”

This caused Sima Lingkong to quickly go mad with anger. His rage surged in his heart. He bellowed, “Why? Why can that adulterous couple go in?”

“Because this is actually Chen-gongzi’s courtyard. Nalan Ruoshui is acting under orders to treat his illness.”

“What? That useless trash is also an eccentric?”

The several warriors didn’t reply.

Sima Lingkong gradually calmed down. He murderously looked towards the courtyard, then spun around and left.

After they arrived inside the courtyard, Nalan Ruoshui quickly released Chen Nan’s hand. She turned her face to the side and said, “Sorry.”

The unhappiness in Chen Nan’s heart gradually dissipated. “It’s nothing.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me why I acted like this?”

“I’m waiting for you to tell me.”

Nalan Ruoshui turned her body back towards him. “My father, Nalan Wencheng, is the left minister of the court. Sima Lingkong’s father is also from the court. He is the Mighty Great General Sima Changfeng. The two of them are important ministers of the Empire of Chu, but they’ve never gotten along. For the past few years, the ministers of the court began to socialize and the relationship between the two of them began to warm a bit. Later, someone suggested that the two families bond by having their son and daughter marry in order to improve their relationship further.

“Inharmonious ministers are detrimental to the nation. Father agreed with those socializing court officials. At that time, the Mighty General also gladly agreed. Maybe others don’t know Sima Lingkong’s character, but I’m well aware of it. He had returned to the imperial city a few times in recent years. Every time he’d come back, he’d always make a big deal about his accomplishments and other loathsome matters. He’s basically just a distinguished thug.

“I understand my father’s problem—I know he means well for the nation. I hate how Sima Lingkong’s acts like an accomplished thug, but I can’t do anything to change reality. In a few days, Sima Changfeng will send people to visit and propose marriage. I don’t know what to do. I can only provoke and upset Sima Lingkong so that he’ll hate me, thereby ruining this marriage, so…”

“So you purposely dragged me in front of Sima Lingkong to provoke him?”

“Yes… Sorry.”

“Ai, you really don’t understand a man’s mind. Doing this will only produce the opposite effect of what you want.” Chen Nan really did somewhat sympathize with Nalan Ruoshui. This ordinarily incomparably calm girl was actually so helpless. As the daughter of a noble, she couldn’t dictate her own happiness and could only be used as a bargaining chip in politics. He sighed. “How can I help you?”

A watery mist appeared in Nalan Ruoshui’s eyes. Her voice trembled a little as she said, “I don’t know… I don’t even know what I should do…”

“How about…” Chen Nan really wanted to say: “How about I bring you someplace else?”, but when he was on the verge of saying it, he swallowed the words back. Although he did hold some feelings towards Nalan Ruoshui, liking somebody was definitely not the same as loving them. However, he already decided that when the time comes, he’d definitely help her.

“How about what?” A hopeful look was evident on Nalan Ruoshui’s face.

“How about you run away from the wedding? Wait until this matter passes, then come back.”

Nalan Ruoshui was rather disappointed. “I’m a girl, where can I go? I’ve never travelled anywhere far. I’ve never experienced Jianghu. I’m all by myself… Wuwu…”

When she finished speaking, she couldn’t endure it anymore and broke out into tears.

Chen Nan awkwardly scratched his head. He didn’t have a handkerchief. In the end, he raised his spacious sleeve in front of Nalan Ruoshui.

Nalan Ruoshui tugged at his sleeve, lightly dabbing her tears away. She suddenly threw herself into his bosom, bawling loudly.

“What should I do? What the hell should I do… Wuwu…”

Chen Nan was at a loss.

After Nalan Ruoshui cried for a while, her voice gradually began to soften. Her voice seemed to be distant as she said, “If you were esteemed, if you had unrivalled power… I-I’m leaving.”

---

[1] 涼水/liangshui/cool water has a one character difference from 若水/Ruoshui.

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, Zoeng.

[Bludflag]

Thanks for the chapter Zoeng! I bet she's going to experience the Chen Nan version of Jianghu ^_~

[TakoEmperor]

After catching up to V02 Ch04, it seems to be the latter!

click to show/hide spoilers

The relevance of the demon princess seems to be shrinking by the chapter!

Indeed! After this 5th chapter i agree while hi might not get the huyou? Bow i think hees either dipping or will inly stay to help that chick lool

[sainuu]

After catching up to V02 Ch04, it seems to be the latter!

click to show/hide spoilers

The relevance of the demon princess seems to be shrinking by the chapter!

Unfortunately she will annoy us for a long time.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 2: Dragon Soaring in the Imperial Capital 第二卷 龍騰帝都

Chapter 6: Rosy Cheeks^[1] 第六章 紅顏


Watching Nalan Ruoshui’s silhouette disappear out his courtyard gate, a boom reverberated through his mind.

“If I were esteemed? If I had unrivalled power? Right, either of those circumstances could change your fate.”

“You’re seriously an idiot. You’re usually neither stupid nor foolish, but when things come to a head…” The Old Poison Devil’s shining white head poked up from behind the wall.

“****! Damn old man, this is the umpteenth time you’ve peeped on me.” With that said, he grabbed a bamboo pole off the ground and hurled it to where the old man had just shown himself.

“Shit! Boy, you actually readied a bamboo pole in advance…”

“Putong!” The Old Poison Devil was hit and fell.

“Ouch… Oh God, my pitiful Xiao Lu, you’ve been squished dizzy again…”

“Again that toad he loves so much!” Chen Nan turned around and went inside his house.

He didn’t settle down for quite some time. His mind was filled with countless emotional thoughts. He ultimately delivered a booming fist to the small tea table. Specks of golden light shattered the small table. He decisively stood up and said to himself, “I can’t watch as Nalan Ruoshui ends up as a lamb in a tiger’s den. I’m forced to act!”

However, in the several days since, Chen Nan hadn’t seen Nalan Ruoshui at all. She hadn’t visited the Residence of Eccentrics.

Chen Nan was inwardly anxious as he sat around restlessly. The Old Poison Devil, assuming a profound look, sat on top of the wall and said, “Idiot, that day, you shouldn’t have basically told her to leave by herself. Happiness is something you must strive for on your own. When it flies away, even if you want to capture it, you can’t. If only you had another chance, you wouldn’t have this lifelong regret! Ai, why do people only try to remedy things after they’ve already lost it?”

Chen Nan disregarded his nonsensical words and departed from the Residence of Eccentrics. He went to the Imperial Library’s room of ancient books again, hoping to try his luck. He was hoping he’d be able to bump into Nalan Ruoshui there. But he was disappointed. The manager of the ancient book room informed him that Nalan Ruoshui hadn’t visited in the past few days. Melancholic, he drew out a book from the bookshelf in passing and senselessly read it.

Suddenly, an elderly sigh sounded from behind him: “Ai!”

Chen Nan nearly jumped in surprise. He turned around and found it to be that old man who had led him into the underground ancient tomb.

The old man’s crooked body tottered as he walked to him.

Chen Nan was trembling in fear. He wasn’t afraid of the old man falling over—he was deeply aware of how much overwhelming power was hidden within his old, feeble body—he was simply worried for his own life. He’d known all along that this enigmatic, dreadful old man could suddenly silence him at any point in time.

“Hehe, youngster, don’t be anxious. I’ve already told you I hold no malice towards you. Don’t brood so much over it. I truly admire you a lot. Few in years, yet your body already possesses a spiritual root, and you can draw back the sealed Houyi Bow too. Your prospects are unlimited!”

“You know of my identity?”

“Although I’m old, I’m not senile. I know a bit of all the matters in the imperial capital. It’s just that I normally don’t feel like caring about those mundane affairs.”

Chen Nan was taken aback.

The old man said, “People only have one life! Ai, some people are destined to be nothing more than mere bystanders in your life. Along with the passing of time, these people end up growing gradually fainter until there’s no trace of them remaining.”

“Uh…” Chen Nan was currently truly startled. The old man’s topic of discussion harboured hidden intentions. It seemed like he was referring to the affair involving Nalan Ruoshui. He felt like his inner world lay completely bare in front of the old man. He inwardly said, “This old man is truly an old monster, a profound mystery.”

Chen Nan said, “Yes, some people are destined to be nothing more than a bystander in one’s life. However, I won’t watch the friends I’ve intersected with suffer misfortune!”

The old man laughed, “Hehe, don’t be emotional, we’re having nothing more than a casual chat.”

Chen Nan was a bit apprehensive without knowing why the old man had come to find him again.

The old man abruptly asked, “Youngster, tell me, do you want to leave the Empire of Chu?”

“This…” He was utterly stunned.

“I’ve already told you, I admire you greatly. I really want to see what kind of level of cultivation a junior with boundless potential can clamber up to, so you don’t have to be afraid. I won’t harm you.”

Only now did Chen Nan begin to feel convinced. Regardless of what this monster’s purpose was, he definitely wouldn’t injure him at the present time.

The old man said, “When you’ve become as old as me, although you never wholly relinquish worldly affairs, you nearly will. My mind only consists of cultivation. I only seek to transcend life and death. However, when you leave, I hope you won’t cause too much of a hubbub.”

Chen Nan neither nodded nor shook his head.

“There are many hidden dragons and crouching tigers in the imperial capital. Experts are aplenty. Youngster, you must by all means not act impulsively!”

As Chen Nan listened, cold sweat flowed profusely. When he finally got up to leave, he heard the old man say from behind, “Soon, I might wonder around the continent. I can’t say for sure, but perhaps we’ll be able to see each other again one day.”

As Chen Nan was passing through the imperial garden, he stopped in his tracks. Among the greenery, hidden from view, he dimly caught sight of two familiar figures. He looked left and right and noticed no one was present, so he used his qinggong to transform his body into an inconspicuous shadow, floating in the imperial garden.

Odd rocks were scattered throughout the verdant pine, cypress, and bamboo in the garden. Century year old wisteria twisted in between them, adorning the garden with exquisite lushness. The swiftly running spring water and the specks of golden scales gleaming in the small, limpid lake added a lively aura to the fresh, lush scenery.

Hidden among the bamboo was a unique, exquisite pavilion. Two beautiful silhouettes stood in the pavilion. One carried peerless and magnificent style, incomparably alluring. The other was elegant and enlightened, remarkably delicate.

Chen Nan’s heart skipped a beat. He could clearly see the appearance of the two ladies. The former was the Eldest Princess Chu Yue, while the latter was Nalan Ruoshui that he had surprisingly not seen for the past few days. He had witnessed the Eldest Princess’s unordinary cultivation, so he didn’t dare tread too closely, afraid of being detected. He had no alternative but to stay distant and listen intently, unmoving.

Chu Yue was holding onto Nalan Ruoshui’s hand. “In fact, Sima Lingkong is already very outstanding. There aren’t many youths in the imperial capital that are capable of comparing with him!”

Nalan Ruoshui was somewhat vexed. “You’re actually speaking on behalf of that disciple of lust?”

“Ruoshui, you’ve misunderstood me. I only wish to discuss the matter as it stands. Men are all similar in manner; what man isn’t fond of beauty?”

“But I truly don’t hold the least bit of feeling towards him.”

Chu Yue bitterly laughed. “In the eyes of commoners, we’re golden branches and jade leaves of nobility. Our whole lives are filled with glory, splendour, wealth, and status, without a grievance to worry about. But is reality actually like this? I think our hearts know the answer to this. Our identities cause us to lose out on many things. For example, we cannot speak of feelings with others before marriage. This is the grievance of a woman of status.”

Nalan Ruoshui quietly sighed. “What if I already have some feelings towards another?”

Chu Yue faced Nalan Ruoshui squarely. “I’ve already heard from others about the thing that happened at the Residence of Eccentrics that day. I’ve already guessed that you only took advantage of Chen Nan to reject Sima Lingkong. Don’t tell me you actually hold some feelings towards him?”

When Chen Nan heard this, his heart began to beat wildly.

Nalan Ruoshui looked at Chu Yue face-to-face and said, “And if I do?”

Chu Yue was fairly startled. “How can the two of you possibly be together? Isn’t this true? If we’re talking about appearance, he is far from Sima Lingkong’s equal. If we’re talking about ability, then that’s even more out of the question. His power was lost. Even you, a skilled state official, couldn’t produce wonderful hands to return spring and create a medical miracle. He’s already hopeless. Moreover, he’s unable to start cultivating from anew. This is something you’ll find difficult to hear, but he’s currently already a useless person. I already don’t have any hope for him.”

These words unmistakably travelled to Chen Nan’s ears. Although considering it from another point of view, it was all true, Chen Nan still found it exceptionally ear-piercing.

Nalan Ruoshui turned her head to the side and said, “You don’t understand…”, but she didn’t continue with her words.

The Eldest Princess said, “Ruoshui, you’re playing with fire. It’s impossible for you to be with him.”

“I know, so for the past few days, I haven’t visited the Residence of Eccentrics at all.”

“It seems having you go to the Residence of Eccentrics to treat his illness really was a mistake. Fortunately, you haven’t gone in too deep. Time can weather anything. In a short while, you’ll forget about this person.”

Nalan Ruoshui abruptly snapped her head back towards her. “You aren’t going to kill him, right?”

A cold light flashed through Chu Yue’s elegant eyes. She smiled. “Why would I do that? If it were for the sake of allowing you to forget about this experience, I’d ruthlessly kill him without mercy. But I know this kind of action wouldn’t have any kind of effect; it would only make you hate me for a lifetime. Don’t worry. I won’t take action against him. My father’s sixtieth birthday is in three days. After my father’s birthday, I’ll give Chen Nan an official position far away from the capital. This is what is best for you, Sima Lingkong, and Chen Nan.”

Chen Nan noticed the cold light in the Eldest Princess’s eyes and knew that Chu Yue was planning to kill him. In no way was she going to give him an official position away from the capital. Now that he was already a ‘useless person’, he didn’t hold any ‘value’. For the mere sake of maintaining the Little Princess’s clear reputation, she wouldn’t allow him to continue living in the world. Additionally, it benefited the affair involving the two ministers’ children.

His heart turned cold. He never thought this peerlessly magnificent Eldest Princess’s scheming would actually be this profound. He never saw through this incomparably gorgeous woman’s façade. It was only today when he eavesdropped on the conversation between her and Nalan Ruoshui did he become aware of how dreadful she truly was. Although thinking over it from another point of view, Chu Yue had no choice but to take behave like this. From her actions, one could pry a little bit into her stratagems.

The Eldest Princess and Nalan Ruoshui conversed for a long time. With a detached point of view, Chen Nan saw it all very clearly. Throughout the entire conversation, Chu Yue continued to put all her effort in persuading Nalan Ruoshui to marry Sima Lingkong. Inharmonious ministers are detrimental to the nation. For the sake of the nation, she was to abandon her feelings.

Chen Nan could faintly see the shadow of Tantai Xuan in Chu Yue. They were equally as beautiful, equally as intelligent, and equally as deceitful.

At last, Chu Yue said, “Let’s go to my room. There’s no need for us to stay here.”

Nalan Ruoshui said, “No, I want to calm down a bit by myself. You go back first, alright?”

Chu Yue grudgingly turned around and left.

By her lonesome, Nalan Ruoshui stood in the pavilion. She murmured, “If you were esteemed, if you had unrivalled power…” The glistening of teardrops flashed about her eyes as she left in sorrow.

Chen Nan clearly watched all of this unfold. He clenched his fists and left as well.

Arriving outside the imperial palace, he entered a palanquin. Two rows of warriors guarded him at either side as they headed towards the Residence of Eccentrics. Now that he discovered Chu Yue’s dreadful scheming, he only just realized the true purpose of these warriors. One aspect of their job was to protect him. The other main aspect was to prevent him from absconding. He recalled those several formidable warriors guarding his courtyard and its surroundings. It could be said that among a hundred of Chu Yue’s secrets, not a single one was divulged.

After returning to the Residence of Eccentrics, Chen Nan vaguely heard the Little Princess’s voice.

“Poison-bobo, just give me one.”

The Old Poison Devil said, “No. My darlings aren’t raised for consumption. Last time, you seized Xiao Jin and Xiao Lu. I still haven’t found you to settle this account, yet you actually came back again today.”

“Because… I used your little snake to make something really delicious to eat. They’re much tastier than ordinary snakes.”

The Old Poison Devil was so furious, he was close to vomiting blood. He loudly cried out, “I’m not a breeder! My treasures aren’t delicious! If you still won’t leave, I’ll shout for that magical researcher, that damn old woman.”

“Poison-bobo, what do you think these are?”

“Ah! Firecrackers! What the hell are you doing?! Don’t ignite them! My darlings will be scared silly! How about I give you one small snake, okay?”

“No. Ten.”

“Ah! You’re killing me here. These are all rare breeds. They’re all extraordinarily precious… Ah! Don’t ignite them! I’ll give them to you.”

After a pause, the Old Poison Devil said, “Here, they’re all in this bag.”

“Poison-bobo, you’re the best, hehe.”

“Wu… You little girl, hurry up and leave.”

“Hehe, see you later, Poison-bobo. You don’t have to send me off. I’ll be coming by regularly to see you.”

The Old Poison Devil howled in grief.

…

After hearing this conversation, Chen Nan was left wide-eyed and slack-jawed. The princess actually enjoyed eating snakes. Not only that, but for the purpose of satisfying her cravings, she actually even threatened the Old Poison Devil. This truly was a little demon that was completely deserving of such a title.

After a moment, the Old Poison Devil appeared on top of the wall. With a look that told of the recent ire he had just calmed from, he said, “Just now, the endlessly evil little witch came to pass on an imperial edict. His Imperial Majesty’s sixtieth birthday will be in three days. All the eccentrics of the Residence of Eccentrics have been invited to take part.” After that, he changed the subject. “Reportedly, it’ll be very lively. A small state will send three young dragon riders to participate. According to some rumours, they’re planning to showcase their capabilities during the banquet in front of all of the Empire of Chu’s young heroes.”

Chen Nan asked, “What? What’s that all about?”

The Old Poison Devil explained, “That small state was originally a vassal state of Empire of Chu, but in recent years, their strength has gradually grown. They secretly obtained the support of a nameless power and now wish to liberate themselves from the Empire of Chu’s control. This time, they sent three young dragon riders as a demonstration of their military force to the Empire of Chu. If the talent of these three people is greater than that of the young generation from our Chu, it would be tantamount to firmly whipping the hegemonic Empire of Chu with a resounding slap in the face.”

Chen Nan looked indifferent. “That’s good. Fighting for their nation’s freedom, I support these three national heroes.”

The Old Poison Devil nervously looked around in all four directions. “Boy, do you not want to live? How can these words come out of your mouth? According to the secretive—but reliable—source, these three people are already remarkably famous among practitioners of the western continent. After they suddenly vanished without a trace three years ago, I reckon for the past three years, they have been bitterly cultivating in secret constantly. In all likelihood, their current power must already be tremendous for them to be paying a visit. According to some predictions, these three are at the very minimum already at the level of second ranked practitioners. This kind of terrifying strength is very rare among the young generation. Of the young eccentrics from the Residence of Eccentrics, I fear there is only that muscular man Sima Lingkong who is capable of serving as their opponent.”

“Just now, the endlessly evil little witch said if someone had the strength to fight these three dragon riders, the emperor will confer upon them an enormous reward. If only you recovered your power. This is indeed an opportunity that is hard to come by even once! Just think! If you wielded Houyi Bow to shoot the dragons out of the sky, how splendid would that be? It’d be an act of heroism! Just thinking about it excites me. Not only would it be a like riding a labouring horse to great deeds, but your name would also move the continent. How could the emperor not attempt to entice this kind of genius to their side? Just think… Heihei.”

The Old Poison Devil descended from the wall and went back to researching the art of poison.

Chen Nan stood in his yard. His mind didn’t calm for a long time. Finally, he tightly clenched his fists and came to a decision: he would no longer conceal his formidable strength. He already knew that Nalan Ruoshui’s heart accommodated his figure. However, he currently still couldn’t forget about Yu Xin, nor could he begin a new relationship.

But he still held an incredibly good opinion of Nalan Ruoshui. Recalling how she would carefully help him treat his illness every day and how she had patiently taught him how to read every single character, his heart was moved. He absolutely couldn’t watch blankly as Ruoshui suffered misfortune.

He pushed open the courtyard gate and said to those several warriors outside, “Please immediately report to Her Highness the Eldest Princess. Inform her I have an urgent matter I need to discuss with her.”

Those warriors gave each other glances, and one of them hastily left. After about an hour, he heard the sound of the Eldest Princess greeting the eccentrics inside the residence. He knew it was at long last the time for his display.

Chen Nan entered his house and took out Houyi Bow. He lightly stroked the pitch-black back of the bow with his hand. Sensing the trace undulation coming from the Godly Bow, he began employing his ancestral profound skill. In a flash, great power surged out of his body. The bamboo forest in his yard followed this wave of power and violently trembled endlessly until all its foliage was knocked to the ground.

Specks of golden light and a dim golden glow suffused out from his body. Chen Nan was brimming with tenacious self-confidence. The temperament of his entire being had changed in an instant. He was a completely different person than he was just a moment ago.

He fixed a white feathered arrow into the bowstring. His left foot was bent a step forward; his right foot back. His left hand aimed the bow towards the sky; his right hand strenuously pulled the bowstring tight. Golden light spread every which way. A thousand rays of splendid light radiated outwards. Houyi Bow emitted an endless radiance. Its sublime light eclipsed the celestial sun. Chen Nan and Houyi Bow were of the same flesh and blood. The light emanating from their beings was equally as intense.

A dense haze of light surrounded Houyi Bow. Like water, the golden light bubbled towards the white feathered arrow. The wind thundered and the world paled.

A wave of tremendous power spread out with Chen Nan at the center throughout the entire Residence of Eccentrics. All the eccentrics in the Residence of Eccentrics sensed this exceedingly powerful undulation, and everyone was completely gob smacked. With the help of Houyi Bow’s power, the intense power being emitted from Chen Nan definitely reached the level of fifth ranked exceptional experts.

The Eldest Princess also sensed it. An inconceivable look appeared on her face. She asked herself, “Could it be him? How is this possible? Did he really recover?”

After his power reached its peak, Chen Nan lightly released his fingers. The white feathered arrow, like a frightening long rainbow, flickered in dazzling brilliance as it pierced the sky. The sky above the Residence of Eccentrics thundered and quaked.

The golden, glowing arrow reached the white clouds before suddenly exploding into many fragments. An eruption of dazzling, powerful light appeared in the sky above the imperial capital. The trail the golden arrow had left behind during its ascent seemed like radiant lightning streaking from the heavens, adjoining it with the Residence of Eccentrics.

Everyone in the imperial capital could see the scene in the sky and let out alarmed cries.

The eccentrics of the Residence of Eccentrics were all left aghast. Everyone had an unfathomable expression. All the snakes, bugs, and other creatures in the Old Poison Devil’s courtyard frantically ran about in chaos. The Flying Dragon in Sima Lingkong’s courtyard was so frightened, it shook like a leaf and curled up on the ground.

Chen Nan let out a long cry to the sky. His voice shook the vast sky. He nocked a second white feathered arrow into the bowstring. Again, the wind thundered as another wave of incredible power surged throughout the entirety of the Residence of Eccentrics.

This time, the golden arrow was aimed at the ground. The radiance encompassed the glowing arrow. Like a golden dragon, it lacerated the surface of the earth and directly penetrated underground. Gigantic fissures half a meter wide spread out from the crater left behind by the arrow. The entire Residence of Eccentrics violently shook. One after another, the houses within the residence began to collapse. The explosive rumbling unceasingly reverberated through everyone’s ears.

At this moment, everyone in a circumference of several li could feel the earth tremble. Everyone was utterly shocked.

After a long time, everything finally began to calm. Over half of the houses in the Residence of Eccentrics had crumbled. Everyone standing among the ruins was frightened wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Finally, everyone’s sights focused on Chen Nan.

This formerly ordinary youth seemed to have discarded his body and exchanged his bones. Currently, he was emanating a great, intimidating, imposing manner. Everyone couldn’t help but begin to revere him in their hearts.

The Old Poison Devil was the first to awaken from his stupor. He was unable to contain his miserable bawling: “Oh God! My darlings! Wu… Who did I provoke to incur this wrath? I’ve already been unfortunate enough to be near that damn old woman who blows up her house all day long; I didn’t think the other seemingly honest, private guy would be even more heinous to actually destroy the entire residence! Wu… Darlings…”

Sima Lingkong looked beyond ashen. His Flying Dragon had been smashed and injured—the flesh of its right wing was left in a disgustingly bloody state. When he saw that the criminal mastermind, the bringer of calamity, was actually Chen Nan, fury swelled in his heart. At the same time, he was even more astonished. He was envious of Chen Nan’s tyrannical power.

A bright light flashed through Chu Yue’s eyes. She pondered over something at first, but afterwards, she was delighted. Today, she was able to see the might of Houyi Bow with her own two eyes. Its tremendous power had stunned her very being. This power, which was not one whit inferior to that of fifth ranked experts, meant the Empire of Chu had just undoubtedly gained another exceptional expert.

As the Old Poison Devil was crying and cursing, rubble could be seen atop of the Old Witch’s head as she crawled her way out of the ruins of her house.

“Which bastard destroyed my house? How audacious to plot against me like this. Absolutely ridiculous. If you have the ability, come have a decisive one-on-one battle with me.” With that said, the Old Witch floated into the air. When she was able to clearly see the scene before her, she all of the sudden dropped from the sky.

“Heavens! This is even greater than what a fifth ranked Magic Daoshi can achieve! How terribly frightening.”

A copious amount of troops had rushed here. For a moment, the Residence of Eccentrics was in utter disarray.

Chu Yue promptly relayed the information to the troops and ordered them to blockade the place. After that, she dispatched men to arrange brand new residences for every eccentric.

After completely handling all the problems in front of her, Chu Yue brought Chen Nan to the imperial palace. In a private room, she asked him to detail all the events that had just conspired.

“Chen Nan, have you recovered your power?”

“Yes, it has been recovered in full.”

“That’s great! My Empire of Chu has gained yet another remarkable eccentric. Is this the matter you called me for?”

“Yes, I wished to tell the princess this good news.”

“Why did you shoot two arrows with Houyi Bow? Not only did you attract the amazement of everyone in the imperial capital, but you also destroyed the Residence of Eccentrics.” When her words reached this topic, an unhappy look appeared on Chu Yue’s face.

Chen Nan sneered in his heart. He had already prepared a lie. “After I recovered my power, the vital qi within my body began to constantly expand until I lost control and only wanted to unleash it, so I used Houyi Bow. The first arrow was shot into the sky resulting in a unique, brilliant view. I feared this would cause unnecessary trouble, so the second arrow was shot underground. I didn’t expect the might of the golden arrow to actually be this great for it to actually destroy half of the Residence of Eccentrics. Princess, please punish me.”

Chu Yue’s unhappy expression faded. She smiled as she said, “A residence isn’t much anyway. As long as you recovered your power, even if you destroyed the place again, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

After the inquiry, Chu Yue reiterated to him the matter involving the three dragon riders. He needed to begin his preparations. In three days’ time, if no one else was capable of matching those three people, then he would be required to go up onto the stage wielding Houyi Bow.

