Journey.(1)

Meng Chong immediately released his own martial sprirt when he saw Wu Shen release his sealed doors. Wu Shen flickered behind him using high-speed movement and expanded his muscles as he threw a punch towards Meng Chong's back. Meng Chong, being the one with the higher cultivation level, immediately turned around with incredible speed and blocked the attack while countering with a martial art of his own.

'Sea Splitting Fist!'

A large amount of powerful Qi flowed like water around Meng Chong's fist as he punched Wu Shen in the chest, causing the later to spit up a small amount of blood. As Meng Chong was about to move his fist, he realized that Wu Shen had one of his arms wrapped around it tightly, preventing it from moving. Meng Chong felt a bad premonition coming on and Wu Shen just gave him a small smile as the sealing doors surrounded him.

'Seal.'

The black doors opened and started to seal his Qi, causing him to panic as he released his full power in hopes of breaking the hold of the doors. As the door sealed his Qi, Wu Shen was absorbing the rest of it at the same time, weakening him immensely. Meng Chong felt exasperated as he didn't even know what to in this situation. He couldn't even fathom how he lost to someone who had a much lower cultivation level. Duan Wu Ya then got up and said calmly:

"I think a winner has been decided. Do you agree, Meng Chong?"

Wu Shen let the nobleman go and stepped away from, dusting off his clothing as he waited for Meng Chong's response. Meng Chong jumped back onto the grass and fell down to his knees in complete exhaustion. His Qi was depleted and sealed off so he had a hard time even standing up properly. But, he couldn't keep Duan Wu Ya waiting any longer so he looked at him and said hesitantly, "Yes, your highness. The Third Prince has defeated me thoroughly."

The crowd cheered at Wu Shen's performance but they couldn't help but wonder what his actual cultivation level was. It couldn't be only at the top of the Qi layer as Duan Wu Ya said during the fight. It was impossible to fight someone who was so high above your cultivation level. Since the fight was over, Wu Shen walked towards Meng Chong, unsealed his Qi, and retracted his martial spirit as he walked back to the pavilion.

His mind was racing with many thoughts about the battle on his way there. 'That was a hard fight. It may have looked easy from the spectator's standpoint but if I didn't build my body up to such a high level, that one blow could've severely injured me. It's a good thing 'The Zombie' allows me to take large amounts of damage too. I wonder how it would go if we fought until one of us died?' Wu Shen wondered this even as he sat down at his seat again. Everyone was flattering him with wide smiles and calling him an "unparalleled genius" but Wu Shen knew that they were secretly plotting different schemes against him because he wasn't a 'true member' of the imperial family.

Every noble knew that Wu Shen had come from a branch clan and even though the emperor called him his son, they didn't show him the same respect that they would show Xin Ye, Wu Dao, or Wu Ya. His blood spirit was incredibly powerful, too powerful in fact, and that caused them to feel extremely uneasy as that meant the Duan Clan was gaining too much power. The three strongest clans which were the Duan Clan, Yu Clan, and the Yue Clan had always maintained a relative balance of power. Wu Shen had to be dealt with or suppressed before he became too powerful because he had already broken that balance and he knew that he would have to kill most if not all the nobles in the pavilion sooner or later.

Duan Wu Ya then proposed a toast to Wu Shen for winning the battle and they all drank happily until Xin Ye asked the question everyone was dying to know.

"Wu Shen, what is your actual cultivation level?"

The room suddenly got quiet as everyone looked at Wu Shen expectantly, waiting for his answer. The man in question just said nonchalantly, "The top of the Qi Layer." Meng Chong felt like crippling his own cultivation as he felt like he had wasted his life when he heard what Wu Shen said. Everyone was stupefied but they still couldn't believe it. Yue Tian Chen then said with a mysterious smile on his face, "Your Highness, you must be joking. How could someone of the Qi Layer fight against someone of the fifth Ling Qi Layer? It's impossible!"

Wu Shen sighed and responded with a tinge of annoyance in his voice, "How can it be impossible when it just happened? You just haven't seen anyone with the power to do so. Even with his high cultivation level, Meng Chong's skills were below average and incredibly simple. Although this battle was still difficult, if I had faced a competent cultivator of his level, I would've been easily defeated."

Meng Chong looked like he had been slapped many times as his face was completely red. Everyone else laughed at his expense but inside, they all felt that Wu Shen was too arrogant. The latter didn't care much about how they felt as he only told the truth. The day went on just like that and soon enough, Duan Wu Ya finally called an end to the event.

All the nobles then quickly excused themselves, leaving the trio of siblings to their own devices. As soon as they were alone, Duan Wu Ya said, "Wu Shen, you said earlier that you plan to go on a journey but you never mentioned where. You're still a prince so you can't leave the imperial city on a moment's notice without any guards." Wu Shen already guessed they would say something like this so he wasn't surprised at all.

"Wu Ya, leave it alone, I don't need any guards with me."

Duan Xin Ye was about to argue with him because she cared about his safety but Wu Ya stopped her as he knew how hard-headed Wu Shen was. He decided to relent by saying, "Alright, then be careful. I'll tell father that you left." Wu Shen nodded and headed back to his room in earnest to prepare for his departure.

As soon as Wu Ya saw Wu Shen leave the forest, his usual warm smile faded off into a cold, calculating stare. He tapped his table twice and two men in black cloaks appeared by his side. Just their presence alone could make one feel like they were suffocating. Wu Ya then said calmly, "Both of you, stay at a distance where he can't sense you and watch him carefully. Tell me what he eats, who he talks to, what time he sleeps, I want you to tell me everything. This is one man that we can't allow to do what he wants."