4 CHAPTER ONE

Li Xiwang put on his dark red robe, his hair pulled up in a raised ponytail, a gold flower headpiece along with a dark red ribbon held it together, with a bright red fan in his hand, he made his way to Xiangyun Pavilion.

"Master Xiwang, would you need anything for your trip?" A maid asked, he shook his head no and opened the door, Madam Li Na was sitting on her chair, the wood was carved to resemble the mystic cloud, hence the name Xiangyun Pavilion. The walls were painted a sky blue and clouds drawn with white paint, the floors were a light brown wood, the windows were from the ceiling to the floor with a cloud drawn door closing and opening them.

Xiwang kneeled down before his mother.

"Mother we are ready for the trip, I came to have your blessings." He said, his head was down. Madam Li Na smiled.

"Stand up, you have my blessings however you will not leave alone, take your entourage with you, it will help you feel more comfortable" she said. Xiwang bowed and left the room.

As he closed the doors, three people stood behind him, two females and a male.

"We thought you'd need some company" a deep voice said, it was Li Qiang, he was now a fully grown man, his perfectly shaven beard and his tight ponytail made him look unapproachable, yet his personality was the opposite of his physical look. He was appointed as Li Xiwang's personal guard.

The two females were Liu Yang and Li Jun, Liu Yang is an upcoming doctor, her father, Liu Wei is the sect elder and current doctor. Li Jun is the army general, her fighting techniques are unmatched. The three of them have been friends since Li Xiwang started to practice water channelling spells with them.

Li Xiwang smiled at his friends.

"Let's go before we're scolded for loitering" he teased making them laugh. As they head to Yuecheng lake, his father was already at the pier waiting for them.

"Ah Xi, remember to send someone when you're in danger" he said. Xiwang nodded and smiled.

"You don't have to worry, I have my friends with me, they'll protect me if necessary"

Li Jie nodded, his hand patted Li Xiwang's head softly.

"Safe journey, will be waiting for you in the evening"

They bowed and got on the bamboo raft, Li Qiang took the liberty to row the raft towards Luxi river, the river owned by the Zhang Shi sect. It connected their sects together.

"What do you think the WangShi jaizu sect Prince looks like?" Liu Yang asked. In the sect, she is also known for her....large appetite when it comes to men, her relationships only last three days and she moves on to the next.

Li Jun scoffed and drew her sword, the silver blade gleaming in the morning sun.

"I think he looks like a Prince, not ugly, not handsome, just so so" she said cleaning her sword. Li Xiwang fluttered his fan as if he was a blushing bride.

"I heard he wears the most dramatic robes so it makes me think he's egomaniacal" he says making Li Qiang chuckle, they all look at him.

"What about you Qiang?" They ask at the same time. He sighed and sat down, the river current flowing along with the raft.

"I heard his eyes are so cold he could make snow melt"

The two girls rolled their eyes with a sigh. Li Qiang is known for being straightforward about somethings so they don't want to take what he said to heart.

Ahead was the Zhengyi Palace, Li Xiwang looked closely and he could see beasts interacting with the people, he gasped.

"What is that?" He asked. The others look ahead and froze, they've heard of the Zhang Shi sect having spirit beasts but they never thought they'd be this big, the one they were looking at was a large night owl, the size of it was similar to that of a horse.

"Spirit beasts...so fascinating" Li Qiang said, yet his eyes were locked on Li Xiwang. The sound of a clearing throat broke his gaze, it was Liu Yang and she looked at him with a disapproving look.

"Look, that must be the Childe Zhang" Li Xiwang said pointing ahead with his fan. there was a boat ahead of them, there were four people in there along with four spirit beasts.

"Which one is the childe, they all look alike" Li Jun teased. Li Jun is known for her cold treatment against men, well not all of them, her mother was abounded by her father after giving birth and every man who came into her life ended up leaving so she grew up with a strong distaste for men who look....particularly like her father and unlucky for Childe Zhang Wei, he looked a little like her father.

"The one with the larger beast must be him, he's so handsome" Liu Yang swooned over him.

Zhang Wei could hear them making him smirk, his friends, Zhang Xiu Ying, Zhang Jing and Zhang Shao Wen also smirked.

"That must be Childe Li Xiwang, so it's true that he wears different robes from his sect people" Zhang Shao Wen said. Shao Wen is from a rich family, his father is the sect treasurer, he is also Zhang Wei's friend since childhood.

Zhang Xiu Ying scoffed, in the Zhang Shi sect, she is known for her jealousy towards beautiful people, although she herself is beautiful, she wants no one to be more beautiful than her, so seeing Li Xiwang is making her a.....little jealous.

Zhang Jing on the other hand smiled at them, she is known for her niceness, sometimes it's too good for her own good but she never seems to let go of it so people just protect her from the bad ones.

Zhang Wei waved a hand making Li Jun and Liu Yang gasp.

"Can he hear us?" Li Jun asked. Li Xiwang turned around to face them, his hand was wet from running his fingers in the water.

"Is WangShi jaizu sect far? I'm getting hot" he complained, a cape was thrown over him blocking the sun. He gasped.

"Li Qiang, what are you doing?" He asked in panic, he had never seen someone take off a piece of clothing that fast before.

Qiang shrugged.

