She outstretched her hand and tugged Lu Wan’s sleeve. "Do you know more about the Chen Imperial Family?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lu Wan was confused.
"I mean... do they also force the Lu and Wei Family to work for them or something like that?"
Lu Wan nodded his head. "Isn’t that clear? No matter what they say outside, the two large families are under the Chen Imperial Family. They have to follow what the imperial family says and pledge their loyalty no matter what. If not, they’ll be forced to be like me before."
"Is that so?" Ye Jiao muttered to herself as she thought about the Wei Family. Things might not be as simple as she had thought so far. There might be more reason as to why they wanted her downfall...
Wait, why did she think about this again?
Shaking her head, Ye Jiao pushed the matter to the back. She would no longer try to pursue them as they would have different paths from today onwards. Unless they still want to harm her, she wouldn’t bother with them anymore.
The three of them continued to walk around the city without paying much attention to what happened in the area around them anymore. There were a lot of people, so they already knew about it.
"By the way, when will the barrier open?"
"It should be this afternoon," Qi Huan replied. He looked up at the sun, which was starting to climb up even higher.
Lu Wan was stunned. "Then, shouldn’t we go to the north gate?"
"There’s no need to hurry," Ye Jiao shrugged. "It’s not like we’re going to stand at the forefront and entering the location is fine anytime. We don’t have to be there when the barrier opens exactly at that time."
"I still think that it’s better to hurry."
"Ah," Qi Huan had just remembered something. "I need to appear there, so I better hurry and change my attire."
He forgot that the four kingdoms would surely place their members at the forefront of the barrier. Once the barrier was weakened, they would be the first one to enter the location. Because of that reason, he had to appear as ’Prince Qi Huan.’
Lu Wan and Ye Jiao turned to look at Qi Huan almost immediately. "Then you should go. We don’t know the exact time it’ll open."
"Right. Take care, you two."
"We shall meet again inside," Ye Jiao grinned. "Hopefully, we won’t have to fight against one another as part of the examination."
"Oh?" Qi Huan flicked a glance to Ye Jiao. He never had any serious fight against Ye Jiao in the past because they never truly clashed. Nodding his head. "I’ll be anticipating my fight with you should we clash."
"Hey, what about me?" Lu Wan’s face darkened.
"I already had a fight with you in the past. I don’t have any interest in fighting against someone whom I have defeated before."
Lu Wan clasped his fist together. "We shall see how you’re going to react to my poison later on, Arrogant Bookworm."
Qi Huan smiled. Right, when they fought again, there was no need for Lu Wan to hide his real ability in poison anymore. At that time, he would be able to fight against the real Lu Wan.
"We shall see later, Herbs Hair."
"What did you call me?"
"Herbs hair. Your color resembles herbs the most..."
Swish!
Lu Wan punched forward and Qi Huan dodged to the side. His hand lightly tapped Lu Wan’s hand with a smile on his lips. "Do you really want to have a go here?"
Lu Wan’s face changed. He really wanted to beat up his senior brother, but he knew that he would be seeking trouble if he did in this place. In the end, he had to retract his gaze after casting another glare.
Afterwards, Qi Huan turned around and left in the direction of the north. He still had to find a secluded place to change his countenance back to its original form. Besides, his attire didn’t really represent his proper title.
Ye Jiao stretched her hand. "Let’s head there too. Or, do you want to change back to your real appearance?"
"I think that I’ll just use a hood to hide it for now," Lu Wan took out a hood from his storage bracelet and wore it. Some people passed him a look, but Lu Wan’s countenance still looked normal, so they didn’t bother anymore.
"You’re going to show your real appearance later?"
"Yep. I’m not going to hide forever," for a moment, a glint appeared in Lu Wan’s eyes as he stared to the front. He was never the type to hide and do things in the shadow. He preferred to be in the limelight, standing at the forefront.
However, he couldn’t act rashly because he understood that his life might be in danger if he tried to do so.
"Let’s go there then."