After Chen Nan listened to this, he asked, “If we do this, won’t my secret state official status go from secret to public? Wouldn’t everybody know?”

Chu Yue replied, “We only needed to keep you as a secret state official before because we were in need of concealing your strength so no one would be on guard against you. This is the time for your secret to become public. You must demonstrate the might of my Chu.”

Chu Yue and Chen Nan conversed for a very long time. The atmosphere was much more jovial than before.

Chen Nan secretly gave an icy laugh in his mind. Finally, he stood up and bowed to Chu Yue. “There’s this matter in which I politely ask for the princess’s assistance.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“I want to take Nalan Ruoshui as my wife. Can the princess please assist me with this?” Chen Nan didn’t have any other better plans but to push himself forward onto the stage and directly compete with Sima Lingkong. So long as he was able to temporarily prevent the Sima Family from requesting marriage, all the matters afterward would be much simpler to handle.

“This…” Chu Yue crumpled her refined eyebrows. She found this a bit difficult to handle. If Chen Nan had put forward this kind of request in the past, she wouldn’t even need to think about it before immediately firmly refusing him. But the present couldn’t be compared with the past. Now, Chen Nan wielding Houyi Bow was equivalent to a fifth ranked exceptional expert. Furthermore, it was expected that in three days’ time, his name would move the world.

As for this genius, she could only inveigle and placate him. But if Nalan Ruoshui were really married to Chen Nan, it would undoubtedly offend the greatly influential Sima Family. This was a complex problem for her to solve.

“Great General Sima is currently using his eldest son to raise the topic of marriage. He has already requested my father the emperor’s blessing, but he hasn’t decided yet. I’ll report your request to my father and ask him to make a decision.”

---

[1] 紅顏/rosy cheeks can also mean ‘beauties’.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 2: Dragon Soaring in the Imperial Capital 第二卷 龍騰帝都

Chapter 7: Great Battle at the Imperial Palace 第七章 皇宮大戰


Although Chen Nan didn’t receive a definite answer, the nature of the matter already improved. Now that his ‘value’ was about the same as that of the Sima Family, the emperor was forced to keep him close and wouldn’t easily offend him.

After he left the imperial palace, his mood was much happier than before.

Upon arriving at the new Residence of Eccentrics, he instantly saw the two blood-red eyes of the Old Poison Devil. The old man was staring ferociously at him like a wolf.

Chen Nan grew cold. He turned around to flee.

“You goddamn boy, stand still for me. You destroyed the Residence of Eccentrics and scared away all of my darlings… I need to poison you ten thousand times!

“Take this! Decaying Corpse Poison, Red-Crowned Crane Skull Extract, Heartbroken Grass… Bone-Transforming Pellets, Seven Step Soul Breaking Powder~!” With trembling hands, the Old Poison Devil threw a bunch of poison at Chen Nan. Every bag of poisonous powder burst near his body, enveloping his whole body in a vast fog of poison.

Chen Nan loudly cried out, “Perverted old man, are you playing seriously? Hurry and give me the antidote, I can’t—” Right when he opened his mouth, the poisonous air was vacuumed into his mouth and nostrils. He sensed himself grow groggy.

“I’ve said before, I need to poison you ten thousand times! Die, then I’ll resurrect you; live, so I can poison you to death again!”

Chen Nan didn’t dare open his mouth to speak. With all his strength, he put his ancestral profound skill to use. Specks of golden light and a faint golden glow suffused from his body. A thin, golden halo emerged from the surface of his body, obstructing the poisonous fog from getting close. Simultaneously, he hurriedly circulated his inner vital qi over and over again throughout all of his blood vessels. He began to force the bit of poisonous fog that he had inhaled out of his body.

After seeing Chen Nan not collapse after so much time had passed, the Old Poison Devil began concocting more poisons with even greater toxicity. Twenty or so bags of poison simultaneously flew from his hands. The vapour even spread to the entrance of the Residence of Eccentrics. The warriors standing guard were so frightened, they avoided it from a great distance.

The news of this event attracted many eccentrics to come watch. When two people accidentally breathed in the diffusing poisonous gas and collapsed on the spot, the Old Poison Devil threw them several bags of antidote, allowing the two of them to free themselves from the verge of death.

The majority of these eccentrics were practitioners with profound cultivation. With one glance, they could see that Chen Nan had already successfully obstructed the poisonous gas from coming close to his body. They were deeply shocked by his consummate skill.

Step by step, Chen Nan penetrated through the area of poisonous fog and walked towards the Old Poison Devil.

“Perverted old man, are you finished yet? Do you want to keep playing?” With that said, he clenched his fists, deliberately cracking his knuckles loudly.

The Old Poison Devil’s expression drastically changed. He ultimately wailed, “It doesn’t make any sense! Just a few days ago, you looked like he couldn’t even resist the wind. Now you’ve unexpectedly become abnormally strong, even unafraid of poison. I’ll poison you, I’ll keep poisoning you… I’ll poison you ten thousand times!”

Bag after bag of poisonous powder once again exploded in Chen Nan’s vicinity again. The eccentrics watching all retreated.

Chen Nan never expected that after his ancestral profound skill had entered the third Chongtian, he’d actually be capable of resisting poison. This accidental discovery left him pleasantly surprised. He once again made his way through the area of the poisonous fog and gave the Old Poison Devil a toothy grin. With his right hand, he pointed underneath the old man’s foot. Sword qi shot out from his finger and pierced the marble underneath the Old Poison Devil’s foot.

The Old Poison Devil jumped back in fear, quickly retreating.

Many of the distant eccentric onlookers were martial artists with profound cultivation. After they saw that luminous sword qi, they all looked utterly astounded. They were incapable of conceiving that this young junior was actually a third ranked martial artist who had attained the level of Sword Qi Beyond the Body. He wasn’t any bit inferior to those practitioners who were already decades of years old.

Sima Lingkong’s eyes emitted a jealous, resentful light. He clenched his fists, wanting to immediately rush up and beat that formally incomparably ordinary guy.

“Goddamn boy, don’t come over here…” The Old Poison Devil continuously stepped back.

Chen Nan advanced forward and grabbed onto his arm. “Perverted old man, do you still want to play?

Seeing the dimly glowing golden halo surrounding Chen Nan’s body, the old man promptly shook his head and said, “Not playing anymore. How can I have such bad luck? All my neighbours are competing with each other in being abnormal, competing with each other in being crazy…”

Chen Nan said with a low voice, “Don’t complain, I have something to give you. You’ll certainly be happy.”

With a crestfallen and forlorn look, The Old Poison Devil said, “What lousy thing? I’m not interested in martial arts; as long as I have the skill to defend myself, I’m content.”

“Poison Scriptures.”

“What?!” The Old Poison Devil shouted, “Really?”

“Of course really. I originally wanted to give them to you when I left the Residence of Eccentrics, but seeing your look as if you wanted to eat me, I’d better give it to you as soon as possible.”

The Old Poison Devil grabbed Chen Nan and ran back to his courtyard. After closing the courtyard gate firmly, he impatiently asked, “Where are the Poison Scriptures?”

From his bosom, Chen Nan fished out a scroll of creased, coarse paper. “Here, for you.”

All of the sudden, the Old Poison Devil jumped up into the air and said, “Goddamn disgraceful boy, you even made me happy for a second. Bringing some straw paper to deceive me…”

Chen Nan placed that paper into the old man’s hands. “Whether or not you believe is your prerogative.”

With a suspicious look, the Old Poison Devil unrolled the paper scroll and examined it slowly. The more he read, the more excited be became. Finally, he couldn’t help but yell out, “They’re really the Poison Scriptures! This is great!” He quickly turned the pages of the paper. When he reached the final page, he cried out, “Why does it seem like there’s a few pages missing?”

Chen Nan scratched his head. “Last time I went to the toilet, I think I used three pages.”

“You…” The Old Poison Devil basically vomited blood immediately upon hearing those words. He pointed at Chen Nan and said, “You… actually used the Poison Scriptures as toilet paper? My God! Sacred poison ancestors, poison this boy ten thousand times to death!”

“Perverted old man, are you sure you’re not making a mistake? It was I who gave the Poison Scriptures to you, yet you’re actually cursing me like this…”

With a bitter face, the old man said, “Who made you ‘vandalize’ the last three pages of the Poison Scriptures? Do you still remember the content written on those pages?”

“En, they left a little impression on me. I suppose if I were to go to the toilet again, I’d remember it all.”

“You…” The Old Poison Devil looked like he had died from anger.

“Perverted old man, look at the bitter look on your face. In truth, the last three pages didn’t have much content, so listen carefully…”

The Old Poison Devil was jubilant upon hearing this surprising news. With full attention, he memorized everything Chen Nan said.

“Alright, remember it all. When the time comes, don’t coming looking for me on the toilet to ask me again.”

The Old Poison Devil scowled. “You disgraceful boy, how the hell did you obtain this book? Was it during those days you were at the imperial library room of ancient texts? Is that where you found it?”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t know how to thank you. To me, this book is truly incredibly significant. En, I’ll write off how you scared away all of my darlings then.”

“Aren’t you a bit too petty?”

The Old Poison Devil said, “Just now I heard you say you originally planned to give these Poison Scriptures to me when you leave. Don’t tell me you want to leave?”

Chen Nan said, “In the Residence of Eccentrics, the only person I am friendly with is you, and the only person I trust is you, so I didn’t want to force you into keeping my secret. Sooner or later, I’ll be leaving. Please keep this a secret.”

The Old Poison Devil nodded. “I already knew you’d be leaving. Will you be waiting until after you marry cool water before leaving? After you leave, you mustn’t forget about my old self.”

“You damn perverted old man. Don’t worry, every time I go to the toilet, I’ll always think of you…” Chen Nan laughed as he took great strides away.

Three days later, the sixtieth birthday of Chu Han, the Emperor of Chu, was ceremoniously held at the imperial palace. Civil and military officials already went to congratulate him. The rare, precious objects (the presents) were stacked up like a mountain. Naturally, the most dazzling present was the Little Princess’s sparkling petal from the radiant Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus. Its sweet fragrance seeped deeply into everyone’s hearts.

In the splendidly golden and jade main hall of the imperial palace, songs were being sung and dances were being danced in celebration of the peace and prosperity of the country. Along with the melodious playing of string and wind instruments, all the officials sung the emperor’s praises. Words of praise could constantly be heard. After Chu Han received all of his subjects’ respectful congratulations, he ordered the feast to begin. In a short while, the hall was filled with drinking and gambling intermixed. The fragrance of wine flooded everyone’s nostrils.

Although not all the presents sent by everyone from the Residence of Eccentrics were rare objects, they were still classified as special guests; their arranged seating was not too far away from the emperor. They were of equal footing with the major court officials. Everyone toasted one another. The strong smell of alcoholic was unmistakable.

The great hall was filled with festive activities. There was endless singing and dancing and music drifted in the air. The ruler and his ministers drank and chatted joyfully.

After three rounds of wine and five flavours of dishes, the matter that everyone had been anticipating finally arrived. One person stood up from the banquet, bowed to Chu Han, and said, “Your Majesty Emperor Chu, do you not reckon this singing and dancing to be too weak? The Great Chu is grand; its territory stretches countless li. The founding emperor used military force to begin this empire. Could it be that after the younger generation of royalty idly sat and defended their ten thousand li of rivers and mountains, they only know how to enjoy decadent music?”

These words could be said to be utmost rude. Every single court minister’s face changed colour. They all angrily denounced these words in succession.

“You are the envoy from the vassal state of Tianyang? You’re rather brave. How rudely brazen!”

“Little State of Tianyang’s envoy, to actually rudely talk to your ruling empire’s emperor like this, do you wish to revolt?”

“Audacious! Is your State of Tianyang planning to conspire against the law?”

…

The envoy from the State of Tianyang was neither nervous nor hurried. “Small official truly never intended to offend the emperor. I simply wish to invite His Imperial Majesty to enjoy some demonstrations from agile and brave martial artists.”

The Emperor of Chu laughed. “Good, I have heard a few days earlier that the State of Tianyang is flush with experts. Although their territory is small, their population of exceptional experts is no less than that of a major power. Today, please allow us to expand our horizons.”

With a gesture from Chu Han, the female singers, dancers, and musicians all withdrew.

In a moment, three people entered the hall from outside. Each of the three appeared to be about twenty years old. Every one of them had incomparably tall, lofty builds. Muscles rippled down their bodies like dragons. They were brimming with explosive power.

The three of them bowed to Chu Han. One of them said, “We wish to spar in martial arts. There is no meaning behind this; we merely wish to invite the young heroes from the Empire of Chu to exchange pointers.”

One of the ministers from the Empire of Chu said, “Are you publicly challenging us? Do you desire to compete with one of my Great Chu’s heroes?”

One of the three said, “If your distinguished self considers it to be like this, then we mustn’t.”

At this time, the Eldest Princess Chu Yue began to speak: “If you wish to experience the talent of our Empire of Chu’s youthful practitioners, I can give you a worthy answer. We accept your challenge.”

The three people were delighted.

“The three of us are dragon riders. We possess our own dragons, so it’s not possible to compete within this imperial hall.”

Just then, Chu Han replied, “Then we can go to the imperial palace’s martial arts practice arena. I did not expect my birthday to be this marvelous. To actually be able to view a dragon rider compete with someone, hehe…” Chu Han carried a faint smile on his face, as if he could already see those three dragon riders suffering a crushing defeat. Indeed, with Chen Nan who was capable of drawing back Houyi Bow, he wasn’t one bit anxious.

However, the happiest person present was actually the Little Princess. She was the first to jump up. “Great! At last, I can finally see some stupid dragons fly and fight in the sky, hehe!”

All the court ministers heard this and looked at each other in dismay.

The empress got a hold of the princess and flicked her forehead, saying, “You little mischievous girl, you really are only fearful of the world lacking chaos! You...!”

The princess gleefully giggled.

The civil and military officials accompanied the emperor to the imperial palace’s practice arena. Chu Han sat at the center of a viewing terrace. The empress sat beside him. At either side of the two were the several princes and the two princesses. All the ministers sat at a lower platform below.

One of the three dragon riders walked to the center of the arena. He faced the sky and let out a long cry. His voice seemed to surge like lightning as it shot into the distance. Shortly, a black dot appeared in the distant sky. As the black dot grew larger and larger, a six or seven zhang long Flying Dragon arrived overhead the practice arena. It endlessly circled around in the sky.

The dragon rider gestured towards the sky. The Flying Dragon directly descended, landing at his side. With its descent, a fierce wind erupted, causing several civil officials to cry out fearfully.

The dragon rider quickly leapt on top of the dragon’s back. He said to everyone watching, “Before we begin, there is something I must first explain. The three of us cannot continuously keep battling. Therefore, the Empire of Chu can only select a few delegates; at most, nine. Each one of us can receive three opponents, but each battle must be one-on-one.”

This dragon rider was awfully conceited. His words implied that three heroes from the Empire of Chu could not even rival a single dragon rider from the State of Tianyang. Immediately, many angry rebukes arose from the crowd.

All the members of the Residence of Eccentrics sat together. The Old Poison Devil quietly said, “He’s wild enough, but he has the ability to act wild.” He turned his head and said to Chen Nan, “Do you understand? Although the State of Tianyang is small, it has numerous practitioners. The number of profound practitioners from their nation is no fewer than our Empire of Chu. Because of this, the experts originating from this state absolutely cannot be underestimated.”

Chen Nan nodded. He long since sensed the formidable power emanating from the three of them. All of them had already reached the level of second ranked practitioners. But among the three of them, the one who had not said a word was the one who he took particular note of. He sensed that person was on the verge of becoming a third ranked practitioner. He was a genuine powerful opponent.

Chu Yue said, “Nine people are not necessary; three is enough.” She turned her head, faced all the onlookers, and asked, “Who wishes to have a taste of these three dragon riders?”

The young experts in the army successively stood up, wishing to battle the dragon riders.

As for the eccentrics of the Residence of Eccentrics, not many volunteered themselves. Few of them were young enough to participate.

The candidates were chosen; all were members of the Residence of Eccentrics. The first candidate was a young Intermediate Magus. His strength was already of the level of a second ranked practitioner. The second candidate was Sima Lingkong. His injured Flying Dragon had already received treatment from the Old Witch’s holy light. The third candidate was Chen Nan. He never volunteered himself; the Eldest Princess had selected him.

The magus was the first to take part in battle. He lightly hovered from the viewing platform over to the center of the arena.

The dragon rider laughed. “Magi are few in number; they’re not something you see every day. I didn’t expect to be fortunate enough to battle with a magus of the second rank today. I’m truly honoured!”

The magus said, “Well said, but dragon riders are an even rarer species. It’s truly strange to be able to suddenly see three dragons today!”

The dragon rider coldly laughed, “Heihei, it appears that dragon riders are a magus’s nemesis. Today, you’ll definitely die!”

The magus laughed. “Beat me? Keep talking bullshit.”

The two of them mutually faced each other with needles and spears^[1]. Their mouths were ruthless.

The dragon rider gripped a Dragon Slaughtering Lance. Patting his dragon’s head, the Flying Dragon soared into the sky.

“Weak magus, make your move.”

The magus wielded a magic wand. Softly casting aloud a spell, the magic wand scattered. Like a bolt of lightning, it streaked towards the dragon rider. The intense electric current’s ‘bilipala’ crackling incessantly sounded.

The Flying Dragon didn’t wait for its master’s command as it quickly dodged to the side in a flash. The entire lightning bolt streaked into the ground, gouging a deep, sizeable crater.

The Flying Dragon brought about a fierce wind as it surged towards the magus. The magus swiftly drifted into the sky. With another brandish of his magic wand, ten spears of ice appeared. With an ear-splitting roar, they pierced towards the sky. Twinkling with a thick, cold light, they shot towards the dragon rider.

The dragon rider already didn’t have ample time to dodge. With the Dragon Slaughtering Lance, scarlet battle qi was emitted from the lance’s point and shot towards the ice spears, shattering each and every one. They all dropped to the ground. Subsequently, he urged his Flying Dragon to once again ram the magus. At the same time, the Dragon Slaughtering Lance trembled. Like the blade of a sword, battle qi shot towards the magus with a ‘chichi’.

The magus immediately evaded while simultaneously incanting a spell. He produced a light blue magical screen to protect himself. But the dragon rider’s battle qi was abnormally powerful. As if it possessed unstoppable power, several cracks streaked across the magical screen, causing the magus to cry out fearfully.

The dragon rider laughed out loud. “I told you, didn’t I? Dragon riders are a magus’s nemesis. You’re dead.” The Flying Dragon continued to pursue and attack the magus in the sky.

A sneer appeared at the edge of the magus’s mouth. The instant the magical screen disintegrated, he lightly brandished his magic wand. A vast blade of wind coldly flickered like ice as it shot towards the Flying Dragon. Following closely behind it was a tremendous bolt of lightning. The air was filled with violent waves of magical energy.

The dragon rider’s expression took a turn. In a hurry, a dazzling, powerful light erupted from his body. Scarlet battle qi obstructed the blade of wind and the bolt of lightning, but it only endured for a short moment. The battle qi’s brilliance gradually dimmed.

The court officials from the Empire of Chu successively showed cheerful expressions, but the eccentrics with profound cultivation from the Residence of Eccentrics didn’t look the least bit happy.

This was the first time Chen Nan witnessed a fight between a dragon rider and a magus. He found this type of battle in the sky to be rather novel. He inwardly thought, “What level do martial artists have to reach before they are capable of using their own power to fly?”

Suddenly, the situation in the sky took a turn. The clothes on the dragon rider’s body suddenly blew apart. Every strand of his long hair was erect. Like raging flames, scarlet battle qi raged out from his body.

“Weak magus, die!”

Scarlet battle qi shielded the dragon rider and his Flying Dragon as they rushed forward. Every single blade of wind slid off to the sides. The energy remaining in the bolt of lightning was also currently being diminished. With another ‘bilipala’ crackle, it vanished.

The magus was utterly stunned. He already didn’t have enough time to dodge. He hurried to cast another magical screen, but under the dragon rider’s powerful attack, it was no use. It shattered in the blink of an eye. The magus was rammed by the Flying Dragon’s gigantic body. With a miserable shriek, he fell head first to the ground. A splattering of his blood remained in the air.

All the onlookers cried out in surprise. The medical staff hastily ran to the arena. After a careful examination, they found the magus’s sternum completely shattered. He was already dead.

The dragon rider let out a long cry to the sky. His Flying Dragon followed suit with a howl and a triumphant flip in the sky, although the maneuver didn’t look too mighty.

---

[1] 針鋒相對/mutually face each other with needles and spears; meaning ‘oppose each other with equal harshness’.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 2: Dragon Soaring in the Imperial Capital 第二卷 龍騰帝都

Chapter 8: Shooting Down Heavenly Dragons 第八章 彎弓射天龍


No one expected the formidable magus to be defeated in the blink of an eye. The dragon rider’s martial glory shone as he displayed his valour in the sky. The faces of the Emperor of Chu and his ministers all turned remarkably hideous.

At the moment, perhaps only the Little Princess was still smiling. She gazed at the Flying Dragon in the sky and muttered, “I never thought that ugly thing would actually be this awesome. If I had one of those mounts, that’d be great. I’d be able to fly anywhere I want. Ai, but I’m afraid this dragon is out of luck. When it’s that degenerate Chen Nan’s turn to go up on stage, it’ll definitely be shot down with just a single arrow.”

Remembering that Chen Nan had recovered his power, the princess’s mood was strangely complex. At the start, it could be said that she hadn’t held any good opinions of Chen Nan whatsoever. Later, she had sapped him of all his power until there was none remaining. It was only then did she begin to feel a bit of guilt in her heart. But the instant she recalled how Chen Nan had captured her and the events that unfolded as a result, she turned resentful and too ashamed to show herself.

“That hateful, smelly thief, sooner or later, I’ll properly put you in your place. Don’t believe I’ve forgotten about all those past affairs.”

If Chen Nan knew the princess was planning on going after him again, he wouldn’t know what to think of it.

The empress asked, “Yu’er, what are you muttering about?”

“Oh, nothing.”

At the moment, Sima Lingkong had already mounted his Flying Dragon and had flown to the arena from the imperial palace. Everyone watching in the crowd cheered. Sima Lingkong was extremely happy in his heart. He felt like he was similar to the embodiment of an exceptional hero pulling strongly against the crazy tide to save the desperate, lost crisis.

He carefully scanned the crowd and finally found Nalan Ruoshui, but he was disappointed. Nalan Ruoshui was basically not looking at him. This made him incredibly angered. He turned his head again and looked towards Chen Nan. Chen Nan currently had on his face a smile that wasn’t a smile as he looked back at him. The fury in his heart began to boil turbulently. He hated not being able to immediately smash that guy into pieces for making him feeling utterly disgusted.

In the sky, two dragon riders faced each other from afar. Their Flying Dragons were viciously staring at their counterpart.

Suddenly, a long cry roared from the ground to the clouds. Another Flying Dragon could be heard flying towards them from the distance. The Flying Dragon circled the practice arena once before landing on the ground. Another dragon rider from the State of Tianyang leapt on top of his Flying Dragon and soared into the sky.

“Younger apprentice brother, go take a rest. Let me handle this person.”

“Second apprentice brother, I’m not tired. Let me finish this guy before I rest.”

“That won’t do. Immediately go down and rest. This one is mine.”

Sima Lingkong quickly turned his nose up at this in anger. These two people actually regarded him as nothing. They were not worried about him at all. He loudly intervened, “Are the two of you finished being long-winded? Which one of you is coming to taste death first?”

The dragon rider that had just finished his battle with the magus turned and gave him a glance. Afterwards, he turned his head back to that other dragon rider and said, “Second apprentice brother, I’ll let you have this one. Make sure you lay waste to his dragon, too.” With that said, he rode his Flying Dragon to the ground.

Sima Lingkong nearly blew up in rage. With a sneer, he said, “Let’s see who ends up as waste!”

The weapons of both dragon riders in the sky were western giant swords that were both long and broad. The eerie, cold flickering of light from the blades intimidated one’s very soul.

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

Simultaneously, the two of them propelled their Flying Dragons soaring forward. The two Flying Dragons blew up a fierce gale as they flew at one another. Battle qi from both dragon riders excited their respective giant swords. With the boost from the splendid, bright battle qi, the swords resembled lightning. A low rumble resounded through the sky.

The ministers of the Chu court watching the battle were all on the edges of their seats, as if they were the ones who were currently battling.

After the battle qi collided in the sky, a dazzling brilliance exploded out. An intense wave of energy erupted from the collision.

The two Flying Dragons endured the wave of energy. They flew past each other a few times before flying back to their respective sides.

The chests of Sima Lingkong and the other dragon rider were heaving up and down. There was not much of a discrepancy in power between the initial attacks from both parties. Their strength was more or less equal.

Again, they propelled their Flying Dragons forward. Battle qi raged haphazardly in the sky. The two of them battled fiercely.

The practitioners with profound cultivation of the Residence of Eccentrics all began discussing the brawl with one another. Someone sighed, “Dragon riders are indeed incomparably powerful. With the support of a dragon’s might, they’re like tigers that sprouted wings. They possess great offensive strength, and they’re capable of flight. The strength of dragon riders is much more tyrannical than other practitioners of equal rank.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, the battle in the sky was turning blazingly intense. The Flying Dragons snarled, the battle qi raged in the sky, and the practice arena was filled with brilliant flashes of light. Battle qi was violently launched in every direction in the sky.

Sima Lingkong’s emerald battle qi faced off against the Tianyang dragon rider’s blue battle qi. Endless ‘chichi’ sounds erupted as their fierce strikes cleaved through the air.

The Emperor of Chu sighed in praise, “What a great battle. It has already been a long time since I’ve seen ranked experts battle. Not only that, but this is a battle between dragon riders. It is indeed marvelous. Dragon riders are worthy of being called the fighters of practitioners.”

The empress nodded in agreement. “Yes, dragon riders really are incomparably tyrannical. They’re much more suited for battle than other practitioners.”

The several princes and two princesses were also on the edges of their seats. In particular was the Little Princess. Her hands and feet were dancing in excitement. If not for Chu Yue holding onto her, perhaps she may have even fallen off the viewing terrace.

Under the violent attacks of battle qi, the clothing of both dragon riders were shredded into pieces, exposing their muscular builds. Under the effect of battle qi, the giant swords in their hands were even more magnificent. Accompanied by the low sound of thundering wind, there appeared to be a wild dance of lightning in the sky.

Sima Lingkong suddenly roared wildly. Man and dragon transformed into a green arrow as they shot towards the Tianyang dragon rider. Not to be outdone, the Tianyang dragon rider let out a long cry to the sky and willed his Flying Dragon onward to meet Sima Lingkong head on.

All the onlookers watching the battle became impassioned with boiling blood at the scene. They all got up to their feet. Everyone knew that the final confrontation was approaching.

Shining brilliance erupted from the dragon riders’ entire bodies. Like two balls of torrential flames, the giant swords hacked down at one another with resplendent battle qi. The blades collided.

“Honglonglong!”

With an accompanying rumble of thunder, a ball of dazzling radiance, like the sun, exploded in midair. An incredible wave of energy left the hearts of all the onlookers pounding in fear.

