Writer Eternal: Happy Father's Day. Double chapter release.

Chapter 4: Street Fight

"Isn't this a little excessive?" a teen asked as he walked out of a clothing store in the imperial capital.

"You are a duke. Of course you must buy multiple spare uniforms for the academy. It is the third best in the empire, but the academy founded four dynasties ago. Its roots are deep, enough for the current dynasty to fear and respect it," Xin answered as they walked through the street. "As a duke, you are pretty rich. This uncle will be sure to taste the finest wine in the capital. Been a while since I've been here."

"Capital is bustling. Why are all the tiles red and with so much Chinese architecture?" Cong Wei asked.

"You know about that? Well, rumor has it the chief architect in charge of building the new capital came from another world that recently connected to the rest of the Mortal Realm around five hundred years ago. That world is Earth and had many cultures that influenced our world. As for the red tiles and clothes everyone wears, the main affinity of the imperial clan is fire. It is pretty much guaranteed that all those with imperial descent are born with a fire attribute spirit root, at least. Our clan is nothing in comparison," Xin sighed.

His uncle had visited the academy as Wei bought his uniforms and bid him farewell after giving him a storage ring full of gold and silver coins. Within was also a sword skill Wei picked yesterday before arriving at the capital. As Cong Wei walked through the street, he didn't notice the mortals subconsciously avoid his path.

This caught the eye of the cultivators in the street. As one young man used his spirit energy to probe Wei, he cried out in fear. He felt like he had walked onto a battlefield drenched with blood, hundreds of thousands of bodies around him. Cong Wei felt like a reaper of death and the boy sat down and held his knees as he trembled violently.

Similar reactions occurred for many cultivators. Those with more experience discerned it was killing intent, but how could such horrifying killing intent originate from such a young man? Some sect disciples wearing blue robes sensed Wei and barred his path. The mortals fled the street as cultivators remained to witness the coming struggle.

"You are a monster! How can you have such killing intent!" one of the blue sect disciples cried out, drawing his sword to point it at Cong Wei.

Wei looked around and pointed at himself, saying, "Me?"

"Yes. You! How many people have you killed to have such killing intent?" the other nine sect disciples roared, also drawing their swords.

"I am Han Cong Wei, a duke of the southern territories of the empire. Who are you to instigate me?" Wei growled, drawing his sword from his white jade ring. The cultivators stared at the green azure, crystal-like steel toward the point of the sword.

"Confess your crime or be punished by us disciples of the Northern Sword Sect!" one of the disciples roared. Many in the audience murmured as the Northern Sword Sect was one of the top five in the northern territories of the empire.

Some sighed as sect members were involved. The empire allowed such conflicts only if sect members only represented their sect and no third party. Sect conflicts were to be left alone only if no mortals were harmed.

"If I were to tell you I took over a thousand lives, would you believe me?" Cong Wei asked, his killing intent radiating a blood mist from his body. For his killing intent to manifest, many cultivators were shocked. Han Cong Wei was only a peak ninth layer condensation cultivator, but such a weak cultivator already took so many lives?

If they learned he killed a million souls, some even at the top cultivation in the Mortal Realm, just what would their reactions be?

Four of the sect disciples were at the eighth layer while the remaining six were at the seventh layer. Sects had lower cultivation requirements, but valued talent more. Confident with their numbers, they charged at Wei with the intent to kill.

"For justice!" one of the sect disciples cried, raising his sword. It was when he created an opening that Wei shot a lightning arrow to the boy's chest directly below the raised arm. The lightning arrow went right through him before hitting the chest of a disciple behind him. Both suffered violent spasms on the ground before losing consciousness.

Wei spared their lives as he could have easily used his spell at full power and killed them on contact due to his higher cultivation. The crowd was surprised and wondered if Wei really was a killer or whether there was more to him than they realized.

"You hurt them!" one of the female disciples shouted. Evidently, the disciples were shocked as lightning spells were both rare, swift, and destructive.

"You are trying to kill me. They're lucky I didn't kill them. I did nothing wrong. Those I killed were sentenced to death. This is merely self-defense. I have a spell I never tried before. Do you really want me to test it on you?" Wei asked, trying to scare them away.

"What are you doing? Get him!" their leader, a peak eighth disciple yelled as he pointed at Wei. Wei sighed as the remaining five seventh layer disciples charged and easily defeating them with a lightning arrow each. Like the previous two, they suffered a violent spasm from the lightning energy before fainting.

He used the fireball spell for the first time, one of the eighth layer disciples suffering severe burns as he lost consciousness by the blast of the fireball. The explosion caught the sleeve of one of the remaining three disciples, Wei taking advantage by charging and hitting the boy with the side of his sword as the boy cut off the burning sleeve.

"Are you a mage? Is your sword just a trinket? Fight like a man!" the leader shouted, rage clouding his reason as his remaining ally was an early eighth layer disciple.

"Senior," his friend began but was silenced with a glare.

"We are on the side of justice! Go!" the leader roared and the due charged once more. Wei narrowed his eyes and released four lightning arrows at their feet. As they were forced to jump into the air, he released two fireballs.

