An 'Accident'

In the round of 16, Xiao Kuanglei defeated Fen Jin in a hard-fought clash, Wu Xuexin made short work of Xiao Zhen, Xia Qingyue folded Fen Yuange while Feng Juebi, Ling Jie and Ling Feiyu all cooked their fodder opposition. For the final match of the round, Fen Juechen would face off against Heavenly Spear Thunderfire's Mu Xiongyan… their strongest competitor and someone who had an edge of two cultivation levels over Fen Juechen.

Although this would seem like a difficult match-up on paper, Fen Juechen used Mu Xiongyan's bombs and firearms against him by detonating them with his scorching blue flames. He earned an easy victory, moving on to the quarterfinals… where he would be matched up against Fen Juebi.

~

(Back to King James' POV)

"I ask for Royal Highness' guidance in this match."

Xiao Kuanglei was strangely humble for a young master. I suppose my showing against Ling Yun solidified the fact that he had no chance of beating me and merely sought experience from this match. I could, indeed, humiliate him… but there would be no point to that.

Since he asked so nicely, I'll oblige.

"Very well." I nodded, bringing myself down to half-step Earth Profound. "I shall guide you."

Be a good lad and show me all of your sect's techniques first-hand.

Xiao Kuanglei drew the Earth Shocking Sword, Xiao Sect's prized Sky Profound artefact, straight away. I did the same with Zabimaru, although I didn't release it. There was no reason to.

"The first match of the Quaterfinals… Blue Wind Imperial Family's Cang Chao versus Xiao Sect's Xiao Kuanglei… match start!"

Immediately, he used the Heavenly Eagle Art which gave him a burst of speed. 

"Extreme Wind Slash!"

Apparently, it's compulsory to scream out your attacks. Some bullshit about them being stronger if you do that. Though, even if he hadn't, I recognised the patterns already of that attack already. 

A wind storm with the silhoutte of a couple swords slashed towards me. 

The wind itself pushed me back a little but I managed to deflect each sword with deadly accuracy. Then, with one strong wave of my sword, I dispersed the wind rather casually.

All the while, Xiao Kaunglei leapt up into the air, not too far from me.

'Fleeting Strike already?'

"FLEETING STRIKE!!!"

This guy couldn't be more obvious.

His body plummeted onto the ground like a meteor and a powerful wave of sword force charged right towards me… creating a fissure in its wake. 

I enshrouded my body in wind attribute energy, flashing away from the attack and appearing behind Xiao Kuanglei.

"...?" He looked shocked, turning to attack me.

I dodged it with ease, sidestepping away.

"When you use your strongest attack… make sure it hits."

Xiao Kuanglei backed away.

"Heavenly Eagle Limitless Strike!"

At least he's persistent…

The silhouette of a rather large eagle soared down right towards me.

"Extreme Wind Slash!"

Now he's spamming…

With my right arm, I slashed away… mimicking the Sword Villa's Heaven's Might Sword Formation - Heavenly Star Frenzy. As for my left, I held it up and grasped the eagle. I twisted its wind attribute energy with my own and turned it into a ball in my palm.

"... What…" Xiao Kuanglei couldn't believe what he was seeing as over a hundred sword auras tore apart his Extreme Wind Slash and went straight for him.

He dodged away, being forced to the other side of the arena.

Meanwhile, I expanded the ball and did a few kickups.

"The wind element revolves around control." I kept going, watching all of the sword auras dissipate. "It is free-flowing and can take any shape we desire so long as we can understand it well enough. In this regard… only the water element is superior. However, there's one thing that no other element can take away from it."

"Speed!"

I stepped forward, taking the ball with me.

Xiao Kuanglei was completely baffled and rightfully terrified of the mini-explosion waiting to go off between my feet. Even so, he had some courage and stepped up with his Earth Shocking Sword. He rose to the sky, trying the same thing again.

'Fleeting Strike…'

"Fleeting Strike!"

Xiao Kuanglei cried out.

I sighed, deciding to dribble around the storm his descent had created. My highly-condensed ball began to suck in his own wind energy, growning in strength further. 

"This one's getting a bit dangerous, I won't lie to you." I chuckled. "Also, didn't I say something about hitting your strongest attacks? You've missed it twice now."

Xiao Kuanglei took several quick breaths. "His Royal Highness is simply too fast…"

"Hm, you would be right about that." I nodded. "Why don't we finish this?"

He charged up his sword with wind, waving his sword around me. A mixture of sword aura and wind danced around me yet I managed to evade or block all of it. I sped up a little, forcing Xiao Kuanglei into turning rapidly… again and… snap.