The two Flying Dragons wailed. Their bodies were littered with many great wounds. Watery blood continuously rained down. Ultimately, after a bit of swaying, they fell from the sky.

The two dragon riders mounted atop the Flying Dragons had already became bloody men. Their giant swords had already snapped into fragments. Their hands gripped the remaining halves of their respective swords. They both suffered major injuries and were equally too powerless to continue battling. With a mutual glance at one another, they finally fainted on top of their dragons’ backs. The Flying Dragons also fell towards the ground.

“Hong!”

“Hong!”

The two Flying Dragons hit the floor.

This battle had been incomparably desperate. Both dragon riders and their Flying Dragons were equally too injured to stand up again. It was judged to be a draw.

One loss and one draw. From the point of view of the Empire of Chu, the situation wasn’t looking too optimistic.

The State of Tianyang still had two dragon riders remaining, while the Empire of Chu now only had Chen Nan.

Carrying Houyi Bow on his back, Chen Nan advanced towards the arena. He found Nalan Ruoshui within the crowd. A look of concern covered her face, warming Chen Nan’s heart.

The Old Poison Devil yelled from behind him, “Be careful!”

The Old Witch also yelled, “Youngster, land the finishing blow early!”

One after another, everyone from the Residence of Eccentrics encouraged him as he advanced forward.

Chen Nan was dressed in the manner of an eastern martial artist. His outward appearance was seemingly quite ordinary. He didn’t have a very sturdy or robust physique, nor did he have a lofty stature. This left the civil and military officials very disappointed. They had thought that if Chen Nan were a powerful dragon rider, or possibly even a mysterious Daoist, then perhaps there would still be hope for a victory in this competition. The court ministers of Chu had already lost confidence in him. They really weren’t too optimistic as the battle was about to begin.

With great strides, Chen Nan walked to the center of the arena.

After the dragon rider who had yet to battle took a look at him, his eyes emitted a cold light. He began having misgivings, because he was unable to see how profound Chen Nan’s cultivation was.

The dragon rider who had battled in the first bout said, “Eldest apprentice brother, you better let me take this one. This man isn’t even worthy of sparring with you.”

The dragon rider who was the so-called eldest apprentice brother gave Chen Nan another look, and then nodded his head.

The dragon rider rode his Flying Dragon into the sky, arriving overhead Chen Nan.

“Haha! Could it be that the Empire of Chu has run out of fighters and is resigned to send you up onto the stage? Do you think you can rely on your eastern martial skills to win a victory over me, a dragon rider? Haha!” The dragon rider laughed wildly.

Chen Nan calmly said, “That’s right. Eastern martial study has gradually declined in recent years, but you best not insult the prodigy my ancestors have left behind. Eastern martial study is extensive and profound. The reason it has declined is because the later generations have failed to comprehend its essence. If all its practitioners were remarkable geniuses, battle qi and magic would find it extremely difficult to strive in the face of such fierce opposition. Today, I’ll have you experience the true meaning of eastern martial arts. On behalf of my martial ancestors, I’ll teach you a lesson, you unworthy child who has forgotten your own origins.”

In the sky, the dragon rider’s face turned red in anger. He furiously said, “Boy, it isn’t your turn to teach me a lesson. If you do not lose your life under my Dragon Slaughtering Lance within ten moves, this match will be considered my loss!”

Chen Nan said, “Fine, I’ll also use a spear to accompany you.”

He walked over to the nearby weapons rack and collected a long spear forged from steel essence. With a light shake of his hands, he demonstrated ten spear tricks.

Up in the viewing terrace, the Emperor of Chu asked Chu Yue who was at his side, “What the hell is he doing? Why is he still carrying Houyi Bow on his back? Does he wish to use a spear to duel the dragon rider?”

Chu Yue furrowed her elegant eyebrows and said, “I also cannot tell what he’s doing.”

At the side, the Little Princess said, “Isn’t this guy’s martial arts as crappy as possible? Isn’t he just going off to his death?”

Just then, the dragon rider yelled out, “Boy, are you ready?”

With the long spear in his hands, Chen Nan walked over to the center of the arena. In a split second, the tremendous power within his body violently surged out. A faint golden glow surrounded his body. With every step he took, the practice arena would slightly quake.

The dragon rider turned pale in fright. At this moment, he was finally able to sense the incredible power within Chen Nan’s body.

Everyone watching also found that Chen Nan had undergone a transformation.

The Little Princess was the first to cry out, “Holy! How did this degenerate transform into someone else? When did he become this awesome? Aiyah, I better not bother him anymore.”

A bright light flashed through Chu Yue’s eyes as she smiled. “It seems a pleasant surprise will occur today!”

Chen Nan seemed like a monstrous mountain. The earth lightly quaked with every step he took. His formidable imposing manner even made the Flying Dragon that was up in the sky feel a sense of uneasiness, repeatedly letting out whines. When Chen Nan arrived at the center of the arena, he pointed the spear squarely at the Dragon Rider. “Come, I need to show you the true essence of eastern martial arts!”

The dragon rider was furious. Wielding the Dragon Slaughtering Lance, he dove straight down. A violent wind blew up the sand off the arena’s ground. With only one hand holding onto the spear, Chen Nan titled it towards the sky, standing calmly in the middle of the sandstorm.

“Boy, die!” The dragon rider’s Dragon Slaughtering Lance shot out ten spears of light in quick thrusts in blinding succession. The bright spears of light directly shot at Chen Nan.

Chen Nan wasn’t the least bit rushed. The long spear in his hand lightly trembled. The length of the spear suffused a splendid golden light. It seemed to combust into raging flames. The spearhead seemed to suffuse a tangible blade of light. This blade of light was brilliantly splendid. An indeterminate number of cold strikes flashed out towards its opponent. Watching the splendidly dazzling battle qi and the violently moving Flying Dragon soaring towards him, he shouted, “Spear of the Hegemonic God!”

In the air, the long spear transformed into ten spear images. Every spear image transformed into a spear made of light rising up. The sound of the air splitting, ‘chichi’, tore through the air incessantly.

Every single person watching displayed astounded expressions. Cries of surprise immediately began erupting from the crowd.

“Heavens! It’s really a spear made out of light^[1]!”

“This is the sword qi of eastern martial artists!”

“He’s truly reached the level of Sword Qi Beyond the Body!”

“Only eastern martial artists who have reached the third rank can do something like this!”

…

At this instant, Chen Nan truly appeared like an unrivalled hegemon. He was domineering and made others revere him. The spear struck the sky. With one strike by the golden spear of light, the flying battle qi was scattered. The nub of the spear of light was directly aimed at the Flying Dragon.

The dragon rider turned pale in fright. He urgently tried to stop his Flying Dragon’s downward descent, quickly dodging to the side.

The golden spear brushed past the Flying Dragon, ripping open its steel-hard draconic scales. A faint, bloody scar was left on the Flying Dragon’s flank.

The Flying Dragon let out a terrible wail. Ignoring its rider’s commands, it flew back into the sky disobediently.

Outside the arena, cheers of joy thundered. Everyone was excited. From the beginning when the magus had fought up until now, this was the first time the Empire of Chu was winning.

Seeing the raving crowd and that lonesome figure holding the spear standing in the middle of the arena below him, the dragon rider grew furious. Even with the aid of the Flying Dragon’s power, he was actually pushed back by a single spear strike. He felt like he had received the greatest insult. Again, he willed the Flying Dragon to dive down.

The dragon rider furiously and wildly shrouded his entire body with scarlet battle qi. Like a pulsing ball of flames, he gripped the Dragon Slaughtering Lance with both hands and rocketed towards Chen Nan.

This time, Chen Nan used both hands to grasp the spear. He had already concentrated all of his body’s power into the length of the spear. This was a risky maneuver. He wanted to end this battle as soon as possible—defeat the opponent with a single spear strike.

The spear seemed to be alive. The entire body of the spear was enveloped inside a golden glow. The length of the spear lightly trembled. A glowing spear of light, at least half a zhang long, erupted out from the actual spearhead. Its terrible might chilled everyone’s hearts.

In the blink of an eye, the dragon rider and his Flying Dragon arrived. Chen Nan held up the long spear and used it in a manner similar to that of a club. He called out, “One Spear Skyward!”

This powerful attack produced another thundering of the wind. The long spear swept up a dazzling brilliance as it slashed down towards the Flying Dragon and its dragon rider.

The dragon rider had already gathered all of his energy into his Dragon Slaughtering Lance. The blinding battle qi was equally as bright and magnificent. With the aid of his dragon’s power, he fiercely flew towards Chen Nan.

“Younger apprentice brother, quickly avoid it!” shouted the dragon rider who had yet to go on stage. He had only been watching the battles proceed the entire time.

Swooping down, the dragon rider also sensed that the long spear contained an incredible burst of power. However, there was already not enough time to dodge. He braced himself and continued with his attack.

The ‘One Spear Skyward’ scattered the dragon rider’s battle qi, destroyed his Dragon Slaughtering Lance into pieces, and continued onwards towards his chest.

The dragon rider was so scared, it seemed like his soul had already left his body. He quickly leapt off the Flying Dragon and tumbled down off to the side. Although he had dodged the fatal blow, the golden spear of light coming out of the spearhead acted like a sharp blade as it slashed open a giant, bloody wound into his abdomen. Bright, fresh blood violently spurted out. The dragon rider let out a blood-curdling scream as he fell to the ground.

Although the ‘One Spear Skyward’ didn’t accurately hit the dragon rider, it still successfully smashed the Flying Dragon. The colossal creature was actually smashed back over ten zhang by the spear strike. Ultimately, it dropped to the ground with a loud boom.

The entire practice arena was void of the chirping of crows and sparrows. After about half a minute of absolute silence, everyone burst into cheers that shook the sky.

Merely two strikes from Chen Nan had caused the dragon rider to dismount and the Flying Dragon to be smashed. This left everyone from the Empire of Chu to grow impassioned with boiling blood. They couldn’t contain their wild cheers.

The several experts among the army said, “He’s truly an eastern martial artist of the third rank! Too powerful, he really is too powerful! Even if he didn’t want others to admire him, others would still revere him!”

Everyone from the Residence of Eccentrics was discussing what just happened with one another. A martial artist with profound cultivation said, “Although it’s thanks to his profound power for allowing him to be able to pull off this quick win, you cannot deny this boy’s cultivation is astonishing…”

From the center of the viewing terrace, Chu Yue had a look of contemplation. “His cultivation is actually this profound, but Yu’er was able to capture him before. How strange…”

At first, the Little Princess’s feet and hands were dancing, but now she was muttering, “How did this guy suddenly become so powerful? And how come he can draw back Houyi Bow? He truly is an eccentric bastard…”

If Chen Nan and the dragon rider had had an ordinary battle, perhaps a victor could only be decided after ten exchanges were exceeded, but the two of them had use all of their power in just a few attacks, resulting in two powerful strikes being enough to decide the victor. Chen Nan turned around and looked in Nalan Ruoshui’s direction, but he could only regretfully see her back. He didn’t know why she was leaving the arena.

All around the practice arena, the loud cheering of the crowd continued for a long time before finally settling down.

The remaining, final dragon rider slowly walked over to the center of the arena. The aura of a strong practitioner overflowed from his body. His formidable imposing manner caused everyone watching to feel heavily oppressed. The arena suddenly became extremely quiet. Even those civil officials that didn’t understand any practitioner ways found this dragon rider to be terrifying.

The dragon rider shed his upper garment, exposing his bronze, rugged, muscular flesh. He threw the garment to the side. It disintegrated into pieces in midair. The pieces fluttered about until they fell onto the ground.

Chen Nan calmly gazed at the opposing dragon rider and said, “You’re very strong, but you aren’t my match.”

“I know, but I still need to win.”

Chen Nan didn’t understand. He didn’t know why he would say such a thing.

The dragon rider let out a long howl to the sky. His voice shook the vast sky.

A gigantic shadow flew towards them from the distance. A Monolithic Dragon over thirty zhang long appeared at the practice arena. Like a black cloud, it shrouded the arena from the celestial sun. It cast a massive shadow onto the ground.

This was a black Monolithic Dragon. It had shiny, pitch-black scales; a frightening, gigantic tail; a pair of broad wings; and a fierce head. It intimidated one’s soul and left them utterly terrified.

Everyone present at the arena turned pale in fright. They never thought the final dragon rider would actually possess a Monolithic Dragon of the fourth rank. This was simply something insurmountable!

The Emperor of Chu, Chu Han, had been confident the entire time up until now. He couldn’t help but tightly lock his brows. He didn’t know whether or not the wielder of Houyi Bow, Chen Nan, was capable of handling such a terrifying black dragon.

Although Chu Yue had seen Chen Nan in action and knew how incredibly powerful he was with Houyi Bow in hand, she also felt somewhat worried.

Princess Chu Yu wasn’t anxious at all as she watched the scene unfold before her. “Aiyah, degenerate will definitely become famous after this. If he shoots down a Monolithic Dragon, how could his name not move the continent? When that happens… how terribly bad it will be…”

Everyone from the Residence of Eccentrics was also in heated discussion.

The Old Poison Devil said, “This doesn’t make any sense. This youngster is only a second ranked Flying Dragon Rider. How can he have a forth ranked Monolithic Dragon?”

The Old Witch unblinkingly stared at that black Monolithic Dragon in the sky and said, “The owner of this black dragon is the fourth ranked Monolithic Dragon Rider Jason, that old ghost. I’ve seen it before. This kid must be Jason’s disciple. I never expected this kid to actually borrow that old ghost’s dragon.”

Chen Nan was carefully scanning through the crowd. Finally, he found Nalan Ruoshui. A warm current welled in his heart.

Regaining his state of mind, he gazed at the Monolithic Dragon overhead. He didn’t feel a single hint of fear. With a single hand holding the spear, he pointed it towards the sky. A fighting spirit erupted from his heart and shot to the sky.

When the dragon rider saw Chen Nan’s expression, a bewildered look appeared on his face. With a wave of his hand, the Monolithic Dragon began spiraling downwards into the arena. A fierce gale erupted, and a sandstorm blanketed the sky.

The dragon rider quickly climbed onto the black dragon’s back. The black dragon directly rocketed back into the sky. In the sky, it roared constantly. Its roars resembled rumbling, muffled thunder.

When everyone heard the deafening roar, they all felt dread. Up against a black dragon that was like a leviathan, even just watching the battle struck fear into their hearts, let alone actually battling it themselves.

A great battle broke out again. The dragon rider didn’t wield any weapons. He simply concentrated his entire heart and mind on steering the Monolithic Dragon.

“Pu!”

Diving down, the black dragon opened its colossal mouth and breathed out a cloud of draconic breath to engulf Chen Nan.

The draconic breath possessed a strong toxic and corrosive attribute. Normally, only fourth ranked Monolithic Dragons and higher had the capability of breathing this out. If ordinary people were to come into contact with just a drop of the draconic breath, they would be poisoned to a violent death. Simultaneously, the infected places would be dissolved.

Chen Nan’s figure moved like a flash of lightning. He quickly dashed horizontally a distance of ten zhang. The place he was originally standing in was instantly corroded by the draconic breath.

The Monolithic Dragon bellowed and shot out another three draconic breaths, forcing Chen Nan to continuously dodge around the arena.

All the onlookers were utterly terrified.

Up in the sky, the dragon rider yelled, “Concede and I’ll spare your life. You simply cannot prevail over this Monolithic Dragon.”

After Chen Nan dodged the final draconic breath, he stood in place and said, “I won’t necessarily lose.”

He already decided to use Houyi Bow. If he only relied on his own cultivation, he absolutely wasn’t capable of prevailing over this Monolithic Dragon.

Just then, the black Monolithic Dragon swooped down like a bolt of lightning striking the earth. After shooting out an intense draconic breath, it suddenly swung its colossal tail. It shrouded the sky as it hacked down.

Chen Nan was greatly startled. Employing his ancestral profound skill to its limit, steaming, golden flames raged on his body. Like a golden arrow, he hastily retreated to the very edge of the practice arena.

“Hong!”

The colossal draconic tail heavily struck the surface of the arena, and the earth fiercely quaked. Within the practice arena, dust and sand was blown into the air. When the smoke finally dispersed, a one zhang deep, two zhang wide, nearly ten zhang long ravine appeared within the arena.

Everyone watching outside of the arena inhaled a breath of cold air. The Monolithic Dragon’s strength was too frightening.

The Monolithic Dragon spun circles in the sky. With a roar, the vibrating sound wave rumbled like thunder.

Chen Nan took great strides from the edge of the arena back to the center. He didn’t look scared at all. When he arrived at the center of the arena, he fetched Houyi Bow off his back. He fixed the spear from his hand into the bowstring. Specks of golden light and a faint golden glow suffused from the pitch-black Godly Bow.

Most of the civil and military officials watching had never seen Houyi Bow before. Seeing him unexpectedly use a nearly one zhang long spear as a plumed arrow amazed them tremendously.

The world’s original vital qi frantically surged from everywhere to the center of the arena. An immense wave of energy surged on like a monumental tsunami.

At that moment, even the civil officials who did not understand practitioner ways felt the turbulently surging wave of energy. Everyone was shivering endlessly.

The world’s original vital qi surged towards Chen Nan. Powerful energy continuously flowed towards him and Houyi Bow. This caused the duo to produce a dazzling radiance. With an unwavering expression, he coldly gazed at the Monolithic Dragon in the sky.

At the viewing terrace, the Emperor of Chu nodded his head. “This youngster is seriously outstanding. He’s so young, yet he already possesses a generational expert’s demeanour.”

The Little Princess murmured, “This guy is very devilish, but right now, he actually seems proper…”

Nalan Ruoshui’s mood was extremely complicated. She almost didn’t believe her own eyes. The Chen Nan in the arena and the youth she had become acquainted with were completely different. She currently couldn’t see even a trace of his former self. They seemed to be two utterly different individuals. She felt like the distance between herself and Chen Nan had drastically grown…

The boundless energy in the arena began violently fluctuating. An endless number of light rays exploded out from Chen Nan and Houyi Bow. A tyrannical, peerless imposingness sprang out from his body.

Everyone could feel this intense pressure. For a split second, that youth wielding Houyi Bow at the center of the arena seemed to transform into a giant capable of supporting both the heaven and the earth. It gave everyone the urge to prostrate themselves in front of him and worship him.

Chen Nan had already gathered enough power. The golden brilliance surrounding Houyi Bow flowed like water towards the long spear. The spear forged from steel essence turned completely golden.

The heavenly Monolithic Dragon seemed to sense the dangerous aura. Its body shuddered as it let out an unreconciled roar. It flew up vertically, quickly trying to escape.

But it was already too late. Chen Nan gently released the bowstring. A golden bolt of lightning took off into the sky. A fierce storm erupted in the arena. The thunder rumbled.

This fantastic scene shook the courage of the entire crowd. Many of the more timid people were already cowering on the ground, limp.

In the blink of an eye, the golden lightning overtook the Monolithic Dragon. A reverberating, mournful howl roared through the sky. A vast rain of blood sprayed down from the heavens. The Monolithic Dragon, like a kite that had its string cut, fell head first to the ground.

Chen Nan quickly sprinted away from the arena. The gigantic black dragon fell directly to the ground head first. The earth rocked. Its draconic body smashed a huge, deep crater into the ground.

The people watching outside the arena almost didn’t dare believe their own eyes. The scene that had unfolded before them seemed to have come straight out of a legend. A youth unexpectedly shot down a Monolithic Dragon!

With this matchless arrow, Chen Nan stunned everyone’s innermost beings.

---

[1] So if you haven’t noticed, there’s a ton of light in basically every battle that happens. This spear of light thing is different than the actual spear. I am under the impression that they are using their qi to basically create qi projectiles that seem like weapons made out of light, so Chen Nan shot off ten spears made out of his brightly glowing qi from his actual spear. At other times, characters can also layer an edge made out of their qi onto their actual weapons to make it more damaging or whatever, as well as other effects.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 2: Dragon Soaring in the Imperial Capital 第二卷 龍騰帝都

Chapter 9: A Crazy Decision 第九章 瘋狂決定


The long spear shot by Houyi Bow had pierced the Monolithic Dragon through its left eye and burrowed through its head. This was a mortal arrow—it had killed the Monolithic Dragon instantaneously.

The dragon rider had fallen from the sky along with the Monolithic Dragon. With the Monolithic Dragon serving as his cushion, although his life wasn’t in any immediate danger, the fall still severely injured him, and he had fallen unconscious.

After the crowd got over their astonishment, they erupted into cheers that rocked the sky.

As everyone was cheering, in the depths of the imperial palace, the emperor’s great-great-grandfather, that old man over a hundred and seventy years old, sighed towards the sky, “Sure enough, it is as I expected… He is truly incredible…”

After his battle at the imperial palace, Chen Nan’s name thrilled the Empire of Chu. Soon thereafter, the news spread like a wildfire throughout the entire continent. The majority of practitioners knew that the Empire of Chu had gained a youthful expert that could shoot down heavenly dragons. With one battle, Chen Nan had become famous.

The following few days after the battle, an endless stream of people passed through the Residence of Eccentrics. Military officials of the court, experts from the military, they all came to pay respects to Chen Nan, so much that there were even quite a few people who had dropped by to propose marriage.

After Chen Nan defeated the dragon rider, the status of the Residence of Eccentrics once again improved. Every eccentric was revered by the people. This caused the manner of cultivation of the Empire of Chu to greatly flourish.

Within the imperial palace of Chu, Emperor Chu Han and the Eldest Princess Chu Yue were currently having a secret meeting.

Chu Han asked, “Have those three dragon riders already returned to the State of Tianyang?”

Chu Yue said, “Yes, they’re currently on the way back.”

Chu Han sighed. “These three are young talents. They’re all geniuses that are rare to obtain. What a pity it is that they aren’t citizens of my Chu. Because of this, there’s no way I can just let them leave. Otherwise, twenty years from now, the State of Tianyang will gain another three exceptional experts.”

Chu Yue smiled. “Father’s thinking is deep. I’ve already sent a carrier pigeon to deliver the letter. The day they reach the border of Tianyang is the day of their deaths.”

Chu Han nodded and said, “They already have heavily wounded bodies, so it shouldn’t prove much of a problem. This matter is easy to handle. In comparison, the matter involving Chen Nan is much more bothersome!”

Chu Yue creased her fine eyebrows. “Father, the day before the birthday banquet, we had already given our blessings for the marriage between Nalan Ruoshui and Sima Lingkong to proceed. Was this too careless? If Chen Nan were to find out about this, his heart will definitely harbour resentment towards us.”

Chu Han said, “I thought he was only capable of drawing back Houyi Bow. Who could’ve known he’d also be a third ranked martial artist at the level of Sword Qi Beyond the Body?”

Chu Yue said, “Yesterday, I already asked some of the eccentrics with profound cultivation in the Residence of Eccentrics about this. They said Chen Nan has great potential. Not only that, but it’s entirely possible there will come a day when he surpasses Elder Zhuge Chengfeng.”

Chu Han sighed. “In a few more days, it will be the date of Sima Lingkong’s marriage. At that time, if Chen Nan can’t refrain from attacking, it will be a true disaster! Maybe he will revolt against my Great Chu and seek refuge in another nation. If that happened, my Empire of Chu would not only lose a genius, but we’d also become a laughingstock of other nations.”

Chu Yue said, “If that’s the case, we had better hurry and retake Houyi Bow. If he really revolts against our Empire of Chu and abscond with Houyi Bow, that’d be disastrous.”

Chu Han said, “Doing something like that would be tantamount to forcing him to rebel against Chu. We’ll have to wait until this crisis passes before discussing this again. I presume there won’t be many mishaps happening.”

Chu Yue pondered for a moment. “Father has come to a decision. Actually, our actions are not at all inappropriate. Although he has incredible potential, he’s still just a single mere practitioner. He cannot compare with the resilient strength of a great clan.”

Not before too long, the Emperor of Chu dispatched men to the Residence of Eccentrics to confer upon Chen Nan fifty thousand gold coins, a hundred sets of silk clothing, and also bestowed upon him another title: ‘Protector of the Nation’. This could be said to be a massive honour. Eccentrics were already greatly respected. Now with the addition of the title of ‘Protector of the Nation’, his status grew in glory.

All the eccentrics went over to Chen Nan in order to congratulate him. The Old Poison Devil jokingly said, “Boy, you really know how to put on a show. One spear, one stick, and one arrow, all in exchange for the title of ‘Protector of the Nation’. How outstanding!”

The Old Witch squeezed herself through the crowd and said to Chen Nan, “Youngster, I need to remind you of something. If you ever go to the western continent, you must be careful. The black dragon you shot dead at the practice arena at the imperial palace was the mount of the Western Monolithic Dragon Rider Jason. Jason’s character is reclusive; he doesn’t enjoy associating with others, nor does he have any friends. It seems like that black dragon had been the only treasure in his life. Now that you’ve shot it dead, that old ghost will sooner or later come looking for you.”

Chen Nan nodded. He had already guessed that that black dragon wasn’t the Tianyang dragon rider’s mount.

For the past few days since the battle, Chen Nan had been bathing in unlimited riches and glory. This left the severely injured Sima Lingkong incredibly jealous and resentful. Although he had also received a hefty reward, it was a bit lacking in comparison to Chen Nan’s. Ultimately, in a fit of rage, he moved out of the Residence of Eccentrics and returned home to recuperate.

Five days after the great battle at the imperial palace, stunning news resounded at Chen Nan’s ears.

“The emperor has blessed the marriage between Sima Lingkong and Nalan Ruoshui to proceed. Their wedding date has been decided to be five days from now.”

When Chen Nan heard this news escape from the mouth of the Old Poison Devil, his expression drastically turned. Ruoshui was still being forced into a pit of fire. He originally believed that although the emperor may not have married Nalan Ruoshui off to him, he also wouldn’t so quickly have her marry Sima Lingkong either. He had thought the emperor would have definitely delayed any talks of marriage for a while before coming to a decision.

But in reality, this did not happen.

He had contributed a great merit to the imperial family, yet they were not giving him even half a thought. For them to so quickly come to their decision, no matter how he looked at it, he never expected this outcome. A flicker flashed through Chen Nan’s eyes. A faint, ruthless air appeared on Chen Nan’s face.

The Old Poison Devil jumped back in fright. “Boy, what’s wrong with you…?”

“Ah~!” Chen Nan let out a booming shout. The sound wave rolled like thunder, surging through the Residence of Eccentrics. Everyone in a circumference of ten li could hear his vehement voice. Chen Nan’s fury reached a whole new level. His look was sinister. A golden light vigorously flourished from his body. The torrential golden light on his body looked like raging flames.

The Old Poison Devil was so scared, he ran out of Chen Nan’s house and into the courtyard.

“Chi!”

A blade of sword qi burst out from the roof.

“Chi!”, “Chi!”…

Innumerable rays of sword qi came bursting out from the walls from within the house. The sword qi’s brilliance had a dazzle that seized the eyes. The sword qi raged, criss-crossing everywhere like a bolt of lightning snaking its way through the sky. With a rumble, the entire house collapsed.

Chen Nan stood in the debris and didn’t say anything for a long time.

The Old Poison Devil prudently and cautiously walked over to him and asked, “Chen Nan… are you okay?”

