The Imperial Palace

"Hmph! Jiang Yichen's shoulders slumped as he forced himself to eat breakfast. His mind had been bugged with a certain person, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"I need my sword. I encountered a little problem with transferring my soul into another body. I need my sword to unseal your core." Those were the words Mingyu said to him.

And then a while later, he suddenly changed his mind. "If we ever meet again, and come this close to each other, I will remember your actions and spare you."

"Spare me, my ass!" Jiang Yichen scoffed as he threw his chopsticks across his room. "I have no appetite."

"Young master Jiang!" Madam Wang's voice sounded from outside, and without knocking, she opened the door and rushed into his room. "Young master. They have been caught." She said with a smile on his face.

"Who? Yinzhi?!" Jiang Yichen subconsciously perked up, his eyes widening as he awaited Madam Wang's confirmation.

Madam Wang's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why would anyone want to waste their time to catch Yinzhi?"

Jiang Yichen's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Never mind. If it isn't about Yinzhi, then I don't want to know."

Madam Wang ignored him and still relayed the information to him. "Yan Jianyu, the assistant leader of the Huo sect, has caught Mingyu's men who raided Jinxing, and has retrieved Mingyu's body."

Jiang Yichen's eyes stretched wide. "He did what?"

….

"Yan Jianyu brought the bodies of Mingyu's men into the palace?" Master Zhang asked Lin Xiaoyan as they strode into the mighty Huayang palace, followed by other mages of Jinxing.

"How dare he? We were the ones who caught Mingyu. We would become a laughingstock, once news of this gets to the public. " He continued to complain.

Lin Xiaoyan shook his head, as he tried to hold back his anger. Facing Wen Ting, he asked, "Is it true that he spared none of the men?"

"He killed them all." Wen Ting answered.

"With all of them dead, how are we supposed to trace the source of the arising Dragon-scale ritual?" Lin Xiaoyan's brows furrowed, "Yan Jianyu, just what were you thinking?" He muttered.

"Yan Liwen is also here." Master Zhang said, and the scowl on his face was immediately replaced with a smile as he pointed to the said 'Yan Liwen'.

Walking towards them, was a middle-aged woman, clad in white regal robes. Her black hair sauntered behind her as she strode towards them, followed by a few mages and servants.

They exchanged pleasantries, and then head together into the imperial palace – the throne hall, to the precise.

"I heard that Yan Jianyu, the assistant Leader of the Huo sect, caught the offenders that Jinxing could not." His majesty, the king spoke.

In the large throne hall, the king sat on his throne up the dais, and a little below his throne, a smaller throne stood, and his son, the crown prince, was sat on it.

Yan Jianyu was also present, and he was standing alongside Lin Xiaoyan, Master Zhang and Yan Liwen.

Yan Jianyu couldn't hide the small smile that graced his face when he heard the king's words.

"How did they break the Jinxing's protective barrier, not once, but twice?" The Crown Prince inquired.

Silence was all that was heard in the the hall with neither Lin Xiaoyan, nor Master Zhang willing to answer the question.

Yan Jianyu, on the other hand, gladly took the responsibility of answering the question. "A Transmigrator was planted as a spy in Jinxing. He was caught by the Yan family's Wuying."

"Wuying?" The king's face lightened up in fascination. "I would like to see this magical creature."

"I'm afraid it won't be possible at the moment." Yan Liwen responded.

Without letting Yan Liwen explain further, Yan Jianyu quickly butted in, "They made a mistake of accidentally breaking the Wuying's statue, where it's spirit resides."

"Such show of carelessness from a so called esteemed sect." The king shook his head in disappointment.

Lin Xiaoyan remained composed, not showing any emotions on his face as he bowed his head a bit. "Apologies, Your Majesty."

"Now, to the reason why I summoned you all here." The King started off, "Yan Jianyu has made such a big contribution, and I'm considering promoting him to the position of the Leader of the Huo sect."

All heads rose in surprise at what the king had said, Yan Jianyu, included.

"That's not right." Master Zhang spoke up, "Jiang Renxing is still the current Leader of the Huo sect. He was given the position by the late king, and so, he would continue to be there until he himself decides otherwise. Furthermore, if anyone should take over the position, it should be his son, Jiang Yichen."

"Jiang Renxing has been away for decades, and you Jinxing mages, have claimed he went for training." The crown prince was the one who spoke this time, "He even sealed his own son's spiritual core, preventing him from practicing spells. Assistant Leader Yan Jianyu, has been the one to fill in the vacant position."

"Your Majesty." Yan Liwen interrupted, "The Dragon-scale ritual is a forbidden practice among mages, and Jinxing has always been the ones to keep this under control. This time too, I believe they would have gotten to the bottom of this issue, and wipe out the source of the sudden return of this forbidden spell."

Her gaze then landed on Yan Jianyu, giving him a disdainful look. "But Yan Jianyu killed every single one of them. By doing that, he has ruined everything, leaving no leadings that can be traced back to those who could be operating in the dark."

"Tell me honestly. Are you pained that the Huo sect got to take the credit?" Yan Jianyu questioned with his voice laced with mockery.

Lin Xiaoyan totally ignored Yan Jianyu's presence, and instead, faced the king. "As for the position of the leader of Jinxing, we mages, will hold a meeting and make a decision when Jiang Renxing returns. So please, grant him a different reward."

The king let out a quiet sigh, before looking in Yan Jianyu's direction. "Yan Jianyu. Tell me what you desire."

Yan Jianyu bowed his head as he spoke, "The public is going anxious with the return of the Dragon-scale ritual. To give them some sort of reassurance, allow me to burn Mingyu's body in front of the palace gates. And as for Mingyu's sword, please let the Huo sect get to keep it, since Jinxing has already lost it once."

Master Zhang's head turned swiftly, facing Yan Jianyu as he heard his absurd request. With gritted teeth, he opened his mouth to counter Yan Jianyu, but before he could speak, the king already beat him to it.

"Granted." The king said in a voice that bore no room for arguments.