The crowd was shocked as Wei used his lightning spell instantaneously while taking more time to cast his fireballs. It was obvious that Wei mastered the lightning spell to a large degree, but his fireball spell was even more powerful. Some among them realized it was because Wei had element attribute spirit roots. How else could he cast such basic spells with such power?

The two disciples felt their robes burn as they were knocked back by the blast. Their eyes widened as Wei ran towards them. They hurried to defend themselves, but Wei easily knocked their swords out of the way. As the leader fell to the ground by a low kick, Wei chopped at the neck with his left hand towards the other disciple.

As the disciple coughed and bent forward from the pain and lack of air, Wei smashed the pommel of his sword into the back of the head. The blow knocked the disciple out before the leader stood up from the ground.

"You bastard! Do you know who---" the leader screamed, but was cut off by a push kick to the chest. The disciple clutched his chest and reached out to a sword laying on the ground. He yelled in pain once more as Wei stabbed his sword through the palm of his hand.

"Justice? You picked a fight with me, a duke. I will have my justice by stripping you of all that you own. When you wake up, you and your friends keep your lives but lose your reputation. Justice my ass," Wei snarled as he stomped on the leader's groin, kicking the head like a soccer ball as the tormented boy bent forward from the pain. Wei felt nothing as he took the storage bags and rings of the disciples before walking away.

As Wei disappeared from sight, guards in shining red metal armor arrived. Upon their arrival, mortals and cultivators alike knelt. These were no mere guards. They were imperial guards and they had come for a purpose. The imperial guards surrounded the unconscious disciples and one of the guards woke them up by releasing a pool of water to drench them all.

"Argh," the leader yelled as pain was the first thing to enter his mind. All the disciples quaked with fear as they recognized the guards, the leader's eyes paling as he could see the glare in their eyes when he recovered.

"You have dared to assault a duke of the empire in the capital on grounds not afflicting the secular world of cultivators. Your actions disturbed the piece and business of mortal business men in the imperial capital. On behalf of his Imperial Majesty, you are under arrest for spiting imperial law and instigating one of his men without justifiable cause. Your sect will be notified and a penalty given to both the duke and His Imperial Majesty," one of the imperial guards stated.

"Wait. Our items are gone. In my spatial ring is a few inheritances of the Northern Sword Sect. I was on a mission to retrieve it from an elder in the capital," the leader cried out.

"He was weak, all of you even weaker. Spirit condensation cultivators are not true cultivators in our eyes. Matters of the secular world do not matter to us either. You lost and kept your lives in exchange for your items. Your losses are within reason. Detain them!" another imperial guard ordered.

"Senior, what do we do? The duke has the inheritances," one of the disciples despaired as they were cuffed and dragged in chains.

"I'm doomed. Doomed," the leader wept, knowing his future was gone. He'd be lucky to have death once the sect found out.

A man in a luxurious red leather jacket appeared at the scene, seemingly invisible even to the cultivators. The imperial guards detected his presence but made no movements to him as they had their duties. The man paused as he detected the faint spirit energy of Wei. It was still lingering in the air, proof of its undying property. Most of all, the man detected the dark azure and black spirit energy to belong to the light attribute. Undying property and light attribute spirit energy? This was spirit energy mutation!

"My academy actually recruited such a talent using a backdoor method? If the letter from yesterday is true, this crippled youth really underwent a miraculous recovery. Spirit energy mutation is only possible by eating a rare fruit in the immortal ruins. I must see this boy!" the man nodded, waving his hand to remove all traces before leaving.

Five men were secretly trailing Wei and were unnoticed by the people around them. They were the ones who alerted the guards when they saw ten sect disciples bar Wei's path. It was precisely Xin and four of the Han Clan elders. All five men were shocked by the sudden change in Wei and followed him to see him safely to the academy.

What most surprised them was Wei's killing intent and ruthlessness. They feared he would kill the disciples, but he saw them as trash and left them alive. The men began to question what happened to Han Cong Wei as him having a drastic change was not enough to describe the difference in personality and bearing. This Han Cong Wei was confident, proud, and had a true noble air around him.

"I'm dreaming, right? How could the young duke be so different?" one of the elders gasped as they continued to follow him.

"You recognized what happened in the area, right? His spirit energy still lingered. His spirit energy even has an attribute. At first, I believed a devil possessed the young duke's body and remade his potential. However, I saw the light essence in his spirit energy. There are even two! Lord Xin, what is that dark azure and black spirit light essence?" another nodded and commented.

"I.....don't know. Spirit energy mutation is the rarest for a body to possess. Forget ghosts, even demons would feel weakened by his spirit energy. Two of you remain here while I lead the rest of us to the imperial palace to await the judgment on those sect brats," Xin growled. "Join us as soon as Cong Wei safely walks through the academy gates. Of the numerous talents in our clan, Wei falls short to Chen but bears the duke title. These two are the pillars of the next generation."

"Understood," two elders bowed as three among them swiftly vanished from sight.