Prince Xue Beng's provocation

Heaven Dou Royal Academy certainly was grand.

Yi Yun and his party walked along Ginkgo Avenue, golden leaves rustling beneath their feet. The teaching buildings on either side had red bricks, white windows, and soaring spires, as though they had stepped into a fairy-tale castle.

As they walked, Ning Rongrong introduced the grounds. "Over there is the soul power testing area, that's the combat area, that's the physical training area, and over there is..."

"What's that over there?" Xiao Wu pointed at an especially luxurious building, built entirely from white marble, with two gold-armored guards standing at its entrance.

"That's His Highness the Prince's private cultivation building." A trace of disdain crept into Ning Rongrong's voice. "They built an entire building here at the academy specifically for Xue Beng, a prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. He's the only one who uses it."

"A whole building for one person?" Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "Isn't that a huge waste?"

"He's a prince, after all. He has to keep up appearances."

Tang San followed silently at the very back, gnawing on a carrot and wondering how many carrots he could grow if that building were given to him as a vegetable patch. He made a rough estimate: at least five hundred.

Yi Yun had little interest in the buildings. He was watching the people. Every student they encountered wore the same golden uniform, with the crest of Heaven Dou Royal Academy embroidered on the chest.

The boys had slick, gleaming hairstyles, while the girls wore exquisite makeup. They walked with their heads high and chests out, looking down their noses at others. That sense of superiority seeped from their very bones.

"These people walk like ducks," Yi Yun whispered. Xiao Wu burst out laughing.

With three girls and one follower in tow, Yi Yun walked to the edge of the training ground, wanting to see how Heaven Dou Royal Academy's students cultivated.

On the training ground, a boy in a golden uniform was demonstrating his martial soul.

His martial soul was a longsword, its blade entirely silvery-white and giving off a piercing, cold gleam.

The boy performed a sword routine, his blade flashing with impressive momentum. The students beside him applauded and cheered.

"Amazing!"

"As expected of His Highness Xue Beng's personal guard!"

"That swordsmanship is at least at the Soul Ancestor level!"

The praise made the boy even more pleased with himself. His sword swept through the air with the force of a prowling tiger, and his final stroke cleaved down onto a testing stone. With a crack, the stone split in two. The applause grew louder.

"Tch," Xiao Wu whispered. "He isn't even as strong as one of Brother Yun's fingers."

"Of course," Yi Yun said breezily.

A nearby student overheard him and turned to look. White clothes, long hair, no uniform-Yi Yun clearly wasn't from the academy.

With three girls and a boy in a short gray tunic following him, they looked every bit like a group of country bumpkins visiting the place.

"Who are you people?" the student demanded rudely.

"Just passing through," Yi Yun said.

"Passing through? This is Heaven Dou Royal Academy. No unauthorized visitors!"

Yi Yun smiled at that.

He remembered how the guard at the gate had said the exact same thing earlier-"No unauthorized visitors"-and then ended up on his knees.

"You think I'm an unauthorized visitor?" Yi Yun asked.

"What else would you be? You aren't even wearing a uniform. You must have sneaked in from outside!" The more the student spoke, the more worked up he became. His voice grew louder, drawing more attention.

The students on the training ground gathered around, staring at Yi Yun's party as though they were monkeys on display. The sword-wielding boy approached too, looking Yi Yun up and down with eyes full of contempt.

"Were you the ones bad-mouthing me?"

"I wasn't bad-mouthing you," Yi Yun said.

"I heard you say, 'He isn't even as strong as one of my fingers.'"

"That's the truth."

The boy's face darkened. As His Highness Xue Beng's personal guard, he could swagger sideways through Heaven Dou Royal Academy without anyone daring to stop him. Now someone actually dared to boast right to his face?

"Do you know who I am?"

"No, and I don't want to."

"You!"

Just as the boy was about to erupt, a lazy voice came from behind the crowd. "What's going on? What's all the noise?"

The crowd parted on its own, and a boy of about thirteen or fourteen emerged from behind them. He wore a magnificent golden robe, a gold crown on his head, and a jade pendant at his waist. Everything about him radiated an air of "I'm very rich." His features were fairly regular, but his eyes held an inborn arrogance.

Ning Rongrong whispered in Yi Yun's ear, "That's Prince Xue Beng."

Yi Yun nodded and studied Xue Beng. Xue Beng was studying him too, looking him up and down, then down and up, as though appraising some cheap street-stall merchandise.

"Who are you people?" Xue Beng asked with a hint of disdain.

"Just passing through," Yi Yun said.

"Passing through? Do you know where you are? Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the finest Soul Master Academy on the continent. What makes a country bumpkin like you worthy of coming here?"

Xiao Wu's expression changed, and so did Ning Rongrong's. Zhu Zhuqing's brows drew together.

Standing at the very back, Tang San tightened his grip on his carrot.

Only Yi Yun's expression remained unchanged, his smile still in place.

"A country bumpkin?" Yi Yun's voice was calm.