Qi Huan didn’t take long to change his attire. Once he came out of the dark alley, he had returned back to be the prince of Chi Kingdom. His attire and demeanor has returned back to the perfect one he always put up. With his silver hair glistening under the sun, he attracted numerous people’s attention.
"That’s the Chi Kingdom’s Prince, right?"
"Yes!"
"Oh my, how handsome!"
"He’s heading to the north!"
As he had gotten used with their attention, Qi Huan could ignore their words easily. He walked calmly to the north gate as people around him gossiped about his appearance with vigor. Apparently, they were excited to see him.
"Your Highness."
Qi Huan stopped his steps when he heard this voice. He turned and looked at a middle aged man who had been standing not far from him. The middle aged man’s expression was filled with relief.
"How’s the condition so far, Min?" He asked placidly.
"It’s all according to plan. Every genius from the Chi Kingdoms that’s eligible to attend the examination have gathered here. They’re all waiting patiently for the barrier to weaken," the middle aged man called Min replied respectfully.
"Have you found Bai Xiang?"
Hearing that name, the guard named Min’s face changed greatly. Bai Xiang was the representative they selected for the joint hunt around a year ago. Qi Huan didn’t know much about that young man, but he heard news that not long after they returned back to the Chi Kingdom, the young man disappeared.
There was not even a trace of where he went. It was as if he never existed in the first place. Even those who first met with him didn’t know where he went.
"I’m sorry, we couldn’t find him, Your Highness."
"I see," Qi Huan’s eyes flashed for a split second. He had thought that the young man was mysterious. He came and disappeared as he wished.
The guard named Min looked at Qi Huan and tried to remind the young man. "The other representatives from the Cao Kingdom and Chen Kingdom have gathered at the forefront too."
"I have made them wait, haven’t I?" Qi Huan chuckled lightly. His eyes showed a hint of ruthlessness for a split second. "Let’s go and greet them."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Afterwards, Qi Huan continued to walk to the north gate. The people in front of him quickly made way for him to pass when they saw his silver hair. Everyone in that place already knew about the three forefront figures. These three were the greatest geniuses in the Four Kingdoms, so they naturally would stand at the very front.
Coincidentally, all three of them would participate in this year’s selection.
Many anticipated their performances as they wanted to know how the geniuses of the Four Kingdoms would fare.
After all, it would show how the standard of their place. No one would want to be placed at the bottom.
"You’re late, Prince Qi Huan," a voice greeted the young prince from the front.
Qi Huan raised his head. He could see a dark brown hair young man standing at the front. His hand was placed on his hip as he smiled brightly.
"It’s nice to meet you again, Prince Cao Ren. My apologies for arriving late," Qi Huan said politely.
Cao Ren arched his eyebrows. Ever since the competition of the four kingdoms, he hadn’t met with the others anymore. Of course, he was preparing himself for this examination, so he focused on his training to become stronger even faster. Now, he could confidently say that he was one of the best candidates for Eon Energy Master Rank 3.
"I heard that you’re traveling after reaching rank 3. It seems that you have grown even more powerful than before," Cao Ren narrowed his eyes. He could clearly feel the surge of power that brewed in Qi Huan’s body. It was even more, compared to him.
Previously, he still could defeat Qi Huan without too much problem in the arena. He definitely couldn’t do the same now.
"I’m just training," Qi Huan smiled. "I can say the same to you too, Prince Cao Ren. You seem to be much more powerful compared to before."
"Thank you for your compliment."
While the two of them were talking, Qi Huan had already arrived by the front. He could see the large symbol in front of him, floating in the air. There were some words written on top of them, but he couldn’t read them. For him, they were not different from ordinary letters without much meaning.
On the side, Chen Zi Quan was standing calmly. He didn’t have a good relationship with the two other princes, so he merely nodded his head. His mood has been bad because he received news from his Imperial Father not long ago about the condition in the capital city.
Lu Wan had escaped and his own father was in bad condition.
There was no clear clue as to who could possibly do that, but Chen Zi Quan knew that Lu Wan must have the help of someone powerful. There would be no other explanation other than that.
The question would be, who?