The gloomy sky seemed to be on the verge of raining at any moment.
Drip—Drip—
What fell to the ground and shattered into sparkling droplets was not rain, but faint golden bl**d drops and fluttering pieces of cloth.
The disfigured Jiang Yu, clutching Jiang Chulong by the neck, reflected in his eyes were her grayish eyes that had finally seen daylight after the strips of cloth fell off.
There were no more tears of grievance or disbelief in them.
In memory, Jiang Chulong used to be a timid and fragile little girl.
Even when she was bullied by palace maids and had royal winter charcoal replaced with smoke charcoal, she would still thank them softly.
Later, he protected Jiang Chulong for several years because he disliked those siblings who surrounded him out of self-interest and were insatiably greedy.
Jiang Chulong was different; she could be happy for a long time over a rag doll that had been thrown away by Princess Yuyang.
At the same time, he had always been curious as to why Jiang Chulong lived in the Cold Palace.
Later, his mother’s personal maid told him that this was all his mother’s doing.
Everything about Jiang Chulong’s circumstances was caused by his mother, and he, proud as his mother’s son, played the role of a savior self-indulgently.
But if it was just that, the two of them might only grow cold and distant in the future.
Then one day, he learned the reason for the once mighty Imperial Family’s gradual decline.
One who ascends the throne cannot live forever.
The Emperor was not the Crown Prince, loved to wander around, and made friends with heroes from all over the world, gaining great fame, being called the reincarnation of a martial emperor. Later, the Crown Prince died suddenly, and the Emperor inherited the throne. Over the long years, he gradually weakened.
Initially, he had boundless confidence, believing that since the Emperor was like this, he might not be, and he was sure he could surpass the Emperor.
Until during the ancestral worship, he found the divine will left by the young Emperor among the royal family.
Ten battles, ten defeats.
The young Emperor was also in his early twenties.
With an extra eye, he lost miserably, defeated again and again, unable to lift his head, until he felt no pain, only confusion from all directions.
Had the Emperor been hiding his abilities for so many years?
He went to Yanglong Temple with many questions in his heart.
What he saw was not a revered, respected, and glorious Emperor of Da Yu.
Instead…
It was a suffering loser, a trapped beast locked in a cage by fate.
That night, he walked through the long, complex, and deep palace walls in a daze.
At the end of the dark corridor, a door opened before him.
“Crown Prince brother, you came to see me again…”
Looking at the little girl standing by the door, smiling hopefully yet cautiously.
The crazy thoughts that sprouted from despair were like a thorny vine.
He instinctively grabbed onto it.
Climb up!
Leave everything behind…
Even if the end he was heading towards was a deeper abyss…
“The path of the eye is invincible, huh…”
Jiang Yu snapped back to reality, his eyes becoming even colder.
He raised his long sword, wanting to break open Jiang Chulong’s chest to see what divine object was causing the sword bone resonance.
Just then, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.
In the manifestation of his divine will, the divine sword held by the golden dragon began to struggle violently, piercing the dragon’s mouth with fresh bl**d.
Puff—
His chest broke open first.
The small bl**d-stained sword bone, emitting a noble silver light, carrying the divine aura that penetrates all things, struck the Zunlong Sword, causing it to break in mid-air.
“Sword bone… mine…”
Jiang Yu no longer cared about Jiang Chulong, reaching out to firmly grasp the imperial sword bone.
His divine will surged like wind and clouds, the golden dragon roared, and the imperial realm thundered. In an instant, the heavens and earth changed color, and he was already close to the Inner Scene, just a step away.
Such intense fluctuations in qi were far beyond the Inner Scene.
“What’s going on?”
—
People watching this scene were bewildered. How could Jiang Yu’s divine will suddenly shake violently?
Uninformed martial artists and civilians were equally confused.
“Imperial sword bone wants to return to Chulong’s body,” Ying Bing said softly.
“Chulong, come back quickly!”
Li Mo shouted towards the arena.
Chulong had already grown a new sword bone inside her body, and her goal had been achieved.
By the time Jiang Yu regained consciousness, it might be too late for him to leave.
Little Princess Jiang listened to Brother Li the most, hurriedly ran back, and quickly hugged the rabbit, soothing herself before whispering,
“Brother Li, the Qingye Sword is broken…”
“You’ve done well. It’s just a sword. I’ll make you more later.”
Li Mo looked towards the arena.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man with a solemn expression, wearing a high hat and dressed in plain black robes, appeared beside Jiang Yu.
However, as soon as he arrived, the celestial guards around him respectfully bowed their heads.
He represented the Da Yu Imperial Family.
With a palm strike, he slapped Jiang Yu’s shoulder, using his other hand to retrieve the sword bone, forcefully pushing it back into his chest.
Then, without any emotion, his voice echoed through the city via the map of rivers and mountains:
“Jiang Chulong fell off the platform, Jiang Yu wins.”
After saying this, his gaze lingered deeply on Jiang Chulong and Li Mo, Ying Bing.
With a wave of his sleeve, he vanished from the spot.
“The match continues.”
At this moment, the purple-robed eunuch on the judging panel loudly announced.
The change happened quickly and ended quickly, leaving everyone puzzled about what had just transpired.
Yet everyone had a feeling.
Why did it sound like the Crown Prince won, but it felt like he lost?
—
On the side of the nobles:
“Eldest Brother, Crown Prince, are you alright?”
Princess Yuyang handed him a bottle of medicine and discreetly observed Jiang Yu’s expression.
Interestingly, Jiang Yu not only looked healthy but also had a very stable breath.
“I’m fine.”
Jiang Yu ignored the gazes directed at him.
Although he couldn’t clearly see what was inside Jiang Chulong’s body, there was some good news.
The force that had been resisting him within the Imperial Sword Bone seemed to have weakened after the recent explosion.
Using it as his own would be easier now.
He looked up at the map of rivers and mountains.
If he won this round, it meant he would advance to the next stage, and his opponent…
Would be born between Li Mo and Ning Que?
Why “or”?
Because the winners on the other platforms had already been decided.
And Ning Que had just defeated Huang Donglai and was preparing to face Li Mo.
On the arena.
Ning Que took deep breaths of fresh air, putting down the jade flute he had played for half an hour.
“You can’t run anymore? You could have surrendered earlier. Why exhaust ourselves?”
“This shows you’re a bit weak.”
Huang Donglai shook his head.
“You’re weak too after playing the flute for half an hour!”
Ning Que couldn’t hold back any longer, angrily lifting the jade flute and hitting Huang Donglai, knocking him off the stage.
