Princess Heart

The lantern had eight petals, each held by a young girl. When the eight petals closed, they formed a massive lotus flower.

Suddenly, the lotus bloomed, and the pistil stirred. Only then did the people realize with astonishment that the pistil was actually a woman dressed in colorful clothes.

When the woman appeared, the entire venue erupted in cheers. That person was none other than the eldest Princess of the Phoenix Empire. Long Chen took a look; she was quite good-looking, worthy of a thumbs up.

After the eldest Princess appeared, she extended her jade hand, and two scrolls appeared. The first line was: "Heaven Blesses Phoenix," and the second line was: "Peace and Prosperity for the Country." This caused the crowd to erupt in waves of cheers.

Long Chen smiled slightly. Being an Empire princess was truly pathetic, just like a group of crickets living in a small jar.

Fighting back and forth all day long. But thinking about himself, wasn't it the same? If you don't fight others, you will be stepped on by others.

If it were just being stepped on, that would be one thing, but the key is that they want to step on you until you die. This has nothing to do with grudges or good and evil; perhaps this is the most primitive evil in human nature.

While Long Chen was feeling sentimental, the second Princess appeared. In the moment Long Chen was distracted, he actually missed how the second Princess made her entrance, which left him filled with regret.

However, next was Chu Yao's lantern. Long Chen widened his eyes, afraid of missing anything.

"Boom."

First came a loud explosion, and a firework shot into the sky, illuminating the heavens and causing all the women to cheer.

However, just as the cheers began, a giant shadow suddenly appeared in the sky; a kite made in the shape of a giant Dragon came whistling over.

At the same time, opposite the giant Dragon, a colorful Phoenix with magnificent wings flew over, scattering gold dust across the sky, as if a true Phoenix had descended to the world.

"Wow, so beautiful."

With the colorful powder filling the sky, the Dragon and Phoenix complemented each other, appearing like a myth, drawing everyone into a strange and wonderful world.

"Boom."

After circling and dancing, the Dragon and Phoenix slowly landed. A huge white light spewed from their mouths, and as the light burst open, colorful ribbons fluttered about.

When the ribbons dispersed, a beauty in ancient attire slowly appeared before everyone. Her willow-leaf eyebrows were graceful, her Phoenix eyes were lingering, and her gaze was as deep as an eternal autumn river. What a peerless beauty.

"Whoosh."

As soon as the third Princess appeared, the whole scene boiled over. Many young nobles had long heard that the third Princess was peerlessly beautiful, capable of toppling cities. Seeing her true face today, they were so excited they screamed wildly.

Long Chen looked at the third Princess and was stunned for a moment. This was the first time Long Chen had seen Chu Yao dressed up so deliberately.

Chu Yao's beautiful eyes scanned the crowd, searching for a circle. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. With a flick of her jade hand, a small round ball slowly flew out, heading straight toward Long Chen.

"Pop!"

Long Chen reached out and caught the ball, noticing it had a small tail attached.

The entire venue suddenly fell silent. Everyone's gaze was fixed on Long Chen. The Empress Dowager's expression changed slightly, but she didn't say anything.

But the person with the ugliest expression was undoubtedly the Great Xia Prince, Xia Changfeng. Although he wanted to appear calm and indifferent, he truly couldn't manage it; his face had turned green with anger.

The Empress Dowager had already decided to marry Chu Yao to Xia Changfeng, but Chu Yao's performance today was clearly intended to signify the "Dragon and Phoenix bringing auspiciousness," and she had thrown the ball directly to Long Chen.

Originally, a ball had no special meaning, but with the setup of the lanterns, it was completely different; it was exactly the same as the ancient tradition of throwing an embroidered ball to choose a husband.

At this moment, although Xia Changfeng tried hard to control himself, he couldn't stop his body from trembling, and the veins on the back of his hands were bulging.

"Changfeng, be patient," Wei Cang said, glancing at Xia Changfeng.

