It didn't take a long time for the teachers to come. As Chen Zi Quan was the second prince with great talent, a lot of teachers were deployed to protect him. Within minutes, they returned back to the camp near the city.
"Please have some rest here first. After we have gathered all the students, you can return back."
Lu Wan and the other two picked up a place to rest. There were a lot of tents ready since a lot of students were wounded. They conveniently picked one of the tents and rested inside it.
"The boring hunt is finally over," Lu Wan yawned. "I'll just take this time to sleep. What about you two?"
"I want to train my Eon Energy with circulation," Mu Xin answered. "I'll be staying in the tent."
"I want to walk around."
"Ok."
While the two of them were resting, Ye Jiao took the chance to walk around. Her servant's clothes made the people around her ignore her, so Ye Jiao could walk unhindered. As more and more students came, Ye Jiao found the place to be quite crowded.
Her legs brought her to the nearby trees, and she climbed it before sitting down on the tree. Slowly, she tried to erase her presence and tried to observe the people who walked around the tree. She wanted to know whether it was successful or not.
'They seem to be unable to see me.'
A smile made its way to her face as she realized that they wouldn't be able to detect her presence unless they were purposely searching. If they just passed by, they won't be able to find her.
She still needed a lot of training for this as she was not sure that she could keep this up perfectly when she was fighting. As he pondered what would be the best way to practice, her eyes noticed Wei Cheng and Chen Zi Quan walked to her direction.
'Did they sense me?'
Her body was ready to move in case they tried to attack her, but it seemed that her imagination went too far. The two of them just stopped near the other tree beside hers, so Ye Jiao could see them perfectly from her position.
"How's your wound?" Chen Zi Quan asked.
"I'm fine, Your Highness. It is not me who has the deeper wound," Wei Cheng said humbly.
Chen Zi Quan shook his head. "It's not necessarily true. I'm just using too much of my Eon Energy, so I would need more rest."
"Then, should we…" Wei Cheng stopped his words midway because he saw Chen Zi Quan raise his hand, telling him to stop. His eyes were filled with curiosity at the second prince's action.
"I want you to make another bet with Lu Wan for the hunt."
"Lu Wan?" Wei Cheng's tone was suddenly filled with murderous intent. His bad relationship with Lu Wan has progressed until it could be called irreconcilable. If not because of the situation just now, he would never want to work together with Lu Wan.
"Yes," Chen Zi Quan said calmly. "He may be an idiot, but he's still a threat."
"Did you finally see him as a threat?"
"No."
"Then?"
Chen Zi Quan flicked a glance at Wei Cheng. "If you see someone like him as a threat, it just shows that you're weaker."
Even though the words were harsh and blunt, Wei Cheng didn't look angry. On the contrary, his eyes held deep curiosity. "Please elaborate, Your Highness."
"During his fight just now, he just shows how much of an idiot he is. First, he didn't have any prior knowledge regarding the beasts. He only knows how to attack randomly without thinking of his action. Secondly, he's an amateur in using the sword. It's a good sword without doubt, but it's in the hand of someone who couldn't even use a sword properly.
Third, he has a higher amount of Eon Energy compared to his peers. It's still lower than mine, but it's undoubtedly higher. He probably spends too much time to train his Eon Energy, making his physical skill relatively weaker," Chen Zi Quan explained.
Wei Cheng's eyes widened. "Your Highness, did you observe them all when we're fighting just now?"
"I have only ever seen his fight just now, so it's obvious, isn't it?"
"Yes. Yes, it is."
On the tree, Ye Jiao was listening to their conservation as she could feel her heart tightened a bit. She had never thought that this prince's real skill lied in his observation skill. If one fight already allowed him to see that much, she couldn't imagine what he could see when he saw Lu Wan every day.
The fact that Lu Wan was an idiot was something that Ye Jiao also knew. The sword was not Lu Wan's main weapon, so the boy barely developed it. The only thing that was wrong was the third one. Even though Lu Wan had more Eon Energy, Lu Wan didn't specifically train in that field.
It was all thanks to his natural talent and also his training to make his body stronger, allowing him to absorb more Eon Energy despite his lower rank.
"But Your Highness, if it's that much, why do you want me to make another bet with him?" Wei Cheng asked again.
"He might be an idiot, but he's still a threat. Lu Family manages to avoid him doing the pledge back then, so we're trying to find another chance to call him. Before he swears his loyalty to Chen Kingdom, he'll be a threat."
"Swears his loyalty? Children didn't have to take the pledge, right?"
"Yes," Chen Zi Quan nodded. "However, someone who has great talent will be forced to take the pledge because it'll be dangerous if they grow up and become a threat to this kingdom. Rather than allowing them to become a threat, it'll be better to force them to take the pledge and become the subject of this kingdom."
"You're right. No one would want to raise a traitor in their kingdom," Wei Cheng expressed his agreement. "But why do you see him as a traitor."
"He didn't have anything to tie him down to this kingdom. Even if he decides to leave someday, he won't have any obligation to return back. In order to ensure the longevity of Chen Kingdom, it's necessary for us to retain everyone with high potential that came from this kingdom."
"Everyone?"
"Yes, everyone," for a moment, Chen Zi Quan's eyes glinted with ruthlessness. As the prince of Chen Kingdom, he had learned many things that the imperial family did to ensure their safety and the prosperity of the kingdom. Things that he learned were not only limited to mere surface knowledge, but also those deep secrets that the kingdom tried to hide from outside people.
Those were the dark side of the imperial family.
Wei Cheng looked at the second prince with hesitation. "Does it mean, back then, Ye Xiao is also included?"
"Why are you mentioning him now?"
"I just want to know."
Chen Zi Quan passed a glance at the young man. "It's not really a secret too that the imperial family is vying for his power, so of course, he's included."