"That's right, a country bumpkin." Xue Beng raised his chin and pointed at Yi Yun's clothes. "Look at what you're wearing. All that plain white, without a single pattern. And look at those girls behind you, dressed in all those gaudy colors. One glance tells me you're from some backwater."

He pointed at Tang San next. "Especially this one. Dressed like a farmer, with a carrot in his hand. Are you here to look around or plant crops?"

The watching students roared with laughter. Tang San's face flushed crimson, but he said nothing. He knew that in a situation like this, there was no need for him to speak.

Because Yi Yun would handle it.

"Are you finished?" Yi Yun's voice was as calm as ever.

"I am. What, you don't like it?"

Yi Yun smiled. He wasn't angry, because someone like this wasn't worth getting angry over. But he was going to teach this prince, who knew neither the height of heaven nor the depth of the earth, a little lesson. He took a step forward.

Xue Beng instinctively stepped back. He didn't know why he had retreated. The man was clearly smiling, looking utterly harmless, yet he gave Xue Beng a bone-chilling feeling.

"Wh-what are you trying to do?" Xue Beng's voice trembled a little.

Yi Yun didn't answer. He merely released a sliver of soul power. Just a sliver, not even one percent, but its pressure slammed straight down onto Xue Beng like a mountain.

Xue Beng's legs buckled, and he dropped to his knees with a thud. His mind went blank. He didn't know why he was kneeling, but his body wouldn't obey him. His knees struck the stone paving, making him bare his teeth in pain, yet he couldn't get up.

"Call me Daddy," Yi Yun said with a beaming smile, looking down at him.

Xue Beng's lips quivered. He was a prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. All his life, others had knelt before him; he had never knelt before anyone else.

Yet now he was kneeling before a young man only a few years older than himself, utterly disgracing the imperial family in front of all these people.

"Y-you..."

"Are you going to say it or not?"

Yi Yun released another sliver of soul power. Xue Beng felt as though his bones were about to be crushed. His forehead pressed against the ground, like a dog prostrating itself at its master's feet.

"D-Daddy..." Xue Beng's voice was as faint as a mosquito's whine.

"Louder. I didn't hear you."

"Daddy!!!" Xue Beng practically roared it, tears spilling down his face. Whether from pain or humiliation, there was no telling.

The watching students were all stunned. The sword-wielding boy was stunned. Even Ning Rongrong was stunned.

The training ground was so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard. No one dared speak or move.

Yi Yun withdrew his soul power and patted Xue Beng's head. "Good boy."

Xue Beng slumped on the ground, trembling all over! His golden crown sat askew, his golden robe was creased, and the makeup on his face was smeared. His dignity, his pride, every shred of his princely prestige shattered across the ground at that moment.

Yi Yun turned to the three girls. "Let's go. We've seen enough."

Xiao Wu nodded. Zhu Zhuqing remained expressionless. Ning Rongrong glanced at Xue Beng, who lay collapsed on the ground, and thought, Of all the people you could provoke, you just had to pick Handsome Master.

Tang San brought up the rear, his grip having left a finger-shaped dent in his carrot.

Yi Yun's party had gone far away, yet the training ground remained deathly silent. Xue Beng lay on the ground, staring up at the sky, his eyes brimming with tears.

He didn't understand how a young man who looked only a few years older than him could possess such terrifying strength.

He didn't understand why, when that man told him to call him Daddy, he had done so without even thinking of resisting.

Still less did he understand why, from this day onward, he might suffer nightmares for a very long time.

"Your Highness, are you all right?" The sword-wielding boy cautiously approached and reached out to help Xue Beng up. Xue Beng slapped his hand away and climbed to his feet himself. His legs were still shaking, but he forced himself to stand steady.

"If anyone dares breathe a word of what happened today, I'll wipe out their entire family." Xue Beng's voice was hoarse, but his tone was icy.

The students fell silent as cicadas in winter and hurriedly nodded.

Xue Beng straightened his crooked golden crown and brushed the dust off his golden robe, trying hard to make himself look a little more presentable.

But his legs kept shaking, and nothing could make them stop.

Once they were far away, Xiao Wu finally couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Brother Yun, you told him to call you Daddy, and he actually did!"

"If he hadn't, I would've kept the pressure on him. He couldn't have held out," Yi Yun said casually, as though remarking that the weather was nice today.

Ning Rongrong laughed so hard she couldn't straighten up. "Handsome Master, you're so mean!"

"How am I mean? He was the one who wanted to call me Daddy."

"You were clearly the one who told him to!"

"He does it just because I tell him to? If I told you to call me Grandpa right now, would you?"

"Grandpa."

"..."

"Handsome Grandpa!"

Yi Yun was speechless. He had discovered that this disciple he had taken in had even thicker skin than he did.

Zhu Zhuqing walked behind them without speaking, but the corners of her lips kept lifting. Her eyes shone more brightly than usual as she looked at Yi Yun.

Tang San walked at the very back, silently gnawing on his carrot. He had discovered that following Yi Yun meant seeing a different good show every day.

Today he had made a prince call him Daddy. Who knew whom he would make call him Grandpa tomorrow? Life like this was a little embarrassing, but it was quite interesting.