Chapter 9 : The Fight Between The Palace Masters

Author's note :

Sorry, dearest readers. This author had to change the palace names. Just in case you get confused, here is a quick summary of the changes :

Fuxi remains Fuxi.

Bi'an became Longjing.

Suanni became Shuiran.

I also edited the wording starting from chapter 1 so it might be a great experience to re-read everything from the start. Love you all!

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Lady Song did not need her son to speak twice. Without paying further attention to Shuiran Palace Master, she quickly escaped the burning room with the baby tightly clutched to her chest.

Once they were left alone, Zhang Fengxi and Jiang Muchen engaged in a fierce fight against each other. When Zhang Fengxi's spear clashed with Jiang Muchen's staff, fire sparks flew between them.

"Fancy to see you here," Zhang Fengxi snarled at his opponent. "Shouldn't you be in Golden Dragon Palace, spreading terror all over the entire palace?"

Jiang Muchen scoffed.

"I was hoping to see you there. Don't dogs usually follow their masters wherever they go?"

The battling palace masters were repelled by the impact of their own attacks, propelling both of them to retreat a few steps.

An explosion sound was heard when Zhang Fengxi shot a ball of spiritual energy off his spear. It hit the spot where Jiang Muchen just stood a second ago.

"What do you want, Jiang Muchen?" Zhang Fengxi stabbed the end of his spear into the ground, glaring at the opponent who did an impressive backward flip in the air and then landed lightly on one of the broken pillars.

"I want the baby," Jiang Muchen answered before summoning a fiery dragon that flew toward Zhang Fengxi with its mouth wide open.

"Tsk."

Zhang Fengxi spun his spear around and dispersed the attack. After the fiery dragon disappeared, Jiang Muchen suddenly appeared before him.

Zhang Fengxi barely failed to counter Jiang Muchen's frontal attack. Nevertheless, the unpredicted move made him slide a hundred meters backward and hit a wall.

The wall crumbled into ruins, burying Zhang Fengxi underneath. The supreme general burst out, sending broken wall fragments in all directions.

"You will not take my son away," he glowered at Jiang Muchen as soon as he managed to breathe.

Jiang Muchen scoffed.

"Heh. Your son."

The two palace masters continued to exchange one move after another.

"After you killed Xie Jianyu, you still have the face to refer to yourself as his father, you abominable scum of heaven!"

"As unbelievable as it might be, blood does not lie. He is indeed my son. Why does it concern you so much?"

Jiang Muchen ducked and aimed to kick at Zhang Fengxi's legs. Luckily, the latter jumped in time to avoid the attack.

"He is not your son. He is Xie Jianyu's son."

"Tell that to the sigil that glows on his forehead," Zhang Fengxi snarled.

"I don't care what sigil glows on his forehead. That child is Fuxi Palace's heir, not yours!!!"

"Even if he is Fuxi Palace's heir, so what! Still not Shuiran Palace's heir!"

"You do not deserve to keep him! I will raise him to adulthood and return the throne to Fuxi Palace!"

"Says the current crown prince of the Heavenly Empire!!" Zhang Fengxi roared.

Jiang Muchen was livid with rage.

"Did you just accuse me of stealing the crown prince position from Xie Jianyu???" the fire guardian shot off several fiery balls in Zhang Fengxi's direction.

"Well, if the boots fit!" Zhang Fengxi shouted while jumping around to avoid each ball.

The balls seemed to have a life of their own. They kept following Zhang Fengxi, intent on setting him aflame.

Zhang Fengxi countered by smashing the ground. A column of dust and debris rose from the surface to absorb the fiery balls. Jiang Muchen took the opportunity to stab Zhang Fengxi with his staff. Zhang Fengxi missed the hit by a hairsbreadth, but then Jiang Muchen swung his staff upward and smacked his opponent across the face.

Zhang Fengxi was thrown to the ground.

"Enough with the games," he stood up while wiping at traces of blood from the corner of his lips.

"You took the words out of my mouth," Jiang Muchen sneered.

Their verbal argument was interrupted by Lady Song, who came back running with the baby in her arms.

"Both of you, please stop!!!" she cried out. "The baby... help the baby!!!"

Blood drained from both palace masters' faces.

"What happened?" Jiang Muchen used his light feet technique to arrive in front of Lady Song, with Zhang Fengxi close at his heels.

Zhang Fengxi's question was stuck in his throat when he saw that the baby's face had turned blue.

"He suddenly stopped breathing," Lady Song sobbed uncontrollably. "Please help... please..."

The blue color slowly crept down his tiny face, growing like vicious tree roots down to his neck and his torso...