Seventh Prince

The person who arrived was a youth, looking to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. He wore a yellow robe and a golden crown, appearing quite opulent.

"Greetings, Seventh Prince."

As soon as the youth arrived, everyone hurriedly knelt to pay their respects, even Shi Feng knelt down with extreme reluctance.

The youth was named Chu Feng, the seventh and youngest son of the current Emperor of the Phoenix Empire, Chu Tiankuo.

It was said that when Chu Feng was born, Chu Tiankuo had already entered seclusion and had not emerged since. Chu Feng had never even seen what his own father looked like.

Long Chen had heard quite a bit about Chu Feng. He knew that Chu Feng was born to the Empress of the West Palace, was spoiled from a young age, and was tyrannical and overbearing. Aside from the Crown Prince, there was almost no one he feared. Long Chen had not expected him to come here today.

However, seeing Zhou Yaoyang by his side, Long Chen immediately understood; he guessed it was likely aimed at him again.

According to the etiquette between ruler and subject, all young nobles had to kowtow upon seeing a prince. Fatty Yu, Shi Feng, and the others all knelt on the ground; unless they reached the Blood Condensation Realm, they could not be exempted.

Long Chen curled his lips. A second-generation heir, and you want me, Long Chen, to kneel to you? Aside from my parents, the person worthy of me, Long Chen, kneeling to hasn't even been born yet.

The Seventh Prince, Chu Feng, glanced at the crowd indifferently. Suddenly spotting Long Chen sitting there openly and unconcernedly, like a crane in a flock of chickens, his expression darkened.

"Audacious Long Chen! The Seventh Prince is here, yet you dare not kneel to pay your respects? Are you trying to rebel?"

Beside the Seventh Prince, Zhou Yaoyang and the others hadn't expected Long Chen to have such guts, daring to openly oppose the Seventh Prince.

Wang Mang, who had been fiercely slapped by Long Chen before, was overjoyed at this sight. Fearing that Long Chen might realize the situation, he hurriedly shouted, eager to pin a major crime on Long Chen first.

The others were also shocked, especially Fatty Yu and the others, who were sweating in fear. Conflicts between young nobles were just minor scuffles.

But offending the Seventh Prince could very likely cost one their head. Furthermore, Long Chen's current actions were clearly treasonous.

A look of obvious excitement appeared in Zhou Yaoyang's eyes. He had a bit of a friendship with the Seventh Prince and often accompanied this straw-bag prince in his debauchery.

Today, he had a sudden whim to bring the Seventh Prince over to see if he could suppress Long Chen. After all, Long Chen defeating Li Hao last time had caused his reputation to soar in the Imperial Capital.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yaoyang and his group had essentially been slapped in the face, as they had bet almost all their assets on Li Hao. Now, this large group of them was living tight, and their days of wine and debauchery were gone forever.

What he hadn't expected was that things were even simpler than he had imagined. Without him needing to instigate anything, Long Chen had already ignited the Seventh Prince's fury.

Listening to Wang Mang's roar as he borrowed the Seventh Prince's authority, a look of disdain appeared on the corner of Long Chen's mouth. He smiled slightly and said with some concern: "Wang Mang, how did that egg from Li Hao taste? Seeing your forehead full and your cheeks round, it seems that egg was very nourishing."

Wang Mang's expression changed instantly, his stomach churning as if the sea were overturning. The incident last time had left him with severe aftereffects.

Now, whenever he ate, he would think of that day, and like a conditioned reflex, he would vomit incessantly.

He couldn't eat anything now, and he had lost a significant amount of weight. He was nowhere near the "full forehead and rosy cheeks" that Long Chen described; he clearly looked like a zombie.

Wang Mang's face turned purple with anger, but he dared not say a word, desperately suppressing the urge in his stomach. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would vomit.

"Long Chen, you mere young noble, with neither official rank nor title, why do you not kneel when seeing this Prince?" The Seventh Prince pointed at Long Chen furiously.

The Seventh Prince was accustomed to being arrogant and tyrannical; even the other princes and princesses were unwilling to provoke him. Seeing a mere young noble today who dared to treat him as nothing, he was furious.

Looking at this youth whose face still retained a hint of childishness, Long Chen said indifferently: "You are still a child. I will not hold it against you. Go back to where you came from."

"What?"

In an instant, everyone's expression changed. Was Long Chen courting death? How could he dare say such things? If it were just failing to kneel, at most he would be locked up for a few days and given a beating.

But now, Long Chen's words were clearly treasonous. This was a capital offense! Had Long Chen gone mad?

"You… seeking death! Take him down for me!"

The Seventh Prince was furious and shouted at the people around him.

Those people were all with Zhou Yaoyang. Hearing the Seventh Prince's command, they were overjoyed and, without a second thought, pounced toward Long Chen.

If it were normal times, they would still have reservations. But now, with the Seventh Prince's order, they had no more worries. With this backer, even if they beat Long Chen to death, they wouldn't have to bear any responsibility.

"Bang!"

Just as they pounced over, Long Chen kicked the table in front of him. That table, made of millennium-old wood, was as sturdy as iron and incredibly heavy, yet it was kicked flying by Long Chen, heading straight for the crowd.

Zhou Yaoyang bore the brunt of it. Seeing the table flying toward him, he shouted and channeled all his strength, smashing a fist into the table.

With an explosive sound, the sturdy table was smashed to pieces by Zhou Yaoyang's fist. He was worthy of being a Qi Gathering seventh-heaven expert; his Aura was truly terrifying.

However, after smashing the table, his movements instinctively stalled. At this moment, Wang Mang, who had been beside him, had already bypassed Zhou Yaoyang and became the first "warrior" to pounce toward Long Chen.

