Battle for the Crown

"What's taking them so long?" It was already past breakfast, but the contenders haven't revealed themselves yet. The stage was still being prepared despite having every seat occupied. Some audiences stood outside the arena, already ready to watch.

Another hour was spent before Xing Zishen noticed the arrival of the main characters. The first and second prince brought their people to witness the battle. A battle that is crucial for the future empire.

Something caught Xing Zishen's eyes while he watched, and upon looking closer, he found the purple robes quite familiar. They were… "Fu**" Zishen panicked and covered his face slickly. 'Why are the elders here? And with the princes?'

He held Feng Li's hands and stood up, but Feng Li pulled him back down. "Sister, you're a sister now, right? They won't recognize you with all that make-up, so it's fine. Anyway, Senior Brother Jin Lixing is actually the first prince, so let's support him."

Still slightly shocked, he performed a breathing exercise before pondering. Evident sweat was clear on his neck. Something's urging him to leave, but curiosity's forcing him to stay. In the end, he still chose personal interest and remained. He won't lose much.

'How will the pampered Jin Lixing win this fight?'

The emperor then came a few minutes after, accompanied by his concubines and the empress who sat beside him. The introductory wasn't long, and it was promptly ended by the MC after stating the rules and the emperor's decree. "His majesty, the emperor decrees that this fight shall dictate the bearer of the title crown prince, the future emperor of the Yun empire. Long live the emperor."

"Long live the emperor."

Everything was set up and explained. Renshu wears violet while the other wears red. Two fiery colours soon became unidentifiable to mortal eyes when the signal was fired. The fight was intense, but Yun Wei was doing all the work. His speed and attacks are indeed worthy of being a Foundation stage cultivator, but he lacks some aspects. At certain times during the battle, he would waste time in his tricks, and give the opponent open areas to attack. His defence isn't formidable.

He is fortunate that Yun Renshu isn't attacking. Renshu remains defensive, avoiding his younger brother's attacks despite having a lower level of cultivation. Not once was he hit, nor did he hit.

This is mockery!

Yun Wei retook another one of his pills and swallowed without hesitation. His muscles bulged the next moment, and a gust of wind blew, spreading the uncomfortable aura throughout the arena. Even mortals felt a sudden change in the atmosphere.

"Something's wrong," Feng Li stated and looked at Xing Zishen to ask, but Zishen smiled sweetly. He gave no answer.

Meanwhile, beside the emperor, concubines in favour of the second prince waved their golden coloured handkerchiefs to show their support. The Queen remained emotionless, seeing his son overpowered.

This time, it was Yun Renshu who ran and attacked Yun Wei. Wei blocked Renshu's sword attack with his own and pushed the first prince a few meters back.

The leap from the high foundation stage to lower Hollow Orb was massive. Nobody would believe it if they hadn't watched it themselves. However, something didn't sit right with Yun Renshu. The advancement is definitely impossible in his eyes. Only pills that can aid for a smooth breakthrough exist, but there are definitely no pills that forcibly advance one's level and stage.

From all the pills and potions that Yun Wei ate, this was the most effective and dangerous. Hesitatingly, Yun Renshu gripped his sword hard and flung it towards his brother with great force. It was repelled easily like a stick. Yun Wei laughed, followed by the proud cheers of his many masters in the city. "It appears like Hu Tian isn't as great as others describe it."

Another round of cheers came that nearly deafened Hu Tian sect.

"Peh!" The fourth elder Liao spat. His displeased action caused the young disciples from Hu Tian to act up too.

They screamed, "Senior Brother Jin! Don't make us lose face!"

"Beat him!" "They really aren't that great!" the audience yelled.

With all the disrespect, Yun Renshu remained silent and calm on the outside. His eyes focused on Yun Wei's every motion, not letting him out of his sight. "I'm sorry," he whispered before launching his dagger, which Yun We easily avoided. Regrettably, the cheerings all stopped when Renshu came close and attacked his brother using Qi. His hands hit Wei's abdomen, pausing the second prince's breathing for a second and making him cough out blood.

"This will be the last…" Yun Renshu whispered again and used his another round of QI to penetrate Yun Wei's body, allowing his Qi to purify something inside. The second prince began to scream and cough out black blood. Dark steam was released from his body, and it took another punch for him to vomit out all he ate.

The pill revealed it's true colours. It bore condensed evil energy, and it was an extremely corrupted one.

Everything has begun to be corrupted by the dark energy in the last pill. That included Yun Wei himself. He's lucky that the evil thing was out of his system, lest it actually devours his whole person. Renshu glared at the judges and the MC, and they were smart enough to understand. The winner was quickly announced, and medics took Yun Wei away. His masters are called promptly by the clearly unhappy emperor. He knew what he saw.

Yun Wei's mother rushed towards his son but was forbidden to come close. Tears rolled down her eyes, but she didn't say anything to Yun Renshu. Not even berating him.

"Elder Liao, what was the pill the second prince took." A disciple asked in curiosity. "Why did he advance by leaps and bounds so easily?" But he was instantly answered by the law enforcer, sixth elder, Wu, whose tone wasn't soft.

"Have your eyes gone bad? It was clearly a dark pill, probably a condensed ball of evil energy from a dark cultivator. It was masked as a pill, but I'm sure of it."

"Then, he wasn't able to scratch senior brother despite having a higher level, why is that?""Cuz he's stupid." Another disciple joined in. They began to mock Wei, but Renshu came and overheard them. "Wei isn't stupid. He won't be considered one if every lie they fed him is the truth." Renshu turned to face the crowd and search for Feng Li's direction. "Everyone of them was played like cards. It must be a powerful person if he can fool all these masters to believe Wei is at the foundation level. Even illegal things were able to go unnoticed."

The disciples began to ponder while the elder nodded. Proud that Yun has grown.

Finally, he spots Feng Li looking straight at him while a seat remains unseated on his left. "Sly rascal," Renshu uttered. That damn Xing Zishen hid again.

Everything processed smoothly after the fight. The first prince's title was given, and Yun Wei's supposedly birthday celebration became Yun Renshu's celebration instead. The Hu Tian elders and disciples were invited inside the palace while other sects found faults with one another for the second prince's loss. One by one, suspects fell down before the emperor, only to be judged by the new Crown Prince, Yun Renshu.