Chapter 42: Plotting Against My Senior Brother…

　　The whole venue descended into chaos the moment Ao Yi collapsed.

　　Li Changshou sensed that quite a few increasingly-hostile gazes from a number of Dragon Palace experts locked onto him.

　　He had gained a rough understanding of the Dragon Palace’s Second Prince’s befuddling actions. Thus, he quickly started to think of a solution.

　　That fellow’s acting was very fake, but he was still a prince. It would not be good if the Dragon Palace made use of this opportunity to create trouble.

　　Jiu Jiu stood in front of Li Changshou, using her petite body to block half of his.

　　She asked in a low voice, “Are you injured, Martial Nephew Changshou?”

　　“My aura is a little unstable, and that’s all. Don’t worry, Aunt-Master. The punches of the Second Prince were quite powerful, after all. But I’m fine,” Li Changshou replied in a low voice, having already come up with a solution for this situation at hand.

　　With a worried and guilty expression, he sighed and lamented, “I wonder how the Second Prince’s injuries are. My talisman techniques should not have been able to break through the immortal armor he was wearing. Could it be because I repeatedly used my movement technique to evade and lacked the courage to meet him head-on? And that is why, in his anxiety, his Dharma powers went haywire? Why don’t you help to check his body, Aunt-Master? After all, I don’t know how advanced the Dragon Palace’s medical skills are and if they could diagnose a sickness like this.”

　　Jiu Jiu laughed humorlessly and chided. “There are many experts in the Dragon Palace, so how can such a thing be impossible? Don’t worry about it!”

　　Upon hearing that, the ministers of the Dragon Palace looked towards Ao Yi. Shortly, the Turtle Minster, who was the first to reach Ao Yi, shouted, “His Highness is alright. It is just that something went awry during the circulation of his Dharma powers, causing his Dharma powers to break through his body. His Highness has simply lost consciousness as a result. He will regain consciousness soon and is, in fact, fine…”

　　A Dragon Palace general wearing silver armor immediately inquired, “Then what do we do about this battle, Minister?”

　　The Turtle Minister fell silent. It looked at the boundary and then glanced at the unconscious Ao Yi.

　　This time, Li Changshou did not need to worry about the situation.

　　A male Perfected Immortal of the Immortal Du Sect standing at the side smiled and replied, “The Second Prince is, of course, the winner. It was only after my Martial Nephew stepped out of the boundary that the Second Prince sustained inner injuries. The outcome is obvious. I have a Qi-Regulating Pill, made using a secret pill formula from the Immortal Du Sect. The Dragon Palace might not have much care for an ordinary pill like this, but it is a little token from the Immortal Du Sect.”

　　“Thank you.”

　　The Turtle minister gestured for the Dragon Palace general to accept the pill. Thus, this matter closed.

　　The Turtle Minister immediately called some immortal prawn soldiers over, placed the unconscious Second Prince Ao Yi on a jade chair, and directed the soldiers to carry it out.

　　The Immortal Du Sect’s immortals cupped their fists and returned to the sect’s spot while protecting Li Changshou among them.

　　While walking, Li Changshou suddenly whispered to Jiu Jiu beside him, “Aunt-Master, I have read on an ancient book that the type of grape on our table is very useful for when one’s Qi goes awry during cultivation.”

　　“That grape was given by the Dragon Palace. Wouldn’t they know it better than you?” Jiu Jiu reprimanded, “And you, why did you jump out of the boundary? You might have won if you simply stood there for a while longer.”

　　Li Changshou replied with a bitter smile, “I simply couldn’t hold my own any longer.”

　　Jiu Jiu became unhappy and scolded Li Changshou, “When we return, I will personally make sure that you focus when you cultivate. If your cultivation level is so weak, what use is there to play around with alchemy and array formations?

　　“Your own cultivation level is the foundation of Dao!

　　“Otherwise, if you chance upon any formidable Dharma treasure, you will not be able to wield it at its full capability!”

　　Li Changshou lowered his head as he replied, relieved, “Yes, I know my mistake now.”

　　He could clearly sense that the gazes on him started to dissipate…

　　Youqin Xuanya, who was carrying a huge sword, approached him and looked at him in concern.

　　“Senior Brother Changshou, how are your injuries?”

　　“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. My aura is slightly unstable, that’s all,” answered Li Changshou, looking guilty. “My capability is insufficient, causing Junior Sister and the rest of the sect to worry, and resulting in the sect to lose face.”