Chen Nan suppressed the anger raging in his heart. His expression gradually relaxed.

“Ai, if I were to say I’m alright, I’d be a liar. I didn’t think His Imperial Majesty would actually treat me like this. How heartless can he be?”

The Old Poison Devil said, “Five days ago, His Imperial Majesty bestowed upon you the title of Eccentric Protector of the Nation, yet he never said a word about the matter involving Nalan Ruoshui. His intentions are very clear…”

Just at that moment, the eccentrics living in the Residence of Eccentrics came one after another to Chen Nan’s courtyard. Seeing the rubble before them, they weren’t baffled at all. They already knew why Chen Nan was angry. They’ve known for a while now about the affair between Chen Nan, Nalan Ruoshui, and Sima Lingkong. After finding out the emperor had blessed the marriage between Sima Lingkong and Nalan Ruoshui, they all felt Chen Nan had suffered injustice.

“Ai, Chen Nan just recently contributed a great service to the Empire of Chu, I didn’t think…”

“With regards to the affairs of one’s life, of ten affairs, eight or nine of them will not coincide with your feelings…”

“Lad, don’t brood too much over it.”

…

Everyone said their condolences to Chen Nan.

Chu Yue already received the report. Creasing her brows, she said, “I only wish he doesn’t cause any problems.”

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed. There were two more days until the marriage between Sima Lingkong and Nalan Ruoshui. Sima Lingkong had already fully recovered from his injuries. In the past few days, although his reward hadn’t been as extravagant as Chen Nan’s, he still brought back a few beauties home. He believed Chen Nan liked Nalan Ruoshui and guessed that his counterpart was currently wallowing in grief and ire. When he thought of this, a grin formed at the corner of his mouth. He decided to go pay a visit to the Residence of Eccentrics.

Sima Lingkong was proud of his success. He greeted everyone he walk passed. With a left turn here and a right turn there, he arrived outside Chen Nan’s courtyard. Coincidentally, Chen Nan was just leaving. They faced each other.

“Why, isn’t this the Eccentric Protector of the Nation? Wherever must you go? Little brother was just about to pay respects to Eccentric Protector of the Nation-daren.” Whenever Sima Lingkong said the words ‘Protector of the Nation’, he would scowl harshly with a ridiculing expression.

Chen Nan grew furious. A cold light flickered at his eyes. Although he currently did not love Nalan Ruoshui, he still rather liked her. Moreover, she had his figure in her heart. He couldn’t possibly tolerate the eccentric girl suffering any misfortune; not after the kindness she had shown him.

“Sima Lingkong, don’t be so proud of yourself. Although the emperor has blessed your marriage, he doesn’t care about you at all. He only cares about your father, your family. You are merely the second generation, nothing more!”

Sima Lingkong coldly laughed. “Regardless of what you say, one thing hasn’t changed: two days from now, Ruoshui and I will get married. The groom isn’t you, heihei.”

“Sima Lingkong, **** off for me. I don’t want to look at you.”

“Fine. Since Eccentric Protector of the Nation-daren has spoken, I will take my leave. But in two days, you definitely have to come to my wedding ceremony. En, at that time, you can come play pranks on us newlyweds, heihei.”

Chen Nan’s face turned ashen. Watching Sima Lingkong gradually disappear off into the distance, he smashed the gate behind him into pieces with a single blow.

When Chen Nan appeared before the Old Poison Devil, the scared old man jumped back.

“Hey, boy, why is your expression so ugly? Are you ill?”

“Perverted old man, let me ask you, where does Ruoshui live?”

“You… What the hell are you trying to do? Boy, don’t cause any trouble. If you want to kidnap the bride, I urge you to give up. These past two days, the Eldest Princess has dispatched many warriors with profound cultivation to the left minister’s house to guard Nalan Ruoshui. You don’t have any chance.”

Chen Nan’s face soured. He inwardly sighed at how dreadful the Eldest Princess truly was. She actually anticipated his actions.

The night light was like water. The ten thousand bamboo flutes were silent. This was destined to be a sleepless night.

Chen Nan restlessly tossed and turned. He was carefully considering his options. “What should I do? Am I supposed to watch helplessly as Ruoshui marries that bastard?” A lively look shot out from his eyes as he said to himself, “Ruoshui has shown me great kindness, and her heart holds my figure. I can’t promise her anything, but there is absolutely no way I can sit idly by and watch her jump into a pit of fire. I must put a stop to this wedding. I can’t leave behind any regrets!”

Although he had come to a decision, there was still some worry left in his heart.

“In the short span of three months, so many unimaginable things have happened. After I resolve this problem, I have to leave this place as soon as possible.” Finally, he entered the realm of dreams.

In the early morning, Chen Nan ran over to the Old Poison Devil’s house.

Seeing his smiling expression, the Old Poison Devil grew suspicious. “Boy, your face has been ugly for the past few days; why has your prediction suddenly changed from overcast to clear?”

Chen Nan said, “Let’s chat inside.”

After they entered the house, he hastily hit ten or so major acupoints on the Old Poison Devil’s body. Although the Old Poison Devil’s martial arts was not bad, it was barely enough to be considered as not bad. He simply couldn’t be compared with ranked experts.

“Boy, what the **** are you doing? You—“

“Shush! Don’t shout loudly. I just want to have a proper chat with you.”

“You want to chat with me? Then why must you seal my acupoints?”

“Because the thing I need to talk to you about is too frightening. I feared you wouldn’t want to discuss it with me, so I came up with this ploy.”

“Speak, what the hell is the problem?”

“I know your poison techniques are the absolute best in the Empire of Chu. May you prescribe some medicine for me?”

“What medicine?”

“Something that won’t kill anyone. After taking the medicine, I just want it to temporarily cripple someone’s cultivation.”

The instant the Old Poison Devil heard this, he immediately cried, “Boy, what the hell are you trying to do? Do you really need to cause chaos?”

“That’s right, so do you have that kind of medicine?”

Upon hearing this request, the Old Poison Devil broke out into a cold sweat. “Chen Nan, don’t go make trouble. The imperial capital has plenty of experts; there’s no way you’ll end up successful.”

Chen Nan looked into the Old Poison Devil’s eyes. “Although there are many experts, I have Houyi Bow. No one can stop me.”

With a shaky voice, the Old Poison Devil said, “If you create chaos in the imperial capital, even if you are able to flee, the Empire of Chu can go after you across borders.”

“The world is so big, and I have not inferior martial arts. If I want to escape from pursuers from the Empire of Chu, I can easily do it. Perverted old man, do you have that kind of medicine?”

“N-no.”

“Liar. With one look at your face, I can tell you’re lying to me. On the basis of our friendship, you wouldn’t refuse to help me, right?”

“It isn’t that I don’t want to help you, it’s that I truly don’t have the heart to watch you jump into a pit of fire.”

“I already told you that you don’t have to worry; I am in absolutely no danger. You just have to give me that medicine and it’ll be fine.”

The Old Poison Devil’s face turned bitter. “You’re in no danger, but I certainly am. When the time comes and you run away, what am I supposed to do? They’ll definitely discover my involvement.”

Chen Nan thought for a moment. “It doesn’t matter. After you give me the medicine, I’ll knock you unconscious. When the time comes, just say I overpowered you.”

“No.” The Old Poison Devil scowled at him and said, “This method is too shoddy. If we do it like this, after they investigate me, there’s no way I’d be able to run.”

Chen Nan said, “Then what should we do? Tomorrow is Ruoshui’s wedding. If I don’t rescue her from her wedding ceremony tomorrow, her whole life will be ruined.”

“Do you insist on doing something so dangerous? Can’t you…” The Old Poison Devil wanted to say the word ‘abandon’, but no matter what, he couldn’t say it. Seeing the look of resolve on Chen Nan’s face, he finally let out a sigh and said, “Fine, I’ll throw caution to the wind. Before, you gave me the Poison Scriptures. In my eyes, that was an enormous favour. Even if you requested my life, I’d give it to you. Today, I’ll repay you with my life.

With a smile that wasn’t a smile, Chen Nan looked at the Old Poison Devil. “Do you truly want to repay me with your life? That’s fine. Soon, after you give me the medicine, I’ll kill you, so you won’t have to endure any excessive torture in the future.”

The Old Poison Devil cried out, “Stinky boy, you’re too savage. You don’t have an ounce of sympathy. Ai, it seems like I can’t stay in the imperial capital any longer. After I give you the medicine, I’ll immediately flee far from the imperial capital and rush to another nation.”

After the Old Poison Devil’s acupoints were released, he asked, “What do you have planned?

Chen Nan said, “I plan to take action during the wedding ceremony tomorrow.”

“Y-you’re insane. Great General Sima Changfeng and left minister Nalan Wencheng are both major figures of the Chu government. The two of them will be bound by the marriage of their kin. They definitely must have invited His Imperial Majesty as a guest to the ceremony. At that time, the Sima Residence will certainly be as sturdy as if it were built by copper and iron walls; there’s no way for you to penetrate it. For you to choose that time to take action, it’s simply… simply going off to your own death. You might as well just go to the left minister’s house and kidnap her.”

Heihei…” Chen Nan coldly laughed. “If I need to create chaos, I’ll create so much chaos that no one understands what’s happening anymore. Not only must I to rescue Ruoshui, I must also do it right in front of the emperor and all of his military and civil officials. I want to cause a big event. I want to sully the Empire of Chu’s face. What the three dragon riders from the State of Tianyang failed to do, I’ll finish on their behalf. I need to give the Empire of Chu a great slap in the face!”

The Old Poison Devil was rendered wide-eyed and slack-jawed. He muttered, “Lunatic! Lunatic! If this matter becomes known to other countries, it will definitely make the Empire of Chu lose face. This time, you’ll be conducting a lunatic’s revenge. You’re just a lunatic!”

Chen Nan sneered. “That day I battled those two dragon riders in succession at the imperial palace, it seemed to be effortless, but it was actually incredibly dangerous. I risked my life to seize a life and to preserve the Empire of Chu’s honour, but what was the result?”

The Old Poison Devil said, “The emperor really acted improperly over this matter. Right after you had just contributed an outstanding service, he had married Nalan Ruoshui off to another. He certainly has an icy heart.”

Chen Nan let out a cold humph. “Of the experts in the imperial capital, the ones I am most worried about are the ranked practitioners of the Residence of Eccentrics. If I can render these people temporarily unable to take action, my pressure will lessen immensely.”

The Old Poison Devil said, “Right when you had entered the Residence of Eccentrics, I saw that you were an honest man. I didn’t think that over the course of a few days, you’d seemingly switch with another person. Not only did you suddenly gain terrifying cultivation, you’ve become this insane. I’m seriously out of luck. What kind of shitty luck made me meet you?” He let out a sigh and continued, “For the sake of our friendship, I’ll add some extra ‘seasoning’ in the kitchen today. It will take effect an hour before noon and last for two hours.”

“Perverted old man, I sincerely thank you.”

“Ai, after living a few good years in the imperial capital, I really don’t want to leave. Boy, what are your plans? After you go crazy at the Sima Residence, where do you plan on taking Nalan Ruoshui?”

“I’m still unsure. It will be fine as long as we can leave the Empire of Chu.”

“Boy, you are seriously too muddled. Even if you flee to one of the Empire of Chu’s vassal states, you’ll still find it equally as difficult to escape death. I’ll point you into the direction you should go. Have you ever heard of the City of Freedom?”

Chen Nan felt that it was very familiar. He carefully thought for a moment and remembered that just a few months ago, he had been scouring through countless books at the imperial library room of ancient texts. Although his knowledge on the geography of the continent wasn’t too precise, he still had a general idea.

When Xianhuan Continent and Mohuan Continent merged together, a continuous, lofty mountain range emerged at its common border. This resulted in a circumference of a hundred thousand li becoming obscure, without the presence of humans. Within this boundless mountain range, although traces of people were scarcely seen, vicious beasts roamed everywhere. Not only did this place have western dragons, it also had giants (remnants from times long past), as well as many other unheard of powerful demons and monsters. Perhaps they may even be some legendary creatures there, too.

Afterwards, the relations between the east and the west became more and more inseparably close. People passed through the incredibly dangerous path until they finally opened up an adjoining path that cut through the middle of the mountain range in order to connect the two continents. Unfortunately, not too long after this, a large-scale war happened to break out between the east and the west. This road became a road of warfare. Here, blood flowed like rivers, bones piled up infinitely, and a countless number of brave souls were put to rest.

After the battle between the east and the west concluded, this path was abandoned for a long time until restoration efforts began. Because the road was long and dangerous, a few inns and taverns gradually started to emerge at the roadside, providing people with a place to rest and lodging for the night, as well as helping them replenish their supplies. Afterwards, along with the frequent dealings between the east and the west, some places gradually took the form of villages. With thousands of years of development, a flourishing metropolis emerged at the roadside. It was precisely that City of Freedom.

The City of Freedom wasn’t considered to belong to any country. It was an independent city. Because its geographical location was especially unique—it was the most important city along the road connecting the east and the west—its degree of prosperity wasn’t any less than that of the imperial capital of Chu, Pingyang City.

The City of Freedom was also called the City of Crime. It was an independent state; it was not under the control of any other nation. Because of this, many major criminals of the continent fled to this place of refuge. This was a place where fish and dragon intermingled; while there are honest people living honest lives there, criminals were assimilated and intermixed with them like it was nothing. However, every person who fled to this place didn’t dare run amok, because here, the amount of strong pugilists was incredible. They intimidated those people who weren’t content in their place. Because of this, although the City of Freedom was also called the City of Crime, very few crimes actually occurred. The inhabitants of this place had to abide by the city’s rules.

Although the City of Crime had only recently become a city, many powerful practitioners lived there in seclusion. This made the manner of cultivation of the City of Freedom popular. Additionally, this place also contained a famous college of the continent: Shenfeng Institute. It had been established just as long as the City of Freedom had been; it had a history that could trace back a thousand years. The number of institutions on the continent that could rival it could be counted on one’s fingers. Shenfeng Institute produced generation after generation of exceptional experts.

Because of all the aforementioned reasons, the City of Freedom was famous on the continent. It became a sparkling gem among the continent’s cities.

Chen Nan recalled all of this and knew what kind of place the City of Freedom was.

“I know of this famous city. It’s indeed a good place.”

The Old Poison Devil said, “How is it only that? It’s basically heaven. You don’t know how prosperous that place is. Casinos, romantic places… It really makes one cherish the memory. For ten years now, I haven’t stepped foot in that place.”

Chen Nan said, “You’re old, but not at all proper. Your beard is already white, so how can your mind still be filled with those kinds of thoughts?”

“Because I have the heart of a youngster, heihei…” laughed the Old Poison Devil, pleased. “Do you know? A place with freedom everywhere is a golden opportunity. All you need in outstanding ability, then, you can make money extraordinarily fast. You can go to the surrounding mountain range to kill some powerful magical beasts. You can exchange the magicite cores found inside magical beasts for vast amounts of wealth. Or, you can be a bounty hunter and go capture major criminals. You can exchange them for amazing rewards… But if you wanted to flee to that place, then it would probably be better for you to remain low-key. After all, you’re a fugitive yourself.”

Chen Nan knew magical beasts were originally creatures from Mohuan Continent. From birth, they possessed the full capability to use magic. Weaker magical beasts could only use some simple magic, such as the Snow Rabbit, which could only spit some ice arrows. Fire Foxes can only breathe a flame. Only the more advanced magical beasts could use powerful magic, such as the Thunder Beast, which could release thunder and lightning. Within the body of every magical beast was a magicite core. The higher rank a magical beast was, the more precious the magicite core in its body was. Magicite cores were necessary for magi to study magic; they were their precious materials. Because of this, their prices were outrageously expensive.

The Old Poison Devil had the face of a pig bro. “In the City of Freedom, beauties are as common as the clouds. In particular are the schoolgirls from Shenfeng Institute. They’re simply the best of the best.”

Chen Nan scolded him in a low voice, “You perverted old man, you truly are old, yet not an ounce proper.”

The Old Poison Devil, like an unstoppable torrent, said, “Students capable of meeting the requirements to enter Shenfeng Institute are very few in number because the requirements are pitilessly high. Only young, powerful practitioners that are ranked are capable of entering. The number of students who don’t meet the requirements is also incredibly high. Because Shenfeng Institute is famous on the continent, many countries’ aristocrats and nobles rely on their connections to send their children to study at Shenfeng Institute. There, coming across a prince or a princess is rather commonplace. Now that I think about it, it really makes me excited! So many princesses, royal women, and noblewomen are there! If I could go in, I’d be so happy I’d die.”

Chen Nan gave the Old Poison Devil a ruthless smack upside his head and said, “Old lover boy, go back to what you were talking about before.”

The Old Poison Devil resembled a ball leaking air, immediately withering. With a frown and a concerned expression, he said, “Fine. Soon I’ll go to the kitchen to add some extra ‘seasoning’. Afterwards, I’ll sneak away from the imperial capital at night. When I leave, I won’t say goodbye to you. I hope I can find you in the City of Freedom.”

“Perverted old man, thank you!” Chen Nan turned around and walked away.

When the curtain of night fell, the Old Poison Devil fled from the imperial capital.

The bright full moon was suspended at the horizon. The moonlight shone like water, bathing Chen Nan’s heart and soul in a sense of serenity. He had already finished his preparations for the upcoming great battle.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 2: Dragon Soaring in the Imperial Capital 第二卷 龍騰帝都

Chapter 10: Battle at the Imperial Capital 第十章 戰帝都


Early in the morning, when the first rays of sunlight shone into the room, Chen Nan opened his eyes. After washing up, he sat down inside of his room and began to meditate, regulating his breathing.

All the eccentrics of the Residence of Eccentrics had received the wedding invitations from the Sima Residence. After breakfast, they all hurried towards the Sima Residence one after another. Only when the Residence of Eccentrics became entirely vacant did Chen Nan finally leap up from his meditative state. He had already adjusted the circumstances to be as favourable to him as possible. On his back was Houyi Bow, and a long knife was slung at his waist. He strode away from the residence.

The capital of Chu was especially bustling. The streets were heavily congested by endless streams of pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages. Shops were packed onto both sides of the roads. The calls of buying and selling filled the air.

Today was the date of the marriage between the Mighty Great General Sima Changfeng’s son, Sima Lingkong, and the Minister of the Left Nalan Wencheng’s daughter, Nalan Ruoshui. The official positions of Sima Changfeng and Nalan Wencheng were as high as possible. Thus, they also invited the Emperor of Chu to participate in the wedding ceremony. Because of this, the number of soldiers policing all the avenues and alleyways was many times greater than usual.

Chen Nan didn’t walk down the clamouring avenue very far when he was stopped by a squad of soldiers wielding pikes.

“Halt! Who are you? Why have you brought a knife with you onto the streets?”

“I am Chen Nan.”

The interrogating soldier turned to his comrades and said, “Chen Nan… Why does it sound so familiar…?”

One of other soldiers replied, “Could it be the one who defeated the dragon riders, the Eccentric Protector of the Nation, Chen Nan?”

“That’s precisely it.” For the sake of going passed this squad of soldiers as soon as possible, he pointed his finger to the ground. With a ‘chi’ sound, a ray of golden sword qi shot out and immediately blasted a deep hole into the ground.

“Ah! The rumoured golden sword qi… It really is Eccentric Protector of the Nation-daren!” the squad cried out, surprised. They quickly saluted him.

Chen Nan waved his hand and said, “Rise. I must go participate in Sima Lingkong’s wedding ceremony. One of you stay behind and lead me, the rest can continue with patrolling.”

With a soldier leading the way, no one else stopped Chen Nan as he went on his way. After he arrived outside of the Sima Residence, Chen Nan waved the soldier off and sent him back on patrol.

The Sima Residence’s courtyard was tall and had an exceptional style. The word ‘happiness’ was pasted on top of the vermilion gate. Two mighty guardian lions carved from white marble were situated at either sides of the entrance. A heavy stream of traffic was currently heading inside of the residence with no end in sight. Everyone that was permitted to enter had a respected status. Over half of them were aristocrats from the imperial capital.

Not far from the Sima Residence, Chen Nan calmly surveyed the area. Right when the emperor arrived, he went around the corner and into a small alley at the side. All the officials participating in the wedding exited the residence to respectfully welcome the head of state Chu Han. The extravagance and ostentatiousness displayed could easily leave anyone speechless. The cries of “long live” echoed through the residence. It didn’t settle down for quite some time.

After approximately one hour, the sound of music soared to the sky. The procession escorting the bride had arrived. Sima Lingkong sat atop a tall horse. His body was draped in auspicious red clothing. With a delighted look, he seemed fully happy with his position.

The procession escorting the bride in the marriage sedan was incredibly sensational. There were no less than a hundred instrumental performers, let alone the other members of the procession. The accompanying protection personnel numbered no less than a thousand. The prestige was tremendous. Close to a hundred warriors were surrounding the marriage sedan of the bride, Nalan Ruoshui. Just one look told of the profound power that these people possessed. The security was extremely tight.

When they approached the Sima Residence, a dark green Flying Dragon suddenly soared out from within. The Flying Dragon circled overhead Sima Lingkong and let out a long cry. Afterwards, a red roll of paper suddenly descended down from the Flying Dragon’s body. Four words were written on the paper: Hundred Years of Happiness.

The crowd on the street immediately began raving.

“Look, a dragon!”

“Hundred years of happiness.”

“I pray that Dragon Rider Sima-gongzi and Learned Woman Nalan-xiaojie may have a hundred years of happiness.”

…

The bursts of firecrackers sounded simultaneously. The traditional instruments cried together.

Sima Lingkong was glowing with happiness. With a gesture of his hand towards the sky, the Flying Dragon descended back into the residence.

The wedding ceremony still hadn’t officially started, yet the day had already started with a tremendous bang.

After the bride’s procession entered the Sima Residence, the area in front of the entrance was no longer as active and boisterous as it had just been a moment ago.

Chen Nan came out of the small alleyway. Hearing the beating music and the bursts of joyful cheers, he coldly smiled in his heart.

The words that Sima Lingkong had said to him two days ago continuously resounded through his ears: “Two days from now, Ruoshui and I will get married. The groom isn’t you, heihei… In two days, you definitely have to come to my wedding ceremony. En, at that time, you can come play pranks on us newlyweds, heihei.”

“Since I’ve already decided to cause a ruckus, what use is it for me to still hesitate?” When he thought of this, Chen Nan took Houyi Bow off of his back.

At this time, the guards stationed outside of the Sima Residence already noticed him. They shouted, “Who are you? Why have you brought a weapon to this place?”

Chen Nan ignored them as he fetched a plumed arrow out of his quiver and nocked it to the bowstring. Just before the guards advanced towards Chen Nan, a dazzling golden light suddenly erupted from the pitch-black Houyi Bow. An imposingness that struck fear into one’s heart and soul sprang forth from his body. The guards prostrated in fear and couldn’t resist retreating over ten steps back.

Within the Sima Residence, Sima Lingkong and Nalan Ruoshui were in the hall preparing to kneel to heaven and earth. But at that moment, nearly everyone felt an intense apprehension well up in their hearts.

“Kneel to heaven and earth—”

“Longlong!”

The hosts of the wedding ceremony were abruptly cut short by the sound of thundering wind. Everyone within the reception hall was greatly alarmed.

Chen Nan lightly drew back the bowstring. The plumed arrow shot by Houyi Bow transformed into a golden ray as it flew forwards. The lofty gated entrance of the Sima Residence was pierced through by the golden arrow. With a rumble, it collapsed.

The golden arrow was five or six meters from the ground. It wasn’t in a position to harm anyone, but the buildings and structures that it pierced through were left devastated. It seemed like a golden dragon burrowing its way through the residence. Dragging behind a long, golden trail of light, it penetrated through various buildings. Everywhere the golden light passed was left in ruins. The voids left behind in the walls of the buildings resembled ‘dragon gates’.

When the golden arrow pierced into the reception hall of the Sima Residence, everyone was left utterly stupefied. The golden arrow blew open the wall above the emperor’s head, leaving behind a terrifying ‘dragon gate’ in its place.

“Protect His Majesty!”

The reception hall was in chaos.

Emperor Chu Han was truly deeply frightened. His complexion was a deathly white. The empress clutched onto his hand, also terrified.

The Eldest Princess Chu Yue shouted, “Everyone, do not panic.” With that, she took up a protective position in front of the emperor.

The Little Princess Chu Yu said, “It’s Chen Nan, it must be that degenerate Chen Nan.”

Everyone who had seen the battle at the imperial palace all came to the same realization: this godly arrow was definitely fired by Houyi Bow. It was without a doubt Chen Nan’s doing.

“Haha…” A long laugh rang from outside the Sima Residence.

“Where is Sima Lingkong? I, Chen Nan, have come to play a prank on him and the newlywed bride in celebration of his marriage.” The rolling sound wave surged through the Sima Residence.

Emperor Chu Han’s and the Eldest Princess Chu Yue’s expressions soured. The thing that they had been endlessly mulling over had finally become reality. Chen Nan really was revolting against the Empire of Chu. This caused them to feel regretful and hateful.

Everyone taking part in the wedding ceremony were aristocrats of the imperial capital. They had already heard about the secret affair; they were well aware of the reasons Chen Nan had to come disturb the wedding ceremony. In addition, it was possible he might revolt against the Empire of Chu.

There was already no way for the wedding ceremony to proceed. Now that Chen Nan had already forced his way through the Sima Residence’s gate and brought about destruction on his way to the reception hall, any hope for a peaceful resolution was dashed. He held in his hands a long knife. The blade of the knife emitted a bright, golden glow. A tangible, golden edge of light surrounded the blade. Spears and halberds were crushed underneath its power. Their broken shards flew away. Knife qi raged unrestrained. A powerful force erupted out in crashing waves throughout the residence with him at the center. The warriors within the residence were like duckweed being pushed by vigorous waves and were left staggering. Row after row of people were flipped onto the ground. Within the residence, there was unexpectedly not a single soul who was capable of opposing this attack.

Sima Lingkong furiously ground his teeth. He wanted to swallow Chen Nan whole. He tore off the red wedding bow off of his chest and strode outside.

The guests inside the reception hall, including Emperor Chu Han, all arrived outside in the courtyard. Nalan Ruoshui’s delicate body was quivering. She hesitated for a moment before ultimately throwing off her red head covering. She also arrived in the courtyard.

Chu Yue had already ordered others to seal off the Sima Residence. Innumerable imperial guards surrounded the Sima Residence in a tight circle. All the eccentrics from the Residence of Eccentrics were positioned protectively around the emperor. The Little Princess Chu Yu was pulled by the empress to her side. They all stood beside Chu Han.

Sima Lingkong pointed at Chen Nan and said, “Why have you disturbed my wedding?”

Chen Nan said, “Don’t give me that bullshit argument. You ought to know why!”

Sima Lingkong’s expression was ashen. “What are you doing?”

Just then, a tall, middle-aged man stepped forward from the others and said, “Chen Nan, what are you doing? Since my daughter has already been married to someone else, you shouldn’t trouble her any longer.”

