Wang Chengping lowered his voice. “Changtian, the Crown Prince places great importance on that Darchai prince.”
Xu Yuan shrugged and replied without concern, “He had you take charge of their security. Of course he takes it seriously.”
Gong Yuanzeng spoke up as well. “The Crown Prince is most likely acting on His Majesty’s orders too. Just make the Darchai prince apologize and leave it at that.”
Given their family backgrounds, all of them could more or less guess that the Darchai prince had come to the capital because of the war in the north.
A distinguished guest of the Court of State Ceremonial was not someone they should turn into a major diplomatic incident over a moment of anger.
Xu Yuan said nothing, but he understood. These two friends of his now held official positions. They could no longer view everything the way they had in the past, when they had run wild without caring about the consequences.
After a pause, Xu Yuan glanced sideways at Li Junwu.
Li Junwu sat with her long, jade-like legs crossed. The moment her eyes met Xu Yuan’s, they smiled at one another.
The corners of both their mouths curled upward.
Marquis Zhenxi had spent years fighting the tribes of the Great Desert. Given her family history, Li Junwu had never liked these grassland savages. In fact, disliked was putting it mildly. She despised them.
The moment Wang Chengping saw their expressions, he knew there was no point trying to persuade them. He sighed and began stripping off his military uniform.
Gong Yuanzeng rubbed his brow. “You two really are damn hopeless.”
Wang Chengping tore off the armor marking him as a company commander of the Imperial Guard and tossed it onto the floor. A broad grin spread across his square face. “If we all join in, His Majesty might punish us a little less.”
Xu Yuan rose and walked up behind Ying’er. Raising a hand, he smacked her shapely backside with a crisp slap. Just as before, she neither dodged nor resisted. His palm struck soft flesh, sending a visible ripple through it. “Go. Throw down the dog who spoke and his bastard master.”
Ying’er frowned at the sting. After a long silence, she glanced toward Si Ziyu, who was concealed in the shadows.
The next instant, two figures leapt toward the private room on the third floor.
At the same time, Li Junwu and Gong Yuanzeng quietly waved toward the two guards hidden nearby.
A third and fourth figure immediately soared toward the third floor.
Wang Chengping and Gong Yuanzeng had both joined the Imperial Guard by now. While on duty, their families no longer assigned personal guards to accompany them, though neither man was weak himself.
The four guards had barely taken flight when a streak of sword qi burst from the private room.
The battle had begun.
Seen from above, the sword qi swept across the Clear Jade Pavilion like a beam of light. A crack more than ten meters long instantly appeared across the stone wall.
But that was merely the beginning. The burly Darchai warrior released a wolf-like growl and punched. The resulting blast tore another enormous hole through the specially reinforced stone wall, nearly two meters wide.
The fierce battle raged through the building for more than ten breaths.
BOOM! It collapsed.
The waters of the Sleeping Dragon River flowed serenely beneath a city awash in lantern light and revelry. Then, accompanied by a deafening crash, the entire 13-story Clear Jade Pavilion was brought down by a violent surge of source qi.
More precisely, the shockwaves destroyed the load-bearing pillars above the third floor. Unable to support its own weight, the upper portion of the pavilion tilted sideways and collapsed beside the Sleeping Dragon River.
The resulting gale nearly overturned several pleasure boats gliding peacefully along the river, while the billowing cloud of dust swallowed everything within dozens of meters.
The Clear Jade Pavilion stood within the Inner Ring, where aerial travel was not forbidden. Three young noblemen dressed in embroidered robes escaped from the building. Supported by their guards, they hovered in midair as they watched the spectacle below with amused expressions.
The Four Young Masters of the Capital was a mocking title.
True heirs like Xu Changge and the young marquis Mu Zhisheng regarded the name with utter contempt.
That did not stop the four from running wild throughout the Imperial Capital.
After the collapse, amid the rolling dust, Wang Chengping circulated his blood and vitality as he stared into the sky. “That damned savage brought three Grandmasters with him. Junwu, Changtian has no cultivation, so keep an eye on him. Yuanzeng and I will deal with that bastard.”
