Arrangements

The cheers in the arena had yet to fade.

Wharton had already been carried into the treatment room behind the fighting platform.

Three light-element magi were waiting there.

One of them cut open the warrior's outfit over Wharton's chest, exposing shattered azure dragon scales.

The wound left by the Ice Dream Sword was not wide.

But it was deep.

The blade had pierced the dragon scales and entered his lung. Blood welled from the wound with every breath.

"Don't undo your transformation," the light-element magus said. "If you return to human form now, the wound will change again."

Wharton nodded.

He leaned against the stone bed, his face already somewhat pale.

Nina stood beside the bed, gripping his uninjured right hand tightly.

Linley set Carnage aside.

"Can his lung recover?"

"Yes," the light-element magus said. "Dragonblood Warriors have powerful vitality. The blade didn't pierce his heart, either. We'll stop the bleeding first, then let the wound heal."

Milky-white light covered Wharton's chest.

The damaged flesh slowly grew back.

Blood finally stopped flowing from the wound.

Another magus took hold of Wharton's pierced left hand.

There were wounds on both his palm and the back of his hand.

Several azure dragon scales had shattered.

As the healing magic descended, the torn flesh began to close.

Wharton frowned but made no sound.

Linley stood to one side, watching.

"Big brother," Wharton suddenly said.

"Yes?"

"Where's Carnage?"

"Right here."

Linley placed the warblade where he could see it.

The blood on the blade had already dried.

Wharton glanced at it, then closed his eyes again.

"As long as it wasn't lost."

Linley did not wipe the blood from the blade for him.

It was something this defeat had left behind.

If Wharton wanted to keep it, he could decide for himself when to wipe it away.

Footsteps sounded outside the treatment room.

Joanne walked in.

The emperor had already changed out of the splendid attire she had worn in the judges' seats, and only two guards followed her.

Nina immediately rose.

"Father."

Joanne glanced at Wharton's injuries.

"How is he?"

"His condition has stabilized," a light-element magus said with a bow. "His lung needs rest. He must not engage in intense combat for half a month. The injury to his palm is less serious and should recover in seven or eight days."

Joanne nodded.

He looked at Wharton.

"Though you lost today, you did not disgrace the Baruch Clan."

Wharton opened his eyes.

"A loss is a loss."

"Being able to acknowledge that makes you better than someone who only makes excuses."

Joanne looked at Nina.

"You want to go to the Earl's estate?"

Nina did not hesitate.

"Yes."

"You aren't formally engaged yet."

"I'm only going to look after Wharton."

Joanne fell silent for a moment.

"Return to the palace before dark."

Nina's eyes lit up.

"Thank you, Father."

Joanne looked at Linley again.

"The marriage has already been announced publicly. The imperial family will not go back on its word. I will send someone to the Earl's estate to discuss the exact date."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Linley said.

"From today onward, we can be considered in-laws." Joanne smiled. "There's no need to thank me in every sentence."

After he finished speaking, he did not stay long.

The emperor had just stepped out of the treatment room when a sharp sonic boom suddenly rang out above the arena.

Boom!

Everyone in the arena looked up.

A streak of white light shot over from the distance.

The streak stopped above the fighting platform.

A white-haired man stood in midair.

His face was stern, and two longswords, one black and one white, were slung diagonally across his back.

Olivier.

The spectators who had been preparing to leave sat down again.

Kenyon also stopped at the entrance to the passage.

Blumer was being supported by disciples of the War God Sect.

His expression changed when he saw Olivier.

"Big brother."

Olivier descended from the air.

He did not look at Joanne, nor did he seek out Linley first.

Instead, he walked straight to Blumer.

"Give me Ice Dream."

Blumer handed over the longsword.

Olivier took his right hand and swept his spiritual energy through his body.

The broken left arm was not the most serious injury.

The real trouble lay in the meridians inside his body.

After he had forcibly used the forbidden move, many of his meridians had ruptured, and his battle-qi had become extremely chaotic.

Olivier's gaze grew colder and colder.

"What did I tell you?"

Blumer lowered his head.

"Not to use this move unless it was a matter of life and death."

"Was today a matter of life and death?"

Blumer did not answer.

"You simply wanted to win," Olivier said. "For the sake of a victory, you damaged your own foundation."

"Big brother, I already won."

"You won the duel."

Olivier looked toward the shattered fighting platform.

"Then, after the outcome was already decided, you tried to kill someone who couldn't move."

Blumer's expression turned somewhat ugly.

"Wharton hadn't admitted defeat."

"He had already lost the ability to fight," Olivier said coldly. "If you had stopped, everyone today would have said you narrowly defeated a Dragonblood Warrior. By continuing to strike, you only let eighty thousand people see that you couldn't bear to lose."

Blumer opened his mouth.

In the end, he offered no defense.

Olivier had raised him from childhood.

Before others, Blumer was a personal disciple of the War God.