　　A senior brother instantly sent a voice transmission to him, “Evidently, that Dragon Palace’s Second Prince was purposely seeking trouble and intentionally chose you, Junior Brother Changshou!

　　“Wait and see, Junior Brother. I will let the dragons participating later to know how powerful we can be!”

　　Li Changshou looked at that senior brother in gratitude.

　　“Senior Brother Changshou, you can return to your seat first and rest. There’s no need for you to continue standing.”

　　“The Dragon Palace is too much. That Second Prince is despicable.”

　　Jiu Jiu reminded, “Sit well and don’t complain! There are so many Heaven Immortals watching from above!”

　　All disciples were reprimanded, but some of them continued to be indignant at the injustice Li Changshou faced. As a result, they were scolded by the other Perfected Immortals of the Immortal Du Sect.

　　The reaction of those people was actually expected.

　　Li Changshou knew that this reaction was so big not because of him, but because of the collective pride as a sect.

　　He returned to his seat, and his fluctuating aura swiftly calmed down. Youqin Xuanya looked back at him several times as she walked away from him.

　　Then, the concern on her face disappeared, and her expression turned increasingly cold.

　　The Immortal Du Sect’s number one disciple’s eyes started to burn furiously. She removed the large sword from her back and placed it down on the short table. After pointing a few places on the blade and removing the seal on it, numerous flame patterns appeared on the large sword. Then they slowly transformed into several long thin flying swords.

　　Suddenly, the temperature of the seating area where the young Immortal Du Sect disciples gathered dropped.

　　She took out two bottles of pills and checked them to make sure that there were sufficient pills to aid in recovering one’s Dharma powers.

　　Then, she took out a handkerchief and slowly wiped the set of flying swords. Her face was cold and expressionless, her eyes looking… a little scary.

　　“Junior Sister Youqin.”

　　She heard Li Changshou’s voice transmission, and Youqin Xuanya’s movements stopped. At the same time, she turned around to look at him.

　　“When it’s your turn later, please exercise restraint. We’re in the Dragon Palace, and we should not clash with them directly.”

　　Youqin Xuanya nodded her head slightly. Her murderous gaze softened and became gentler.

　　In that instant, she might be puckering her lips or smiling, or perhaps both.

　　However, her expression and gaze were indeed trying to tell Li Changshou not to worry.

　　The three Immortal Du Sect disciples separating Li Changshou and Youqin Xuanya saw that expression on the latter for the very first time. All of them were surprised and were strangely also feeling like they were in the way… and very extra.

　　Youqin Xuanya continued to meticulously wipe her flying swords. It seemed like she did not change her mind simply because of Li Changshou’s voice transmission.

　　Li Changshou did not continue to bother himself with it since there was nothing he could do either.

　　He cast the Wind Speech Incantation, this time for the purpose of listening in to the discussion and gossip happening in the venue. This way, he would obtain some real-life feedback after his performance.

　　Soon, voices entered his ear with the wind flow, from near and far away, in a crescendo…

　　“That Immortal Du Sect disciple is not bad. That Dragon Palace’s Second Prince was too impatient and failed to use his full strength.”

　　“Didn’t that Turtle Minister say so? After all, the Second Prince is only 10 years old. It is normal for him to be slightly hot-blooded.”

　　“I myself might not win against the Second Prince. It is a pity that the Immortal Du Sect disciple went out of the boundary first…”

　　After carefully analyzing for a while, Li Changshou felt assured. His image as an excellent disciple of the Immortal Du Sect was believable and without any flaws.

　　As he was sitting with the top ten immortal seedlings of the sect, he would soon be compared and forgotten since the outsiders would not see anything noteworthy about him.

　　The Turtle Minister officially announced the result once more—the Dragon Palace’s Second Prince won the round.

　　However, due to his impatience, the Second Prince’s aura had gone awry, causing him to sustain internal injuries. He had already returned to the Dragon Palace to recuperate. The celebratory segments after would hence be canceled.

　　This small incident temporarily ended.

　　From that incident, Li Changshou witnessed firsthand the unpredictability of the Primordial World and the complexity of the dragon’s heart. Li Changshou felt that he was still too young, having underestimated the human heart and dragon nature, thus failing to consider the matter completely.

　　But how could he know that that little dragon would pull such a trick?

