When Yun Ling got onto the stage, the emperor handed him a small box, which, he received gratefully.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Yun Ling said with a bow.

The emperor smiled at him.

“I am very pleased with your performance in the Golden Dragon Election, Yun Ling,” the emperor said sincerely. “Although you lost in the end, do not be discouraged. Use this experience as an opportunity to learn and fix your shortcomings. Once you’ve done this, you will surely get stronger as a result. Though you are a Divine Being, it doesn’t mean that you can’t lose. In life, there are times which you will experience a loss whether you are a Divine Being or not. Everybody goes through that. The most important thing, however, is to not give up on yourself and let that loss affect you negatively. If you lose, stand up. Find out why you lost. Then, do it again.”

Yun Ling looked at the emperor in surprise.

“I will, Your Majesty. There’s no way I’ll give up on myself,” Yun Ling said seriously.

The emperor was pleased with his response. He then looked towards the other top placers and said, “My words aren’t meant for Yun Ling only. It is also meant for you guys either. Do not ever give up on yourself. If you do that, that is when you truly lose. Not because you’ve been defeated by another, but because you’ve given up on yourself.”

“We understand, Your Majesty,” the top placers said in unison.

“You may now go back to your seat,” the emperor said to Yun Ling as he gestured towards his seat.

Yun Ling bowed to him once again before he walked down the stage.

“Next is the winner of the Golden Dragon Election, Yun Yi,” the emperor said after Yun Ling had gone down.

Upon hearing the emperor mention his name, Yun Yi stood up and went towards the stage.

While he was on his way there, he and Yun Ling—who was currently heading back towards his seat—crossed paths with each other.

With a smile, Yun Ling said to his cousin, “Congratulations, Yun Yi.”

“Thanks… Young Master,” Yun Yi responded before he went up the stage.

Yun Ling continued on his way and sat down as he watched Yun Yi received his reward from the emperor. He no longer felt regretful that he lost to Yun Yi since he had already accomplished what he was primarily aiming for in the competition… or more like, Yun Yi accomplished it for him.

That was to get resources for Yun Xia so she could finally start cultivating with the best resources on hand.

“Congratulations for winning the Golden Dragon Election, Yun Yi. You have become quite a hero in the people’s eyes for defeating a Divine Genius that is born every ten thousand years. For getting the first place, and defeating the Divine Genius, you have accomplished a great feat,” the emperor said to him.

“Thank you very much, Your Majesty. I didn’t win purely because of my efforts alone. The other participants had a hand on why I won, more specifically, the crown prince and Yu Shan. It was all thanks to them for wearing out the strongest participant in the Golden Dragon Election, thereby, allowing me to win against him,” Yun Yi said humbly before the emperor.

“You are way too humble. Even if they wore him out, not just anyone could accomplish that feat even if they were in your position,” the emperor responded kindly. “I don’t have many words I can say to you for you are already aware of what you need to work on. Instead, I will just say this. Do your best and keep improving yourself every chance you get.”

Since Yun Yi already knew that he won because Yun Ling had been worn out from his fight against Yu Shan and his son, Jin Zhen, he would surely continue training himself so he could beat Yun Ling on his own next time. That was what the emperor saw in Yun Yi’s eyes. The desire to get stronger and stronger until he could be truly proud of his win against Yun Ling.

“I will, Your Majesty.”

“Later, I will send someone to give you what you had requested from me,” the emperor said. He didn’t have time to prepare another set of resources with the same amount Yun Yi got since he didn’t know that would be his request.

Yun Yi expressed his gratitude to the emperor.

“You may now go down and go back to your seat.” the emperor told him with a nod.

Yun Yi bowed at him before going down the stage.

After Yun Yi got down, the emperor took a few seconds to compose himself.

He looked at the Sacred Kings and said, “Since we’re finally done, this meeting is adjourned.”

…

When they got home, Yun Ling went to his room to change into more comfortable clothing. After that, he went towards Yue Dongmei’s room where Yun Xia was currently staying to watch over Yue Dongmei.

Yun Ling opened the door to Yue Dongmei’s room and saw Yun Xia sleeping beside Yue Dongmei, her head resting on her hand.

He let out a smile at that.

“Snow Fang, did anyone suspicious come near the clan?” he asked Snow Fang who had just appeared beside him.

Snow Fang shook his head.

“There were no suspicious activities inside and outside the clan while you were out, Young Master,” Snow Fang said.

“I see…” Yun Ling muttered. “Thank you for keeping guard, Snow Fang. I really appreciate it.”

“It’s nothing much, Young Master.”

Yun Ling then fell deep in thought after speaking to Snow Fang.

He couldn’t help but recall a certain someone’s actions in the Rose Garden.

He narrowed his eyes as he thought, “Yun Yi, what is happening to you? You are acting way too suspicious.”

Yun Ling thought he knew his cousin best. But this time, he couldn’t understand what Yun Yi was up to. There were too many things that caused him to be suspicious towards him.

“I will observe him for now…” he decided. He was slowly getting wary of Yun Yi and if this continued…

He will confront him about it.