Chapter 54: The True Dragon Chariot
When Qin Bei and Ji Zhuyue stepped out of the secret realm, the people waiting outside, sent by Emperor Xia, immediately spotted them.
“Prince Bei, His Majesty has asked for you to enter the palace as soon as you leave the secret realm.”
Kong Yu respectfully bowed to Qin Bei, adopting a subservient stance.
“Uh-huh.”
“Please follow me; His Majesty has specially arranged a carriage for you.”
Kong Yu pointed towards the distance.
Qin Bei glanced over and his eyes widened in shock.
He was quite familiar with that carriage.
The True Dragon Chariot!
This was the carriage that Emperor Xia used when he was still a prince.
Rumors circulated within the royal family that whoever was granted this sedan chair would undeniably be the future crown prince of Great Xia.
Although to date, Emperor Xia never showed any intention of bestowing it upon anyone.
But any prince able to ride this True Dragon Chariot would surely be a strong contender for the future crown prince.
Now that Emperor Xia wanted him to ride this chariot back to the capital, it was evident he was signaling to everyone that Qin Bei’s status was steadily climbing; he was very likely to be the future crown prince.
This would bring some trouble to Qin Bei.
He didn’t fancy the internal strife of the royal family.
Yet, considering it, Qin Bei felt it was necessary to enjoy the perks while he could.
The chance to ride the True Dragon Chariot was scarce—every opportunity enjoyed might mean one less later.
So, he took Ji Zhuyue’s small hand and climbed aboard the True Dragon Chariot.
“Let’s head back to the capital!”
With a commanding shout from Kong Yu, hundreds of imperial guards soared into the sky, accompanying the True Dragon Chariot as it flew towards the capital.
Inside the True Dragon Chariot.
“Your resources in Great Xia are truly abundant. You don’t even use a real dragon for anything else but to pull a sedan chair!” Ji Zhuyue said with a dazzling smile.
“Have you really never ridden in a sedan pulled by a real dragon?” Qin Bei asked in surprise.
Then, he felt he had misspoken.
He had only remembered Ji Zhuyue’s identity as the Empress, forgetting that she was currently with him in the role of a maid.
Her seemingly envious demeanor was definitely a facade.
However, Ji Zhuyue’s words astonished Qin Bei.
“Of course not! Our Wu Kingdom is quite small, and the spiritual energy is thin. We don’t have many monsters, and powerful monsters are even rarer.”
“Don’t even mention my maid’s status—if a real dragon appeared in Wu Kingdom, even if our Empress got her hands on it, she would never dare use it as a mount. After all, if properly cultivated, it could at least be as strong as an Immortal King.”
Ji Zhuyue spoke seriously, clearly without a hint of deceit.
This was the first time Qin Bei learned some realities about Wu Kingdom.
He had always thought of Wu Kingdom as the third dynasty of Cangzhou Continent—superficially grand, but now he realized they faced numerous hardships.
“I honestly didn’t expect this! I always thought every dynasty had its own True Dragon Chariot.”
“My dear husband, are you joking? You’ve always lived in Great Xia, as a prince of the Great Xia royal family. You must be unaware of the resource scarcity beyond Great Xia. Otherwise, how could Cangzhou Continent be embroiled in constant warfare over limited cultivation resources?”
“Great Xia occupies nearly eighty percent of the monster mountain ranges in Cangzhou Continent, and it has the most concentrated spiritual energy. You could say the Great Xia Dynasty possesses more than fifty percent of Cangzhou’s resources; the remaining thirty percent gets divided by the Holy Demon Dynasty.”
“And only twenty percent is left to be shared among various sects and dynasties. Despite Wu Kingdom being declared the third dynasty, we have less than ten percent of the resources.”
“That’s why Emperor Xia can afford to use nine real dragons as chariots while my Wu Kingdom’s Empress has none.”
Ji Zhuyue’s tone brimmed with envy.
Qin Bei nodded, finally catching on. It was the first time he learned about resource distribution.
Now, it seemed evident that the power of the Great Xia Dynasty wasn’t unfounded.
“You’re right, but those resources were accumulated over generations by the Great Xia royal family. They’ve earned them.”
Qin Bei responded earnestly.
Ji Zhuyue smiled charmingly.
“You’re right! So isn’t it fair to say our Wu Kingdom is just hitching a ride on someone powerful?”
“Then you’ve hitched yourself to the right person.”
As he said that, Qin Bei pulled Ji Zhuyue into his embrace…
…
The True Dragon’s speed was astonishing.
What took them three hours to arrive took less than one hour to return to the capital.
“Look, that’s the True Dragon Chariot, along with the guards!”
“It must be Prince Bei returning! He saved so many people this time—surely, he’ll get a significant reward.”
“Do you think the Emperor will reward Prince Bei with that True Dragon Chariot?”
“Impossible! That’s a symbol of the future crown prince. There’s no way it would be awarded to Prince Bei for this one achievement.”
“Exactly! There are too many outstanding princes in the royal family—becoming the crown prince is extremely competitive.”
“But my father told me that His Majesty is considering naming a crown prince; I wonder who it will be. This is significant for all of Great Xia!”
“Really? They’re finally appointing a crown prince?”
…
People looked up at the True Dragon Chariot in the sky and murmured among themselves.
“Kong Yu, why are so many people gathered below?”
As they passed Prince Bei’s manor, Qin Bei looked down to see crowds surrounding his estate.
He spotted the old housekeeper seemingly trying to shoo them away.
“Oh, these are all the geniuses from various major factions. They heard that Prince Bei completed the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment in the secret realm, so they all wish to challenge you.”
Kong Yu answered from outside the True Dragon Chariot.
“Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment? Who said that?”
“Uh? Isn’t it? But Langya Pavilion mentioned while ranking that your brother, Prince Qin Xuan, prepared a point of Heavenly Dao spiritual energy for you.”
Kong Yu replied, a bit surprised.
“This Langya Pavilion is really well-informed.”
Qin Bei frowned.
“Go tell the crowd surrounding the manor that I have no interest in battling them, and they should leave.”
“But… the rules of the cultivation world state that the top ten on the battle power list must accept challenges from each other…”
Kong Yu replied awkwardly.
“Who established this rule?”
Qin Bei asked, clearly annoyed.
“Er… No one really established it, but since Langya Pavilion’s list appeared, it has become an unwritten rule…”
“Alright! Tell them I don’t care for pointless challenges. If anyone still wants to contest, they should be ready to pay spirit stones—one challenge costs one hundred thousand spirit stones.”
“Uh? This…”
“Fighting just for the sake of fighting isn’t my style! Let them challenge if they’re willing to pay. If not, they can just leave! And relay my exact words.”
“Oh, understood!”
Kong Yu was starting to perspire.
He had always heard that Prince Bei had been particularly arrogant since the Golden Hall incident.
Not only did he dare offend half of the royal family, but now he also dared to confront so many genius sect members.
Sure enough… geniuses have such peculiar personalities…
But on the other hand, Prince Bei did save many geniuses from those sects.
A few days back, a group of sect elders had come to offer gifts.
Now, him being a little arrogant didn’t seem that out of place.
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