Afterwards, he charged into the smoke.
Li Junwu did not hesitate. She reached out to grab Xu Yuan, who was still standing where he had been, only to suddenly notice a bloody glow burning within his narrow phoenix eyes.
She froze for a moment, then asked in astonishment, “Hey, Changtian, you—”
Before she could finish, Xu Yuan produced a longsword from seemingly nowhere. Its blade gleamed with a cold radiance.
“Fuck!” Li Junwu did not even bother disguising her voice anymore. She cursed openly in her natural feminine tone. “You can cultivate now? And when the hell did you get yourself a Sumeru Ring?”
Xu Yuan glanced at his good brother. “My family’s rich. What can I do?”
“Oh, stop showing off. You’re only sixth rank. Come with me.” Li Junwu rolled her eyes and grabbed Xu Yuan by the wrist.
She tried to drag him away. Xu Yuan did not budge. Instead, he nearly yanked Li Junwu off balance.
She turned back in astonishment. Her cultivation might specialize in military formations, but she was still a fifth rank cultivator. How could she fail to move someone at sixth rank?
By then, a crimson glow had spread across Xu Yuan’s sword. The power contained within it was enough to send chills down one’s spine, while his aura climbed higher with every passing moment.
Li Junwu’s red lips parted as she stammered, “Y-you… you…”
Amid the swirling dust, crimson source qi poured from Xu Yuan’s body. He smiled. “What about me?”
Li Junwu drew a deep breath, stepped forward, and rose onto her toes. She hooked an arm around Xu Yuan’s neck and pulled his head down, her voice filled with genuine delight. “Weren’t you born with a crippled body? When did your cultivation become this strong? It’s only been two years!”
With his head trapped against his brother’s chest, Xu Yuan could faintly feel the softness hidden beneath all that firmness. His tone turned solemn. “Li Junwu, I’m warning you. Don’t use this chance to take advantage of me. You’re not my type.”
“Tsk, tsk.” Laughter danced in Li Junwu’s eyes. “I still remember how you used to stare at my legs. This cultivation art of yours isn’t bad. Why don’t you seriously consider marrying into my family?”
“All right, enough. I treat you like a brother, so stop thinking about sleeping with me.” Xu Yuan coughed lightly and stared into the depths of the smoke. “Let go of me first. Those two idiots aren’t a match for the Darchai prince. We need to help them.”
Li Junwu paused and loosened her grip. “Seriously? My guard said that little wolf cub was only fourth rank.”
Xu Yuan replied helplessly, “Yuanzeng has barely any real combat experience. Chengping practices military formation arts, and the two of them don’t know how to work together. It would be a miracle if they could beat a Darchai tribesman who’s been fighting for his life since childhood.”
With that, Xu Yuan vanished from the spot like an afterimage.
Li Junwu sighed softly behind him.
By the time Xu Yuan reached what remained of the third-floor private room, the battle had become almost completely one-sided.
Dull thuds rang out as fists and bodies collided.
A handsome young man draped in black wolfskin strolled leisurely through the combined assault of Gong Yuanzeng and Wang Chengping. “Are all you people of the Central Plains this pathetically weak? You’re far worse than your frontier soldiers.”
Nalar Veyr chuckled as he spoke, casually swinging his arms like a pair of wolf claws.
Gong Yuanzeng and Wang Chengping were forced back again and again. “You’d better hurry if you want to make me kneel and apologize. The senior cultivators of your Imperial City Bureau are almost here. Heh…”
Cultivation in the Great Desert differed from that of the Central Plains. Through special methods, its people could merge the divine-beast totems of their tribes into their own bodies.
This was Xu Yuan’s first time seeing a cultivation system completely unlike anything found within the Great Flame Empire.
As he considered it, Xu Yuan abruptly appeared behind Nalar Veyr. Clear Whisper moved ever so slightly.
Plop…! An arm fell to the floor.
Still seemingly unaware of what had happened, Nalar Veyr continued with a sneer, “A worthless coward who relies on his family had better… Argh! My arm! MY ARM!!”
Plop..! His other arm struck the floor.