Chapter 823: Chapter 16: Great Celestial Pride Sweeps Through the Imperial City (2)

Far away in the National Capital Gui Long City, Liyao’s upcoming days were truly thrilling and vibrant.

Prince Heng, who had already comprehended the "true" management tactics, swiftly dismantled the original arena, which had sufficed for simple dance performances and meals, replacing it with an Obsidian Iron Arena, and spent a fortune constructing a defense array.

Additionally, he used the pretext of building a sturdy arena for the great celestial pride, Liyao, to block various challengers from entering and registered each one by name. In his words, our Daqian Kingdom is a civilized society, and naturally, competitions must have rules; they require proper registration to receive number cards for orderly challenges according to date.

This move, although it provoked discontent among many.

But who would dare question Prince Heng?

If not for his advanced age, making him ineligible to receive the Great Emperor’s legacy, he would certainly qualify to participate in the Struggle of the Imperial Sons.

Even if there are strong opinions against someone of such stature, they can only accept with a broad smile and even praise Prince Heng for doing a great job.

In reality.

Prince Heng was deliberately hyping up the event, aiming to maintain the excitement for as long as possible.

In this way.

Liyao was well cared for by Prince Heng, enjoying fine food and drink, and every two days, she would accept a challenge from a young celestial pride of Gui Long City.

"I am Sun Qianqiu of the Sun Family, Gui Long Fourth Grade, ranked seventeenth among young celestial prides in Gui Long City, at the Peak of the Second Layer of Celestial Human Realm, currently ninety-three years old."

Then.

This fellow named Sun Qianqiu was sent flying out of the arena after ten breaths.

Two days later.

"I am Ouyang Feiyang of the Ouyang Family, Gui Long Fourth Grade, at the Peak of the Third Layer of Celestial Human Realm, aged one hundred and thirteen, ranked sixteenth after falling out of the top ranks."

Amidst the bustling crowds at White Cloud Tower, with the minimum expenditure for each private box soaring to three times the original amount, and all temporarily added tables fully occupied with guests ordering an abundance of food and wine, Ouyang Feiyang managed to hold on for fifteen breaths before being blasted out of the arena.

Occurrences like these happened five times successively.

The patrons (audience) finally couldn’t hold back their complaints; who among those wealthy and powerful individuals, who still came to watch the matches despite the exorbitant minimum spending, wasn’t a VIP?

Many of them were even members of the Imperial Family.

Even if Prince Heng indeed held great status, could he really take advantage of people like this?

It was quite apparent that Prince Heng was intentionally scheduling formidable challengers later, using those "mediocre" celestial prides to pad the numbers in front.

Thus, to quell the "public outrage," Prince Heng immediately arranged for a high-ranking, young celestial pride from the seventh position on the list, Chen Mu Ying of the Daqian Chen Family, to challenge the great celestial pride Liyao.

As one of the only three Third-Grade Noble Families in Daqian, it was qualified to bear the Daqian name before other noble families.

Although the Chen Family did not follow the founding emperor at the start of the empire to pioneer, it is a rapidly emerging and impressive rising star.

Nowadays, the Daqian Chen Family is extremely powerful, with as many as two ancestors in the Divine Power Realm.

Thus, playing the Chen Mu Ying card slightly calmed the public outrage. Thereafter, Prince Heng again began external hype, painting Chen Mu Ying as an unparalleled figure under heaven and earth.

Rumor had it that Chen Mu Ying was one of the hidden trump cards of the Chen Family, and his current seventh place among young celestial prides was just a deliberate cover-up of his true strength.

Amidst all the hype, Chen Mu Ying was actually portrayed as an invincible hidden great celestial pride. It seemed that whenever he wished, victory could be as easy as retrieving something from his pocket.

With rumors spreading, many people held high expectations for this challenge. They believed that even if the rumors were exaggerated, it would certainly be a challenge worth watching, not to be missed.

The minimum spending for private boxes at White Cloud Tower soon escalated to six times the original amount due to the hype.

Under the watchful eyes of the public, with his confidence inflated by the rumors, Chen Mu Ying at the Third Layer of Celestial Human Realm felt he was enough to battle the great celestial pride, yet he lost!

Three breaths!

Chen Mu Ying barely made a move before Liyao, without even unsheathing her sword, broke through with a single strike!

It’s not that Chen Mu Ying was truly that weak, but had he fought cautiously against Liyao, he wouldn’t have been defeated so miserably. It shows that sometimes, rumors can be detrimental; after this ordeal, if Chen Mu Ying could rise from the lows, he might become a remarkable hero.

At the same time, the patrons who had expected a spectacular fight to enjoy with their drinks and food also felt let down.

And this was it?

Was Chen Mu Ying merely a foil for Liyao?

Refund the dishes...

...

Meanwhile.

In the western part of Gui Long City, a short distance from the Imperial Palace, there was a large manor.

This residence was not luxurious and appeared no different from the surrounding houses, but the plaque at the entrance was inscribed with the Azure Dragon Badge of the Daqian Imperial Family.

This indicated that the owner of this residence was a member of the Daqian Imperial Family.

In Gui Long City, there were many such residences. The Daqian has developed for thousands of years, making the number of imperial family members too numerous to count, and the properties belonging to the Imperial Family have grown to unimaginable proportions for most people.

Although by now, most of the Imperial Family’s bloodline stands quite distant from the direct lineage, and their bloodline concentration is far less potent than direct descendants, they are still far superior to other middle or lower-grade noble families, occasionally producing great celestial prides.

In this generation, the direct lineage of the Imperial Family has birthed a great celestial pride named "Wu Zhixing." Due to his remarkable talent, he garnered the special attention of Emperor Longchang, who personally brought him to the National Capital Gui Long City for education by esteemed instructors from the direct lineage of the Imperial Family, and it has been several decades since.