Hearing these words, Chen Nan learned that the man before him was Nalan Ruoshui’s father, the Chu’s Minister of the Left, Nalan Wencheng. He cupped his fists together respectfully and said, “Ruoshui simply does not like Sima Lingkong. If she really were wed to him, the only thing she’d obtain is a lifetime of suffering. Do you have the heart to have her jump into a pit of fire?”

Chen Nan had yet to finish speaking when another man interrupted him. A domineering, middle-aged man broke away from the crowd and said, “Eccentric Protector of the Nation, you must understand what you are currently doing. My son’s marriage has been blessed by His Majesty. Are you not in agreement with His Majesty?”

“So it’s Great General Sima—a great title to bear, heihei. Why don’t you straightforwardly talk about how I have already taken action right in front of the emperor? Are you already afraid?” With that said, Chen Nan turned to face Chu Han. With a booming voice, he said, “That day in the practice arena, if not for I, Chen Nan, battling the dragon riders, I’m afraid the Empire of Chu would have been greatly defeated and would have become the laughingstock of the vassal states. I, Chen Nan, risked myself without any regard for my life in exchange for what? Why has His Majesty blessed the marriage between Nalan-xiaojie and Sima Lingkong? Why have you treated me like so?”

At the side, a court minister admonished, “Audacious! Chen Nan, for you to be bold enough to challenge His Majesty like this, you have already committed an act of treason.”

“Treason? Heihei, when someone offers me one chi, I offer them one zhang. If someone offends me, when my patience finally thins, I would still need to drag him before me even if he were the emperor of heaven!” When he said this, he pointed the long knife towards the sky. A resplendent knife edge of light soared to the sky. The dazzling knife edge illuminated the entire courtyard like a bolt of lightning. The thick, cold air was harrowing. Everyone present sensed the impulsive pressure. Everyone’s faces discoloured.

Chu Han said, “Chen Nan, we know you are very resentful in your heart, but before the Sima Family proposed—“

Chen Nan interrupted his sentence and coldly laughed, “Heihei. Does one need to queue up to be married?”

The Eldest Princess Chu Yue saw how utterly disrespectful Chen Nan was acting towards the emperor and furiously said, “Chen Nan, you’re too excessive! Don’t forget you are a subject of my Chu! Should subjects treat their monarch like this?”

The first time Chen Nan had seen Chu Yue, his breath had been taken away. After Chu Yue had pampered him on their way to the imperial capital as if bathing him in the spring breeze, he had held Chu Yue in even higher regard. But due to the series of events that have recently unfolded, Chu Yue’s position in his mind had dipped straight down. This was a deceitful woman who would do anything, fair or foul, if it benefited the imperial family. Her scheming was profound, and somewhat fearful.

“This subject of Chu renounces his title!”

“Y-you were born as a citizen of Chu. Are you rebelling against your own nation? Hereafter, will your heart be peaceful?”

“I do not belong to any country. I am merely a wanderer currently passing through the Empire of Chu, nothing more! In my heart, the Empire of Chu has not ascended to the height of being my ancestral home, so I bear no qualms.” When Chen Nan finished these words, Chen Nan considered himself a man from ten thousand years past. Everyone present who heard these words could not make head or tail of what he meant. “I’m just not sure if others can have a clear conscience. For the sake of political gain, they have even thrown their own good friend into a nightmare of a marriage.”

Chu Yue’s expression turned. She reproved, “Even if you have a thousand reasons, you shouldn’t betray Chu!”

Chen Nan had been searching through the crowd the entire time. He now finally discovered Nalan Ruoshui dressed in red marriage attire. Her normally elegant and exquisite complexion was now kind of pale, and incomparably haggard. He threw the long knife into his left hand. With a wave of his right hand, a fierce wind erupted. A golden brilliance exploded out from him, and a gigantic golden palm appeared. The golden palm swept towards Nalan Ruoshui. It wrapped itself around Nalan Ruoshui and blew up a fierce wind while bringing her towards Chen Nan. The officials that didn’t understand practitioner ways were blown to the ground.

The practitioners at the scene with profound cultivation couldn’t help but utter, “Capturing Dragon Hand… it’s truly the lost skill Capturing Dragon Hand!” All the practitioners were dumbfounded. A lost unique skill had unexpectedly re-emerged in Chen Nan’s possession.

Nalan Ruoshui arrived in front of Chen Nan. She suddenly felt a strange feeling. The difference between the Chen Nan of the past and the Chen Nan of the present was growing larger and larger.

Chen Nan gazed into Nalan Ruoshui’s eyes and said, “Ruoshui, I’m bringing you away.”

“No. I can’t go with you.” Nalan Ruoshui shook her head.

Chen Nan asked, “Why not?”

Nalan Ruoshui cried out, “Careful!”

Although Sima Lingkong was truly a bit startled at Chen Nan’s recent display of remarkable ability, his anger was still boiling. The guy before him had not only disturbed his wedding, but for him to take his bride away right before his face, he was also regarding him as nothing. This simply made him insane with anger. He seized a longsword from a guard adjacent to him and chopped down at Chen Nan. Emerald battle qi produced a ‘chichi’ sound as it severed the air.

Chen Nan pulled Nalan Ruoshui behind him. The long knife in his left hand returned the attack. A blazing knife edge of light shot forward. A tremendous wave of energy erupted from the resplendent brilliance. With an accompanying violent wind, it produced a peculiar hiss.

“Haha! If you want to fight, then let’s fight. Today, I, Chen Nan, must cause chaos in the imperial capital!”

Knife qi and battle qi collided. The sound of the air tearing roared. Chen Nan didn’t move from his original position, while Sima Lingkong was pushed back five steps, causing his blood and qi to reel and his face to flush red. But he didn’t cower. With a cold flicker in his eyes, he raised his sword to rush forward and attack again.

In the air, knife qi and battle qi raged freely. After sending out a dazzling knife blade of light with a slash, Chen Nan vaulted into the empty space of the sky. A vigorous, golden light surrounded his body, like raging flames. It seemed like his body was draped in battle armour made of gold essence. He jumped overhead Sima Lingkong. An immense pressure pushed down against Sima Lingkong. The matchless, critical pressure left him unable to even breathe, but in the faces of all the imperial capital aristocrats, Sima Lingkong refused to cower, not wanting to lose face. He braced himself and raised his sword in welcome. Bright battle qi directly flew up in counterattack.

When the emerald battle qi met the sword qi underneath Chen Nan’s feet, it was smashed into smithereens. Its radiance dissipated in an instant and Chen Nan’s external golden sword qi flew down.

Sima Lingkong was greatly startled. As he was retreating, he raised his sword and chopped down. A mirage appeared before everyone’s eyes. In a flash, Chen Nan stomped down thirteen footsteps, breaking through the defense of the emerald battle qi. Layer and layer of the sword qi slammed against Sima Lingkong’s longsword. Sima Lingkong clenched the sword with both hands and resisted it, but the tremendous pressure was too much for him to bear. Both of his feet sunk into the marble floor, pushing underground.

When Chen Nan stamped the eleventh footstep downwards, the longsword was completely shattered, exploding into many bits of metal and flying onto the ground. Sima Lingkong spat out a mouthful of blood. He was knee-deep into the ground. Just before Chen Nan’s twelfth and thirteenth footsteps were about to arrive, Sima Lingkong began to feel incredibly remorseful. He inwardly hated himself for trying to save face. Without any alternatives, he raised both his palms to welcome Chen Nan’s feet.

“Hong!”, “Hong!” With two explosive booms, a blinding light exploded and waves of qi erupted outward as Sima Lingkong was kicked away. The people present with profound cultivation could all hear the two crisp crunches. After a careful examination, they discovered that Sima Lingkong who had been kicked away had had both of his hands snapped. They were limp, drooping at his wrists.

Meanwhile, Chen Nan chopped down with his mighty, matchless knife. A resplendently dazzling edge of light, like a long rainbow, cut through the sky like lightning. Tremendous energy followed the coursing power as it surged onward.

If that gorgeous knife edge of light were to have hit Sima Lingkong, he definitely would have been obliterated in an instant. Instead, just before the attack hit its target, several of the emperor’s guards that had flown out from the imperial palace had just arrived. Those guards were high ranked martial artists. They quickly rushed forward and received the power of the tremendous knife.

“Hong!”

The swords of the six experts who received the blow were shattered, their shards impaling the ground. The power of the knife attack unexpectedly nearly wounded those six experts. Chen Nan and Sima Lingkong landed on the ground at opposite directions. The former raised his long knife to the sky, a golden glow coiling around his body. His fighting spirit was high. The latter looked deathly pale. Blood endlessly poured from his mouth as he looked on with an ashamed and indignant expression.

This confrontation had been too fast; it had all happened in an instant. If those high ranked marital artists hadn’t quickly responded at the final juncture, Sima Lingkong’s corpse would have been blown all over the place in pieces.

Many of the onlookers had already seen Chen Nan take action before, but at this moment, they still displayed astonished expressions.

Sima Changfeng shook his head and sighed. “This boy is too hot-headed. How could he try to resist that power?”

The onlookers all began to discuss what had just happened in succession:

“Third ranked eastern martial artists who have reached the level of Sword Qi Beyond the Body are truly terrifying!”

“He can slash out knife edges of light, and he also possesses the lost skill Capturing Dragon Hand…”

…

The Little Princess looked on, extremely joyful. She quietly said, “The story of a hero saving a beautiful woman is happening right in front of me, wow! It’s too cool! If during my wedding ceremony there was an awe-inspiring man with unrivalled power that could defeat every expert, and he arrived before me, then that’d be amazing!”

With a ‘dong!’, the empress smacked her head and chided, “What garbage are you spouting?”

The Little Princess felt incredibly wrong and said, “Why the hell did you hit me?”

The empress looked right and looked left before saying with a low voice, “If you don’t stop looking for trouble while we’re currently in this predicament, I’ll punish you. No leaving the palace for a month.”

“Xixi,” giggled the Little Princess. “I didn’t think this degenerate could become even more awesome.”

Chu Yue said to everyone from the Residence of Eccentrics, “Chen Nan is currently going on a rampage. In the presence of the monarch, he is revolting against Chu. All eccentrics, please cooperate and seize him.”

Alarmed cries erupted from among the eccentrics:

“Heavens, why can’t I accumulate any magical elements?”

“Why has my cultivation suddenly faded away?”

…

The alarmed cries continued unceasingly.

Chu Yue appeared to come to a realization and her face drastically turned. She angrily shouted at Chen Nan, “You actually incited Senior Old Poison Devil into poisoning all the eccentrics! You’re… very savage. How many people must you sacrifice?” Chu Yue was truly a bit anxious. If all the eccentrics were poisoned to death, it would be an incomprehensible loss to the Empire of Chu.

Chen Nan coldly snorted. “You best not measure me with your own standards. They have only temporarily lost their power.”

In the end, Chen Nan still did not have enough experience under his belt in regards to humanity. He was still much too young and not at all hateful enough to poison to death all the eccentrics from Chu. Even though he was nearing combat, he still didn’t act unscrupulously.

In a moment, Chu Yue’s expression turned ashen. She shouted, “All high level warriors from the imperial palace heed my order: kill this traitor at all costs!”

Ten warriors with profound cultivation from the imperial palace entered the scene. A forceful pressure exploded out from their bodies.

Chen Nan loudly shouted, “Who dares take action? I’ll immediately seize their life!” He brought Houyi Bow out. A plumed arrow was already nocked to the bowstring.

Among the warriors that had arrived from the imperial palace, a man who seemed to be their leader loudly said, “Don’t be scared, we’ll attack together. One arrow can only shoot down one ma—“

“Honglonglong!”

The weather turned and the world paled! With the rumbling of thunder, the Godly Houyi Bow’s bowstring lightly quivered. A golden arrow shot out like lightning.

The cultivation of the current Chen Nan was incomparable to that of the Chen Nan of the past. The power of this golden arrow was many times greater than that of the arrow he had shot at the western borders of Chu. That lustre that seized the eyes left everyone’s heart palpitating fearfully. The arrow seemed like a tyrannical dragon leaving the sea. The power expanded into every direction. The greatest, strongest pressure left everyone in a several li circumference unable to breathe. In the blink of an eye, the golden arrow plunged into the chest of the leader of the warriors. In an instant, the warrior burst into pieces. The only thing left of him was a mist of his blood in the air. The prickling, bloody scent was nauseating.

The remaining power and momentum of this arrow was vast. A tremendous wave of energy, like an explosive, wild tsunami, spread throughout the Sima Residence. The terrifying wave of energy pushed back all the onlookers. They were unable to remain on their feet and were blown to the ground.

If not for the Eldest Princess Chu Yue timely supporting him up, the Emperor of Chu would have tumbled straight onto his back. For the sake of supporting the empress up, the Little Princess was blown to the ground. She angrily cursed, “Damn degenerate, aiyah~!”

Because the eccentrics from the Residence of Eccentrics had had their power temporarily restrained, they were also blown to the ground.

Only a few experts were unaffected and stood in their original positions. They angrily stared at Chen Nan.

The guests of the Sima Residence were all aristocrats from the imperial capital. The power of the golden arrow had left them utterly beaten. It could be said that, today, they have lost face. The cries from those wealthy aristocrats and their ladies unceasingly rang out. The scene was entirely chaotic.

If news of this event spread to other countries, the Empire of Chu would lose face. They would definitely be laughed at.

When everyone got up off the ground and settled down, they all angrily fixed their sights on Chen Nan.

At this instant, there was not a sound to be heard—the crows and sparrows were silent. Everyone was trying to catch their breaths. The recent development made those warriors from the imperial palace, who were just about to advance forward, stop in their tracks.

Chen Nan nocked a second arrow to the bowstring. Wherever it aimed, everyone would pale. Finally, he moved his aim from Sima Lingkong to the emperor.

From behind, Nalan Ruoshui anxiously cried out, “Chen Nan, what are you doing?”

Chen Nan didn’t respond to her. Instead, he said to Chu Han, “Let me and Ruoshui leave.”

Chu Han nodded. “I didn’t think something like this would happen. Fine, you two may leave. Everyone, move aside.”

Sima Lingkong’s fury reached new heights. His eyes were bloodshot. Just now, he had received severe internal injuries. Those injures, in tandem with his anger, caused him to vomit three mouthfuls of blood in quick succession with a “Wa!” The people supporting him brought him away.

Chen Nan rested Houyi Bow and gestured to Nalan Ruoshui to leave.

When they arrived outside of the Sima Residence, Nalan Ruoshui said, “Chen Nan, I truly can’t leave with you.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t just walk away from my problems. After I leave, what will happen to my father? What will happen to my family? They will all lose face.”

“They are only sacrificing some face, that’s all. Do you wish to sacrifice a lifetime of happiness instead?”

Nalan Ruoshui shook her head. “This marriage can already no longer proceed. You don’t have to worry about me any longer.”

Chen Nan said, “Why aren’t you willing to leave with me?”

Nalan Ruoshui seemed to be at a bit of a loss. “You and the ordinary Chen Nan from the past are so far apart, I am somewhat scared. I can’t see a future between us… Besides, I cannot only consider myself, I also have my parents and my family…”

“Chen Nan, be careful!” cried Nalan Ruoshui.

The splendid flash of a shimmering sword that seemed to be perfectly forged chopped towards Chen Nan. In a flash, it snapped the plumed arrow nocked to the bowstring. Chen Nan’s pupils contracted. He already saw that it was a Daoist’s flying sword. The master of the flying sword was the Eldest Princess Chu Yue. Leaving behind an afterimage, Chen Nan moved like lightning and dashed one zhang horizontally. Afterwards, he quickly unsheathed his long knife, hacking towards that flying sword.

All the onlookers cried out:

“Flying sword!”

“The most mysterious practitioner of them all, a Daoist!”

“It’s Her Highness the Eldest Princess!”

…

The cold light flickering off the glorious flying sword was oppressive.

Chen Nan slashed his knife forward, but his blade of light was unexpectedly unable to resist the power of the flying sword. He ultimately brandished the long knife to directly defend against the flying sword directly.

“Dingdingdangdang!”

After the cry of metal meeting metal, the long knife was actually crushed into various fragments. Only the bare handle of the knife remained in his hand. Chen Nan was inwardly fearful. He secretly sighed, “Daoists truly are out of the ordinary.” He dodged the edge of the sword. With his palms, he swatted the spine of the sword. When the flesh of his palm touched the flying sword, an unexpected ‘kengqiang’ sounded.

This serious of movements were as fast as lightning. Onlookers could only see a sword edge interweaving with the afterimages of palm strikes. A bright flash accompanied the ‘kengqiang’ sounds of the collisions. Tremendous waves of energy wildly blasted around.

When the high ranked warriors responded to the situation and readied themselves to rush forward, the Eldest Princess already no longer had the same tenacity as before. Her face was pale, and she unwillingly withdrew her flying sword.

When Chen Nan wanted to pursue her, the group of high ranked warriors hindered him. He quickly stopped in his tracks and once again took out Houyi Bow. He aimed the plumed arrow straight at the Emperor of Chu. Everyone was dumbstruck and was forced to a halt.

“Ruoshui, come with me.”

“No, I…” Nalan Ruoshui shook her head. “Chen Nan, I sincerely thank you for everything you have done for me today. You needn’t worry about me. Perhaps in the future, we can meet again one day…” Nalan Ruoshui didn’t continue speaking. She quickly sprinted into the crowd and disappeared from his vision in an instant.

Chen Nan was momentarily stunned, before angrily confronting the Eldest Princess Chu Yue. He pulled back the bowstring in preparation and aimed Houyi Bow at her. “You have the impertinence to sneak attack me, today, I will—”

Suddenly, an aged sigh echoed at his ear side. “Ai, youngster, don’t be so emotional. She is my great-great-grandson’s daughter.”

Chen Nan was startled, but soon sobered up. He was all too familiar with this voice. It was unexpectedly the voice of the emperor’s great-great-grandfather, that old monster over a hundred and seventy years old. He knew that old monster had just used a profound martial skill to transmit his voice to him.

The old monster sighed. “In a lifetime, you’re bound to encounter many matters that do not live up to your expectations. Actually, there is no eternal happiness in this world, nor is there eternal regret. Eternity is no more than the blink of an eye. When your pretentiousness lessens and you turn old, you’ll realize that the most important thing in life is a placid mindset.”

The voice gradually disappeared. Chen Nan looked around, but he couldn’t see a trace of the old monster. Although he had Houyi Bow at hand, he still was deeply concerned over this incredibly mysterious old man and wanted to avoid him. If the old man were to launch a sneak attack on him, there would be no way he would be able to resist.

Chen Nan had already drawn back Houyi Bow, but due to his misgivings towards the old monster, he was forced to aim Houyi Bow back towards the ground. With a thundering of the wind, the golden arrow plunged deep into the ground. The earth violently quaked. Over half of the buildings in the Sima Residence collapsed with a rumble. Dust and smoke pervaded the sky. Soil was shot every which way.

No one knew that this arrow that was shot underground was gradually changing in trajectory. The golden arrow fired off towards the nearby imperial palace. Then, it shot to that ancient tomb underneath the imperial library’s room of ancient texts. The golden arrow seemed to be attracted to the accumulated original vital qi from the world—it flew directly towards that passed away peerless expert in the tomb. Three chi away from the inextinguishable body, the arrow abruptly exploded into bountiful specks of golden light that forced their way into the inextinguishable body. Afterwards, the ancient tomb regained its peacefulness. It seemed like nothing had happened.

As everyone was in disarray, Chen Nan used the Capturing Dragon Hand again. The golden palm brought about a violent gust of wind out of nothing and swept towards the Little Princess Chu Yu beside the empress, pulling her towards him. He instantly hit several of the Little Princess’s acupoints and held her against his chest. With Houyi Bow in his right hand, he gripped the Little Princess’s throat with his left.

Sima father and son nearly went mad. Chen Nan had not only ruined the wedding, but he had also laid waste to the entire Sima Residence.

“Degenerate, smelly thief, let go of me~!”

The expressions of the emperor, empress, and others all turned terrible. The Eldest Princess said, “Chen Nan, release my meimei. I’ll guarantee you can safely leave.”

Chen Nan remained unmoving. He didn’t do anything at all. Actually, he was seeing whether or not that hidden old monster would come out from the shadows and take action. After waiting for a long while, there still wasn’t any news of that old monster, so his worrying heart eased a smidgen.

The Little Princess cried out, “Smelly thief, take your hands off me! It’s unbearably putrid.”

The Eldest Princess Chu Yue said, “Chen Nan, did you hear what I said? Release my meimei, and I’ll allow you to leave.”

Chen Nan coldly laughed, “Hmph. I don’t want to talk too much bullshit. Have everyone get the hell out of my way. Don’t send anyone after me.”

Chu Yue’s enraged face took another, and another, drastic turn as she considered this request. Finally, she said, “Fine, I agree to your request.”

At the side, the empress was exceedingly anxious. She wanted to speak up, but Chu Han stopped her and said, “Trust Yue’er. Let her handle this.”

The officials of the court were as dazed as stupid chickens. The things that had happened today were beyond their imaginations.

Although Chen Nan was not too familiar with Chu, he had scouted out a clear escape route outside of the city long ago. He seized the Little Princess and they fled from the imperial capital.

The Little Princess was seething. “Degenerate, you’ve already gotten away. Why haven’t you released me yet?”

“Life truly is fantastic! Originally, it was you who captured me and brought me to the imperial capital. Now, it’s you who will send me off from the imperial capital. I don’t think you’ll forget about the events that have happened in this period of time, right? You’ll remain by my side, obediently serving as my maid!”

“What? Having I, a princess, to serve as a degenerate’s maid? You’re dreaming!”

Chen Nan did something he had wanted to do for a long time, but he had not the opportunity to do so until now. With strength, he pinched the Little Princess’s delicate, smooth cheeks. He pinched them fiercely!

The Little Princess painfully shouted, “Aiyah~! Degenerate, you bastard! Let me go! You dare treat me like this?”

“You little demon, I know how especially devious you are. Don’t play any tricks on me. Be good on our journey.”

“You bastard, where are you bringing me?”

“The City of Crime.”

“Ah~!”

“I truly did not expect you, the little demon, to once again fall into my clutches.”

Chen Nan’s heart was slightly at a loss. With the Little Princess Chu Yu in his possession, he departed from the capital city of the Empire of Chu.

[HasNoLove]

wait, did he bringing both Ruosui and lil princess with him?

[Meruem]

Thanks for the chapter! aahh this is soo good! I like that he snatched the princess away with him, they're a hilarious duo

wait, did he bringing both Ruosui and lil princess with him?

No, only the lil demon. Ruosui ran into the crowd

[HasNoLove]

dang. . . orz
poor him

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 3: The City of Crime 第三卷 罪惡之城

Chapter 1: Princess Coming Across Misfortune 第一章 落難公主


Although Chen Nan had rushed into a cataclysmic situation at the imperial capital, he wasn’t the least bit scared. With the Little Princess—heaven’s proud daughter—in his possession, he wasn’t worried about the people in pursuit of them causing him any difficult problems.

The only person he was concerned about was the emperor’s great-great-grandfather, that one hundred and seventy year old monster. The old monster’s terrifying cultivation was unfathomable, and he did not want anything to do with it.

The princess was wedged against Chen Nan’s ribs. Her heart grew enraged, but with her acupoints sealed, all she could do was curse him in protest.

“Damn degenerate, if you still refuse to let me down, I’ll commit suicide by biting off my tongue.”

“Well then bite it off. The earlier you do it, the earlier this world will become considerably more peaceful.”

“Smelly thief, damn smelly thief, how dare you treat me like this? If I really did commit suicide by biting off my own tongue, you’d be killed and left without a proper burial site. Every passing moment, there would be someone chasing after you to kill you.”

“The lives of good people are short, while the terrible consequences of bad people can be timeless. Little demon, if you died right now and don’t end up reuniting with your demonic brethren in hell, then that’d be a miracle.”

“You…”

“What about me? Hurry up and commit suicide, already. I’m begging you.”

The princess furiously clenched her teeth. She heatedly said, “Smelly thief, you actually urged me to kill myself, I hate you to death. Sooner or later, I’ll kill you one day. Not only that, but I’ll use the most ruthless and callous methods to do so. I’ll hack you into a million pieces, I’ll rip out all of your tendons and skin, I’ll break every finger and slice off every toe…”

Chen Nan squeezed the princess’s slender waist and said, “You little demon, you’re too vicious. If you act like this, how can you serve as my maid? On our journey, I must properly train you.”

The Little Princess was painfully squished in Chen Nan’s arms. She cried out, “Degenerate, you deserve to die. Hurry and take your hands off me, it hurts me to death.”

The weather was blazingly scorching. The painful heat from the sun roasted and baked the ground. The leaves of the trees were rendered listless, drooping without any signs of vitality. Only the cicadas were ‘joyful and lively’, ‘endlessly singing’.

After the princess’s cultivation had been sealed by Chen Nan, it grew increasingly difficult for her to resist the sizzling hot summertime heat. Drop after drop of perspiration flowed down her cheeks.

“Damn degenerate, I’m boiling to death. Hurry up and bring me to the shade underneath the trees.”

Currently, the two of them had already traversed a distance of five li from the imperial capital. After they walked into a forest, he let the princess down and said, “Little demon, you have to understand: right now, I am the butcher’s knife, you are the fish meat. Henceforth you are no longer a princess. You are now my personal maid, understand? From now on, you must be obedient.”

Hearing these words, the princess was livid. She fiercely took a bite of his shoulder.

Chen Nan rushed to pinch her chin up. “Truly terrifying. This won’t do; if you continue to be insincere, then I may lose my tender feelings for you.”

The princess was both hateful and angered, but at the same time, she was also a bit scared. She never imagined she’d fall into the hands of Chen Nan again. She considered the last time Chen Nan had captured her to be an unprecedented, shameful humiliation. Now that she had fallen into his hands again, she nearly went insane.

Fuming, she turned her head to the side. She didn’t want to look at his repulsive face any longer. Simultaneously, she incessantly cursed him in her mind.

The verdant leaves and thick branches screened them from the smoldering sun. A light breeze gently swept through the trees, carrying along with it the relaxing fragrance of flowers and fresh grass.

Chen Nan reclined on the soft meadow. Content, he squeezed his eyes shut. During the battle just now, he had consumed quite a bit of power. He needed to rest for a while.

Although the Little Princess was currently able to move around on her own, her power was still sealed. Even if she fled, she wouldn’t flee successfully. She sat down with her back facing Chen Nan. She ripped up some unknown flowers out of the ground and shredded them to pieces in order to vent out her rancour and resentment towards Chen Nan.

About an hour passed like this. Chen Nan remained motionless, pretending like he was still asleep.

The princess carefully observed the repulsive guy lying on the ground. After seeing him still remain motionless for another fifteen minutes, she cautiously stood up and furtively snuck away from the forest.

Right then, that repulsive voice rang out: “It’s so comfortable here. If someone were unwilling to stay in the trees, I would definitely satisfy her wish and allow her to sunbathe.”

Angered, the Little Princess threw a fist that flashed passed Chen Nan’s face. Extraordinarily unwilling, she sat down again.

All of the sudden, Chen Nan sat up and brought the princess into his bosom. One hand snaked around her throat. He shouted to outside the forest, “The people outside the forest, immediately show yourselves! If you continue to sneak around in the dark, don’t blame me for being rude to your princess.”