"Rest assured, Great Master, Changfeng can endure," Xia Changfeng nodded, but his voice could not hide his trembling.

At this moment, Xia Changfeng wished he could bite Long Chen to death. Long Chen also noticed the strange looks from everyone.

Among those present, only Great Master Yun Qi had a smile on his face, while the eyes of the others were filled with either complexity or jealousy.

Long Chen looked at Chu Yao in the center. Seeing her beautiful eyes filled with smiles, looking at him with deep affection, she gently pointed to the ball in Long Chen's hand.

Only then did Long Chen understand that this was actually a firework. He reached out, pulled the small tail on the ball, and threw it high into the air.

"Bang."

A brilliant light burst open, illuminating the entire square. After the light faded, two lines of glowing characters appeared in the sky.

"The Dragon wanders the four seas for ten thousand miles; the Phoenix leaves the parasol tree to accompany the nine provinces."

Looking at the two lines of words that lingered in the sky for a long time, with a snap, Xia Changfeng finally lost control and crushed the teacup in his hand to pieces.

"Long Chen, if I don't mince you into ten thousand pieces, I won't be called Xia Changfeng. And Chu Yao, you bitch, I will make you wish you were dead."

Veins bulged on Xia Changfeng's face. Chu Yao's actions were even more humiliating than being slapped hard in the face.

The Empress Dowager's expression was also extremely ugly. She hadn't expected Chu Yao to be so bold as to confess her love to a man in such a public setting.

Long Chen was also stunned. Seeing Chu Yao standing on the stage in the distance, her pretty face was flushed with red, but her expression was one of determination.

Looking at Long Chen, tears slowly flowed from her beautiful eyes, causing Long Chen's heart to ache: Is she in despair? Has she actually conceived a thought of death, wanting to express her wish before dying?

Looking at Chu Yao's tear-stained face, Long Chen's mind went blank. He suddenly stood up and roared loudly: "Life or death, I will not abandon you on this road of blood; the Dragon and Phoenix shall depend on each other until we grow old together."

Long Chen's roar was like a great bell, shaking everyone's heart. His roar revealed an unwavering will and a determination to never yield even in death.

Chu Yao's delicate body trembled, her jade hand covering her cherry lips, tears streaming down her beautiful eyes. Originally, she only hoped to express her wishes in her final days. She didn't expect anything; she just hoped Long Chen could understand her heart.

But Long Chen's answer would only plunge him into a desperate situation. For a moment, Chu Yao was both moved and regretful, feeling that she had harmed Long Chen.

"The third Princess is tired. Someone, take her down," the Empress Dowager said coldly, forcing herself to suppress the anger in her heart.

Five guards came over, just about to escort Chu Yao away, when Great Master Yun Qi said indifferently: "Empress Dowager, that is not right. It is a good thing for young people to dare to love and hate. Chu Yao, come, if you don't mind, sit beside this old man."

The Empress Dowager's expression changed. She had not expected that the Great Master, who usually never concerned himself with worldly affairs, would actually interfere in the Empire's business.

Seeing Great Master Yun Qi speak up, Chu Yao couldn't help but be overjoyed. She didn't ask Great Master Yun Qi to protect her, but she hoped Great Master Yun Qi could protect Long Chen.

Thinking of this, Chu Yao slowly knelt down, but before she could kneel to the ground, Great Master Yun Qi extended a hand, and a gentle force lifted her up.

"Child, we are all our own people, so let's forgo these mundane formalities," Yun Qi said, pulling Chu Yao to sit beside him.

However, what was strange was that Wei Cang, who was usually at odds with Yun Qi, just watched coldly without saying a word.

Although the Empress Dowager was angry, she didn't want to offend Yun Qi over such a trivial matter. Without the support of the Alchemist Guild, no matter how powerful a country was, it would soon fall apart, so she had to endure it.

However, as the Empress Dowager, she was extremely cunning. On the surface, she remained calm and smiled: "Since that is the case, let the program continue."

