.. With a single thrust, Xuan lunged at Kaien with his hand forming a tight fist, traveling so fast it was about to hit Kaien.Kaien somehow managed to sense the incoming attack. His jaw tightened as he moved his head to the right. Xuan's fist came at him, but he only shifted his body to the right and Xuan missed.Kaien swiftly grabbed his arm and pulled it along to drag him off the ground and crush him into the earth soil with raw force.Kaien allowed himself to take a breather. "You must either be stupid or foolish enough to try and fight me here, Xuan.""Stupid." Xuan kicked his feet up at Kaien, who fell back quickly to dodge the attack. Xuan then kicked himself off the ground and landed on the soil. "Do you think I'll let this opportunity get past me?"Kaien didn't say anything."I have been eager to get rid of you, Kaien." Xuan readied his fist. "This is my only chance to make sure I take your life, for good.""I don't think you have it in you to kill me, Xuan. Just like your b

.... "Let go of me!" Kaien demanded as he kicked his legs while struggling mid-air."Let him go, Vex'tharion!" Lan Su spoke weakly from where she lay. Vex'tharion glared down at Lan Su and slowly descended on the temple's ruins. "And what are you going to do about it?"He was right. What could she do? She had already transferred everything she had into Kaien. Even if she did have something left, what could she possibly do to hurt Vex'tharion?"Just let him go, Vex'tharion. You already conquered this world. Deal with it."Vex'tharion's expression was unreadable. "Conquering this world isn't enough," he said. "I want more. I want to get out of here and conquer what's beyond it!"A blinding light enveloped them, followed by a blast that separated Vex'tharion and Kaien from one another.Vex'tharion skidded back to a halt. His hands clenched into fists.The dust settled quickly, and standing where it had been was Kaien."You brat. How are you able to use Qi in this realm?"Kaien radiated

"What?" Kaien took a step closer. "Li San, don't even think of doing that.""Don't do what?" Li San looked away like she didn't know what he was saying. "I can't stay here. I'm honestly tired. Who knows? If I stay longer, he might try to get even closer than he already is.""Quit complaining, Li San. He's a prince. He wouldn't want to do something that will make him look bad." Kaien tried reasoning with her.Li San made a low groan. "You guys aren't even seeing the full picture. Prince Hwan Dojin is an obsessed individual who will do anything to have what he wants."Kaien hummed. "You should have thought about it before coming with me, Li San. I didn't want you to come along in the first place because you already opened up about your fears of Prince Hwan Dojin."Li San let out a sigh and sat back on the bed. "Fine, you're right. I shouldn't have come along. I should have stayed behind with my grandma, but yeah, here I am, already becoming a burden.""I'm pretty sure no one said anythi

It had been hours since Kaien left his room with Li San. They'd checked on Han Seojun, but he wasn't in his room. They asked the guards if they'd seen him, and like that, they were pointed in the direction he had gone.Kaien and Li San headed straight in that direction."I don't see your prince in shining armor anywhere."Li San frowned. "Don't piss me off, Kaien," she warned as they kept walking. "The last thing I need is Dojin pestering me, to be honest."She noticed the guards observing her. "Great... I guess he told the guards to keep a watchful eye on me too. Just great.""Hmm?" Kaien's eyes swiftly caught the guards staring at her, but the very moment they realized he was looking at them, they stopped. A terrifying aura emanated from him and overwhelmed them enough to stop looking at her. Worse, they began sweating profusely."That's better."Soon, they came into a room occupied with bookshelves that held dozens to millions of books. "I didn't know Han Seojun was a reader.""Unc

"Kaien, this is dangerous. We have to find a way to take this fight beyond the castle before he brings it down." "I don't think the Archmage can bring himself to do it.""What?""I feel the Archmage could have taken the castle a long time ago, but he's holding back. Even to put up an actual fight alone, it's not at full power." Kaien said. "I feel the Archmage might be trying to fight back, and the best we can do now is to help with that.""So you finally have an attack plan, or are we still going to stand and watch him fight himself for control?""No. You have to go. Stay with the others. I'll take care of him.""Kaien?!" Li San called out, but Kaien had punched his way forward and disappeared with the Archmage.Outside, behind the castle walls, Kaien crash-landed with the Archmage, but he was quick to get up and dodge a blast of magical energy from him."Look, you better fight for control, because I'm definitely not sure I want to hurt you at this point.""There's no Sir Marcus! Th