The Little Princess quietly cursed Chen Nan and muttered, “What idiots for them to actually be discovered by this guy. Why not send some real experts to come rescue me, the princess?”

The figures of seven martial artists emerged from behind the trees. The cultivation of these people really weren’t too high, and Chen Nan was in peak condition, so the instant they had approached Chen Nan and the princess, he had already detected their aura.

“There are others. If you still refuse to come out, I’ll truly act rudely.” With that said, he tightly pinched the princess’s smooth cheeks, making her screech, “Smelly thief, degenerate, you…”

A burst of magical elements came through the air. A magus came out of a tree with a hovering spell and landed on the ground.

Chen Nan creased his eyebrows. He had originally thought that after pacifying those eccentrics from the Residence of Eccentrics, the imperial capital wouldn’t have any other experts. But that didn’t seem to be the case. These several people were ranked experts. In fact, there was an old man whose cultivation was not inferior to his own.

“Do you guys still wish to keep this little demon’s life? If you keep sneaking around following me, don’t blame me for acting impolite.”

Among the people that had emerged from the trees, the magus said, “His Majesty has already bestowed upon you the title of Eccentric Protector of the Nation, but you are rebelling against him like—“

Chen Nan interrupted his words. “Don’t speak so many lies. Are you guys going to leave, or not?”

The old martial artist who had the greatest cultivation among them said, “Chen Nan, don’t take action. We shall immediately depart from here.”

Just then, the ground suddenly began to quake. Vast amounts of smoke and dust pervaded the air above the roads outside the forest. Countless armoured cavalrymen were rushing here.

There was a ruckus as thousands of cavalrymen encircled the forest.

On the road, a peerlessly magnificent woman sat upright atop a white dragon horse. The smoke and dust struggled to conceal her gorgeous complexion. The person who had just arrived was the Eldest Princess Chu Yue. She dismounted from her horse with a leap and directly strode into the forest. She carried on her face a faint look of fury.

“Chen Nan, since you have already escaped from the imperial capital, why have you not released my meimei yet?” She glanced at the Little Princess, her gaze full of pity.

The Little Princess looked happy. She cried out, “Jiejie!”

Chen Nan reached out and sealed her mute acupoint. He said to Chu Yue, “If I had released her earlier, I’m afraid my corpse would be on the ground right now.”

Chu Yue said, “You have Houyi Bow in your hands. Who dares to obstruct you? You can easily leave from this place without a fuss.”

Chen Nan sneered. “One Houyi Bow can oppose how many soldiers and horses? If I used Houyi Bow to shoot someone related to the imperial family—nobility—or perhaps a major official of some border region, it would probably stun and shake the politics of the Chu court. What use would it be for me to shoot dead some run-of-the-mill soldier? At the imperial capital, I could use the Godly Houyi Bow to make the emperor and his officials cower in fear of my might, but after I leave the imperial capital, my advantage disappears. If I didn’t have an important hostage in my hands, wouldn’t I be trampled into mincemeat by the army after they caught up to me in the blink of an eye? Right now, I simply cannot afford to let your meimei go.”

Chu Yue was somewhat anxious. “What do you need for you to agree to release Yu’er?”

“At the very least, I need to safely leave the borders of the Empire of Chu. And during this time, you mustn’t send anyone in pursuit. If not, it’ll be too late for you to regret.”

Chu Yue clenched her jaw. She gingerly looked at the Little Princess and said to Chen Nan, “Fine, I agree to your terms. But you must guarantee that Yu’er doesn’t feel wronged at all on your way. If not, I will issue the command for your death. I’ll unleash all the power of my Great Chu to kill you!”

Chen Nan replied, “Since this is the case, I would like to ask you to lead your troops away from here promptly.”

“When you leave the borders of my Empire of Chu, if you don’t release Yu’er, you should know the consequences.” With a final, deep look at the Little Princess, Chu Yue led everyone away from the forest.

Kicking up the dust and sand, the thousands of cavalrymen left in a cloud of smoke.

Chen Nan let get of the Little Princess. He reached out and released her mute acupoint.

Finally able to speak again, the princess began cursing. “Degenerate, smelly thief, pig head, how dare you actually seal my mute acupoint; I couldn’t even say a word to my jiejie. You bastard, I curse you to the eighteenth—no—the nineteenth level of hell…”

Chen Nan corralled her back towards him. With one hand, he pushed up her chin. “You’re my captive, now. If you still dare to challenge me, don’t blame me for being impolite.”

The Little Princess shrieked, “Damn degenerate, smelly thug, what the hell are you doing?” She quickly struggled to break free from Chen Nan’s grasp on her chin. After creating a distance of four, five meters between them, she stopped. Her face had a nice red blush. She angrily said, “Sooner or later, I’ll kill you…”

Chen Nan maliciously said, “If you refuse to be obedient, tonight, I’ll have you accompany me as I sleep.”

Sure enough, the princess was frightened enough to put a stop to her loud discord.

Chen Nan laughed. “You should’ve acted like this earlier. What kind of girl is loud and annoying?”

The princess hatefully gazed at him before turning her head to the side.

Although Chen Nan had seized the princess and fled here, a hint of concern had continuously remained in his heart. The emperor’s great-great-grandfather, that one hundred and seventy year old monster, made it impossible for him to feel safe. After a period of rest among the trees, he dragged the Little Princess back onto the road. This time, he didn’t squish her between his ribs. Instead, he permitted her to walk on her own. He followed behind her closely.

The Little Princess bemoaned her circumstances over and over again until dusk. By then, they had arrived at a small town one hundred li away from the imperial capital to take a break. After booking an inn room and eating dinner, when he brought the Little Princess into the room, she was scared senseless, a look of panic written across her entire face.

With a quivering voice, she said, “Damn degenerate, you… Don’t do anything to me, or else my jiejie… my father the emperor won’t let you off…”

Chen Nan had a ridiculing expression. Although his mind wasn’t harbouring any despicable thoughts, he still didn't relinquish the chance to tease the princess. With a gulp of some tea, he said, “Obedient little maid, make the bed for me.”

“You… Sooner or later, I’ll kill you.” The princess was angered, but her face was ghastly.

Chen Nan said, “If you don’t want me to do anything to you, you had better do what I say without delay.”

With a vicious glance at him, she very unwillingly dragged herself to the bedside. She carelessly spread out a bamboo sleeping mat on top of the bed. “There. Are you happy now?” With that said, she sat down at the side, enraged.

“Seeing your gorgeous complexion as your slender, jade-like hands unexpectedly spread out the mat in that rough, crude way is really—“

The Little Princess angrily said, “Enough. Damn degenerate, I’ve had enough of you. No one has ever dared to provoke me like this. You are much too unreasonable and wanton to have a princess like me make your bed. Don’t forget the words of my jiejie: if I feel wronged at all, you’ll be left dead without a proper burial site!”

“Hehe…” Chen Nan laughed out loud. “Wronging you is exactly what I aspire to do. Let’s see what your jiejie will do about it.”

“Damn degenerate, sooner or later, I’ll arrest you and have you become a eunuch of the palace.” The princess was exploding with rage. She was simply going insane.

“Little demon, you are indeed very sinister. Hmph, I’m afraid you’ll never have that sort of opportunity. In this lifetime, you will serve as my obedient maid. Alright, don’t be noisy. Go sleep on the other bed. We must hurry and set off tomorrow morning.”

The Little Princess was fuming. She hatefully said, “No way. You must give me a separate room to sleep in. I am a princess of Chu, how can I wantonly stay in the same room as a man?”

Chen Nan said, “Little demon, when you get an inch, don’t ask for a mile. If you refuse to properly sleep on the other bed, then just simply come sleep beside me.”

Hearing these words, the princess paled in fright.

Suddenly, an intense feeling of unease erupted in Chen Nan’s heart. He felt like there was an expert with terrifying cultivation observing him from the darkness. But when he carefully tried to examine it, that feeling instantaneously vanished without a trace.

“Did that old monster really follow us? Why hasn’t he done anything all this time?” A seed of doubt was planted in his heart. Gritting his teeth, he came to a secret decision.

Chen Nan arrived beside the princess who was currently pissed off. With strikes at breakneck speed, he sealed several of her major acupoints, immobilizing her body and sealing her mouth shut.

The Little Princess began panicking. A look of dread was evident in her eyes.

Chen Nan looked completely focussed. The vital qi within his body began turbulently surging. A faint, golden light was released from his body. He concentrated his power to his fingers. Specks of faint, golden light with the width of a hairsbreadth coalesced at his fingertips. All ten of his fingers began dazzling and sparkling in an instant. Their radiance was blinding.

The words of his father from a time long past echoed through his ears: “The God of Imprisonment’s Finger can seal someone’s power and lock the essence of their blood. If the user of this technique does not neutralize the effect on the victim in a timely fashion, then within a fortnight, their blood vessels will face desiccation and they will die. You must use caution! The power of this finger method is boundless. At the highest level, it can even seal immortals, but if you have insufficient power, you cannot rashly use this technique no matter what. Otherwise, you risk crippling your own constitution.”

Chen Nan was not fully confident in his decision. He wasn’t sure if he was able to smoothly use the God of Imprisonment’s Finger at his current level of cultivation, but the pressure being exerted on him by the old monster was too much. It was enough to force Chen Nan into taking a risk.

After circulating his power throughout his body nine times, both of his hands simultaneously moved. His golden vital qi came out from his fingertips and entered the Little Princess’s body with endless ‘bipa’ sounds. The golden light caused the entire room to be illuminated in a flickering gold.

Chen Nan felt the creeping exhaustion attacking him. Perspiration ran down the side of his pale face drip by drip. After the last of his vital qi penetrated into the Little Princess’s body, he was utterly exhausted. Without any remaining strength, he gently collapsed to the floor.

He finally recovered a bit of his energy after a long period of time—it was barely enough for him to sit up on the ground. Feeling that his body was incomparably weak, he began to meditate and harmonize his breathing right away. He opened his eyes after two hours of meditation.

Chen Nan inwardly said, “I’ve finally succeeded. I’m afraid I won’t be able to fight with anyone for the next few days. I only wish that the old monster’s phenomenal power is insufficient in breaking through the power of the God of Imprisonment’s Finger.”

After leaving the imperial capital, the Little Princess was his only protective talisman. As long as the princess was firmly under his control, he’d be able to escape from the Empire of Chu. The princess had clearly watched Chen Nan do some unknown thing to her. Although she didn’t know what it was, she knew it definitely wasn’t anything good. Her heart filled with rage. Seeing Chen Nan’s weak appearance, she couldn’t help but perk up at his evident hardship.

Chen Nan walked over to her, unsealed her mute acupoint, and said, “Little demon, don’t be happy at my discomfort. If I come across an abrupt accident, you’re screwed. I have already used the God of Imprisonment’s Finger against you. In this world, other than myself, there is no one that can help you neutralize its effect. Within a fortnight, if I don’t cleanse your blood essence, your blood vessels will be met with desiccation and you’ll die.”

Hearing his words, the princess’s face turned tragic. She angrily said, “Degenerate, you’re too vicious. There are no grievances or enmity between us, yet you have actually used some rotten finger technique against me. You’re utterly despicable, without any morals whatsoever, thoroughly disgusting, and absolutely shameless!”

“Little girl, with a mouth this coarse, I really can’t tell if you were truly raised in the imperial palace. If you dare curse at me again, this will be the result.” With that said, he raised his palm and sliced off half of the table’s corner. Then, he used the same palm to pinch the Little Princess’s jade face.

The princess painfully shrieked, “Ah! You smelly thug!”

After Chen Nan threw the princess onto the bed, he lied down on the other bed. He wasn’t concerned about anyone secretly coming in; ever since his spiritual awareness had returned, his six senses had sharpened beyond compare. The instant danger approached him, he was able to detect it one step earlier.

After the battle at the imperial palace, he turned into the public enemy of the Empire of Chu. He lamented in his heart, “Ai, I’ve actually offended an entire nation!”

Nalan Ruoshui hadn’t left the imperial capital with him, but his heart was completely free from misery. Recalling the experiences of the past few months, he grew somewhat absent-minded. With a final flash, the candlelight blew out. The moonlight shone into the room like a stream of water, and Chen Nan entered the realm of dreams. The Little Princess had already fallen asleep, but her mouth pouted even in her sound dreams, as if she was upset with the rude antics Chen Nan had pulled during the daytime.

Meanwhile, within the imperial palace of Chu, the empress was currently wailing. She sobbed, “My pitiful Yu’er… Wu… My good child…”

The emperor comfortingly soothed, “Don’t cry, nothing will happen to Yu’er. Chen Nan doesn’t dare cause trouble for her.”

At the side, the Eldest Princess Chu Yue said, “Now that all the eccentrics have become strangely poisoned, no one can take action for the time being. If we dispatched some men to go rescue my meimei, I’m afraid it’ll only scare the snake off because of our hitting the grass. I fear too much time has already passed to summon the super experts from other places to come assist us. For now, we can only request Elder Zhuge Chengfeng to leave his seclusion prematurely.”

Although Chu Han was an emperor, his speech carried an air of respect towards Zhuge Chengfeng. “Although Zhuge Chengfeng is an exceptional expert, he was seriously injured by that mythical qilin and has gone into seclusion. I’m afraid it is not appropriate to disturb him right now.”

After the empress heard this, she said with a hopeful expression, “Do you know where this elder is recuperating?”

Chu Yue said, “Actually, Elder Zhuge has been recuperating within the palace all along.”

The empress was jubilant. “Tomorrow, we must request the help of Zhuge Chengfeng no matter what. I truly cannot stop worrying about Yu’er.”

Chu Han exhaled a breath of air. “Then we’re forced to do it like this.”

The ten thousand flutes were silent. The night was especially serene. Everyone was busily entering the realm of dreams.

A green light as fast as lightning arrived at the small town Chen Nan was staying at. Within the green light was a thin, emaciated figure. With a few flashes, that insipid figure among the green light floated into the inn—directly arriving outside the door of Chen Nan’s room.

The door was pushed open without so much of a sound or breath. The emaciated figure flashed into the room. The sleeping Chen Nan appeared to be none the wiser. Specks of golden light suffused from his body. With a start, the intruder left in a green flash. A void seemed to emerge from his body. The moonlight that struck his body also vanished into nothingness, leaving behind no trace of its existence. It was perfectly dark. There was not a single ray of light or hint of sound.

The golden light surrounding Chen Nan’s body slowly began to fade away, failing to illicit a proper response.

The intruder seemed to vanish into the darkness. There was only a lightless void slowly moving around in the room. Houyi Bow floated into the air. Then, the Little Princess—sound asleep—also floated into the air. As if there was some sort of attraction, they quickly flew towards the void. In the blink of an eye, they vanished into that dark domain.

After the door was closed soundlessly, the moonlight water streamed back into the room. However, Houyi Bow that had been placed on Chen Nan’s bed and the Little Princess who had been asleep on the other bed had already vanished without a trace.

The green light departed from the small town like lightning. In the wilderness outside of town, it halted. The insipid green light seemed like a ghostly lantern of the netherworld. The emaciated figure in the green light touched several of the Little Princess’s acupoints. It stretched out its hands and continuously slapped at her with endless ‘bipa’ sounds. Like water, the green light surged inside of the Little Princess’s body.

An hour passed like this. The emaciated figure finally stopped its movement. Carrying the Little Princess, he brought her back to the small town. A ghostly green light appeared within Chen Nan’s room. After the Little Princess hovered back over to the bed, the green light vanished without a trace.

Early the next morning, Chen Nan awakened and was stunned. Houyi Bow had disappeared. His innate spiritual awareness had actually failed its purpose. He hadn’t been aware of the events that had conspired the night prior at all. If the intruder had wanted to seize his life, it would have taken no extra effort. Alarmed, his body broke out into a cold sweat. He rapidly turned his gaze towards the Little Princess’s bed, only to find the princess still sound asleep. His heart calmed a sliver.

After washing up, he released the Little Princess’s acupoints and roused her from her slumber.

“Annoying. Who dares to disturb me, the princess, from her rest…?” The princess was clearly still groggy. When she regained her bearings, she pushed away Chen Nan and nervously said, “Degenerate, what do you want?”

“I’m telling you to get out of bed.” Chen Nan spoke as he investigated the Little Princess’s internal aura. He soon discovered from his probing that there had been someone who had attempted to neutralize the power of his God of Imprisonment’s Finger—but they had been met with failure.

“Little demon, hurry and wash up.” With that said, he walked into the courtyard.

“The intruder was unexpectedly able to get into my room soundlessly and evade my spiritual awareness. I fear their cultivation surpasses the five ranks by many times, or else there’s no way I wouldn’t have detected them. Most likely, it was that old monster, without a doubt. But why would he need to act so secretly?” Chen Nan recalled all kinds of things pertaining to the old monster. He realized that all along, he had been impossible to unravel. It was impossible for others to see through him, to examine him clearly.

“Since the beginning up until now, he has seemed to be conspiring against me somewhat. If not, he absolutely wouldn’t allow me to revolt against the Empire of Chu. But what the hell does he want from me?” Even thinking over it a thousand times would be unfruitful, but there was one point he was certain of. For the time being, the old monster would not act maliciously against him. This thought helped mollify his hectic mind.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 3: The City of Crime 第三卷 罪惡之城

Chapter 2: Crossing the Western Border of Chu 西出楚境


Within the imperial palace of Chu, Emperor Chu Han and the Eldest Princess Chu Yue were standing inside the imperial study looking at Houyi Bow, utterly astounded. They never imagined in their wildest of dreams that Houyi Bow would be returned to the imperial palace by someone completely wordlessly.

Chu Yue said, “Father, look. There’s a letter underneath Houyi Bow.”

Chu Han unfolded the letter. After reading the letter, he tightly furrowed his eyebrows before gradually relaxing them.

After Chu Yue gave the letter a read, she joyfully exclaimed, “So it’s actually our old ancestor’s doing from behind-the-scenes. He wishes to wander around the continent. With his appearance, Yu’er will surely be fine.”

Chu Han said, “I’m afraid Yu’er won’t be returning for a while. I am unsure whether she can adapt to life outside of the palace.”

Chu Yue said, “My meimei is very naughty; she normally begs me to take her out. Now that she has left the imperial palace, she can be considered a fish returning to the water. Father, you need not worry about her.”

Chu Han was somewhat forlorn. “Now that he has appeared, of course I don’t have to worry about her. Only… your second brother Wenfeng has already been away for the past few years. Now that my mischievous little girl has also left, of the three children I am most fond of, only you remain by my side.”

Chu Yue soothed, “Sooner or later, gege and meimei will return to father’s side, so you need not feel sad.”

Chu Han grumbled, “En. Actually, this should be beneficial to that mischievous little girl. She’s too naughty. After going through this experience and refining herself through hardships, she will definitely mature a lot.” After he deeply pondered over something, he said, “Don’t disturb Elder Zhuge for now. Seal all news of Chen Nan’s havoc in the imperial capital as much as possible. No matter what, it cannot be divulged.”

On the road, the Little Princess discovered that Houyi Bow was not on Chen Nan’s person. She couldn’t stop herself from endlessly questioning him about it. Chen Nan didn’t respond at all to her inquiries. In the end, she determined that Chen Nan had hidden Houyi Bow away in some place near that inn.

With regards to the events that conspired the night before, she was completely ignorant. Seeing Chen Nan’s absent-minded appearance, she mocked him. “Degenerate, seeing your worrying, despondent look, in your mind, you must be scared, right?”

Forgoing manners, Chen Nan flicked the Little Princess’s bright forehead. “Scared of your head.”

Grimacing in pain, the princess’s eyes glistened with tears. She furiously said, “Damn degenerate, sooner or later, there will come a day you will fall into my clutches again…”

Chen Nan patted the princess’s fragrant shoulders. With ‘sincere and heartfelt words’, he said, “Wishing is fine, doing is complicated, but the outcome is impossible. Ai, it’s the season of fantasies; the minds of young ladies are all filled with yearning. Pitiful child, wake up. That day will never come.”

The Little Princess was angry and annoyed. She heatedly said, “Smelly thief, don’t be so pleased with yourself. One day, I will make you regret the things you have said and done today.”

Chen Nan laughed. “Little demon, don’t act idiotic while under the spell of your own delusions. That day will never come.”

Throughout the journey, the Little Princess and Chen Nan quarrelled endlessly. Simultaneously, she took advantage of every opportunity to try to sneak away, but she failed every single time.

In the beginning, Chen Nan had taken the princess and hurried along the path riding horses, but the princess was too attractive. She continuously raised the eyebrows of everyone who passed by them. For the sake of avoiding unnecessary trouble, they changed their mode of transportation and took a horse-drawn carriage instead. At the same time, he smeared dirt and filth all over the Little Princess’s jade countenance. This resulted in the princess crying and cursing, but because of his threats, she finally settled with this happening.

A few days later, Chen Nan’s weak body from using the God of Imprisonment’s Finger finally recovered. He let out a long breath of air.

“There really hasn’t been anyone at all following us the whole way. It must be because that old monster brought back Houyi Bow and notified Chu Yue and the others. The experts of the imperial capital didn’t follow us. Most likely, that old monster himself is tailing us.” Recalling the old monster’s dreadful position, his heart chilled. He didn’t even want to imagine if that old man was truly conspiring against him…

Chen Nan brought the princess with him as they headed straight to the west, unobstructed. The emperor hadn’t sent anyone to pursue or stop them, to the extent that he didn’t hear a single word of the chaotic things that he had done at the imperial capital.

“Little demon, your emperor daddy and princess jiejie have abandoned you. Not only did they not send anyone to rescue you, but they’ve sealed off all news of the imperial capital. It seems that they plan to give you to me.”

The princess reclined back into the carriage. She glanced at him sideways and said, “Smelly thief, you’re uneducated and incompetent. You can’t even figure out this simple matter, yet you still have the nerve to speak rubbish, hmph!”

“In their eyes, the reputation of the Empire of Chu is much more important than yours. If not, why would they only focus on sealing off the news from the imperial capital while completely ignoring you?”

“Hmph. I, the princess, will not even dignify you with an explanation, you despicable bastard.”

“Do you want freedom? As long as you obediently listen to what I say, I’ll give you freedom.”

The princess took another sideways glance at him and then ignored him.

Throughout the journey, although Chen Nan didn’t continuously put into practice his ‘enslavement education’, the stubborn Little Princess never gave him any flattering looks. This resulted in the shattering of his dream of the princess becoming an obedient maid.

Ten days later, the two of them arrived at Tantai City. There were two great roads here. One road went straight to the western border of Chu. The other road went straight to the south for several hundred li before turning towards the west, passing through the middle section of the continent that sheltered the City of Crime among the mountains. They proceeded towards the western continent.

Seeing the lifelike sculpture carved out of white jade standing tall in the public square of Tantai City, Chen Nan woefully sighed. It took ten thousand years for him to finally understand the cause of his power retreating instead of advancing. Everything was due to the goddess that he had worshipped in his heart.

“Tantai Xuan, the day I break through the void with my martial arts and ascend, I will definitely banish you to the realm of mortals!”

From the side, the Little Princess took a timely jab at him. “You’re daydreaming. To go as far as to dare blaspheme Fairy Tantai like this, Fairy, honour us with your presence—hurry and strike him with black lightning as punishment.”

Seeing Chen Nan raise his hand, the princess rushed to cover her forehead. These past few days, her clear forehead had already been hit quite a number of times. Chen Nan didn’t hit her. Pinching her straight, refined, exquisite nose, he said, “Still speaking rubbish? I’ll pull at your nose until it becomes a pig’s snout.”

The princess painfully cried out, “Ouch! Smelly thief, hurry and let go…”

Chen Nan laughed. “Your nose feels pretty good.”

“It hurts… Ow… Damn degenerate, I won’t forgive you for this.” The princess scratched and kicked, attracting the attention of everyone in the square. Chen Nan hurriedly let go.

The night they were residing within Tantai City, the powerful symptoms of the God of Imprisonment’s Finger began to flare up in the Little Princess’s body. Every inch of her flesh turned a glistening scarlet as a result of her engorged blood vessels. Within her body, the blood was circulating one hundred times faster than normal, as if it was boiling.

“Ah~! I can’t bear it! Damn degenerate, hurry up and release that lousy finger technique that you cursed me with! I can’t bear it!” Sweat soaked through the Little Princess’s clothes. She continuously writhed on top of her bed.

Chen Nan poked several of her acupoints in order to stop her from flailing around. Only then was he able to uninterruptedly slap at her body. Golden light poured into her body. This continued for an hour.

After a long time, the harrowing symptoms that were caused by the God of Imprisonment’s Finger began to gradually vanish. The body temperature of the princess slowly returned to normal.

“Degenerate, I’ll return the favour!” When they Little Princess regained her ability to move, she pounced on Chen Nan in frenzy.

“I’ll bite… I’ll scratch… I’ll kick… I’ll slam...” Unable to bite, scratch, or kick Chen Nan, she ultimately slammed her head against Chen Nan.

Chen Nan didn’t dare use his power, afraid of accidentally hurting the rabid princess. He was finally able to subdue her after expending quite of bit of effort. Then princess was gasping for air. “Smelly thief, I hate you to death. What kind of depraved finger technique did you use against me? You better immediately and thoroughly neutralize it for me.”

Chen Nan said, “The power of the God of Imprisonment’s Finger can only be neutralized by a single person in this world—me. Every ten days to half a month, it will flare up again. If I don’t cleanse the essence of your blood in advance, every time it flares up, you will be in this kind of pain. Therefore, you have to obediently listen to what I say. Or else… Well, you know the consequences.”

“Go die. Only ghosts will listen to your words, you smelly thief.” The Little Princess grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. After that, she left to go clean up, upset.

“The project to cultivate a maid has failed yet again.”

The next day, the two of them began their trek to the City of Crime early in the morning. The ancient city of Tantai gradually vanished behind them.

This great road linked the east and west. It was the continent’s most significant road of business and commerce. The daily flow of travelling merchants was immense. The area surrounding the road was endlessly busy.

As they travelled, they ate in the wind and slept in the elements. The two of them finally arrived at the Empire of Chu’s western portal—Wangfeng City. This city was lofty and firm. It was the stronghold at the bottleneck on the road connecting the east and the west.

The name of Wangfeng City possessed a lengthy history. Reportedly, when the first iteration of Wangfeng City was built, it had been during the great battle between the east and the west. It had a history that approached ten thousand years. The city had undoubtedly gone through myriad vicissitudes. The Wangfeng City in front of them had been constructed a thousand years ago. It had never changed its address since then, even up to the present. Instead, it continuously expanded from its original foundation by many folds.

Although there were rarely any conflicts that broke out between the east and the west in the past several millennia, regardless of which dynasty it belonged to, this city was deemed as a military stronghold. It possessed an extensive military force for protection. During the current peaceful era, the military soldiers within the city focussed on questioning the visiting travelling merchants, as well as inspecting and screening their goods.

Prior to entering Wangfeng City, Chen Nan conducted a ‘lesson on entering cities’ with the princess. He threatened her to properly cooperate with those interrogative soldiers.

