THE FALL OF THE CROWN PRINCE
A battle where Crown Prince Wei Cheng fought was one of the most looked-forward-to matches in the Qingyun Sect. He was the best warrior in Qingyun and maybe in the whole of the six nations that made up the Mortal realm.
The arena had never been this quiet during a match involving Crown Prince Wei Cheng. An electric tension replaced the usual roar and excitement of the crowd. And this was just the qualifiers.
"It is just the qualifying round, Wei Cheng," His mother had said before the fight. "It is a piece of cake for you, my warrior."
It had always been a piece of cake, but right now, something else was happening.
Wei Cheng faced General Hu, a towering figure representing one of the most powerful and ambitious clans within the Qingyun Sect. Hu was a strong warrior, but on a normal basis he was no match for Wei Cheng's refined skills. Cheng had been a warrior since he turned fifteen and he had never lost.
"Yield! your highness," Hu's taunting voice bellowed. "It is clear that the heavens are on my side today." He laughed hauntingly.
He was trying to provoke Wei Cheng.
"Never."
Cheng spat out the blood in his mouth. He stood erect. He was clad in his usual deep-blue warrior robes.
He made his sword disappear and opened his right palm, ready to summon his QI for the 'cloud soaring palm technique', intending to finish the match quickly.
He had wasted much time dueling with General Hu. He barely spent five minutes in the battle rings when it came to qualifiers, and today was not going to be any different.
The moment his QI converged and he brought out two fingers on his left hand, getting ready to channel it to Hu, the pain struck like a lightning bolt. It was unbearable and biting away at his hands.
"Ahh!" He yelled.
His right hand was burning. It felt like his spiritual veins were on fire. His spiritual veins appeared on his wrist, and instead of the pure white flames that it normally was, there were dark marks in it. He gasped.
"Lian? What is happening?" Xiao Hei's frantic voice echoed in his mind from the stands.
"I don't know, Xiao Hei," He replied.
The pain intensified, searing up his arm. Beneath the silk, the dark tendrils began to writhe and spread, visible as a spreading dark stain. He tried to side-step General Hu's charge, but his movement was a fraction too slow.
Hu's greatsword caught him across the ribs with a brutal thud, sending him sprawling in the dust. The crowd gasped. The undefeated Prince had been knocked down.
Wei Cheng forced himself to stand, his chest tight, managing to hide the trembling of his right hand. He channeled his Qi again; he was desperate this time, but the pain came again. He let his hands fall to his side.
"It's over, Prince!" Hu roared, seeing the uncertainty in his stance.
Wei Cheng stumbled forward, unable to maintain his balance or his power flow. He tried to raise a shield, but his Qi sputtered and failed. The crowd noise became a deafening cacophony of shock and jeers.
General Hu's final strike hit its mark perfectly. Wei Cheng flew backward, crashing hard against the perimeter wall, the force knocking the wind from his lungs and cracking the stone behind him. He couldn't get up.
The official ran forward to check his breathing.
"General Hu is the winner!" The official announced.
The crowd booed. General Hu of the Mei clan was going to move over to the next stage in order to select a warrior to represent Qingyun in the six nations tournament. That was something that Wei Cheng always fought and won each tournament. But he had lost just at the clans' level. It was the first time ever.
Every year, the Six most powerful nations (Qingyun, Tianhai, Jinyang, Moiying, Qingxi, and Beilong) held a grand tournament to decide who gets the golden rain. The preliminary stages were fought within each nation among the clans to determine who will represent them in the grand tournament.
"What a pitiful sight. Did he really lose to General Hu?"
"He is weak. He does not deserve the crown Prince title."
"He stood there and watched. He couldn't fight back."
"Did you see the way his hand shook? There is something wrong with him.
Wei Cheng listened to the people's comments about him. His heart ached.
In the viewing pavilion, Long Yue from the Moiying Valley frowned deeply, his eyes fixed on the dark energy anomaly he saw flicker and disappear on the Prince's hands just as he fell. It was the same energy signature rumored to be used by some sinister people in the Moiying Valley. But it was rarely used. It had disappeared for centuries now.
Wei Cheng looked up to the Emperor's grand seat, seeing only her father's stony, disappointed face as rivals in his own court began clamoring for his immediate dethronement. His world had just shattered. He quickly covered his wrist with his sleeves.
Everybody dispersed and focused on celebrating the new warrior. The one who had fought against the undefeatable Prince of Qingyun and won. Nobody cared about the shamed Prince. The only person who had his eye on him was Long Yue. But he couldn't understand the look he gave.
Wei Cheng broke the eye contact and disappeared into the shadows of the tunnel. What was wrong with him? He couldn't take the main path to his room because he didn't want to see anyone.
His eyes blurred as he ran. He stopped; he was weak. He let out a loud wail and held the walls of the tunnel for support. He rolled up his sleeves, the black marks were still visible in his spiritual veins and stinging him, too.
He staggered up but immediately fell back.
"Lian Lian," Xiao Hei called.
"What is wrong with her?" A female voice asked. The voice sounded far off to his ears. He opened his eyes and closed them again. The owners of the voices blurred in his eyes.
"I don't know."
"Wei Lian."
He removed the spiritual veil on his face with a wave of his hand.