His ankles broke as he practically fell face-first into the ground.

That's just what I wanted to do… God, breaking ankles never gets old.

A wave of cheers washed over the crowd. Poor Kuanglei.

I kicked the ball up and grasped it in my left palm. With one simple kick, I turned him over. He raised his sword but I deflected it with Zabimaru, stabbing into his sword arm. Then I held the ball over Xiao Kaunglei.

"I suggest you concede."

"I'm… not finished!"

Xiao Kaunglei kicked my legs, but that hardly moved me. It seemed like he was angered by his humiliation. His entire body swirled with intense wind energy almost instantly. With his free hand, he created a sizeable wave of concentrated wind energy and aimed it at my ball.

Is he trying to detonate my attack against me? If I was an amateur, this kind of attack could fuck up my arm.

He fired.

WHOOSH.

My ball began absorbing the wind energy and began swirling even more.

'You know what… fuck you and your shitty sect.'

I acted shocked as the energy grew out of my control and threw me back. It expanded rapidly and collapsed right on Xiao Kuanglei instantly, landing on his chest and tearing that shit apart. It swirled and swirled…

"NOOO….!"

It practically dragged his entire body into it, bending, twisting… condensing… that bruddha was not coming out in one piece.

ZOOOOM.

I stepped away as it extended into a hurricane and exploded majestically.

I had a shocked expression on my face, taking heavy deep breaths.

Slowly, I stepped closer…

BOOOOM.

His blood splattered all over the stage and arena, painting multiple places red. Even some spectators got a piece of his super-mince meat. Well… at this point, it was all liquid. Meanwhile, when the wind finally settled, the Earth Shocking Sword clattered onto the ground.

Seeing that practically nothing was left of Xiao Kuanglei, I got on my knees.

"What… have… I… done?" 

I spoke each word with a heavy, sorrowful tone as I made my heart beat faster. The entire crowd had a collective, shocked gasp earlier… but only silence remained.

This… was the first person I had killed by my own hand.

Unsurprisingly, it had little effect on me.

Truthfully, I did not feel any remorse for that baboon. I gave him the opportunity to concede, and yet he continued to fight… so this was the result. Sure, I could've beaten him another way. But, really, I don't give a single flying fuck about some Xiao Sect young master.

If anything… I was quite satisfied to see his reckless, foolhardy self get twisted into nothing.

"My son…" I heard Xiao Juetian's voice break the silence. "My son… where is he? Where is… my SON!?"

'He's everywhere… don't you see the red paint?'

"CANG CHAO!!!" 

Xiao Juetian's voice boomed across the entire arena and beyond. His profound strength surged out, suppressing many of the auras around him. I, however, did not feel a single trace of fear. Why should I… to such an ant?

"Where is my SON!?"

I remained on my news, taking a deep breath.

"ANSWER ME!!!"

"He's… dead." I slowly got back onto my feet, walking towards the Earth Shocking Sword. "I… killed him."

I put on an act of responsibility, someone who doesn't shy away from the fact of the matter. 

Without even talking, he flashed forward at his greatest speed… grabbing the Earth Shocking Sword and firing off a truly devastating wave of wind straight towards me. This attack was capable of shredding any Earth Profound Realm expert the moment they were caught in it.

All of this happened in less than a frame of a second…

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as the wave approached.

Whoosh.

Beatrice's barrier had completely blocked the attack, treating it like a skyscraper would treat a light gust of wind. It did nothing at all. My hair didn't even move. 

"Now, threatening to disqualify my fiance is one thing… but trying to kill him?" Beatrice floated down to the arena rather majestically, her blonde hair shining under the sun. "Now that's another thing entirely…"

"Sect Master Xiao…" Ling Wugou's eyes widened. 

"Do you not have an ounce of shame, Xiao Juetian!? Despicably attacking a junior who is far younger than you, the Crown Prince of the very nation you live in, the same one who is the greatest talent this Empire had ever known, a junior with a truly noble heart… for what reason? An accident that was triggered by your foolish, reckless son?"

I raised an eyebrow as the Sword Villa Master's wife spoke on my behalf. It seems a little surprising, considering I'm the one who defeated her son. Actually… speaking on my behalf is cutting a little loose. She was straight-up glazing me for all to see.

Immediately, the security pulled up… including the Villa Master himself.

