That afternoon, Yi Chen went alone to the training ground at Shrek Academy.
The sun dipped toward the horizon, stretching the shadows of the wooden stakes across the training ground.
Dai Mubai stood bare-chested, punching the ironwood stake before him again and again. Sweat slid along the contours of his solid muscles, glinting bronze beneath the setting sun.
Every punch landed with a heavy thud. The ironwood stake was covered in dents of varying depths, clearly having taken quite a beating.
Hearing footsteps, Dai Mubai didn't turn around. "You're not welcome here," he said coldly.
Yi Chen paid no heed to his hostility. With his hands clasped behind his back, he walked to the edge of the training ground and sat on a bench. His tone was as casual as if he were chatting about the weather. "Had enough? If you have, come over and talk."
Dai Mubai spun around. His strange twin pupils fixed on Yi Chen, his eyes filled with undisguised hostility and wariness. "I have nothing to talk about with you."
"Is that so?" Yi Chen leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and folded his hands over his knee. "I think we need to talk about your engagement to Zhuqing."
Dai Mubai's pupils shrank slightly, and his voice turned even colder. "That was arranged between the Star Luo Imperial Family and the Zhu Family. What does it have to do with an outsider like you?"
"Zhuqing is my disciple." Yi Chen's tone remained calm, but his words carried an undeniable weight. "What happens to her concerns me."
Dai Mubai sneered. "Your disciple? How long have you even known her? How much do you know about her? What gives you the right to meddle in her marriage?"
Yi Chen didn't answer right away. He quietly watched Dai Mubai for a few seconds, then spoke slowly. "I haven't known her long, that's true. But I know she doesn't like you."
The words struck Dai Mubai's heart like a sharp dagger.
His face turned ashen in an instant. His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles blanched. He took a deep breath, forcing down his anger, and spoke in a low, hoarse voice. "What makes you say she doesn't like me? You're not her!"
"She told me herself." Yi Chen's tone remained calm. "This morning, I asked if she liked you. She answered without hesitation: no. She had never liked you."
Dai Mubai shuddered as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over his head.
He opened his mouth to say something, but found he had nothing to say.
He had always believed Zhu Zhuqing was simply cold by nature and bad at expressing herself, but that she still cared about him deep down.
They had grown up together. They were betrothed as children, destined to walk through life side by side.
He had never imagined Zhu Zhuqing would say something like that.
"Impossible..." Dai Mubai's voice trembled, but he quickly regained his stubborn tone. "You must have bewitched her! What kind of love potion did you give her to make her hang on your every word?"
Yi Chen shook his head and sighed. "Dai Mubai, deep down, you know exactly how Zhuqing feels about you. You just don't want to admit it."
He rose to his feet and walked over to Dai Mubai with his hands behind his back, gazing at him calmly. "You grew up together. You should know better than anyone what she's like around you. She's afraid of you, avoids you, and never approaches you on her own. That isn't shyness or reserve. It's rejection from the bottom of her heart. Can you honestly say you haven't noticed?"
Dai Mubai's face went pale, then flushed. His lips moved a few times, but in the end, he said nothing to refute him.
Because he knew Yi Chen was telling the truth.
Zhu Zhuqing had kept her distance from him since childhood, avoiding him whenever she could.
He had always thought it was because she was introverted and bad at socializing.
But now that Yi Chen had called it out to his face, all the details he had deliberately ignored suddenly came into sharp focus.
Seeing how utterly lost Dai Mubai looked, Yi Chen softened his tone a little. "Dai Mubai, I didn't come here to argue with you. I just want to tell you one thing: Zhuqing doesn't want to marry you. If you truly care about her, you should respect her wishes instead of forcing her to stay by your side."
Dai Mubai jerked his head up, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes. "What do you know?! It's the law of the Star Luo Empire! It's an agreement passed down through generations between the Zhu Family and the imperial family! She can't just call it off because she wants to!"
"People make the rules," Yi Chen said evenly. "And what people make, people can change."
"Change them?" Dai Mubai sneered. "Who do you think you are? You think you can change the Star Luo Empire's ancestral laws with a single word?"
Yi Chen didn't answer immediately. He only watched him quietly, his gaze as calm as still water.
Then he slowly released a trace of his aura.
Just a trace.
But the moment it settled on Dai Mubai, it was as if an invisible mountain came crashing down on him!
His legs gave way, and he fell straight to his knees. He braced himself with both hands, barely managing to keep from collapsing face-first!
The Soul Power in his body was like a cow made of mud sinking into the sea before this aura. He couldn't even muster the thought of resisting!
He wanted to roar, to struggle, but found he couldn't move a single finger!
Yi Chen looked down at him, his voice so calm it was as if he were stating a simple fact. "I'm a Level 99 Limit Douluo. Not only would a lowly Soul Elder like you have to speak to me respectfully, even the founding ancestor of your Star Luo Imperial Family would have to do the same."
He withdrew his aura. The pressure lifted from Dai Mubai, and he gasped for breath, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
Yi Chen stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at Dai Mubai on his knees. "Do you think the Star Luo Empire would offend a Limit Douluo over your engagement?"
Dai Mubai lifted his head, his eyes full of fury and resentment, but above all, helplessness.
Because deep down, he knew Yi Chen was right.
Though the Star Luo Empire was one of the two great empires on the continent and had formidable strength, it couldn't possibly offend a Limit Douluo over one man's engagement.
Never mind that he was only a prince. Even the emperor of the Star Luo Empire would have to weigh the consequences before crossing a Limit Douluo.
Before absolute strength, so-called rules, ancestral laws, and agreements were nothing but empty words on paper.
"I'll speak to the Star Luo Imperial Family and the Zhu Family about the engagement myself."
Yi Chen turned and headed for the exit without looking back. "You'd better know what's good for you and let her go willingly. It'll be better for both you and Zhuqing."
After taking a couple of steps, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder at Dai Mubai on the ground. "If you insist on pestering her, I don't mind letting you experience true despair for yourself."
With that, he walked out of the training ground without looking back.
The evening sun cast its glow over the empty training ground, stretching Dai Mubai's shadow long across the earth.
He knelt there, slamming both fists into the ground and leaving two deep dents.
"Yi Chen..." He gritted out the name, eyes burning with resentment and fury, though above all, he felt utterly powerless.
For the first time, he understood so profoundly that before absolute strength, so-called status, rank, and background were all nothing but flowers reflected in water and the moon in a well.
And everything he had once been so proud of was worthless before that man.