The Emperor turned back towards Long Chen and lowered the weapon.
Emperor Lu Junwei told Long Chen while shaking his head, "Even though this fight didnât go as I had planned, Iâm still happy you could defeat me even though it was a bit of a trick and not a pure battle."
"Letâs go back," he added as he started walking towards the door to leave.
A look of disappointment was evident on his face.
"Where are you going?" Long Chen asked as he gazed at the Emperor leaving.
"What do you mean? The battle is over. So Iâm leaving," the Emperor told Long Chen as he glanced back.
"The battle isnât over. The first fight was to finish your task of winning. Now that I won, you canât stop me from meeting Mingyu or staying with her. As for the real fight, that will begin now. And this wonât be without any terms. Even if I lose, you wonât stop me from meeting Mingyu since I already finished the deal by winning!" Long Chen told the Emperor.
He wanted to go through a hearty fight against a strong and talented opponent that where no one was going to try to kill each other. It was a great opportunity, and he wanted to fight to his heartâs content.
He only chose a shortcut in the first battle to win the battle and finish the requirement of getting the manâs approval. The main thing was yet to come. It was going to be his training as well as him testing his strength without using any Laws.
The Emperor couldnât help but stare at Long Chen blankly in disbelief. Was this guy for real?
"Hahahaha!"
He soon started laughing out loud as he held his stomach.
"What happened?" Long Chen asked, wondering why he was laughing.
"Good. Very good. You are really lucky. If you hadnât stopped me, I wouldnât have liked you. Even though you won, it was through a shortcut. If you had allowed me to leave, that would have meant that you were scared of a proper battle. That would be a failed son-in-law in my eyes," the Emperor told Long Clen as he laughed out loud.
"Donât worry. Even if you fail, I wonât stop you from being with Mingyu. I accept you as my Son in law. Now donât worry about that, and let me see how strong you are!" He added as he grinned.
*****
Three hours passed. Long Chen was sitting on the ground, breathing heavily.
âSigh, I guess experience is truly a strong thing. Without using any Laws or my Demon Monarch Physique, I am so weak against him. I canât even win against a guy that has the same Cultivation as me,â Long Chen thought as he gazed at the Emperor who was still standing tall at some distance.
"Three hours... It took me three hours, and I still couldnât defeat you. But it seems like you ran out of Qi faster. Thatâs to be expected. Even though our Cultivation is restricted, our Qi reserves are unaffected. Still, to not be defeated until your Qi ran out, thatâs pretty impressive," the Emperor praised Long Chen.
"Donât flower your words. I have no Qj. You can defeat me easily now. Itâs my defeat. Having less Qi reserve is no excuse for me not to be able to win," Long Chen let out as he smiled wryly. He dusted his clothes as he sat up.
"Oh, really? Did you actually give it your all? Why do I have a feeling that you still had some tricks up your sleeves," the Emperor told Long Chen as an amused smile appeared on his face.
That was true as well. Long Chen wanted to enter this fight as a pure Cultivator against another Cultivator. He didnât use his Laws and many more abilities.
"I can say the same for you. For an Emperor of your strength, itâs impossible for you not to possess a Law. You donât use it either. It was a fight of skills, and I am defeated. Thatâs all," Long Chen let out as he shook his head.
The Emperor smiled gently as he walked towards Long Chen.
As he reached near Long Chen, he placed his hand on Long Chenâs head as he ruffled his head.
"You have honestly exceeded my expectations, boy. Iâm glad Mingyu has a husband like you. You can stay with her from today," he told Long Chen.
He turned back and started walking towards the doors.
He stopped right before the doors as he turned back.
"Oh right. Go and rest. After resting, meet me in the throne room. I have something for you for winning," he told Long Chen, who nodded his head.
"Oh right. Since you can stay with Mingyu, you donât have to sneak out of the room at night. So I donât think youâll need to lie to me again," he shook his head as he left, leaving a stunned Long Chen behind.
"That guy... He knew," a wry smile appeared on his face as he realized that Lu Junwei probably knew that Long Chen sneaked out at night.
Could it be that he also guessed about his Law of Space?
âSigh, I underestimated him,â he thought as he shook his head.
He also started walking towards the exit.
He walked straight to Mingyuâs room.
As he was walking through the corridor, a thought crossed his head.
"Oh right. He accepts me now. And heâs the Emperor here. He must have High-Level artificers under him. If I ask that guy, he might be able to help reforge my Spirit Sword into a stronger artifact. It wouldnât be impossible to have it upgraded to an Earth Grade Sword or even higher here," he muttered as he thought of his Spirit Sword.
"I think Iâll talk to him when I meet him in the evening. He wouldnât refuse such a small thing."
****
Within the same Palace, inside a room, Prince Lu Wang was sitting on his bed, trying to think of a way.
"I just met that guy. I canât form lies about him to make Mingyu hate me. I can only do something that will make him do something that would be enough to create a misunderstanding," he muttered as he frowned.
"Mingyu loved me, her brother. And she loves him, her husband. If I make it so that they think he tried to kill me? That might work," he wondered. "But how should I go about doing it?"
He laid on his bed, lost in deep thought.