Long Chen's mental state had been chiseled down by event after event. And all of these events all included a name that plagued his dreams, turning them into nightmares: Wei Wuyin. Even before he had known who this name belonged to, he had swore an oath to kill him. He had sworn to Na Xinyi that he would avenge her sorrowful fate!
This man had slowly walked the same path as he had, and taken bit by bit from him with every passing day. Not only could he not kill him, he was becoming more and more prominent, even taking over his future inheritance with dubious means.
The world heralded him as a divine talent that will define an entire era! He would be spoken in the same breath as the King of Everlore, the Sacred Elven Queen, Divine King Han Xei, Demonic Abyss Master, and Grand Monarch Wu Yu! He was five years older than him, yet his reputation ascended to the heavens!
Qing Qiumu's relationship with him had started as life and death battle partners adventuring the lands, but after meeting Wei Wuyin, her emotions and thoughts wavered. It was as if he no longer saw a path to form a relationship beyond friends with her, and at first, that was okay. There was plenty of time left to open that path again.
But it didn't stop at that. Na Xinyi, the one that wanted to kill him the most changed, the offer to become Wei Wuyin's wife had disturbed everything. Their relationship was close, and he was the only male that she felt a connection with, yet the possibility similarly halted their relationship. In the end, she chose the one that had taken advantage of her all those years ago!
While others could see this as Wei Wuyin taking honorable responsibility, allowing her to make a choice, to him, it was just a pathetic attempt to seem upright and principled! False and unreal! If he was so righteous, why commit the deed in the first place?! It was clearly an act! All an act!
If Na Xinyi heard this, she would pale in fright. This was no different than wishing her to be ravaged by nobodies until she died a horrible death! How cruel was this curse? She might even slap Long Chen! At least she was alive today, and the one who had taken her virginity and body was upright enough to honor his word to give her freedom despite her precious physique. There wasn't a single cultivator that would do such a thing if given Wei Wuyin's position, essentially going against his sect's rules and risking everything!
Then, it was Lin Ziyan. She was even more attached to him than Lian Yu, in complete love. They spoke about their future often and spent nights waiting for their Astral Core Realm to be reached so they could consummate their relationship!
But after she suffered extreme damage that left her a vegetable, he had asked her to be saved, and Wei Wuyin definitely did something to force her to be with him! He might've even threatened him! This was his first and only justification for this event. He swore that he'd free her one day, just like he had done at the wedding before!
This was just motivation to cultivate!
Wu Baozhai might've seen this trend and decided to infiltrate Wei Wuyin, to protect Hong Ru and Lin Ziyan from Wei Wuyin's clutches! This was something he believed, not just something he came up with just now, but it was only an idea reinforced after seeing her wear his greatest secret!
Yet, all of this, even Lian Yu, the woman who he trusted the most out of anyone, had said she loved Wei Wuyin with her last breath!!!
Now, Wu Yu, the last fragment of his sanity, had chosen another candidate for Grand Monarch? Was this for real?! WAS ALL THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!
He chuckled as if he had heard a somewhat funny joke, a little derangement in his tone. "You can't be serious," was all he could say. He even had a faint smile at how ludicrous this all sounded. Why would Wu Yu, someone he thought of as his father figure, betray him for Wu Baozhai? Choose her?
The condescending and dismissive words caused Wu Baozhai's heart to flare in anger. This was why she wanted to become her own person, to not be relegated to just a background character meant to be ravaged by the hero! Since following Long Chen, she had always been a burden and useless. The world she was a part of grew while she moved at a stable pace, yet Long Chen was a shooting star blazing the sky with his brilliance and outstanding talent!
No one considered her anything but a pretty face with a good head on her shoulders. In the cultivation world, no one gave her respect because of her. At most, they saw Long Chen's outstanding shadow behind her. No matter how much she grows, she'll always be several notches below Long Chen. To depressingly add, those like Hong Ru and Xiao Bing overshadowed her!
If they left this starfield for a better world, would Long Chen continue his stellar pace and obtain more and more talented beauties?! Would she be one of a hundred? Where would she rank? Who would remember her?
Her name would be "one of Grand Monarch Long Chen's women". At best, she could be one of his many wives. They would be nameless beauties at his side.
She did not lack ambition. She originated from the Imperial Clan in the Wu Country, and she was as ambitious as any Princess that sought to be Queen! This was likely why she saw Xue Yifei as such a threat. She, too, was a princess with just as much ambition!
She narrowed her eyes sharply, "I am. Who am I?!" With that, she lifted her hand in the air, and as if triggered by some strange power, every Myriad Monarch Sect member, even the Prime Imperial Sages roared:
"GRAND PRINCESS WU BAOZHAI!"
Wu Baozhai lifted her hand higher, "WHO AM I?!"
