Zhang Zixuan’s face turned as dark as ink, feeling as though he had lifted a rock only to drop it squarely on his own feet. Humiliated and furious, he felt completely stripped of his dignity.
With a furious wave of his large hand, several guards instantly lunged forward, drawing their sabers and standing ready for action.
Staring down the two of them, Zhang Zixuan sneered with grim malice: “Huo Xuanqing, I’ll give you one last chance. Obediently kowtow three times, and maybe if I’m in a good mood, I’ll let you off!”
Xuan Qing’s lips curled upward: “If you want to fight, then fight. Cut the crap.”
Seeing that the other boy remained completely unfazed, Zhang Zixuan’s patience reached its absolute breaking point.
“A toast to fine wine only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Take down this piece of trash for me!”
Receiving the command, the guards unsheathed their blades and dashed swiftly toward the pair.
Sensing the danger, Huo Xuanwu threw himself in front of Xuan Qing without a second of hesitation, shouting: “Young Master, leave this to me! Take this chance and run!”
With a flash of steel, just as several blades were about to descend, Xuan Qing’s gaze hardened as he shoved Huo Xuanwu aside out of harm’s way.
Gathering ice spiritual energy, wisps of white frost overflowed from his palms.
With a sudden strike of his palm, frost surged outward. In an instant, the guards were struck by the chilling spiritual energy; the air rippled violently, forcing several of them to stumble back a few paces.
When they attempted to advance once more, their soles felt as though lead had been poured into them, anchoring them to the spot. Lowering their heads, they saw that their legs had already been encased and frozen by frost, binding them tightly to the ground as wisps of biting cold vaporized into the air.
Gasps of astonishment rippled through the crowd as the restaurant fell to an absolute pin-drop silence.
“You piece of trash, how do you have spiritual energy?!” Zhang Zixuan cried out in utter shock.
The original owner’s cultivation had stalled at the fourth layer of the Mortal Realm; years of stagnant progress without advancement did not mean he possessed zero spiritual energy everyone had simply overlooked it, to say nothing of the fact that Xuan Qing had already recovered his capacity to cultivate.
Whispers broke out once more among the onlookers.
“Didn’t they say Young Master Huo was a cripple?”
“You forgot, back in the day he was already at the fourth layer of the Mortal Realm.”
“His cultivation just stagnated, that’s all.”
“…”
Treating what had just occurred as a fluke and assuming the boy had merely gotten lucky, Zhang Zixuan decided to handle the matter himself.
Spiritual energy of the fifth layer of the Mortal Realm erupted from his body, scorching flames tightly enshrouding his fists as he tipped his toes off the ground and launched his entire body forward.
Faced with the sudden assault, Xuan Qing quietly formed an incantation within his palm, preparing to meet the attack head-on.
Just as Zhang Zixuan threw his twin fists forward, basking in premature triumph as he eagerly anticipated witnessing the other boy’s miserable defeat, a dark shadow struck like lightning.
A sharp, fierce blade of wind swept through midair, carrying a powerful, majestic surge of wind-attribute spiritual energy that crashed head-on against Zhang Zixuan’s attack, instantly neutralizing his offensive and forcing him back a full several paces.
“Who’s there?! What blind fool dares interfere with me? I’ll make you pay for this later!” Zhang Zixuan roared furiously, glaring daggers toward the newcomer.
“Audacious!” The black-clad guard shouted angrily in warning.
“Oh? This prince would genuinely love to see how you plan on making me pay.” The moment the words faded, a purple-robed young man with exquisite features and an air of noble distinction stepped leisurely into view.
Upon recognizing his face, Zhang Zixuan’s expression shifted drastically. Hastily withdrawing his spiritual energy, he hurriedly transformed his features into a flattering, obsequious smile.
“So Your Highness has arrived! Greetings, Third Prince!” Zhang Zixuan and his companions dropped instantly to their knees in salute.
Zhang Zixuan wished he could slap himself across the face; who could have predicted that the Third Prince would cross their path out of nowhere?
In the Kingdom of Xiao, if one spoke of the most monstrous prodigy, it was none other than this Third Prince, Xiao Jingyang, who possessed superior purple talent.
