Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 54 : The Maiden Tears Lake (1)

Chapter 54: Chapter 54 : The Maiden Tears Lake (1)

When her son was rumored to be into alphas, Lady Song was the one who worried the most.

When her son announced his plan to get engaged to the Ethereal Beauty of the year, Lady Song was also the one who had the most work to do.

And when Lady Song was running around the Longjing Palace to get things done, everything and everyone became a hindrance.

"Out of my way!!!" the lady cried at the top of her lungs.

Merely the sight of the many wedding-related materials that were piled up in her arms was enough to make the men’s eyes turn round from fear.

"Move! Move! Move! Stop standing around! Make yourself useful!"

Zhang Zhiyuan had yet to understand the seriousness of the situation. He happily approached his wife for a hug, and was hit with a flower fan instead.

"..."

"You! You should start preparing to visit Wuyang Palace! We need to show our utmost sincerity when we ask for Liu Wenyuan’s hand in marriage!"

Were they not sincere enough? Look at the crazy manner Lady Song spoke about the proposal.

Zhang Zhiyuan cleared his throat.

"Just bring all the engagement gifts with us and go. What’s the problem?"

Lady Song screamed murder. Her maids gasped at their master’s ignorance.

"Just... just go," Lady Song said as she swooned. "I cannot deal with you right now."

"My Lady, please be strong!!!" her maids cried out in distress while surrounding the poor palace mistress.

"....."

Poor Zhang Zhiyuan, the venerable Palace Master was kicked out of his own palace by his own wife. Gloomily, he went over to Qifeng Palace to play chess with his best friend and also his brother-in-law, Song Weiyang.

Meanwhile, Zhang Fengxi managed to escape his mother’s wrath by committing himself to his martial arts practice. He had to practice a lot now, because he would not have much time left once he was engaged to Liu Wenyuan.

Months flew by quickly.

Before they knew it, Zhang Fengxi had already trained under Commandant Jiang for six months. There were still six more months until he had to prove his prowess before his father, but Commandant Jiang already ran out of lessons to teach the young prince.

"Prince, this subject is pleasantly surprised," the baffled commandant said. "The Prince is extremely talented. We have gone through the three basic spear manuals in a short period of six months."

Zhang Fengxi grinned.

"It is all thanks to the Master’s teachings," he said while cupping his hands in respect.

Commandant Jiang laughed heartily. He patted Zhang Fengxi’s shoulder fondly. "At this rate, the Prince is going to surpass this subject in five years or so. This is great. Now, does the Prince wish to learn more or should we stop at this point?"

Zhang Fengxi’s eyes shone with determination.

"Please teach me more, Master. I intend to be the strongest spearman in the Heavenly Empire."

"Oho! This is good. With Crown Prince Xie Jianyu as the strongest swordsman, Prince Zhang Fengxi shall shine on the battlefield."

Zhang Fengxi felt a slight prick in his heart when Commandant Jiang mentioned Xie Jianyu. In his last life, up to the moment of his rebellion, he fought alongside the crown prince for years.

And yet, he had never seen Xie Jianyu as his comrade.

He never bothered covering for Xie Jianyu. He was busy chasing his own glory. And what about Xie Jianyu? Xie Jianyu was busy keeping everyone alive and achieving victory. He did not care much to stand out and gain a reputation on the battlefield.

Had Xie Jianyu ascended the throne and become the next Heavenly Emperor, he would surely be a good ruler who brought peace and prosperity to the heavenly realm.

Why did Zhang Fengxi fail to see Xie Jianyu’s redeeming quality all these years?

"Prince...?"

Zhang Fengxi snapped back from his daze.

"Sorry, Master. What did you just say?"

Commandant Jiang laughed.

"This subject said that he needed to take some time off to prepare the next lesson materials. Meanwhile, the Prince shall work on his cultivation level, otherwise the learning would not be efficient. Try doing a closed-door cultivation for two weeks to one month."

Zhang Fengxi nodded.

"Sure, Master."

After the three basic spear manuals had been covered, it was time to start delving into the Crimson Judgement Spear Art.

Crimson Judgement Spear Art was a set of ancient scriptures that were passed on in Commander Jiang’s family for generations.

Due to a misfortune, Commandant Jiang lost his entire family in a war. As the only survivor of the family, he was under pressure to get married and sire children.

Alas, his children were far from being talented. Their cultivation base was so weak that their father lost hope.

Until Zhang Fengxi appeared, of course.

Zhang Fengxi was more than happy to inherit the spear art. The Crimson Judgement Spear Art was intimidating enough even without mastering its ultimate move, the "Hellfire Hurricane".

This time around, Zhang Fengxi wanted to make sure that he mastered that ultimate move.

Zhang Fengxi was currently in the early stage of Core Formation. He needed to achieve at least the middle stage before he started training the Crimson Judgment Spear Art.

In order to do that, Commandant Jiang advised him to undergo closed-door cultivation. Luckily, Zhang Fengxi had a better idea.

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Author’s note :

Okay, dear reader. Here is a little information about the cultivation stages in this novel.

The stages are below :

1. Qi Condensation - 9 stages

2. Foundation Establishment - early, mid, late

3. Core Formation - early, mid, late, peak

4. Nascent Soul - early, mid, late, peak

5. Soul Formation - early, mid, late

6. Soul Transformation - early, mid, late

7. Ascension

The progress of each person heavily depends on the person’s innate talent and cultivation base. Not all people in the heavenly realm cultivate. Generally, alphas are expected to cultivate and take up martial arts. Unfortunately, not all alphas exhibit enough talent to attain significant progress in their training.