At the beginning, the Little Princess had laughed and sneered. She had proclaimed that she definitely would not put on an act for his repulsive self. But after a round of threats from Chen Nan, if she still refused to act a bit more ‘sincerely’ and something were to arise during the screening process, she would be disfigured. Furthermore, he would force the God of Imprisonment to flare up earlier than anticipated. The princess resentfully agreed to his terms.

Sure enough, when they entered the city, the two of them were met with rigorous interrogation. Fortunately, Chen Nan had already prepared beforehand. He had prepared a series of light lies in order to deceive and get past the questioning.

Naturally, there was a slight hiccup during this process. Despite the dirt that Chen Nan had caked onto the Little Princess’s face, her natural beauty was just too difficult to conceal. As a result, it attracted the pawing of one of the soldiers. The angry girl almost exploded in rage. Chen Nan hurriedly threw down some gold coins and dragged the infuriated princess away.

Although Wangfeng City was a faraway fortress at the distant frontier, the inside of the city was incomparably prosperous. There was a profession within the city that was especially thriving—mercenaries.

Right outside Wangfeng City was the boundless mountains. On the road to the western continent, there were all kinds of vicious beasts. There were also a few intrepid bandits. Therefore, the people that regularly travelled this road all kept together in parties. In fact, a majority of these people even spent money to hire a few mercenaries in order to ensure the security of their lives and assets.

Chen Nan brought the Little Princess to a local mercenary union. Inside was noisy and chaotic. The walls were filled with all sorts of posted announcements. They were all missions of various scales and difficulties waiting for a mercenary to accept it. The easier ones involved acting as someone’s bodyguard. The hardest ones involved investigating some extraordinarily dangerous locations.

Currently, the mission with the most expensive reward was to capture the mythical qilin in the Luofeng Mountain Range. There were already some people who had offered fifty thousand gold coins for its capture. The number of people who had accepted this mission was great, but to this day, not a single mercenary or company of mercenaries was able to succeed. The majority of them had gone off on the mission never to return. Now, very few people remained who were willing to accept this mission.

The employers that came here were usually people who wanted to go to either the City of Crime or the western continent. If they wanted to get by the bandits that plagued the road, several mercenaries were insufficient. Often, a whole group of people with the same desired destination would collectively hire a whole corps of mercenaries.

Carrying a large sword resting on his shoulder, a slovenly dressed, giant of a man with a face full of whiskers walked over to Chen Nan and said, “Brother, are you looking for a mercenary to serve as your bodyguard? Select me; I am the most sensible option here. I am known as the ‘King of Mercenaries’. I can ensure you a pleasant journey.”

From the side, several other mercenaries also spoke up at the same time. “Pft… If you’re the King of Mercenaries, then we’re the Emperors of Mercenaries.”

The big man restated, “Oh, I forgot to mention the word ‘future’. I am the future King of Mercenaries.”

Chen Nan could already see that this big man was indeed strong. His body’s cultivation had already reached the level of the first rank. However, he wasn’t sure why he would be willing to serve as some ordinary mercenary.

“Brother, how does it sound? Although I have only recently joined this party, I am definitely a prodigy among mercenaries. I will ensure you a worry-free journey. Although your little wife’s face is covered in dirt, anyone with a discerning eye can tell that she is an exceptionally gorgeous woman with but a glance. If you fail to have someone with outstanding ability protecting the two of you, leaving Wangfeng City will be incredibly dangerous.”

The Little Princess was extremely irritated. She furiously rebutted, “Big Moustache, don’t say whatever drivel comes to your mind. Who is this degenerate’s little wife? If you keep speaking rubbish, watch out for when I chop off your head.”

The big man said, “Aiyah… What a ferocious little lady.” With that, he turned his head to face Chen Nan. “Brother still hasn’t succeeded yet. You ought to do it when the opportunity arises. Otherwise, after leaving this village, you won’t get another chance!”

Chen Nan chuckled. “She is currently still just my maid.”

Faced with these two bad men, the Little Princess quickly grew insane with rage. She snatched the teapot off the table, flinging the teacups away. Chen Nan and the big man quickly dodged to the side, but other nearby patrons were not so lucky. The scalding tea was poured all over several of them, attracting a few raging curses from the victims inside the mercenary union. Chen Nan hurriedly dragged the Little Princess away to escape.

That big man whose face was covered in whiskers also followed them out. He yelled out to Chen Nan, “It’s really too dangerous for the two of you to go out on your own. If you hired me, I can ensure you two a pleasant journey.”

Chen Nan stopped in his tracks. “We wish to go to the City of Crime. I have heard that that road is littered with many bandits. Can you by yourself protect us from them?”

The big man said, “I can easily handle those mobs with just a single hand. What’s more, it won’t just be the three of us. A group of travelling merchants has hired a mercenary corps. I am very familiar with their chief, so we can leave with them. This will guarantee your safety.”

Although Chen Nan did not fear those bandits on the road, now that he had to worry about the Little Princess, he wasn’t entirely confident in himself. As insurance, he decided to embark on their journey with those mercenaries.

“Alright. Tomorrow morning, we will come here to find you.” With that said, he brought the fuming princess away.

The big man yelled after them, “Then it’s settled.”

After they returned to the inn, the Little Princess looked incredibly upset. She coldly said, “Smelly thief, you are about to leave the borders of Chu. You can help me neutralize the power of the God of Imprisonment’s Finger now.”

“Why so rushed? We haven’t even arrived at the City of Crime yet.”

“What? Have you forgotten what my jiejie had said? After you leave the borders of Chu, if you fail to release me, she will issue the command for your death. She will mobilize everything in order to kill you. You’ll die without a proper burial site.”

“Hmph. Me releasing you is only one possibility. Instead, how about I keep you by my side to serve as my maid.”

This time, the Little Princess was truly frightened. With a trill voice, she said, “Degenerate, you’re lying, right? There are no grievances or enmity between the two of us. Although there had been some… unpleasant things that have occurred between us, those were all… misunderstandings. Besides, it’s already been a long time since then. You don’t need to… have retribution, right?”

“Pa!”

Chen Nan reached out and hit her faint acupoint. With that, he released her onto the bed. Although Chen Nan’s heart had always suppressed a trace of fear for the old monster who had yet to present himself, he felt safer with the Little Princess by his side. He was certain that despite the old monster’s terrifying cultivation, he was still unable to release his God of Imprisonment’s Finger. He inwardly rejoiced at the ingenuity of ancestral profound skill.

The next day, Chen Nan brought the princess to the mercenary union right on time.

A scowl was plastered across the Little Princess’s face. She hatefully stared at Chen Nan, but felt dread in her heart at the same time. They were to leave the Empire of Chu soon. She was truly worried about losing her liberty afterwards.

After that big man saw the two of them, he immediately waved as he walked over to the duo. The princess gave him a greatly contemptuous look.

The big man didn’t seem to care. He chuckled.

The caravan had altogether one hundred and three mercenaries in order to ensure their safety. Excluding the deputy chief of the corps, an old magus of the first rank, the rest were all martial artists.

The chief was a middle-aged man around forty years of age. He seemed shrewd, yet experienced. There was a colossal beast behind him. Shockingly, it was a Land Dragon. The Land Dragon was about five zhang long. Pitch-black scales flickered in the light. Its appearance seemed rather vicious.

The big man said, “A first ranked magus, a first ranked dragon rider, and me, the future King of Mercenaries. Who dares provoke this party? I guarantee your safety on this trip.”

Chen Nan asked, “How many gold coins does it cost?”

The big man said, “One hundred gold coins per person. Two people are discounted, so one hundred and eighty gold coins.”

Chen Nan said, “You’re robbing me. Ten gold coins are already enough for an ordinary family to live off of for a month. You’re merely escorting us for a leg of our journey, so how can it still be this outrageously expensive?”

“Then how about one hundred and fifty gold coins?”

“No. Fifty.”

“One hundred and twenty.”

“No. Eighty.”

…

The final negotiated price totalled one hundred gold coins. Chen Nan promptly paid him.

Right then, the chief of the hired corps of mercenaries walked over and said, “Guan Hao, you’ve already been hired and paid by eight people, yet you’ve just received another two. Although you are helping us, by bringing this many people to trail us, my brothers will start having objections.”

Guan Hao said, “These are the last two.”

After the chief of the hired corps left, Chen Nan, irritated, said, “Swindler, return my money.”

Embarrassed, Guan Hao said, “This… Although there are many people, I guarantee your safe passage.”

From the side, the Little Princess chimed in, “One degenerate and one swindler; neither of you are a good person.”

Chen Nan shot her a glance before turning to face Guan Hao. “It’s fine if you don’t refund us, but when we leave the city, can you guarantee you’re capable of keeping this girl silent?”

A light bulb went on over Guan Hao’s head. “So you’re a trafficker.”

“Refund me.”

“Ah, my words are mistaken. Heihei, this matter is easy to handle. Isn’t it only leaving the city? We just have to seal her mute acupoint and stuff her under the pile of merchandise.”

The Little Princess’s gaze was sharp enough to kill someone. She angrily said, “You two bastards—”

“Pa!”

Chen Nan hit her mute acupoint. Then, he turned to Guan Hao and said, “Are there any women among the travelling merchants?”

“There are.”

“Leave her inside the carriage with those women. Otherwise, her delicate, tender body will be squished by the merchandise, which would be problematic.”

In total, there were about forty or so people within the group of travelling merchants. There were over twenty carriages filled with goods. Adding on over one hundred mercenaries, this procession proved to be rather striking. With her mute acupoint sealed, the Little Princess rode in the same carriage as the women of the travelling merchants. Her mouth couldn’t speak, and her body couldn’t move. She could only sit upright inside the carriage.

From the side, the several womenfolk examined her and praised:

“This ill girl is really pretty. I’ve never see a girl as beautiful as this.”

“Right, she’s really pretty.”

“Her face is filthy, but that is definitely for the sake of protecting herself. She’s really a clever girl.”

“I really want to pinch her smooth, delicate cheeks.”

In the end, the women truly began caressing the Little Princess’s jade cheeks.

“If I had a daughter as pretty as this, that’d be amazing.”

“Right, she’s really too cute.”

The Little Princess’s lungs were about to explode in anger. She couldn’t stop herself from panting with rage.

“Aiyah, this girl’s illness has worsened.”

“That doesn’t seem right. How could her voice resemble angry panting?”

…

This squadron of men and horses very quickly arrived at the city gates. After the travelling merchants donated several tens of gold coins, the interrogative soldiers stopped harassing the women.

It wasn’t until they arrived very far away from the city gates did Chen Nan release the princess’s acupoint. The instant she regained voluntary movement, she fled out of the carriage with what seemed like a leap. Afterwards, she loudly shrieked into the forest beside the road.

“Haha!” Chen Nan couldn’t contain his hearty laughter.

“Damn degenerate, hurry up and release that lousy finger method you placed on me and let me go.”

“You’re dreaming!”

Guan Hao walked over to them and said, “Little lady, don’t shout. If you keep shouting, wolves will come.”

“Y-you’re not a good person either. Big Moustache, aren’t you greedy for money? If you help me kill this degenerate, I’ll pay you one hundred thousand gold coins.”

Guan Hao gasped in alarm. “Wow! One hundred thousand gold coins! Such a large sum of wealth! However, someone with a noble character can choose to be avaricious in a virtuous way. This kind of illicit, ill-gotten wealth is something I can never accept.”

“You miser, you swindler, you still have the face to talk about the virtuous way of making money? As long as you help me kill him, I’ll give you another hundred thousand gold coins.”

With a ‘dong’, Chen Nan rapped the princess’s forehead. “You actually dare ask someone to kill me in front of me? Don’t treat me like air.”

With a pained yet hateful voice, the princess said, “Smelly thief, you deserve to be chopped into infinite pieces! Degenerate, sooner or later, you’ll go to hell.”

Chen Nan laughed. “Buddha says, ‘If I don’t go to hell, who will go to hell’.”

“Well then go to hell right now.”

“I have yet to become enlightened.”

“Shameless degenerate, smelly thief…”

The travelling merchants and the hired mercenaries all raised their eyebrows at this scene. With surprised expressions, they looked over at this couple.

In the following few days, everyone became accustomed to the sound of the two of them bickering. If no one were to hear their quarrelling for half a day, everyone would be baffled.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 3: The City of Crime 第三卷 罪惡之城

Chapter 3: Tiger King Sprouting Wings 生翼虎王


The winding road connecting the east and the west rambled through the mountains. Traversing this passage was a challenge. Sometimes, it passed through tunnels and caves. At other times, you’d have to hike up half a mountain. The mercenary company and travelling merchants journeyed through the boundless mountains.

Every day, the Little Princess would be noisy and rambunctious. She had already gotten over her moodiness from a few days prior. The continuous, unending mountain range was blooming and verdant throughout all four seasons of the year. The mountains were filled with all kinds of unknown and unheard of rare things. Most of her attention was focussed on those rare, exotic beasts.

As they travelled, she plucked many vibrantly coloured wild flowers and picked many refreshing wild fruits. Once in a while, she would scream in fear when an exotic animal suddenly pounced out of the forest and onto the road.

The beautiful landscapes and splendid trip caused the princess to gradually forget about her status as a captive. As the journey progressed, she found that this sort of wandering lifestyle was increasingly more enjoyable. Of course, only the Little Princess, the heavenly daughter who rarely left the imperial palace of royalty, would feel this way.

There were indeed some bandits who appeared on the road, but confronted with the attacks from the formidable first ranked magus and the terrifying Land Dragon Rider, those gangs were very rapidly obliterated.

For the Little Princess who wanted to watch a good show, this was very dissatisfying. She repeatedly scolded those bandits for being useless. The merchants and mercenary corps looked at each other in dismay upon hearing her words. They even cleaned out their ears, suspecting that there was a problem with their hearing.

Later, whenever Chen Nan snapped his fingers, the princess would painfully groan. Those with ability would look towards them, inwardly sighing at how truly ‘unusual’ this girl was.

Neither dragons nor ancient giants presented themselves en route. Only a few magical beasts from the west appeared, but they were all immediately dealt with by Big Moustache Guan Hao. Whenever he fetched the magicite core from within the corpses of the magical beasts, the Little Princess would curse at him for being such a ruthless miser.

After an explanation from the mercenary company’s chief, Chen Nan understood that Guan Hao absolutely wasn’t rapacious. He desired to study profound skills at Shenfeng Institute in the City of Crime, but apparently, the tuition fee to attend the school was extravagant, to say the least. He did everything he could think of in order to raise money for his tuition.

Nearby, the princess curled her lips. “Shenfeng Institute only accepts young ranked experts. You’re already how old, and you still want to go? Even if you go, they won’t want you.”

Guan Hao angrily said, “Who says I’m old? I’m only twenty nine years old! As long as you’re under thirty, you’re allowed to register to participate in the entrance exam for acceptance into Shenfeng Institute.”

“Heavens, you’re twenty nine years old?! Why did I think you were a thirty nine year old uncle!”

Guan Hao turned incomparably forlorn. He fished out a razor and quickly shaved his face clean from the beard and moustache that concealed his face. His appearance was indeed similar to that of a youth.

After learning this detail of Guan Hao, the Little Princess no longer cursed him for being a greedy miser. She began to genially call him Hao-zi.

This made Guan Hao even more depressed.

“Please, little lady, if you don’t want to address me as dage, then call me Guan Hao. You don’t have to call me a rat^[1].”

“Hehe, it’s you who thinks that way. That meaning was never my intention, but since you’re the one who brought it up, I won’t be impolite. From now on, I’ll call you a rat.”

Everyone laughed out loud. Guan Hao was so angered, he wanted to vomit blood.

Five days later, they arrived at a valley etched between the mountains. It was currently close to noon. The towering trees at either side of the road shaded them from the blistering sunshine, so no one felt that it was too unbearably sizzling hot.

At the moment, everyone was cooking lunch in their fire pits that they had dug. Suddenly, a fishy-smelling wind blew forth from the forest, and the earth began to lightly quake. Flocks of wild animals appeared running out of the forest, all heading in the same direction. Some of the bigger animals included feral elephants, lions, and tigers, while some of the smaller animals included foxes and snow rabbits. Fortunately, none of the animals attacked anyone.

The chief of the mercenary corps gave a loud, disproving call: “Not good!” He urgently gathered everyone to prepare for battle.

“Brothers, raise your weapons. We’ve come across trouble. A formidable magical beast should be appearing in front of us soon.”

Guan Hao quietly explained to Chen Nan, “According to the current situation, a second ranked magical beast probably succeeded in advancing to the third rank, and the powerful aura willed all the nearby creatures to charge forward and worship it.”

Chen Nan was perplexed. “Something like this actually happened?”

Guan Hao nodded. “Yep. Normally, this road is very safe; very few travellers encounter this kind of situation. I didn’t expect us to have such bad luck. A powerful magical beast that just advanced to the next rank is bound to challenge enemies in order to consolidate its power. When that happens, an unavoidable battle will break out.”

The Little Princess looked excited the instant she heard this. She almost clapped her hands and cheered.

Chen Nan flicked her forehead. “Little demon, you just want to watch the world burn. If a magical beast really comes seeking blood, everyone will be too busy looking after themselves; let’s see what you’ll do then.”

“Hmph, you dare let a hair of mine be harmed? My jiejie wouldn’t forgive you. When that happens, you’ll die brutally.”

Chen Nan was spurred to laughter by these words. “Haha, little demon, you’re truly naïve. You still dare threaten me at this point in time? If I were afraid of your jiejie, would I have captured and brought you here? En, I know you. Little girl, you’re full of crafty tricks. Don’t pretend to be ignorant of the affairs of the world in my presence—stop trying to pull tricks on me.”

Just then, a roar suddenly thundered from the distance, shaking the sky: “Hou~!”

The horses that were tasked with pulling the carriages began to incessantly neigh. They restlessly began to struggle against the reins.

The travelling merchants were in a state of panic. Not only were they scared of some powerful magical beast that had yet to show itself, but they were also worrying over the horses being too startled to follow the road properly. They feared the horses would abandon the road, taking the merchandise with them.

After the chief of the mercenary corps noticed the panicked horses, he shouted, “Hurry! Knock all the horses unconscious.”

The mercenaries began to move in succession. With either clubs or palms, they firmly smacked the heads of the horses. The twenty or so horses immediately collapsed onto the ground.

The chief was mounted on top of his Land Dragon. He yelled, “Prepare to fight!” With that, he took the lead and rushed forward. With their weapons at hand, the mercenaries followed him to battle. The deputy chief used a hovering spell to fly into the sky. He positioned himself at the rear of the company.

Chen Nan and the princess followed them.

Up ahead of the road was an expansive, open clearing without any tall trees. Only a few lowly shrubs grew there. In the clearing was a massive congregation of feral animals prostrating all over the ground. The scene was quite spectacular.

Among the creatures prostrating up ahead was a giant beast covered with bright fur as white as snow. It resembled a tiger, but it was many times fiercer and stronger. It was three zhang long. It quickly rushed towards the chief’s Land Dragon. This giant magical beast gave everyone an intense uneasy feeling, because it really was too large.

The spectacle before them seemed quite like human society—lowly subjects bowing in respect to their grand monarch. It was truly incredible.

Someone cried out, “A White Tiger! But it’s way too big. Has it transformed into a spirit?”

“Even if it were a White Tiger, it’d still have stripes. This was never a tiger to begin with.”

“Then, what is this monster?”

…

Everyone commented on the scene before them.

The Little Princess sighed, “How powerful and pretty. It’s really too cute!”

Everyone was speechless.

Guan Hao explained, “In these boundless mountains, monsters appear with no end in sight. This Tiger King ought to have come from a White Tiger and a Magical Tiger’s interbreeding.”

The chief nodded in agreement. “The greater variation that these magical beasts have, the more terrifying they become; their power has the capacity for growth. It has already successfully advanced from the second rank to the third rank. This is the time when it wants to consolidate its power. It just happened to have encountered us. This upcoming fierce battle is nearly impossible to avoid.”

The Tiger King deserved to be called the monarch of all the creatures in its vicinity. It didn’t care about the humans in its presence at all. It simply gazed at them icily.

The deputy chief descended from the sky. “The magical elements around the Tiger King are fluctuating intensely; its magical attack must be utterly dreadful. Everyone needs to be careful.” He noticed everyone’s nervousness and added, “If we can kill it, the magicite core that it possesses will be incredibly valuable.”

With a barely discernibly voice, the chief sighed, “That’ll be hard. This is a magical beast of the third rank. Although we have three practitioners of the first rank on our side, we can’t just simply add up all our ranks to make up for the disparity of strength between us and that magical beast. Even if all we mercenaries attacked together, this bout can still go either way.”

The deputy chief suddenly cried out, “Not good! It has already prepared its attack. I can already sense the magical elements that it has accumulated.”

The mercenaries were in an uproar. They had to deal with a powerful Tiger King of the third rank. It was a terrifying magical beast that was a whole two ranks higher than their chief’s Land Dragon.

The chief ordered, “Everyone, don’t be frantic. Hurry and scatter! Don’t converge together.”

These mercenaries have been experiencing life or death trials for a long time already. They rapidly settled down and quickly dispersed towards advantageous terrain.

Although the deputy chief was already over fifty years old, his reaction time was still nimble. He led the attacks on the magical beast. A glistening blade of wind shot towards the Tiger King with a hiss, aiming for its throat.

The Tiger King gave an enormous roar, as if it was condemning everyone for daring to take the initiative and attack first. It simply lowered its head, dodging the blade of wind with tremendous magical energy. It raised its head highly, looking at them with disdain.

Everyone rubbed their eyes in disbelief. Finally, they confirmed that the Tiger King had indeed shown them a look of disdain.

“This tiger has become a spirit. It can actually express human emotions.”

…

Everyone grew apprehensive.

The Little Princess excitedly said, “It’s really too cute.”

Chen Nan grabbed her by the collar and retreated from the dangerous battlefield.

“Degenerate, let me go! Hurry and let me go!”

The Tiger King gave another great roar. The creatures lying on the ground began to shiver. Trembling in fear, they all stood up simultaneously. They parted from one another in order to create a path for the Tiger King.

Chen Nan was amazed at this scene. He couldn’t help but say, “How strange… They really act like humans.”

At the moment, the Tiger King was squaring off against the chief, the deputy chief, and Guan Hao. All the other mercenaries dispersed into the surroundings. They formed an entrapment with it in the center. Afraid of the Tiger King’s might, the creatures shivered nearby, afraid to go over.”

“Hou~!” With a howl, the Tiger King opened its mouth and breathed out lightning. A streak of lightning shot towards the magus with a ‘bilipala’.

The magus promptly uttered a spell. The land in front of him began to bulge. A shield of earth appeared before him. At the same time, a shield of water materialized in front of him.

The lightning tore through the shield of earth. In a flash, it crumbled into a pile of earth and rocks. Then, it struck the shield of water. With a ‘bilipala’ and a flash of sparks, the shield of water also evaporated into a watery mist.

The magus hastily tumbled to the side, but the streak of lightning still managed to come into contact with his body. With a wretched shriek, every hair on his head stood erect as his entire body was thoroughly burnt black by the lightning arc.

If not for the shields of earth and water resisting most of the streak of lightning, the magus’s life would have been in grave danger. After a very long time, he crawled up off the ground, quivering.

At the same time, all the members of the hired mercenary company took action. Arrows shot out of their crossbows, ‘sousou’. A rain of arrows, like a swarm of flying locusts, was launched at the Tiger King.

Although the Tiger King’s body was large, it remained incomparably agile in its movements. With a few leaps, it jumped out of everyone’s encirclement. Afterwards, it swept its gigantic tail horizontally towards the mercenaries in order to inflict utter destruction.

Five mercenaries were whipped by the gigantic tail which seemed like a mace. Their bones and muscles immediately snapped into smithereens as they died violently upon impact. Everyone else’s courage was shattered and they quickly fled further away from the battlefield.

The chief rushed to urge his Land Dragon to charge forward. Guan Hao followed closely behind him.

In the sunshine, the Tiger King’s fur irradiated a sparkling light. Its robust body, covered in white fur, seemed particularly durable. It aggressively confronted the two men and one dragon that were flying towards it. An ominous glint twinkled in its eyes as it seemed to posture itself for a lunge.

In the blink of an eye, the chief steered his Land Dragon towards it. He carried a Dragon Slaughtering Lance and thrust it towards the throat of the Tiger King. Simultaneously, Guan Hao also arrived at the magical beast. He brandished his broadsword and slashed at the Tiger King’s flank.

With a howl, the Tiger King soared into the air, dodging those two attacks. It pounced towards the chief who was atop of his Land Dragon.

Actually, the Land Dragon was larger than the Tiger King, but in the face of such a formidable foe, the dragon still cowered.

The chief saw that there was already insufficient time to dodge. He promptly leapt off, running away.

The giant, three zhang long tiger fell on top of the five zhang long Land Dragon. It opened its giant mouth and bit into the dragon’s neck. The Land Dragon struggled to break away, but it wasn’t able to escape from the tiger’s jaws. Its neck was being chomped by the Tiger King. Blood wildly spurted out.

The chief was so enraged at this scene, his eyes were bloodshot. With a war cry, he charged up. The sharp spearhead of the Dragon Slaughtering Lance ruthlessly plunged into the tiger’s abdomen. A stream of blood spurted out. Guan Hao also brandished his broadsword and charged up, ferociously chopping down at the tiger’s back. The watery blood of the Tiger King flowed down its brightly white fur.

The Tiger King endured the pain and released the Land Dragon from his maw.

Upon receiving some time to breathe, the Land Dragon then flipped over. After undergoing the most agonizing suffering, it temporarily forgot about its fear towards the Tiger King that it so deeply loathed. It fiercely slammed into the Tiger King.

“Peng!”

The Tiger King was slammed by the Land Dragon and was sent tumbling across the ground. All the surrounding mercenaries simultaneously surged forward. With their blades, spears, clubs, and cudgels, they all began to beat its body. In the blink of an eye, its body was already drenched in blood.

“Hou~!” With a great roar, the Tiger King shook everyone away and stood up. It opened its mouth and breathed out fire. Roasted by the blazing flames, the mercenaries screamed tragically and quickly drew back. However, they were still six people who were pursued by the Tiger King and forcibly eviscerated to shreds. Fresh blood dyed the road red. Everyone else was deeply frightened.

Everyone was currently imprisoned within a zone of danger. The deputy chief had finally recovered. He uttered a long spell. Magical elements began to wildly accumulate around his body. Afterwards, he lightly waved the magic wand in his hand. Tiny snowflakes suddenly floated into existence in the world. Even with the blazing summertime heat, everyone turned frigid.

Bountiful amounts of magical elements coalesced in front of the Tiger King as it bared its fangs and brandished its claws. A dense layer of ice began to appear on its body. The ice grew thicker and thicker, until it thoroughly froze it inside.

Surviving through this crisis, everyone cheered. The Tiger King had been frozen into a giant block of ice.

However, before everyone’s cheers stopped, the sound of the ice shattering rang through the air.

Crack after crack appeared on top of the block of ice and began tearing their way down. With a final bang, the entire block of ice completely shattered. The Tiger King once again appeared in front of everyone, but it was clearly not as energetic or tenacious as earlier.