Before Olivier, he was still that younger brother who did not dare raise his head after making a mistake.

Kenyon walked over.

"Olivier, Linley interfered in the duel."

Olivier looked at him.

"If Linley hadn't intervened, Blumer would have killed Wharton."

Kenyon frowned.

"A duel has its rules."

"Joanne already ruled that the duel was over."

"That was after Linley entered the fighting platform."

Olivier did not continue arguing.

He merely put the Ice Dream Sword into his interspatial ring.

"Take Blumer to have his injuries treated first."

"Big brother." Blumer abruptly raised his head. "About Nina's marriage..."

"The emperor has already announced it."

"But I'm a personal disciple of the War God!"

Olivier looked at him.

"That is your status, not a reason Nina must marry you."

Blumer stiffened.

"Recover from your injuries first," Olivier said. "We'll discuss everything else later."

Two disciples of the War God Sect helped Blumer away.

Olivier, however, did not leave.

He turned toward the treatment room.

"Linley."

His voice carried throughout the arena.

Inside the treatment room, Linley raised his head.

He had already sensed that Saint Realm aura.

Very powerful.

And extremely fast.

Linley walked out of the treatment room.

Barker followed behind him.

Doehring remained seated in the spectator stands without moving.

Olivier looked at Linley.

"Were you the one who blocked Ice Dream just now?"

"Yes."

"Blumer tried to kill first," Olivier said. "You did nothing wrong by saving your younger brother."

A low murmur rose through the arena.

Many had not expected Olivier to acknowledge that first.

Linley looked at him as well.

"And then?"

"And then, I want to fight you."

Olivier spoke very calmly.

"Not over the marriage, and not to win anything back for Blumer. You are a Saint Realm Dragonblood Warrior in your twenties. I want to know how strong you are."

Linley did not agree immediately.

He had just sparred with Mackenzie.

Yet Olivier was clearly more dangerous than Mackenzie.

This man's speed might even surpass Landan's when she unleashed the power of her four wings.

"When?" Linley asked.

"After Wharton's wounds have healed," Olivier said. "Today was his duel. There's no need for us to rush into ours here."

Those words earned him a little more of Linley's approval.

"All right."

Olivier nodded.

"I'll come find you."

With that, he turned into a streak of white light and vanished into the sky above Chiyan City.

Kenyon stood where he was, looking displeased.

Olivier had not won back the marriage for the War God Sect.

Nor had he twisted right and wrong for Blumer.

But his challenge to Linley was enough to keep the entire imperial capital focused on these two young Saint Realm experts.

Half an hour later, Wharton was brought back to the earl's residence.

He was still in his Dragonblood transformation.

Only after he was laid on the bed and a light mage confirmed that the wound in his lung would not reopen did Wharton slowly return to human form.

His blue-green dragon scales disappeared.

A long, narrow wound remained on his chest.

His left palm was also wrapped in gauze.

Doehring walked to the bedside.

Wharton tried to sit up.

"Lie down," Doehring said.

Wharton had no choice but to lean back against his pillow.

Doehring pressed his fingers against Wharton's wrist.

There was no divine power.

Only an extremely fine thread of spiritual energy entered Wharton's body.

The bleeding in his lung had stopped.

The wound in his chest had also been sealed by light magic.

The vitality of a Dragonblood Warrior was taking effect.

"You were badly hurt," Doehring said. "But there's no lasting damage. No transforming or practicing with your saber for half a month."

Wharton frowned.

"I can't practice at all?"

"Do you want your lung to tear open again?"

Wharton fell silent.

Doehring looked at Linley.

"You keep an eye on him."

"Grandpa Doehring, I need to train too," Linley said.

"Then let Nina watch him."

Standing nearby, Nina immediately nodded.

"I'll keep an eye on him."

Wharton glanced at her.

"I won't do anything reckless."

"You just asked whether you could practice with your saber," Nina said.

Wharton had nothing to say to that.

Doehring laughed.

"That's more like it."

He sat down beside the bed.

Wharton looked at Doehring and hesitated.

"Grandpa Doehring, did you really see me when I was little?"

"I did."

"But I've never seen you before."

"Back then, I could only live inside the Coiling Dragon Ring."

Doehring spoke calmly.

Wharton, however, froze.

He looked at the Coiling Dragon Ring on Linley's hand.

"Brother, what exactly is going on?"

Linley cast a wind-based soundproofing spell around the room.

Only Doehring, Wharton, Nina, and he were inside.

"In the past, Grandpa Doehring had only his soul left and lived inside the Coiling Dragon Ring," Linley said. "He's been teaching me magic and stone sculpting since I was eight."

Wharton looked at Doehring.

"Then now you..."

"I have a body again," Doehring said.

"How did you do it?"

"The Laws of the Universe."

Doehring did not say that he had already become a god.

Nor did he explain why the Coiling Dragon Ring could preserve a complete true spirit.