At merely sixteen years of age, he had already broken through the ninth tier of the Mortal Realm to enter the early Profound Realm a level of cultivation sufficient to outpace the brilliant talents of his entire generation.
His talent in both cultivation and comprehension was astonishingly formidable, drawing boundless envy and jealousy from others.
The Emperor of the Kingdom of Xiao held this particular son in extraordinarily high regard, lavishing him with the finest cultivation resources available.
Even the Profound Heaven Sect had cast out an olive branch early on, with inner sect elders vying to take him in as their personal direct disciple.
Within the borders of the Kingdom of Xiao, not a soul dared to casually offend the Third Prince; doing so was simply inviting self-inflicted misery.
The surroundings fell dead silent. Kneeling hard and low upon the cold, unyielding stone bricks, Zhang Zixuan and his lackeys suffered sharp pain in their kneecaps, yet none dared to shift an inch for fear of incurring royal wrath.
Ignoring the group entirely, Xiao Jingyang locked his gaze directly upon the cyan-robed youth before him. Beneath those peach-blossom eyes, a pair of stunning, captivating ice-blue pupils reflected his own figure.
Xuan Qing held no memories or impressions of any prior intersection with this Third Prince, yet the man had undeniably bailed him out.
Withdrawing the incantation from his palm, he offered a formal salute and a cupped-fist bow as a courtesy, lowering his head in gratitude: “Many thanks to Third Prince for the rescue.”
“No need to stand on ceremony. This prince finds your bearing extraordinary and wishes to make your friend how does Young Master Huo find this proposal?” Xiao Jingyang smiled warmly, his peerlessly handsome face radiating an amiable spring breeze when he grinned.
Sensing zero malice emanating from the man, and remaining entirely in the dark regarding the Third Prince’s underlying motives, Xuan Qing decided that observing developments quietly was the wisest course of action.
“Of course.” Xuan Qing smiled pleasantly.
Zhang Zixuan and the others were dumbfounded, how could the exalted Third Prince possibly want to be friends with a waste like Huo Xuanqing?! How is that even possible?!
“Since my friend has been bullied, this prince naturally cannot sit idly by. How does Xuanqing intend to deal with them?” Xiao Jingyang cast a cold, indifferent glance toward the kneeling group.
At those words, a collective chill ran down the spines of the men, cold sweat beading instantly across their foreheads.
The cowardly ones were practically frightened out of their wits, hastily pleading for mercy:
“Third Prince, this has nothing to do with me!”
“That’s right! It was all Zhang Zixuan’s idea!”
“We’re completely innocent, Your Highness!”
“…”
“You—!” Too furious to voice his anger, Zhang Zixuan gnashed his teeth in hatred. A pack of damned fair-weather friends!
“It’s all just a misunderstanding, haha. Huo Xuanqing and I were merely playing around,” Zhang Zixuan simpered, reverting instantly to a sniveling lackey.
Hearing this, Xuan Qing found it amusing the fellow’s skin was truly impressively thick.
“Indeed, we were just playing around.”
The moment Xuan Qing finished speaking, Zhang Zixuan and the others raised their heads, their eyes brimming with hopeful surprise.
As long as Huo Xuanqing chose not to press charges, the Third Prince would have no grounds to intervene.
With a deeply meaningful gaze, Xiao Jingyang looked at him. Xuan Qing then added: “Just now, Young Master Zhang lost a wager to me. The loser was supposed to kneel and kowtow three heavy kowtows. Now would be a fine time for Young Master Zhang to honor his commitment.”
Zhang Zixuan jerked his head upward, glaring at him with bitter indignation as he cried out: “Your Highness, he’s spouting nonsense!”
Ignoring the resentful glare fixed upon him from below, Xuan Qing adhered firmly to his personal code: I don’t meddle unless provoked, but if anyone offends me, I retaliate proportionally. Since the other party had initiated the hostility, he was merely collecting a reasonable debt.
“Three heavy kowtows, did you hear me?”
The icy, unquestionable command echoed sharply in their ears.