The deputy chief, the chief, and Guan Hao seized this opportunity to launch their attacks. After the deputy chief read aloud a spell, a spear of ice materialized in front of him. Afterwards, it shot towards the Tiger King as fast as lightning. It accurately pierced into its breast. The chief and Guan Hao also individually brandished their weapons—a Dragon Slaughtering Lance and a broadsword—and stabbed into its abdomen. After that, they quickly vaulted on top of the tiger’s back and began relentlessly beating its giant tiger head.

The Tiger King’s body began to sway. Watery blood turbulently surged out of its body. At the moment, it was drenched in its own blood. Its previously bright snow white fur was now completely dyed a bloody red.

The chief’s Land Dragon was no longer afraid of the Tiger King. It crazily charged towards it. Its gigantic draconic body slammed the tiger, launching it soaring through the air.

The chief and Guan Hao floated off of the tiger to the side. When the Land Dragon bared itself to slam into it again, the swaying Tiger King suddenly stood up and roared. Its roar shook the sky and intimidated the Land Dragon into forcibly stopping in its tracks.

A strange scene began to unfold. A pair of flawlessly white wings suddenly sprouted from the Tiger King’s flank. It sharply contrasted with its body that was now drenched in blood. A single horn, as immaculate as impeccable jade, suddenly sprouted out of its forehead. It was about half a chi long.

This bewildering change rendered everyone present dumbfounded.

Chen Nan was inwardly apprehensive. He knew that this was the Tiger King’s genuine battle form. If it had revealed its true power a step earlier, there was no way anyone could have injured it.

An expression of delight appeared on the Little Princess’s face. “This Tiger King is really too powerful and pretty. It’d be great if it served as my mount!”

The chief loudly shouted, “Everyone, don’t be scared! It has transformed too late. It’s already injured; it can’t support itself much longer. Let’s attack it together.” With that said, he led the charge forward. Everyone followed him, but the Land Dragon was cowering. It didn’t dare advance.

The Tiger King soared into the air. In an instant, it flew incredibly high into the sky. It constantly snarled. Lightning struck down from the sky. Following that was a tremendously wide expanse of raging flames that swept towards the ground.

Lightning and fire madly danced in the air. Anguished cries erupted from the ground. In the blink of an eye, ten or so people were struck by the lightning and fell into the fire. A vile smell of burnt flesh diffused through the air.

Because of the shelter provided by the trees, the travelling merchants far away from the battle were unable to adequate gauge how devastating the battle had become, but they could see the soaring flames and dancing lightning. They could also see that there was a giant, snarling magical beast in the sky. They were scared senseless, trembling in horror.

The giant tiger had suffered injuries already. After its crazy attack, it grew even weaker, but when its attack finished, over ten people on the ground could be seen to have had forfeited their lives.

Guan Hao collected a pike off the ground. With all his strength, he launched it up into the air. With a ‘pu’, it pierced into its right wing. It swayed in the sky, nearly losing its balance and falling to the ground.

The Tiger King exploded in fury again. It began desperately accumulating the nearby magical elements. A forceful wave of energy pushed down from the sky.

The deputy chief cried out, “Not good! The magical power is too intense this time. The Tiger King is risking its life for this attack. Everyone, hurry and run, or else we’ll just end up perishing along with it.”

Chen Nan originally didn’t want to meddle too much in these affairs, but seeing that the mercenary company was already no longer able to put up a resistance, he was forced into action. Seeing him walk forward, the Little Princess shouted, “Degenerate, before you walk off to your death, release the curse you placed on me.”

“Shut your inauspicious little crow’s beak.” He flicked the princess’s forehead.

The princess painfully cried out, “Damn degenerate, I curse you to be unable to return once you go.”

“Then wait for the wonderful feeling of the God of Imprisonment’s Finger to flare up in your body.”

Chen Nan quickly arrived beside the deputy chief. “Do you have any way to send me up to the Tiger King’s back?”

The deputy chief was momentarily stunned before he said, “You… Why have you come here? Hurry and leave. If you stay, I cannot guarantee your safety.”

Chen Nan raised his hand and produced some golden sword qi. “As long as you can send me up there, I can eliminate it.”

The deputy chief immediately sobered up. The youth before him was actually an expert, but he hesitated. “Can you do it by yourself?”

“Definitely. Don’t hesitate, or else if we wait too long and it finishes gathering enough magical energy, even more people will die.”

The deputy chief didn’t hesitate any longer. “Alright, thank you.”

He incanted a spell. An inexhaustible amount of wind elements immediately congregated around Chen Nan. With a light wave of the magic wand, Chen Nan was engulfed in a fierce wind and was sent soaring up into the sky straight towards the Tiger King.

In the sky, the Tiger King was still busily gathering magical elements. When it noticed the unexpected guest quickly flying towards it from the ground, Chen Nan had already arrived only three zhang away from it thanks to the speed infusion from the deputy chief’s spell.

It wanted to open its mouth to breathe fire, but Chen Nan was one step quicker. He launched a pike that he had prepared. The pike released a faint golden glow. In a flash, it pierced into the Tiger King’s neck.

The Tiger King released a long, anguished howl. It flipped over in the sky, blood madly pouring out. A rain of blood fell from the sky.

The deputy chief used all his remaining magical energy to send Chen Nan passed the last stretch to the Tiger King’s back.

The Tiger King had already lost its balance in the air. It constantly swayed, unable to regain its footing. Chen Nan’s hand shot out and grabbed its tail, stabilizing its body.

Gradually, the Tiger King was able to regain its balance, but its injuries were already threatening its life. It was no longer intending to consolidate its power for all the creatures to see. It quickly prepared to fly away into the distance.

Chen Nan was very uneasy. He swiftly climbed onto the tiger’s neck. After settling on its back, he brandished his fists to heavily pound its gigantic head.

“Peng!”, “Peng!”, “Peng!”…

The Tiger King’s body began to sway again. It quickly dropped towards the ground.

Chen Nan didn’t dare use too much strength in his strikes. The Tiger King was already incredibly weak. If he made use of his sword qi irrationally, he could easily kill it, but at the moment, he was also at risk of crashing into the ground and becoming utterly crushed. The wind thundered against his ears as they dove down. A feeling of nervousness swelled in his heart.

Right when they arrived less than ten zhang away from the ground, the Tiger King was finally able to regain its balance and put a stop to the downward momentum of their free-fall. At the moment, streams of blood flowed down between its nose and ears. Its flesh and muscles slightly convulsed. Critical injury after injury had left it incomparably weak.

---

[1] A pun. 耗子/haozi/rat sounds similar to 浩仔/Hao-zi, a nickname Yu’er gave him that pokes fun at how young, like a boy, he apparently is.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 3: The City of Crime 第三卷 罪惡之城

Chapter 4: Xiao Yu 第四章 小玉


When the Tiger King stabilized itself again, Chen Nan brandished his fists and pounded its head some more. With a roar that shook the sky, the Tiger King suddenly grew insane. After successfully stopping its downward descent, it crazily rolled and churned around in the air. It was trying to fling Chen Nan off of its body.

The travelling merchants in the distance were watching the intense struggle in the skies and were beyond terrified. They were shivering in fear.

All the mercenaries on the ground were petrified. Every one of them held their breaths. They nervously looked up into the sky, breaking out into cold sweats for the sake of Chen Nan.

At the moment, the Little Princess was the only person who still dared to voice a thought. She uttered under her breath, “Force… Use more force. That smelly thief was nearly flung off, so use a bit more force—but only a bit more. Throw him to the ground so he’ll be halfway dead; I still need him to neutralize that rotten finger technique.”

The mercenaries close to her gave her some strange looks. This incurred a very haughty glance and a cold humph from the princess.

Chen Nan sat on top of the Tiger King’s neck. Both of his legs were firmly clasping onto its neck, while both of his hands were tightly gripping onto its fur. Hearing the wind thunder at his ears, he noticed the ground become closer and closer. Nervousness shot through his heart. He inwardly blamed himself for being too impetuous and enraging the Tiger King.

When they were six, seven zhang away from the ground, the Tiger King abruptly stopped in mid-dive. It unfolded its wings, stopping their plunge into the ground.

Chen Nan released a long breath of air. His body was currently covered in a cold sweat.

The Tiger King had already been seriously injured. With these violently jerky movements, it felt drained of all energy. It wavered as it descended onto the ground.

Chen Nan’s wrestle with the Tiger King could be said to be very thrilling. At any point in time, he could have fallen from a high altitude, crashing into the ground and being crumpled. Everyone watching from the ground was terrified.

When the Tiger King shakily arrived three zhang from the ground, Chen Nan’s worrying heart finally settled down. He viciously pounded the Tiger King’s head several times. Then, he forcefully stomped the tiger’s back before leaping off.

The Tiger King gave an unreconciled snarl as it dropped from the sky. With a bang, it slammed into the ground, flattening a large area of shrubbery.

The mercenaries on the ground all joyfully cheered in unison. They all raised their weapons and wildly attacked the Tiger King.

The faraway travelling merchants saw how Chen Nan had defeated the formidable magical beast. They all uniformly exhaled. They relaxed from their tense states. Everyone tiredly sat down on the ground.

A moment ago, the Tiger King had been in the sky displaying its fierce might. Its lightning and flames had devastated the mercenary company. The corps suffered monumental damage—deaths upon deaths, injures upon injures. The fortunate survivors desired vengeance in their hearts and overzealously attacked the tiger. Numerous weapons penetrated into its body at various places. In the blink of an eye, the seriously injured Tiger King was on the verge of death, ready to loose its last breath. Fresh blood dyed the grass red. A bloody mist diffused from its ragged body.

All the creatures saw the Tiger King at the verge of death. They howled and hissed… Everything and everyone were in an upheaval. Finally, they all scattered from the scene every which way. A fishy smell was swept up and the ground trembled.

The Little Princess suddenly ran up to the mercenaries and anxiously shouted, “Stop! Everyone, stop! It’ll die soon…”

Her shouting attracted the attention of all the mercenaries. They all whipped their heads to face her. With a scowl, one of the mercenaries said, “Little girl, what the hell are you saying? You actually want us to stop? This bastard took over twenty of my allies’ lives. They were all my brothers who I lived with day in and day out!”

Chen Nan swiftly walked over to them and said, “This girl’s brain is kind of messed up, so she’s typically a little muddleheaded. Don’t worry about her. You guys can continue.” With that said, he dragged her away.

The princess struggled to break free from his grasp and shouted, “You bastard, you’re the one that’s messed up! Let go of me… Don’t kill the Tiger King! I can compensate you all for the damage.”

One of the mercenaries furiously said, “Compensate us? How will you compensate us for the lives that my brothers have lost?”

“No one can return from death, but I can compensate the families of the casualties…”

The mercenaries attacked the Tiger King in frenzy. No matter how much the princess cried at them to stop, they kept beating it. Only when the Tiger King was rendered completely motionless did everyone finally calm down.

The flesh of the Tiger King was now mutilated beyond recognition. Fresh blood turbulently bubbled out of its hideous, ghastly wounds. There were even a few places on its body where its thick, white bones were exposed.

The Little Princess was angry and worried, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

Chen Nan said, “Little witch, that time, you used every possible evil means to torment me. Now, you actually sympathize for some vicious beast? Little demon, you simply don’t make any sense.”

The princess was seething with anger. “Who cares about you? The Tiger King is much better than you. You’re the most shameless, contemptible bastard in the world. One day, I’ll cut you to pieces!”

Right then, someone raised their knife in order to cut open the Tiger King’s chest and stomach to retrieve its magicite core. When the princess noticed this, she worriedly shouted, “You guys can’t do that! The Tiger King wasn’t beaten by you, so why are you guys taking its magicite core?”

The chief walked over to them and asked, “How should we address this brother?”

Chen Nan answered, “I am surnamed Chen.”

“I never thought Chen-xiongdi’s skill was this excellent. You truly possess the strength to defeat a savage Tiger King and have spared many of my brothers from its nefarious plot. Its magicite core respectfully belongs to you.”

The deputy chief added, “Of course the magicite core should be given to Chen-xiongdi. Take a break, everyone. Bury our brothers who have fallen in combat.”

The mercenary corps suffered monumental losses this time. Twelve members were seriously injured, and twenty three were brutally killed.

After tidying up the scene, everyone from the mercenary corps expressed their gratitude towards Chen Nan. Then, they went over to the travelling merchants. Only Chen Nan, the Little Princess, and Guan Hao remained on the former battlefield.

Guan Hao awkwardly laughed. “I didn’t expect Chen-xiongdi to be concealing his power. Your ability is much more remarkable than this bodyguard’s, heihei…”

Chen Nan said, “Well then are you going to refund me my one hundred gold coins?”

“Ah, the weather isn’t too bad today, huh? A light breeze and some sunshine. Not a cloud in sight. A vast blue sky, as far as the eyes can see, completely spotless.”

The princess shouted, “Damn rat, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Uh, I… Heihei. I just wanted to discuss something with Chen-xiongdi. Could you perhaps give me some parts of the tiger, such as its fur, peni—”

The princess who was standing nearby lunged at him. She kicked and scratched at him.

“You miser, damn perverted rat… **** off! You don’t get anything!”

Guan Hao hastily escaped without a trace.

The princess turned to Chen Nan and said, “Can you give me some time alone with the Tiger King?”

As Chen Nan left, he muttered, “She’s truly a relative of demons. She actually holds a deep affection for that vicious beast.”

When she saw Chen Nan disappear into the woods, the princess’s heart settled down. She murmured to herself, “This doesn’t make any sense. My teacher, that smelly old man, once said that magical beasts that are capable of growth have very tenacious vitality. They won’t easily die, so why was this guy so easily finished off?”

She circled the Tiger King and gently sighed, “It seems like it truly has died.” Right when she turned away to leave, she suddenly heard a muffled gasp. The Little Princess jumped in fright. She quickly whipped her head around to see what was happening.

She saw the Tiger King bat an eyelid before unexpectedly completely opening its eyes. Soon after, its tiger body began to tremble.

“Ah, it’s alive! It didn’t really die.” But at the same time, she was somewhat frightened. She had just personally witnessed the terrifying might of the Tiger King. Right now, her heart was perturbed.

The princess’s voice quivered as she said, “L-little tiger, y-you don’t have scared. I won’t harm you.”

“Did she tell it not to be scared, or is she telling herself not to be scared? Haha… It’s actually pretty laughable.” Chen Nan had originally left, but recalling how beasts came and went unpredictably in these mountains, he didn’t feel at ease with the princess on her own, so he had returned. He had returned right on time to hear those words escape from the princess’s mouth. He couldn’t help but grin.

“How can this princess be afraid of some little tiger? You degenerate, why did you suddenly come back?” When she saw Chen Nan’s sudden reappearance, she no longer felt scared.

“Oh, please. This is a super-giant creature; you don’t have to title it with ‘little’, okay? No matter how I look at it, you don’t even fill one of the gaps between its teeth.”

“Hmph. Can you leave?”

Chen Nan circled the Tiger King and said, “How unexpected. This guy is really quite stubborn. It’s already been beaten to this state, yet it still refuses to depart from the world.”

The princess was somewhat anxious. She uneasily asked, “Damn degenerate, do you want to take action against it again?”

“Yep. If this vicious beast is left alive to roam the world, I don’t know how many people will be killed.”

The princess stepped between the tiger and Chen Nan. “No. I won’t let you touch it.”

The Tiger King suddenly stood up waveringly. The place where it had been lying down had a half a chi deep puddle of its blood. An ominous glint flickered in its eyes as it gazed at Chen Nan, but it was mostly afraid. Its gaze towards the princess was much gentler.

“Wow, it doesn’t hold any hostility towards me. Little tiger, you won’t bite me, right?”

When the Tiger King heard her words, it unexpectedly nodded its head like a human.

The Little Princess immediately cheered, “Heavens! It can actually understand what I say! This is too hard to believe.”

Seeing the Tiger King stand up, Chen Nan unsheathed his long knife. A glistening light flickered from the blade—cold, murderous intent.

When the princess noticed his movements, she hurriedly said, “Don’t touch it.”

Chen Nan responded, “What if it hurts someone?”

The princess replied, “It won’t. It definitely won’t hurt anyone.”

“You aren’t it. Can you guarantee anything?”

“You… Hmph! It listens to what I say.” The princess turned to the Tiger King and said, “Listen to my words: don’t hurt anyone, or else this smelly guy will kill you.”

The Tiger King looked at the Little Princess, and then looked at Chen Nan. It ultimately nodded its head.

This made the princess jubilant. She praised, “What an intelligent creature! It’s much better than those dragons of those smelly dragon riders. Little tiger, from now on, you must follow me. I promise I’ll treat you well.”

Chen Nan scoffed. “Save your breath. You want this big guy to obediently follow you? You’re dreaming. Besides, it’s injures are incredibly grave. Travelling is also a problem. Those mercenaries absolutely won’t tolerate it.”

“I don’t care. I definitely won’t let anyone hurt it.” The princess didn’t pay any more attention to him. She was somewhat vexed. “Little tiger, you’ve been seriously hurt. You can’t walk, and your body is so big. How can we take it with us?”

What happened next stunned Chen Nan and the princess. The Tiger King’s pair of wings and solitary horn suddenly vanished without a trace. Its gigantic tiger body began to quickly miniaturize. The tiger’s body went from three zhang long down to not even one zhang. The weapons that were pierced into its body also fell off. Its injuries quickly healed. In just a moment, it seemed good as new.

The Tiger King shook its body. The blood that layered its body flung off onto the ground. Clean, its bright white fur was on full display.

Surprised, Chen Nan quipped, “So it’s actually a Tiger Demon. It already knows some transformation techniques.”

The princess was also amazed. She shouted, “This is just unimaginable. It actually knows some transformation techniques!”

Chen Nan mused over this. Although he had never seen a monster, he had heard his father talk about them. Many of the spiritual beasts from the east could gather the world’s original vital qi and absorb the sun and moon’s quintessence. Along with the accumulation of time, these spiritual beasts would gradually become spirits. They would slowly create their own methods of cultivation. Many spiritual beasts would become incomparably formidable. From the point of view of the common people, these spiritual beasts had become demonic beasts. The even stronger ones became known as monsters.

Demonic beasts and monsters all possessed unordinary power. Demonic beasts’ bodily forms were massive. Additionally, they could breathe out a cloudy mist. Monsters were clearly much stronger. The monsters of legends could even transform and take the form of humans. They could even understand magic. Even extraordinary people, peak experts, may not necessarily reach their level of strength.

That year, his father Chen Zhan had encountered a powerful monster. After a great battle, he had beaten the monster back into its original form. After the battle, Chen Zhan had carefully analyzed what had happened and gradually understood some of the mystery pertaining to demonic beasts and monsters.

Through cultivation, demonic beasts could slowly transform their physical bodies. They crafted their bodies to be able to better contain the spiritual qi of the world. Therefore, demonic beasts were all massive—they contained in their gigantic bodies tremendously powerful energy. If a demonic beast was ever seriously injured, or perhaps it was pushed to the brink of death, the power within its body would slowly disperse and it would regain its original form, transforming back to its size as an ordinary beast.

Monsters were much stronger than demonic beasts. They didn’t desire any physical changes. Instead, they desired fundamental changes. Because of this, monsters wanted to transform into the form of humans. They took great effort in transforming their physical bodies into this form for the sake of better cultivation. According to legends, the form of humans and a few other forms of mythical beasts were most well-adapted for cultivation. This was the reason why monsters pursued the ability to transform into either humans or mythical beasts.

Chen Nan gazed at the Tiger King before him with an amazed expression. He had previously thought that this was just a magical beast. He didn’t expect it to actually comprehend cultivation methods of demonic beasts.

“How remarkable! It’s worthy of having the blood of the eastern White Tiger and the western Magical Tiger. It understands the cultivation methods of demonic beasts and has the innate ability to use magic like magical beasts. Perhaps this guy has been cultivating for thousands of years. Killing it would really be a bit of a waste.”

The princess shouted, “You absolutely can’t kill it. Since this little tiger is so cute and pretty and mystical, I will definitely have it stay by my side. But if it could become smaller, that’d be good.”

When the Tiger King heard these words from the princess, its body trembled. Its body actually began to turn smaller.

“This is great!” The princess was thrilled.

The Tiger King transformed from one zhang in length to merely one chi. It appeared to be an adorable little porcelain kitten.”

The Little Princess delightedly cried out, “Aiyah! It became a little tiger in reality! Hurry and come over.” She beckoned towards the Tiger King.

The kitten didn’t forgo its Tiger King mannerisms as it twisted its body walking towards her. A pair of immaculately white wings sprouted from its flank. A jade horn protruded out of its forehead. Then, it began flapping its wings and flew into the princess’s bosom.

Watching, Chen Nan was left wide-eyed and slack-jawed. He mumbled, “How is this possible? When a demonic beast is seriously injured and loses its power, it’s supposed to return to its original form. How can it still transform even smaller? This tiger sure is strange!”

The Little Princess embraced the snow white Tiger King. “Hehe,” she giggled.

The Tiger King absorbed its pair of wings and single horn back into its body. With this final transformation, it truly resembled a gentle kitten. Cozy, it closed its eyes as it snuggled into the princess’s arms.

Chen Nan sighed, “Lustful tiger, what are you actually looking for!”

The princess heatedly said, “Degenerate, you’re still talking nonsense? This little tiger wouldn’t be filthy like you.”

The Tiger King opened its eyes and looked at Chen Nan. At first, it still held somewhat of a fearful look, but it seemed to detect that the princess was able to protect it from him. It suddenly opened its mouth and shot out a fine streak of lightning.

This was much too abrupt. With a light ‘bipa’, the electricity struck the crown of Chen Nan’s head, scorching his face pitch-black. Every strand of his hair stood erect.

“Damn tiger! Lustful tiger, I’ll kill you! ****, how dare you attack someone more powerful than yourself?”

The princess shoved him back. “You deserved it. It was you who instigated it. Little tiger was only acting in self-defence.”

“…”

He spent a great deal of time in order to pat down his erect hair. Afterwards, he shot a fierce glance at the Tiger King and said, “Don’t think that you’re safe because you transformed into a cat. With just one shout, I can have those mercenaries immediately butcher you to pieces.”

The princess said, “You dare? This little tiger will be following me from now on, so you can’t let anyone hurt it. En, I should think of a name for it. What should it be called? Considering its entire body is a bright snowy white, like jade, I shall call you Xiao Yu.”

The Tiger King joyfully rubbed himself against the princess’s protruding chest. Chen Nan’s nose began to bleed profusely upon seeing this. He began envying that little guy.

“Hehe,” giggled the princess, “It really likes that name! Xiao Yu, from now on, I’ll be your master. Henceforth you must listen to what I say. No matter what, you cannot be repulsive like that bastard over there.”

The princess patted Xiao Yu’s furry tiger head. After that, he vigorously ran past Chen Nan. Angry, Chen Nan truly wanted to grab him and squish him to death.

Afterwards, the princess began pestering Chen Nan, asking him to cooperate to save the Tiger King Xiao Yu. Faced with her incessant pestering, he finally nodded in agreement.

Throughout the journey, it could be said that the Little Princess was incomparably mischievous. It seemed like she had no idea that she was a captive. She would often do or say something shocking. Sometimes, Chen Nan truly wanted to punish her, but the instant he recalled that one hundred and seventy year old monster from the imperial family of Chu, he’d abandon those kinds of thoughts.

That old man was the most tyrannical practitioner that he had encountered so far. If he harmed the Little Princess, God knows what that old monster would do to repay him. Most importantly, he felt that that old man had been following them the entire journey, apparently hidden within the shadows. This was the reason why he hadn’t dared to do anything too excessive to the princess up to this point.

Although the princess irritated and annoyed Chen Nan the entire journey, after some careful consideration, he realized that everything appeared to be calculated by the little girl. He sensed that this little girl’s thinking was really not shallow. After careful examination, it wasn’t hard to realize that she had purposely feigned naïvety and ignorance of the world throughout the journey. This reckless, headstrong appearance caused others to relax their guards against her.

As a matter of fact, the little demon was absolutely not a simple-minded person. She had proven this when they were at the western borders of Chu. In fact, it was proven that she was very astute. Her innate chicanery was without a doubt the reason why she had been acting this way.

There was another reason why the Little Princess was not concerned about her current unfavourable position. She had analyzed the situation before her a long time ago. She knew that for now, Chen Nan wouldn’t dare act impulsively, nor did he dare completely destroy his so far passive relationship with the power that backed her, directly fighting against them. After all, he wasn’t able to fight a nation with just one man. For now, he required her to serve as his ‘protective talisman’.

At the moment, the princess was currently whispering something to the Tiger King Xiao Yu. She carefully gave him instructions.

“Xiao Yu, go up the road ahead of us. For now, you must not let those mercenaries discover you, understand?” With those orders, she released Xiao Yu onto the ground. Her eyes followed him as he vanished into the depths of the forest.

Afterwards, the Little Princess assumed an exasperated and irritated look. She loudly shouted, “Not good! The Tiger King resurrected!”

Every member of the mercenary company was stunned. Mounted atop his injured Land Dragon, the chief was the first one to rush over to the scene. The deputy chief used his Wind Soaring Technique to quickly fly over. All the other members closely followed behind him.

When everyone arrived, there was already no trace left of the Tiger King.

The chief impatiently called out, “Chen-xiongdi, what happened?”

Chen Nan said, “Right before I cut open its flank, the Tiger King leapt up. It unfolded its wings and flew deep into those mountains.” He pointed his finger to some mountain range not too far away from the valley they were in.

When everyone heard this, they hung their heads, crestfallen. No one expected the Tiger King to have escaped death. The princess was the only one who was inwardly happy.

The crisis involving the Tiger King passed like this. After the horses were roused back awake and regained their bearings, everyone continued down the road. As they travelled, everyone was taciturn and seldom spoke. The face of every member of the mercenary company looked sorrowful. The atmosphere was somewhat depressed.

After travelling over ten li, the princess couldn’t help but quietly mumble, “I hope Xiao Yu didn’t lose his way.”

Chen Nan sneered. “Little demon, you’re usually as sly as a fox. Today, you were actually tricked by a lustful tiger and left bewildered. How hilarious!”

Just when he finished saying that, the Tiger King Xiao Yu shot out of the forest with a ‘sou’.

Surprised, the princess exclaimed, “A cute kitten!” She ran over and embraced Xiao Yu into her bosom.

Everyone was very amazed. Not only because the princess had embraced a ‘mountain cat’ against her chest, but also because this ‘mountain cat’ looked awfully similar to that astonishing Tiger King from before. If there wasn’t such a great difference in size between the two, everyone would have immediately unsheathed their weapons and rushed forward to slaughter it.

Chen Nan sighed, “This lustful tiger is really lecherous. He’s surprisingly so reluctant to part with you. How shameless.”

The princess quietly cursed, “You’re this world’s most shameless bastard!”

Xiao Yu nodded repeatedly in her bosom.

When Chen Nan saw this, his anger flared. He cursed, “****! Lustful tiger, you can actually understand whatever we say? You sycophant! One day, I’ll rip off your tiger fur to serve as my shoes.”

The Tiger King Xiao Yu regularly left at night to forage. At first, the princess had become anxious when she had found him missing, but she slowly understood his natural instincts and paid him no mind.

Nothing else unexpected happened during the rest of the trip. The party soon arrived at the City of Crime.