"GRAND PRINCESS WU BAOZHAI!"
Then she lifted that hand to the highest limits in the air, and without even needing to be prompted, everyone roared louder than ever before, backed by their astral force that shook the world, dispersing the faint clouds that were slowly reforming!
"GRAND PRINCESS WU BAOZHAI!!!"
Wu Baozhai lowered her hand as she leveled a stare at Long Chen who was gobsmacked by it all.
They all had respect in their eyes. Not because she was Wei Wuyin's woman, or that she was a member of the Ascendants, but because she earned it via fighting for the sect, for being a part of a lineage that she belonged to. After all, she was Wu Yu's legitimate descendant!
Wei Wuyin's nodded in his heart. He wanted to forge a Grand Monarch, a true one that wasn't like Long Chen, but someone who could garner the respect and true authority of the sect. It seemed his choice was correct. It was even cute when he saw Xue Yifei join in with the shouting. Despite her status, she showed the needed respect at this crucial moment.
Maybe she was dissatisfied with Long Chen's words, but the fact remained that she did so wholeheartedly. He wasn't aware of how Wu Baozhai valiantly fought for the sect, claiming continental flat earths and portions of planets against the forces of the Elemental Heaven Pavilion and Demonic Abyss Mountain. She made her name resound with her swift, decisive, and intelligent commands.
Tuo Bihan had even joined in.
Long Chen was just lost for a moment. His pupils trembled as he looked towards Wu Baozhai, his gaze moving towards Wu Yu. He slowly said, "This can't be true. Why? WHY?!" His tone started off soft but became explosive near the end.
Wu Yu sighed within the ring. Long Chen's mental state was already grinded away by the presence of Wei Wuyin. He kept seeing him as an enemy, but when had Wei Wuyin ever acted against him? At most, Wei Wuyin had saved Long Chen from committing the crime of killing a member of his sect in the Grand Spirit Trials, before the witnesses of billions.
Furthermore, that was handled brilliantly as Huang Jinwei was openly punished in the most terrible manner, reinforcing his crime in the eyes of others. After all, he had killed a member of his sect and deserved to be punished with the approval of the sect, not just killed. Wei Wuyin had gotten the unanimous approval to do so, and the sect learned a valuable lesson.
But Long Chen almost became a criminal for his impulsive action to demand Huangfu Jinwei's public execution.
In the end, when he had to rely on his power, losing his pride as an expert that handled his own issues, Long Chen no longer fit the qualification of Grand Prince. The figure should be respected and feared, but no one considered him as such. Because at every opportunity, he went against Wei Wuyin, the man everyone revered.
Yet in the end, he asked for Wei Wuyin's help that led to him losing important people.
Truly unworthy of the Grand Monarch Lineage.
'Did I make the wrong choice that day? Was I just too desperate?' These thoughts echoed in Wu Yu's mind everyday, but such words were never present when he thought about Wu Baozhai. A strong existence that embodied the essence of a Grand Monarch with her own flavor, being smarter than the others. She didn't just use her fist, but her brains!
There was a wisp of pride in his heart to have such an outstanding descendant.
Long Chen, however, saw Wu Yu's silence as an admission of guilt. And it was. His entire mind was trembling at this discovery. Abruptly, he snarled out: "You're just my woman! What gives you the RIGHT to challenge ME?!" Those eyes of his became even more bloodshot as killing intent raged!
Wu Baozhai, Lin Ziyan, Qing Qiumu, Hong Ru, Xiao Bing, Long Tingyu, and Na Xinyi!
"FUCK YOU ALL! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOUR DESPICABLE, TRAITOROUS BITCHES!!" His deepest emotions spewed out as his Imperial Heaven Aura erupted, causing raging winds and turbulent energies to violently swirl!
With booming huffs, he stared at Wu Baozhai with a venomous glare. "Without me, you would all be trash in the gutter! Nothing more than pretty faces to be ravaged! Without me, none of you are worth a fucking thing!" The thoughts in his heart that had been kept and brewed after continuous betrayals erupted forth without reservations!
Wu Baozhai's eyes were insanely cold at the moment, "Even with you, there wasn't a difference. And that's the issue, isn't it?"
Qing Qiumu shot out, "LONG CHEN!" Her words were filled with concern and a tinge of anger. Anyone could see Long Chen had reached his breaking point. This Grand Prince that briefly dazzled the world was descending into madness!
When Long Chen saw Qing Qiumu, a memory triggered in his mind: Outside an Inn, she was smiling and laughing while she walked the streets. With a brightly lit pair of intrigued eyes, she walked side by side with a tall, outrageously handsome man that would later plague his entire life, taking everything from him!
He ignored Qing Qiumu, turning to Wei Wuyin. The glint in his eyes was as dangerous as a World Realm's Core detonation! "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
