Chi Yu lay on the ground.
His eyes widened, looking somewhat comical.
Throughout his life, he had never suffered such humiliation, not even when fighting in the imperial capital. He had never retreated so quickly before the weakest prince, Miao Zi.
Chi Yu was unwilling, very unwilling.
His body tensed up, and he rose from the ground, unfurling wings adorned with three thousand flames behind him. With gritted teeth, he spoke in a deep voice.
"I am the glory of my clan. I will tread the path of the emperor. I will become an emperor and lead my clan to rise!"
The intense heat filled the entire realm of the netherworld, with countless flames burning and even igniting the void.
"If it were winter..." Chen Xia said calmly, slowly uttering, "I would gladly call you the number one heater."
"Unfortunately, it is summer," he sighed again and lamented, "and you are somewhat unnecessary."
The flames erupted, increasing in temperature!
Chi Yu shouted angrily, charging with his long flaming tail, like an extremely enraged phoenix, ready to devour everything!
Chen Xia had mentioned before that in extreme anger, a person could display unexpected abilities.
For example, I could feed a tiger with just a shovel.
Unfortunately, Chi Yu was a bird.
Chen Xia extended a single hand, planted his feet firmly, and faced the charging phoenix of flames without any change in his expression.
When someone treats you with brute force, what should you do?
The answer is to be even more brutal.
Fight fire with fire!
Chen Xia used one hand to resist the oncoming flaming phoenix, not budging an inch. He even clenched his five fingers, holding all three thousand flames within his hand!
He took a step forward.
The sea of flames immediately retreated, afraid to advance!
"Go!"
Chen Xia shouted loudly, exerting more force with his hand and suddenly throwing it.
The flames rapidly dissipated as they were thrown, like a flaming meteor cast into the distance, crashing heavily into the ground and stretching for over a thousand meters before finally stopping.
Chi Yu's body was devoid of flames, with only a few flickering embers remaining.
He gasped for air, filled with disbelief, muttering to himself.
"How could this be? Is the gap between me and the prince Miao Zi truly this wide?"
Chen Xia adjusted his slightly charred collar and kindly offered some advice.
"It's possible that the gap between you and me is this wide, and it has nothing to do with Prince Miao Zi."
"Didn't your Dao heart suffer damage? How can you still be this powerful?" Chi Yu asked, incredulous.
Chen Xia retorted indignantly, "Just because my Dao heart is damaged doesn't mean I can't be this powerful. You're just biased against me."
"Kings and ministers all have their roles. Although my Dao heart is damaged, I still possess an invincible spirit!"
Chi Yu looked bewildered, and after a moment, his eyes suddenly sparkled with excitement as he exclaimed, "I've realized it!"
Chen Xia rolled his eyes.
You've realized it again, damn it.
Chi Yu continued to mutter to himself.
Chen Xia had already resolved the crisis of reincarnation and was planning to return to his cave to rest.
"I heard that the two of you were fighting here, so I came to take a look," a voice that Chen Xia least wanted to hear rang out.
The Old Fisherman stood by his side, his eyes constantly assessing and analyzing the situation.
Chen Xia sighed inwardly, sensing trouble once again. In order to avoid arousing suspicion from Old Fisherman, he had no choice but to put on an act.
*Spurt!*
He spat out a mouthful of blood, clutching his heart and gasping for breath as he spoke.
"Chi Yu, you're truly fierce. You managed to injure me to this extent. Fortunately, I narrowly defeated you with a move. Damn it, if it weren't for my damaged Dao heart, I should have won more easily."
Old Fisherman hurriedly expressed concern, saying, "Good disciple, you've done well to achieve this level. Take a good rest now, and I'll bring you some healing elixirs later to repair your Dao heart."
Old Fisherman was delighted that Chen Xia was able to defeat Chi Yu.
Chi Yu was a supreme lineage, one of the three thousand Flame Feather Crows known for their killing prowess, slightly weaker than the Miaozi, the offspring of the Great Emperor.
But Chen Xia's victory over Chi Yu indicated that even with a damaged Dao heart, he was still on par with the Miaozi.
All he needed to do was nurture his Dao heart back to health, and he would still be able to reach the level of a quasi-saint. The efficacy of life-prolonging medicine wouldn't be diminished either.
Old Fisherman's current goal was to "nurture" Chen Xia.
Chen Xia naturally understood this, so he planned to pretend to be ill.
You can't eat when you're sick, after all.
The master and disciple were each deceiving the other.
Only Chi Yu looked at them with a puzzled expression as he watched Chen Xia cough up blood. He wondered what was going on. Did he really injure Chen Xia so severely?
Since Chen Xia himself claimed it was a narrow victory, then it should be true!
With this thought, Chi Yu's heart surged with a heroic spirit, and a confident light gleamed in his eyes as he stood up from the ground.
So, he wasn't as weak as he thought. He had merely lost to Chen Xia and left him with injuries.
I'm only a step away from being the Miaozi.
Chi Yu's intelligent mind quickly worked, and he arrived at a conclusion.
He possessed the aura of a Great Emperor!
While Chen Xia continued to feign illness, he saw Chi Yu suddenly stand up like a gust of wind, staring at him with a radiant expression.
He was taken aback, unsure of what this fiery bird was up to now.
Old Fisherman, with his hands behind his back, offered heartfelt advice from the side.
"Some level of competition is necessary. After all, everything on the path to becoming an emperor is obtained through struggle. If you don't fight or seize opportunities, others will. You don't want to become a stepping stone for other Miaozi, do you? So, you must engage in battles now to further temper your Dao heart."
"However..." Old Fisherman glanced at the blood-spattered Chen Xia, pondering his words.
Chen Xia quickly coughed up another mouthful of blood, emphasizing the severity of his injuries.
Old Fisherman continued, "There should be a limit to the conflicts as well. After all, it's only a fight within the sect among fellow disciples, not a real life-or-death battle outside."
"In a situation like yours where you've sustained such heavy injuries, it's unnecessary. It could have been completely avoided."
"Alright, alright." Chen Xia nodded, understanding the situation while considering whether to cough up another mouthful of blood.
Fortunately, Old Fisherman didn't linger for long. After a few more words of comfort, he departed.
Clutching his chest, Chen Xia limped towards his cave dwelling, pretending to be injured.
Chi Yu quickly caught up to him, wearing an arrogant expression.
"I didn't expect you to be so seriously injured. It's my fault for not exerting enough strength. But you are extraordinary too, to have narrowly defeated me so quickly, even with a damaged Daoxin."
At this point, a divine light burst forth from Chi Yu's eyes as he spoke with unparalleled arrogance.
"I, Chi Yu, will regard you as the strongest competitor on the path to becoming an Emperor!"
Chen Xia was taken aback and hesitated, "Uh...?"
"Have you misunderstood something?"
Misunderstood something?
Chi Yu didn't know, but he didn't care. With a single-minded focus, he only wanted to achieve the path of the Emperor. His remarks to Chen Xia were just a passing comment.
However, out of gratitude for Chen Xia's guidance, he decided that when the future Emperor's path opened, he wouldn't go all out against Chen Xia in the competition for the Emperor's throne.
That was Chi Yu's pride.
Why should we envy the position of kings and dukes? I, Chi Yu, also possess the bearing of an Emperor!