Wharton wanted to ask more, but Linley said, "No outsiders can know about this."

"I understand." Wharton nodded immediately.

Nina also said, "I won't tell anyone, including my imperial father."

Doehring glanced at her.

"You can keep it secret even from your father?"

Nina did not evade his gaze.

"This is the Baruch family's secret."

After saying that, she blushed slightly.

She had not yet officially married into the Baruch Clan.

A smile, however, appeared in Doehring's eyes.

"Good."

"Wharton has better taste than Linley."

Linley paused.

"Grandpa Doehring, what does this have to do with me?"

"You're already in your twenties, yet you still pretend not to know how many years that girl has waited for you."

Linley fell silent.

He knew Doehring was talking about Delia.

Wharton looked at his brother, then at Doehring, and could not help laughing.

The moment his chest shook, he frowned in pain.

Nina immediately pressed down on his shoulder.

"No laughing."

"I can't even laugh?"

"No."

Doehring stroked his white beard, the smile on his face deepening.

He had once watched Linley and Wharton grow up from inside the Coiling Dragon Ring.

Back then, Wharton had never known he existed.

Now, he could finally sit here, examine Wharton's injuries with his own hands, and speak with the future daughter-in-law of the Baruch family.

This feeling was more real than becoming a Saint Realm expert again.

It was even warmer than having a divine body.

Outside the room, Hiri knocked softly.

"Young Master Linley, someone has come from the palace."

Linley dispelled the soundproofing magic.

A court ceremonial official was led into the room.

He unrolled a golden scroll.

"By the verbal decree of His Majesty Joanne."

"On the twelfth of next month, Earl Wharton and the seventh princess, Nina, shall be formally betrothed. The betrothal ceremony shall be held at Earl Wharton's residence."

"On the fifteenth of September of the same year, their wedding shall be held at the imperial palace."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Wharton turned to look at Nina.

Nina was looking at him too.

The official continued, "The betrothal protocols, royal guest list, and princess's ceremonial procession arrangements will be delivered by a court ceremonial official in three days. The Baruch Clan may decide its own family rites."

Linley accepted the scroll.

"We have no objections."

"Then I shall return to the palace to report."

After the official left, Hiri was the first to enter.

The old man had clearly heard everything from outside the door.

"The twelfth of next month?"

"Yes," Linley said.

A smile immediately spread across Hiri's face.

"That's less than a month away."

"The residence needs to be redecorated, and the family's formal attire must be made to order. Which guests to invite, how grand the betrothal banquet should be, and the Baruch Clan's ancestral tablets..."

The old man spoke faster and faster.

It was as though he had waited many years for this day.

Hillman also came in through the doorway.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," he said with a smile. "Wharton's still bedridden."

"It's precisely because he's bedridden that we have to handle these things," Hiri said.

Wharton leaned back on the bed.

"Grandpa Hiri, you can decide."

"No." Hiri immediately shook his head. "This is your betrothal. You must decide for yourself."

Wharton looked at Nina.

"Then we'll go with what Nina says."

Nina blushed even more.

"You can't leave everything to me either."

Doehring stood up.

"The palace will arrange the imperial protocols."

Everyone looked at him.

"Hiri and I will prepare the Baruch Clan's family rites," Doehring said. "Hogg is gone. An elder has to take care of this."

Wharton's eyes reddened slightly.

"Grandpa Doehring."

"Focus on healing," Doehring said. "If you still can't stand on the day of your betrothal, I'll have Barker carry you out."

Gates's loud laughter came from outside the door.

"I'll carry him!"

Ankh slapped him on the back of the head.

"Who gets carried to their own betrothal?"

Everyone in the room laughed.

This time, Nina immediately looked at Wharton.

Wharton held back his laughter, but his chest still ached slightly.

The sky gradually darkened.

The palace carriage was already waiting outside the gates.

Nina had to return to the palace.

She stood beside the bed and took Wharton's hand.

"I'll come again tomorrow."

"Will your imperial father agree?"

"Our betrothal has already been announced," Nina said. "He has no reason to keep me confined anymore."

Wharton nodded.

"I'll wait for you."

Nina bent down and gently kissed his forehead.

Then she hurried out of the room, blushing.

Neither Linley nor Doehring said anything.

But Wharton saw the smiles on their faces.

"Big brother."

"Yes?"

"Leave me alone for now."

"All right."

Linley agreed readily.

Everyone left the room.

After the door closed, Wharton looked at the ceiling, raised his uninjured right hand, and touched his forehead.

He had lost a duel.

But he had not lost Nina.

And the Baruch Clan finally had elders and family members to make wedding preparations again.

Outside the window, Hiri was still discussing the betrothal gifts with Doehring.

Their voices drifted in through the door.

Wharton closed his eyes.

For the first time, he felt that this earl's manor in Chiyan City truly seemed like a home.