　　Ao Yi was actually so unruly that he attempted to intentionally lose to him!

　　Fortunately, Li Changshou had stepped out of the boundary and admitted defeat first. Otherwise, the whole situation might be worse than it was now.

　　Next time, if he encountered a similar situation, Li Changshou would punch himself in the face to cause severe injuries so that he could directly exit the battle.

　　Li Changshou recalled the battle scene, which appeared peaceful on the surface but was actually quite bizarre.

　　The instant the fist and the palm clashed two pitch-black figures seemed to appear behind the human and the dragon, looking coldly at each other’s eyes.

　　‘You dare to deceive me?’

　　‘Back at you, my friend.’

　　The little dragon most likely had other plans as well.

　　Li Changshou’s biggest hope right now was to be able to return to the sect safely.

　　After balancing the pros and cons, it would be worthwhile to leave this dangerous environment successfully even if he needed to expose some of his trump cards.

　　After all, the reason he concealed trump cards was so that he would be able to live well.

　　Who knew what kind of tricks there were up the dragon’s sleeves!?

　　…

　　The Demon-Sweeping Meet officially started after a performance.

　　The Dragon Palace took out 12 immortal Dharma treasures to serve as the final prize of the battles between disciples happening later on.

　　Battles happened as the participants played offensive and defensive. Countless disciples entered the segment. The venue was split into several areas as well.

　　Each round had an immortal treasure as the prize. If someone could successfully defend the place nine consecutive times, and defeat the warrior the Dragon Palace sent out, they could take the immortal treasure away.

　　The warriors were some young dragons, with the strength equivalent to that of an average first- or second-stage Dao Requital cultivator.

　　The difficulty of defending the treasure was not low. However, the disciples from the various immortal sects were very excited since it was hard for them to obtain immortal treasures.

　　The moment the battle started, the numerous disciples exhibited their techniques. The whole scene was very spectacular.

　　However, two hours passed, and only an early-stage Dao Requital disciple from a major sect won nine consecutive rounds, obtaining the opportunity to meet the warrior head-on. Nonetheless, the battle ended with the cultivator losing.

　　At that moment, Youqin Xuanya slapped on the short table and flew on the sky with 12 transparent flying swords encircling her. Then, she landed before the dragon youngster.

　　“One battle.”

　　Today, Youqin Xuanya from the Immortal Du Sect shocked everyone present at the Dragon Palace.

　　She controlled the swords and fire, seizing four immortal treasures, defeating several dozens of cultivators, and injuring four Dao Requital youngsters from the dragon race in total. Her reputation rose in the East Continent.

　　The female cultivator certainly would have an extraordinary future ahead, and, after that drawn-out battle, she became the focal point of all gazes. She dragged her exhausted body, covered with injuries, and was carrying a large sword on her back, taking slow steps towards the Immortal Du Sect’s seating area.

　　She rejected the offers of help from the rest of the members from the sect and ignored the Uncle-Masters’ advice that she should rest immediately. After bypassing her seat, she continued on slightly…

　　Her head was lowered, body hunched, and slender hands were slightly trembling due to overexerting her Dharma powers.

　　However, she succeeded in placing the four immortal treasures emitting rainbow lights onto the short table in front of the Immortal Du Sect’s Second Stage Void Return disciple, someone that most people had already forgotten about…

　　Then, she smiled tiredly at the male disciple who was looking at her…

　　At that moment, all cultivators present gained profound respect for Youqin Xuanya. The Perfected Immortals from the various immortal sects were impressed as well.

　　Li Changshou looked back at her with a conflicted gaze, having been rendered speechless. He stood up with the intention to hold her up, but Youqin Xuanya thought of his injuries and immediately evaded his hands.

　　Hence, Li Changshou could only give a Dao salute at Youqin Xuanya’s back while silently ‘blessing’ Uncle-Master Jiu Wu… a few hundred times.

　　…

　　Inside an extravagant underwater palace hall.

　　The youngster lying on the 1,000-feet-long bed suddenly opened his eyes. He reached back and grabbed hold of the maidservant who was kneeling beside him and was currently peeling grapes for him.

　　“Did I lose? Did I lose?”

　　“Don’t worry, Your Highness. You won…”

　　“What? How’s that possible! I evidently—”

　　“Second Prince! Second Prince!”

　　“Someone! The prince fainted once again!”