"CLOUD-SOARING! CLOUD-SOARING!" the poor citizens chanted loudly. The rich nobles in the lower seats were horrified. They gasped and covered their mouths. The reputation of the glorious Saint-Aurelius Clan had just been dragged publicly, violently through the mud. In the Coach's Box, Seraphina stood up. Her pale blue eyes were shining with intense pride. She looked at her students. They were not scared children anymore. They were warriors. She turned to look at Lucien. Lucien smiled his lazy, crooked smile. He spit out his piece of green grass. "I told you they were hungry," Lucien said softly. Up in the Royal Box, Crown Prince Julian was shaking with a rage so intense his vision was turning red. Julian pulled a small, hidden magical talisman from his pocket. He crushed it in his hand. He was sending a secret, illegal message to his hidden assassins waiting under the arena. He was going to have the Cloud-Soaring kids murdered in the hallways right now. But as the crushed talisma

Seraphina’s pale blue eyes widened in shock. "The Right of the Crown? But that rule has not been used in a hundred years!""It is being used today," the official laughed. "The host clan has the legal right to challenge the winning junior team to one final exhibition match. It is a Vanguard Duel. And the challenger is already waiting for you on the white sand.""Who is the challenger?" Kai asked bravely, stepping up next to Seraphina. "Crown Prince Julian Saint-Aurelius," the official answered. The room went completely, utterly silent. "Julian?!" Seraphina screamed, her freezing anger exploding. The air in the wet dungeon room instantly dropped twenty degrees. Frost covered the stone walls. "Julian is twenty-seven years old! He is in the Spirit-Awakening Realm! He is a full-grown Master! My students are teenagers in the Qi-Gathering Realm! That is not a duel! That is a public execution!""It is perfectly legal," the official shrugged lazily. "The Crown Prince wants to test the stren

The aura hit the ten guards like an invisible, freezing brick wall. It was not physical force. It was pure, primal terror. The guards instantly stopped running. Their boots skidded on the wet stone floor. Their eyes rolled back into their heads. Their brains were completely overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of absolute doom. They felt like they had just stepped into the jaws of an ancient dragon. All ten fully grown, elite, heavily armored men collapsed to the floor at the exact same time. Their spears hit the stone. Their heavy armor clattered loudly. They were completely unconscious, knocked out cold by sheer, overwhelming psychological terror. Julian froze. The Crown Prince looked down at his ten best guards lying asleep in the dirt. He looked back up at the dirty beggar. "What... what did you do?" Julian whispered. His voice was shaking. Julian immediately flared his golden magic. His expensive dragon-scale armor glowed with blinding holy light. He pushed his massive, Spiri