"Thieving fox?" Long Fan Xue glared at Myria furiously. "You're the outsider here who came into our lands to steal our men!"
"I was never your man to begin with."
"That's right! And don't tell me you weren't planning to steal my man! I heard you tell him to break off his engagement with me! You're the one barging into our relationship! You're the outsider!" Myria refused to back down.
"Chinese men should marry Chinese women, not foreigners," Long Zhuo Fan declared. I shook my head in disbelief.
"What sort of outdated, racist nonsense is that? Are you still saying that in the 21st century? After all this globalization? What's the matter with you?"
"I just want to keep our bloodline pure!"
"Who the fuck cares about your bloodline? And this whole 'pure' nonsense is bullshit anyway. You want to do inbreeding in your family, go ahead, but don't drag me into this."
"We're not inbreeding!"
"Why would you choose her over me?" Long Fan Xue demanded, gesturing angrily at Myria. "I'm superior to her in every way. I'm the princess of the Long family, a rich, powerful and prestigious clan with a long history of valor. I'm more beautiful and skilled. I'm stronger and more talented."
"You don't even know who Myria is, and you're assuming you're better." I buried my face in my palm. As impressive as Long Fan Xue's lineage was, Myria was actual royalty. She was the princess of Atlantis, her family having ruled over the sunken kingdom for millennia. And this ignorant girl thought she was richer and had more pedigree?
At least find out who you were talking about before making such assumptions. Granted, the existence of Atlantis was top secret, so Long Fan Xue would never find out. Also, I preferred Myria not because of her royal lineage but because she was a great person.
"Your personality is what puts me off. I don't like arrogant people who look down on others. I don't care about fame, glory or wealth. Why do you think I stuck with the regular class in the first place? Because I'm sick and tired of dealing with so-called elites like you guys who think you're better than everybody."
"We have the right to be arrogant," Long Zhuo Fan replied proudly. "We have the strength and power to back it up."
So did Myria, but she didn't go around flaunting her status. Not that she could because the surface world could never be allowed to learn of Atlantis's existence, but if she wanted to fabricate her lineage and show off her wealth and power, she certainly could. Yet she remained humble, bright and cheerful as opposed to looking down on others. And she was the real princess, ironically enough.
"Stop dithering and break off your engagement with this woman, and get engaged to me already!" Long Fan Xue snapped, pointing rudely at Myria before dismissively waving her away. "And you can get lost! This is my man, not yours!"
"No, I'm not," I retorted firmly. "I was never your man. I was never in a relationship with you. Even back in high school, we were pretty distant and didn't really get along with each other. And now you want to waltz in and break me up with my fiancée who was always there to help and support me? Who do you think you are?"
"I'm the princess of the Long family!"
"So what?" I sighed and shook my head. "The Long family's conduct has been abysmal this entire time. Your guardian and one of your elders tried to kill me. Then not only do you attempt to coerce into breaking my engagement with my fiancée, you insult her right in front of me. Is this how a prestigious clan is supposed to behave?"
"Yes." Long Zhuo Fan's grin was ominous. "We have the power and wealth. Influence and connections. What can you do if we want to be arrogant? You have no strength or the connections to stop us. We can behave arrogantly because we have the right to be arrogant. This is the way of the world. Strong eats the weak."
Not this bullshit again. Long Zhuo Fan, much like so many multibillionaires, often forgot that their immense wealth was built off the weary backs of thousands, if not millions of underpaid workers, laboring under toxic conditions to keep their corporations running. The strong eat the weak? More like the rich exploit the poor. They didn't understand that without the countless people under them, they would have nothing to stand atop on. The Long family was where it was today not because of one or two great men, but all the efforts of their various retainers put together. Even a great general needed an army to fight battles for him. He wasn't a one-man army who could defend his kingdom on his own.
Why couldn't these stupid cultivators understand that?
"If you really want to buy this strong eat the weak bullshit, then I have a suggestion." Myria had enough of their nonsense too. She jerked her head toward Long Fan Xue. "I challenge you to a match then. We'll see who's worthy of Jun Wen."
Uh, wait, what? The girls were literally having a match over me? Wasn't it normally the other way around?
"Why should I…?"
"Hah! So you're afraid that you'll lose to me. After all that big talk about you being more talented and stronger and worthier, but you are unable to back it up with action."
"How dare you!?"
"Then you shouldn't have a reason to refuse her challenge!"
"That's right! You're the one barging into another couple's romance! No matter how we look at it, the Long family is at fault here!"
"Don't worry, blue haired lady! We support you! We have your back!"
"We'll cheer for you! Don't let that Long family bitch steal your man from you!"
"Yeah! And you made us go through all that trials to win your hand in marriage, yet you don't dare to participate in a match to win your target's hand in marriage? How does that work?"