Long Chen looked at him as if he were an idiot. Seeing Wang Mang coming with gritted teeth, a strange smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he casually waved his hand.

"Slap!"

The movement was impossibly fast. Before anyone could clearly see Long Chen's action, they heard an explosive sound as Long Chen's hand slapped firmly onto Wang Mang's face.

Wang Mang was sent flying directly, tracing a graceful parabolic arc in the air as he flew into the distance. What was most shocking was that during his flight, more than a dozen teeth scattered magnificently.

Bang!

Wang Mang's body slammed directly into the wall, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted immediately. However, his still-open mouth clearly told the world that he had become a "toothless" fellow.

Over there, Zhou Yaoyang had just rushed over when he discovered Wang Mang had been slapped away. His heart gave a slight jolt. Although Wang Mang's cultivation was nothing special, being sent flying so effortlessly made him feel very uneasy.

However, this was not the time to retreat. Zhou Yaoyang shouted, and an Aura belonging to a Qi Gathering seventh-heaven expert erupted, his entire body suffused with Spiritual Qi.

"Six Yang Fists!"

Following Zhou Yaoyang's shout, he threw a punch. A faint cyan color appeared on his fist; that was the unique phenomenon of a battle skill.

The Six Yang Fists was one of Zhou Yaoyang's ultimate moves. Having practiced it for a long time, a single punch possessed the power of over a thousand jin, unstoppable.

"Clap!"

Long Chen did not hesitate at all, bringing his palm down onto Zhou Yaoyang's fist. As fist and palm met, energy radiated outward, emitting an explosive sound.

However, to everyone's astonishment, Zhou Yaoyang's powerful and unstoppable punch was caught by Long Chen with effortless ease.

"How is this possible?"

Zhou Yaoyang was greatly shocked. He felt as if his punch had struck a great mountain, and the vibration caused his chest to ache faintly.

On the opposite side, Long Chen didn't even twitch an eyelid. A look of ruthlessness appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Zhou Yaoyang, this time it's my turn."

Zhou Yaoyang's scalp suddenly went numb. He felt as if he had been targeted by a primordial beast. His heart pounded wildly, and he hurriedly retreated.

However, he did not get his wish. Long Chen's large hand tightly gripped his fist. No matter how he struggled, it was like a dragonfly shaking a pillar; it didn't move in the slightest.

Zhou Yaoyang was terrified. What kind of strength was this? Long Chen was like a humanoid monster; without revealing his cultivation, he relied entirely on brute force to suppress him completely.

"Whoosh!"

However, Zhou Yaoyang was considered a strong expert. Having followed his father's subordinates to slay Demonic Beasts, he was someone who had seen bloodshed and remained calm in crisis. Seeing he couldn't break free from Long Chen's hand, he lifted his right foot, aiming straight for Long Chen's lower abdomen.

This was a move that forced the enemy to defend, very simple and effective. Yet, Long Chen didn't even look at Zhou Yaoyang's foot, merely exerting force with one hand.

"Rise!"

Long Chen shouted, like a spring thunderclap shaking the heavens, causing people's eardrums to ache. Following Long Chen's shout, Zhou Yaoyang was lifted into the air.

In the petrified gaze of everyone, Long Chen held Zhou Yaoyang and violently threw him toward the ground.

"Bang!"

With an explosive sound, the entire ground shook. At the same time, the sound of multiple bones cracking echoed, sending a chill through everyone's hearts.

"Puff… puff… puff!"

Zhou Yaoyang, thrown onto the ground, spat out three mouthfuls of blood in succession, which were mixed with countless fragments of internal organs. People clearly noticed he was much larger than usual—no, it should be said he was much flatter. His volume remained unchanged, but his surface area seemed to have increased significantly.

Looking at Zhou Yaoyang, who was coughing up blood incessantly, and then at the sturdy ground beneath him that had been cracked from the impact, everyone gasped in cold air for a moment.

Looking at Zhou Yaoyang, who was gasping for breath, Long Chen felt that he had vented quite a bit of the pent-up frustration he had been holding in for a long time.

Over these years, the person he hated most was Zhou Yaoyang. He was like an omnipresent nightmare that had been tormenting Long Chen.

For a moment, the entire hall was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Including the Seventh Prince, everyone was stunned. Even those young nobles who had prepared to rush up all swallowed hard, their bodies trembling involuntarily.

Throughout the entire event, Long Chen maintained a calm expression. However, the calmer he was, the more terrifying he appeared; he seemed like a ruthless god of slaughter.

Long Chen glanced at Zhou Yaoyang, couldn't help but smile, then looked at the Seventh Prince in the distance and walked slowly toward him.

The Seventh Prince was accustomed to being pampered. He was good at bullying others, but when it came to being bullied, he had absolutely no experience. Seeing Long Chen walking over with a wicked smile, his face turned pale.

"What do you want to do? Don't come over!"

The Seventh Prince's voice was full of trembling. He seemed to feel the cold killing intent emanating from Long Chen's eyes. He felt as if a butcher's knife was being held against his neck; with just a single thought from Long Chen, his head could roll to the ground.

Long Chen did not speak, his face still wearing that terrifying smile, as he slowly walked toward the Seventh Prince.

Now everyone was stunned. What did Long Chen want to do? Did he really want to kill the Seventh Prince?

"No… don't come over!"

The Seventh Prince kept retreating, but at this moment, he had backed into a corner and had no way left to retreat.

Watching Long Chen getting closer and closer, the Seventh Prince's eyes were filled with terror. He seemed to smell the scent of death.

"You shouldn't have forced me. Don't blame me." Long Chen shook his head with pity, his hand slowly reaching into his bosom. Suddenly, a large hand shot straight toward his face.

"No…" The Seventh Prince let out a shrill scream that echoed throughout the entire Literature Hall.