“Young Prince, please let me handle this. This little brat has a sharp tongue. You can’t handle him,” an old man said, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. He then gazed at Yang Lujia, his eyes very penetrative. “Don’t you think you owe an apology to our Young Prince? No one can just try to smudge the reputation of our Young Prince like that!”

“Old man, if you really want to garner respect, what should you do to others to earn that?” Instead of asking for an apology, Yang Lujia asked the old man. “Do you respect those who disrespect you? It was probably only because of your status that you were able to say this to me straightly. Being at the peak of Saint Emperor Realm muddled your head a bit, old man. That’s not something impressive.”

The old man was speechless by Yang Lujia’s reply. When he was about to move in anger, someone stopped him from doing so. Seeing this, Yang Lujia only grinned and proceeded to enter the restaurant with Yang Fei and Sheng Ao.

As they entered, Yang Lujia was again, in awe. Sheng Ao was much better as he had been to several places before with the Holy Light Emperor. Something this extravagant of a restaurant would not stir anything in him anymore. It was the same for Yang Fei who was technically a leader of two factions without anyone knowing that he was. For certain, he had attended various occasions, even if he did it covertly.

“It’s surprisingly big on the inside. It seems it has something to do with the rules of space. I wonder if the owner here is proficient in the law of space. To be able to create a space like this that would deceive anyone on the outside, he was not only an expert—he was also somewhat eccentric. I like it,” Yang Lujia said as he looked around.

However, when Yang Lujia’s eyes landed on these people, he was surprised that every one of them was quite reserved with how they talked and act. Their clothes were even very beautiful, the embroidery and the way they were weaved was not something magic could produce. However, there were some things that they could not mask on their faces—arrogance.

Yang Lujia did not want any trouble, so he found an empty table for three people. It was circular and had exquisite patterns on them that inter-snaking with one another. There was even the head of a dragon at the center of the table and above its head was a beautiful white-tinted flower. Based on his observation of the surroundings and the paintings that brought variety to the plain-colored walls, the owner might be a dragon himself or herself.

“Hey, have you heard about it? It’s been a long time already since the Dragon Emperor had been bedridden. I don’t know much about this, but my father told me that the waters are now deep in the palace.”

“Yes, apparently, the Dragon Princes are now targeting one another. However, as for the Dragon Son, the moment he steps out from the shadows, I am certain that he will target him, too.”

SIGH.

“If only the Dragon Emperor were still there, the Dragon Son might not have suffered that much before. You know that his talent is clearly above the Dragon Princes, that’s why he was favored by the Dragon Emperor. It seems like it is getting complicated now.”

“I thought dragons are creatures who value talent and strength, though. Why would they leave that Dragon Son be if he was that talented? Perhaps only the Dragon Emperor treasures him?”

“I really don’t know the details. However, according to my father, the Dragon Son was extremely young when he saw him. When I say extremely young, I am not exaggerating! He is about ten years old when my father saw him!”

Yang Lujia’s eyes turned cold the moment he heard the news about the Dragon Princes and the Dragon Son being involved in the war for the throne. It seemed like his disciple was really here. Moreover, it seems like his situation was not that optimistic either. However, if it were before, with Long Guang’s innocence, he would have felt worried. This time, though, he knew that Long Guang could already protect himself and he taught him to be cautious, so a setback like what they said, he should be able to handle them.

“Yang Fei, tell me everything you know about the Dragon Emperor Palace. Do not hold back any information. You also don’t have to worry about anyone spying on us. There’s already a barrier forming around us. They won’t be able to hear us.”

Although Yang Fei was surprised about the barrier he could not see, knowing the capabilities of His Highness, he was smart not to delve further into it and directly talked about the matters of the Dragon Emperor Palace.

***

“Young Prince, should we not pursue that man? You will only bring trouble to your esteemed father, the Saint Prince if you bring any more trouble for him. Moreover, that young man just then, I can feel that he is very strong, stronger than any one of us. If I had not appeared in time, seeing the disdain on his face, even when he knew that your guard was peak Saint Emperor, I noticed that his eyes were looking at us like we’re the funniest creatures he had ever encountered,” a man said.

He was the one who stopped the other old man from moving and was directly under a Dragon Prince of the Dragon Emperor Palace. Seeing that the old man was going to make his move, he somewhat panicked and the premonition in his heart grew even stronger when he saw that young man’s grin as he stepped in.

There had got to be something wrong with that kid.

Was he just, perhaps, an old man disguised as a young one?

“What do you want me to do, uncle? Do we just swallow what we tasted just now?” the Young Prince retorted. “What are dragons are for? We have the blood of arrogance in us. That’s what my father taught me! In the face of strength stronger than you, not only would you not falter, but you would also have to advance with no fear of death!”

“That’s just blind arrogance, Young Prince,” the man replied, adamant on convincing the Young Prince to not make him make a move. “We should be blindly arrogant against people that are beyond our caliber, Young Prince. Your father, the Dragon Prince, may be right. However, being extra cautious wouldn’t hurt if you think of it. Do you want your father to lose his qualifications to become the Dragon Emperor? What if the trouble you would cause now would lead to your father’s disqualification for the throne? What would you do, Young Prince?”

The Young Prince looked at the man, still with glaring eyes. However, he soon calmed down by taking a deep breath. Thinking of his father’s predicaments now, he thought that he should let this slide. Moreover, that young man before, it might be someone under another Dragon Prince who wanted to scheme against him.

After all, even though he told that young man he was the Young Prince, the son of an esteemed Dragon Prince, that young man would not have acted like that in front of him. It had to be known that his status was very high. If what he was thinking were true, he would have brought big trouble to his father, then.

“Alright, let’s find another restaurant where I can eat. I want to avoid that young man for now.” The Young Prince did not lose his demeanor and instead, asked for a detour.

This brought a smile to the man who was accompanying him. It seemed like their Young Prince was growing up. He was not anymore that young boy who always had that air of arrogance around him. He was acting more like of what true royalty.

“Alright, Young Prince. This subordinate will immediately comply with your demands. However, I also have bad news to deliver to the Young Prince.”

The Young Prince was somewhat surprised and his face turned grim while they were still in the middle of the streets, walking with the guards following them. “Speak.”

“It has been said that traces of the Dragon Son have been found and he already came out from where he was hiding. To date, together with the other Dragon Princes, we sent a couple of dragons to counter him. Fortunately, your father was very sensitive to detecting the Dragon Son’s aura. Otherwise, we would not have found him sooner and could have had disastrous effects on the fight for the throne.”

“I see.”