Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 181 : Competing Over The Dragon Throne (1)

Chapter 181: Chapter 181 : Competing Over The Dragon Throne (1)

At last, the three-month waiting period was over.

"Prince, are you ready?"

Commandant Jiang pushed the tent flap open and found Zhang Fengxi inside, standing upright while servants put protective armor all around his body.

"Almost," the alpha said.

Once he was fully armored, Zhang Fengxi took his spear and stepped out of Longjing Palace’s preparation tent. He let his gaze sweep upon the sea of armored participants who gathered some distance away.

While the majority of the participants were tense and nervous, there were a few who acted like they were attending a Spring Banquet. These were none other than the noble alphas who were forced by their families to show their faces at the competition to uphold the family’s and or clan’s honor.

These shameless alphas actually put up a small seating area under a lavish tent, complete with cushioned couches and tea tables.

The unlucky eunuchs, maids, and servants from Golden Dragon Palace kept rushing in and out with trays of drinks and snacks.

Zhang Fengxi pursed his lips in displeasure. If he met any of them during the competition, he was going to teach them a lesson for sure. He marched straight to the participant waiting area, but then one of these pampered alphas called out to him.

"Heeeyyy, Brother Fengxi, you look as handsome as a Sun God. Care to place a bet?

"..."

Bet?

Zhou Guiying leaped from his seat and dragged Zhang Fengxi toward a huge scroll that was laid open across a tea table.

"This is a good chance to earn some decent money. You can place bets on participants, how long they need to kick their opponents to the curb in each round, and also the number of rounds they complete before they get kicked out of the competition."

"..... Zhou Guiying, are you out of your mind?" Zhang Fengxi asked with gritted teeth. "Gambling is against the Heavenly Empire’s rules!"

"Oh, really?"

Zhou Guiying turned ninety degrees on the spot and nodded toward a group of people who were huddled some distance away in front of a very busy-looking man. Zhang Fengxi recognized him as Li Haochen, Xiyu Palace Master’s youngest cousin.

"Please be patient!" he kept shouting in exasperation.

"Palace Master Song, please stop discussing the bets here. There are ample couches over there to silently mull over your choices!"

Zhang Fengxi’s jaw almost dropped to the ground. He not only saw his uncle, Song Weiyang, but a few other palace masters and ministers as well. These esteemed officials broke rules in broad daylight without the slightest care!

"This is preposterous!" Zhang Fengxi exclaimed. "Why is Head Eunuch Wang doing nothing???"

Head Eunuch Wang was personally appointed by the Emperor to handle the massive martial arts competition. How could he overlook this gambling activity when it played out in the open under everyone’s nose?

"Maybe because the Emperor himself placed a thousand bags of gold over Xie Jianyu’s victory at the end of the competition."

"....."

The Emperor.

The Emperor himself broke the empire’s rules.

If the nine layers of heaven came crashing on top of each other, Zhang Fengxi might not even be surprised anymore. Had the Heavenly Emperor always been such a carefree individual or did he simply not care about rules anymore?

"So, in or out?" Zhou Guiying grinned shamelessly at him. "Almost everyone is participating. Well, everyone but Wu Shenxia and the Crown Prince so far."

"Out," Zhang Fengxi decided. His Longjing Palace was not running out of money, so why must he sacrifice his integrity, his righteous behavior, his...

"Okay. Just so you know, Palace Master Zhang himself bet two hundred bags of gold on you staying ten rounds in this competition."

Zhou Guiying gave Zhang Fengxi a smack on the back.

"You better not disappoint his expectations."

"..."

Only ten rounds?

Why, his father was rather modest with his expectations toward his only son.

The lots for the competition rounds were drawn before he left his tent. Zhang Fengxi marched to a huge announcement board that was pasted in front of the arena. It was full of the names and genders of all competition participants along with their opponents for the first round.

There were altogether 1630 participants.

Almost all of the participants were alphas, a third of the alphas were female. There were around five male betas on the list, and only one male omega -- Xie Jianyu, the Crown Prince.

All participants were split into sixteen groups, where they would fight for days until one participant rose as the winner of the group.

Then, the winners of these sixteen groups were to fight each other in rounds until eventually, the victor emerged.

"We are in different groups," Wu Shenxia’s voice announced her arrival before she stepped next to Zhang Fengxi. Zhang Fengxi was in group two, while Wu Shenxia was in group seven. "If everything goes well, I am going to fight you in the semifinal round."

"Yeah," Zhang Fengxi said in reply. Xie Jianyu was in group fifteen. If he beat Wu Shenxia, he was going to fight against Xie Jianyu in the final round.

Mention a ghost, and a ghost would come.

Xie Jianyu sauntered toward them with unhurried steps, his expression unreadable.

"Crown Prince, long time no see, have you recovered from your injuries?" Wu Shenxia greeted him with a smile.

"En. Thank you for the concern."

Zhang Fengxi wanted to slap himself for his negligence. Even Wu Shenxia remembered to ask about Xie Jianyu’s sprained ankle. Why did he, the one who caused said injury, not ask Xie Jianyu the same question when they met a few weeks ago?

Xie Jianyu unsheathed Winter Frost in front of his two rivals. Its blade was now engulfed in newfound brilliance. When the Crown Prince ran his fingers across the surface, awe-inspiringly bright sparks reminiscent of bolts of lightning appeared with a series of crackling noises.

"The lightning essence worked well on Winter Frost," he said.

Wu Shenxia smiled.

"I am glad to hear that."

"I will not hold back," Xie Jianyu returned his sword to its scabbard.

"I wish Your Majesty a smooth path toward victory," Wu Shenxia sincerely said.

"En, thank you."

Xie Jianyu left, and Zhang Fengxi raised an eyebrow at Wu Shenxia.

"Lightning essence, eh? It must have been difficult to harvest."

"Difficult" was an understatement. "Nightmarish" was a more accurate word to describe Wu Shenxia’s endeavor to acquire the lightning essence. The female alpha literally had to wrestle against lighning bolts just to obtain a handful of essence after every victory.

Wu Shenxia grinned.

"A befitting gift for the Crown Prince, don’t you think?"

"..."

Truly, only a sword maniac understood another sword maniac.