"I fixed your problem be thankful, I'll continue rowing to arrive quickly"

Once he stood up, Li Jun and Liu Yang looked at each other, for years now Qiang has been doing this for Li Xiwang. little favours is what they called it, whenever he said he was thirsty then Qiang was there to give him a drink, when he was tired he offered to carry him home. People saw it as him doing his job while the two girls knew very well that he was doing that because he fanc-

"We are here!" Li Xiwang said standing up on the raft, the gentle breeze helped pull back his long hair into position, he fluttered his fan smiling.

Zhang Wei chuckled and stood up as well, he went to the front of the boat and he could see the WangShi jaizu sect palace ahead, at the pier he could see the disciples waiting for their arrival.

"Let's get this over with"

The raft stopped at the pier, Li Xiwang was helped out by Li Qiang and Li Jun, the train of his robe carried by Liu Yang.

The disciples of WangShi jaizu gasped seeing him, the Childe looked more feminine than male, his robe made him look like a bride arriving at her husband's home.

"What are you looking at?" Li Qiang asked, his hand was already grasping at his sword. The disciples shook their heads.

"Nothing nothing, it's just that we have never seen such a....beautiful man like your Childe before" they said. Li Xiwang blushed and opened his face to cover half of his face.

He would get compliments from the people back at home but hearing strangers say that out loud made him feel....shy.

"Ehhh...thank you thank you...where is your Childe, I thought he'd be the one to welcome us" he asked. A scoff broke out behind him.

Zhang Wei and his entourage walked up to the front as well, he looked at the WangShi jaizu disciples head to toe and scoffed again.

"It seems the WangShi jaizu sect has sent us their newly recruited disciples to welcome us, I don't know if this is disrespect or belittling" he said finishing with an eye roll yet his lips still retained a soft smile.

"You can take it as both" a voice said up ahead, everyone on the pier went silent, the only sound coming from the soft footsteps on the wooden pier floor.

A young man emerged behind the disciples, his eyes were cold and calculating, the dramatic gold headpiece on his head almost taking over the young man's scalp, his robe was dark blue with red jewels along the front, a sheathed sword in his right hand.

Li Xiwang closed his fan and smiled.

"Childe Wang Zunyan, we appreciate your invite for your birthday banquet" he said finishing with a bow.

Wang Zunyan looked at him, he stepped forward and was face to face with Li Xiwang, he eyed him up and down.

"And who are you?"

Li Qiang tightened the grip on his sword, Li Xiwang smiled, his eyes flashed blue startling Wang Zunyan for a moment, a cold breeze made them all shiver.

"Let's head inside before we make the WangShi jaizu crowned Prince lose face" he said calmly yet his words said otherwise, it was a threat.

A discipline stepped forward in anger.

"You-" before he could finish Wang Zunyan stopped him with a slap to the mouth. He turned to face Li Xiwang and smiled.

"It's okay, let's go back, follow me"

Zhang Wei looked at Li Xiwang, he carried no sword yet he threatened a man carrying one, he chuckled shaking his head.

"You're quite something, since we never introduced ourselves I'll start, my name is Zhang Wei from the Zhang Shi sect" he said and bowed. Li Xiwang bowed as well.

"Li Xiwang from Li Shizu sect"

The two childes walked ahead leaving their shocked entourage behind. Li Jun turned to Liu Yang.

"Did you notice the water behind us?" She asked. They look behind and could see the water in a form of a water dragon, it's eyes piercing into their cores.

They looked at Li Xiwang's retreating figure.

"That Li Xiwang is indeed powerful"

Wang Zunyan led them to a horse carriage, he turned to them.

"The journey to the palace is 5Li (km) I hope you don't mind taking the carriage"

Li Xiwang opened his fan and fanned his face.

"I don't mind, I forgot my sword today" he said and entered the carriage. Zhang Wei scoffed.

"Forgot? Or not wanting to carry it" he said following behind.

Once in the carriage they were led to WangShi jaizu Palace. Their entourages maneuverer their swords above them in silence.

Li Xiwang looked outside and smiled, the WangShi jaizu sect was beautiful, from the green trees to the healthy looking people, they seem to live in harmony.

Zhang Wei watched him and he chuckled, he shook his head again, Li Xiwang was behaving like someone who hasn't seen the sun in years but given the circumstance that Li Shizu sect is far deep into the forest than the other sects he can understand. However he can't help but tease the fellow.

"First time seeing the sun?" He teased. Li Xiwang chuckled and nodded.

"First time seeing it full like this, where I'm from I'm locked into the Pavilion studying the sect rules so I only see half of the sun" he says. Zhang Wei immediately felt bad, he kept his head down in shame.

A laugh made him look up.

"You....you tricked me" he said realizing it. Li Xiwang laughed even harder.

"I can't believe you fell for it, you are so gullible"

Wang Zunyan who was on his horse besides the carriage frowned hearing the two childes laughing, it seems the two are friends....something he never had. Three horses behind him galloped in tune with his horse.

"Your highness don't worry about them" a voice said, it was Wang Yun, he was the crowned Prince's guard. Wang Min and Wang Feng also agreed.

"Indeed this is your birthday you should be more joyful" they said. The two were also his guards.

The carriage stopped and the door opened, Li Qiang helped his childe down.

"Thank you, where are the others?" Li Xiwang asked.

"They went to change, you should as well, the sun made you sweat"

Li Xiwang blushed in embarrassment, how could Li Qiang say something like that in public, he walked away without a word.

Zhang Wei got out and was tackled by his Spirit beast, the tiger purred smelling his familiar scent again.

"Okay, let's go" he said to the beast.

Wang Zunyan watched them walk away to change, he looked at his robe.

"I'll go change too"

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END OF CHAPTER ONE

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