With the Empress Dowager saying this, Shi Feng beside Long Chen stood up and stretched his limbs: "Hehe, it's finally time for me to take the stage."

The procedure in previous years was that after the Princesses presented their lanterns, it would be the young nobles' competition to contend for the title of the number one warrior of Phoenix.

"Wait a moment, Empress Dowager. This old man came all the way from Great Xia and happened to catch the Lantern Festival, so I specially brought a wonderful program for the Empress Dowager," Wei Cang suddenly said.

"Oh? A program brought by the Great Master must be absolutely brilliant," the Empress Dowager said with a smile after being slightly stunned.

"This is my good-for-nothing Disciple. He is seventeen years old this year and is already a genuine Alchemist apprentice." As Wei Cang spoke, his eyes were fixed on Long Chen, and he emphasized the four words "genuine" particularly heavily.

Everyone looked at Long Chen. As long as one wasn't a fool, they knew that this was a veiled insult, implying that Long Chen was nothing but a fake.

Long Chen had been granted the qualification of an Alchemist apprentice, but many people deeply doubted his true strength. After all, that time Long Chen performed Alchemy, it was inside the Guild, and the outside world didn't know. Therefore, most people thought Long Chen had just had a stroke of good luck and might not have any real talent.

After all, having been labeled a piece of trash for too long, and with Long Chen's recent rapid rise, many people were suspicious that there was a big hand supporting Long Chen behind the scenes, and that big hand was very likely Great Master Yun Qi.

But even if Great Master Yun Qi was miraculous, it was impossible to turn a piece of trash into an Alchemist apprentice in just over two months.

Hearing Wei Cang's words, a mocking expression appeared on Long Chen's face: The good show is about to begin.

Yun Qi didn't speak either, just listening to Wei Cang continue: "Today, let my Disciple make a fool of himself by refining a furnace of Medicinal Pills for everyone on the spot."

Hearing Wei Cang's words, the entire venue erupted in cheers. Alchemists held esteemed positions, and everyone present had only heard of Alchemy but had never seen it with their own eyes.

They were full of reverence and curiosity about this profession. If they could see the formation of a Medicinal Pill with their own eyes, for them, it would be a tremendous Opportunity.

"However, as they say, good things come in pairs. Baichi represents our Great Xia Alchemist Guild. I wonder if the Phoenix Guild also has someone from the younger generation of Alchemists who can come out and show off their skills?" Wei Cang said, looking at Great Master Yun Qi.

"She is your Disciple, but Long Chen is not yet my Disciple, so I'm afraid your little scheme will come to nothing," Great Master Yun Qi said indifferently.

Long Chen's heart stirred. Could it be that the reason Yun Qi had always refused to take him as a Disciple was because of this?

"It's just for fun, just to liven things up. Besides, it's not for nothing."

As Wei Cang spoke, a jade bottle suddenly appeared in his hand. Inside the bottle, there was actually a flame as thick as a thumb, constantly twisting and turning.

"This is the beast fire of a second-rank Demonic Beast, the Flame Leopard. Whoever wins, I will reward it to them."

Xia Baichi looked at the beast fire, a flash of excitement appearing in her eyes. She had been coveting that beast fire for a long time. Unexpectedly, Wei Cang was finally willing to take it out.

Wei Cang shook the beast fire in his hand and said to Long Chen below the stage, very enticingly: "Kid, how about it? Want to come up and play?"

Regarding such an obvious temptation, everyone shook their heads in their hearts. This behavior of Wei Cang's did not seem to befit the status of a Great Master; it was too low-class.

Sure enough, Long Chen looked at Wei Cang with slanted eyes, his face filled with mockery and disdain, and he spat out just one word indifferently.

"Fine."

"Pfft."

Fatty Yu and the others couldn't help but spit out their saliva. Brother Long, where is your integrity?

Amidst everyone's strange gazes, Long Chen walked onto the stage, swaying with every step, and said to Xia Baichi in a brash manner:

"Your Master said to let me play with you. Tell me, how should we play?"