The other participants were ridiculing a furiously blushing Long Fan Xue. She clenched her fists and glared coldly at them before glancing at her father. Long Zhuo Fan sighed heavily before he nodded his approval.
"Prove to them the might of the Long family, my daughter."
"Yes, father!"
"That's the spirit!"
"Let's go!"
The participants in the Long family trials were jubilant. As an exuberant crowd, they swept across the Long family manor's courtyard in a human wave, gathering around the stage as they whooped and cheered and jeered.
The two girls stood opposite each other on either side of the stage, with Long Zhuo Fan presiding over them. Once both parties were prepared, he swung his hand down to mark the beginning of the match.
Long Fan Xue exploded into action, thrusting her sword forward. Frost danced around her, snow accumulating atop the stage as the temperatures plummeted. By the way, the stage had been fully repaired and restored by some sort of spirit array earlier, despite having been devastated during the match between me and Long Shou Shi, as well as when the Asura statue rampaged earlier.
Myria drew the sword that was her royal family's heirloom, the relic that was left behind by the Heaven realm Atlantean cultivator millennia ago. Sapphire light shone along the blade and she swung it, unleashing a torrent of water that surged toward the charging Long Fan Xue.
The dark-haired beauty's eyes widened before she calmed down. With a sneer crossing her pretty face, she spun around and slashed with her rapier-like sword. The torrent of water immediately froze into ice, and Long Fan Xue smashed it with a single strike. Straightening amidst the falling shards of ice, she looked contemptuously at Myria.
"So you're also a water element cultivator, just like Song Jun Wen. No wonder you want to hang onto him. It's to ensure your bloodline consists of the best water element cultivators, isn't it?"
"No. I love him because of who he is, and I don't care if he's a water element cultivator or a fire element cultivator. What about you? You are an ice element cultivator, so why would you care?"
"Ice and water go together. Ice is a subset of the water element, it's water in its solid state. Of course we need his genes to keep the Long family's bloodline pure and strong. And if you really like him, you should know how potent his affinity with water element is."
"I know, but I don't care. That's the least important aspect for me. He's strong, brave and selfless. In my time of need, he helped me. He's reliable and will always be there for me when I need him. That's all I need to know about him, and not his affinity with whatever elements, or how strong he is or his bloodline."
Myria changed her stance and attacked once more, but Long Fan Xue froze the stream of water.
"It's useless! Water can't beat ice! I'll just freeze every attack you throw at me!"
Myria didn't bother responding to the taunts, instead sending more geysers of water. Long Fan Xue continued freezing and smashing through them, advancing step by cautious step. Slamming her foot against the ground, she conjured a barrage of icicles that Myria shattered with highly pressurized jets of water.
Long Fan Xue never intended for that to be the decisive blow. Instead, it was camouflage for her charge, and she burst through the spiraling shards of broken ice to close in on Myria. The two girls clashed in the center of the stage, thin blade meeting sapphire blade.
"I'll admit that is an impressive treasure weapon," Long Fan Xue said, eying Myria's sword as they exchanged blows. Myria parried a blow before deflecting a thrust. She delivered a riposte that Long Fan Xue batted away. Spinning around, the heiress of the Long family countered with a sweeping cut that forced Myria to jump back before she executed a backhanded swing toward the blue-haired princess's neck. Unfazed, Myria parried it, only for Long Fan Xue to smirk. "Perhaps I might have underestimated your lineage just a little."
Lady, you totally had no idea who you're speaking to. I wondered how Long Fan Xue would react if she ever found out that Myria was a real princess. Her face would probably get slapped.
Long Fan Xue twirled her sword elegantly, thrusting and slashing swiftly. Snow formed and pelted the both of them, making it look as if they were fighting in winter. Swirls of snow puffed up as blades cut through them, throwing up what looked like a blizzard. Myria countered the ice with water, but the moisture simply froze in midair, adding to the flurry of snow that settled over the both of them.
Even so, they shook of the gentle frost, their quick movements abrupt and huge. Blades continued clashing, and the two of them sprang away in a shower of white frost. Long Fan Xue stabbed once more, only for Myria to deflect it. Sliding forward, Myria suddenly rammed her palm into Long Fan Xue's midriff, knocking her back.
"You…!"
Coughing out a mouthful of blood, Long Fan Xue plunged her blade into the ground. I recognized the winter goddess that loomed over her.
"Celestial Blizzard!"
"Finally." Myria was composed as she watched the howling hail sweep toward her position. She held her own sword up and stood her ground. "I was getting tired of waiting for you to use an ultimate technique."
"Don't get cocky, you vixen!" Long Fan Xue snapped. Myria responded with a wry smile as her watery qi flowed around her before taking the form of a gargantuan sea dragon.
"Cocky? Not at all, you thieving fox. I'm going to demonstrate to you why this is the sword that was capable of sealing a Heaven realm dragon."