"He killed… my son!" Xiao Juetian roared back, clearly in an emotional state. "What junior with a noble heart would do such a thing!? Everyone is aware that Cang Chao is far stronger… he was the one who defeated Ling Yun, after all… so why did he have to perform such an underhanded technique!? He could have won in a hundred different ways, yet-"

"As far as I am aware, Cang Chao asked Xiao Kuanglei to concede when he landed on the ground." Ling Wugou interrupted. "Alas, Xiao Kuanglei seemingly forced the issue in his anger and led to the explosion of Cang Chao's technique… perhaps in the hopes of winning."

"I don't want to hear any of it!" Xiao Juetian pointed the Earth Shocking Sword at me. "The truth of the matter is that he killed my son and had no right… ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT… to do so!!!

"You still dare to point a sword at my beloved?" Beatrice glared at him. "My liege, how should I kill that piece of garbage?"

Spears of light formed behind her, shining forward and piercing Xiao Juetian instantly in a dozen different areas. He didn't even react… falling to his knees and bleeding profusely.

"Do not. Sect Master Xiao had his reasons…" I put on a sympathetic, heartfelt tone. "What father wouldn't want to avenge a son he had witnessed the death of personally? Despite how despicable it may seem, I wholeheartedly understand why he would strike me so suddenly and hold nothing against him."

"In the end… it really was an accident." I sighed, shaking my head. "Not just an accident… it was an absolute tragedy. Xiao Kuanglei was a great talent who would have reached brilliant heights in his time, without a doubt. That talent… is lost on his world… and it truly is my fault."

"..." Xiao Juetian's rage began to dissipate, and so did his killing intent.

"If I had possessed greater control of my technique, it wouldn't have exploded so suddenly and taken the young master's life. If I had not been a failure… Xiao Kuanglei… would still be alive." I lowered my head. "I… do not expect to be forgiven for this act, nor would I ever forgive myself. Nothing could ever make up for taking the life of another person."

"..." Xiao Juetian's expression softened as his sword lowered slightly.

"Accidents like this… do happen." Ling Yuefeng sighed, stepping between the two parties. "Even though Cang Chao did kill a participant during a match, it was clear that he had no intent to kill in doing so… and the trigger itself was caused by Xiao Kuanglei. However, you, Xiao Juetian…"

He looked enraged as he turned to Xiao Juetian.

"As an esteemed Sect Master of one of the Blue Wind Empire's Four Major Sects, you have shamed us all!" Ling Yuefeng frowned deeply. "Such a blatant disregard for the rules of the tournament should result in the entire Xiao Sect losing its right to participate… and, not only that, but the Xiao Sect incurring the wrath of my Heavenly Sword Villa!"

The power of a throne seeped out of Ling Yuefeng, suppressing the much inferior and injured Xiao Juetian.

"My ancestors swore that they and their descendants would serve as the guardians of the Imperial Family. This is a promise that the Heavenly Sword Villa has never forgotten." 

"I…" Xiao Juetian stuttered.

"I humbly ask that the Villa Master is not too harsh on Sect Master Xiao or the Xiao Sect." I stepped forward, pleading his case. "In any normal case, I am beyond certain that he would not act in such a manner. I believe that a warning would suffice. Besides… he had not injured me in the slightest."

"... You have a good heart." Ling Yuefeng sighed, nodding as he briefly looked back at me.

 "If that is the prince's wish, then I shall be more lenient. Considering the accident had taken the life of his son, and that he had already been taught a lesson by His Highness' companion, it shall be treated as if he had been punished. The matter will be put to rest. However, should anyone from the Xiao Sect act in such a manner again and aim to despicably harm a participant… not only would the Sect's right to explore the Heavenly Basin Realm be revoked, but its right to participate in the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament would also be removed indefinitely!"

'I'll deal with you later… personally.' I grinned slightly for a brief second. 'Your old ass is getting jumped.'

And so, the matter was put to rest…

I won and advanced to the semi-finals, awaiting my match against Xia Qingyue.

Yes… they put us in the same bracket. They could have chosen two different epic finals match-ups but squandered both opportunities. Whoever set up the brackets should get fired, honestly.

I know I would toss them out of the sect for selling the bag this bad.

After that, the next fight of the quarterfinals began. Xia Qingyue against Wu Xuexin. She didn't even bother fighting Xia Qingyue and conceded instantly. The same happened in the following match between Ling Feiyu and Ling Jie… with Ling Jie moving on. The only other proper fight of the quarterfinals would be…

Fen Juebi against my potential vassal, Fen Juechen.

That was the only fight of Fen Juechen's that I had any interest in so far. If he couldn't beat any of his previous opponents, he wouldn't have been worth investing in further… but he did. Easily, at that.

So, naturally, as his King… I gave him the resources and the opportunity to emerge victorious.

After all, he does represent me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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