“Oi, oi, oi! What the heck just happened?! Her Highness is like a completely different person now!”

Li Hua was standing up now, leaning over the railing as she stared at the battle in pure disbelief. Her eyes were bulging. Yu Chenguang had never seen his wife look so shocked before. It was kind of hilarious, actually, but he knew better than to say anything.

“The difference between how Her Highness fought before and how she’s fighting now is like heaven and earth,” Liu Heifeng agreed. Unlike his other wife, she remained calm as she analyzed Hou Jingshu’s new fighting style.

It really is different…

Yu Chenguang watched in awe as the woman charged forward with reckless abandon. She swung her spear without any of the elegance she had used previously, but in exchange for the complete lack of elegance and poise, her speed and strength had received an explosive increase. The air was practically screaming as she cut it.

Hou Chao didn’t have time to dodge. He could only raise his staff to block, but the attack was so powerful that he was launched clean off his feet. He screamed in surprise. Hou Jingshu didn’t remain idle as her brother soared through the air. She blasted off the arena floor, her movements so explosive that cracks appeared on the ground, and quickly raced past him. Her smile looked nothing like the princess he had come to know as she raised her spear and swung it like a bat.

Despite his precarious position, Hou Chao was able to swing himself around. He gritted his teeth as his staff ignited with flames. He swung it to meet Hou Jingshu’s attack. Fire and shockwaves caused the arena to tremble and the temperature to rise. Hou Chao was once more blasted into the air. He not only had the disadvantage in position, being up in the air with no traction, but also lacked the strength Hou Jingshu was now displaying.

“Hey… is it just me, or is Her Highness's cultivation rising?” asked Li Hua.

“It’s not just you.” Yu Chenguang shook his head in shock. “Her Highness was only at the ninth subrealm of the Asura Realm… but now she’s pushing into the half-a-step Human Limit Realm.”

“Damn. That girl has got game! I didn’t realize she was so amazing,” Li Hua whistled.

Hou Chao was now high above the arena floor, having been launched away by Hou Jingshu’s incredible swing. He looked mad. His face was burning red.

“Damn you!!!”

With an enraged shout, Hou Chao released his chi, which engulfed his staff. Yu Chenguang raised an eyebrow as the boy took aim and threw his weapon at Hou Jingshu. The attack was fast. It raced toward the ground like a lightning bolt. However, it should have been easy enough for Her Highness to dodge.

Except she didn’t.

Still grinning like she was having the time of her life, Hou Jingshu held out her free hand and spread her fingers wide. The staff slammed into her palm. Flames burst like a tidal wave and swept over the young woman.

Yu Chenguang stood to his feet in shock. What was Her Highness doing?! Even if she was stronger now, taking an attack head on like that was insane! It was reckless! Not even he would do something so crazy unless he had no choice.

And yet, as the flames and smoke cleared, Yu Chenguang’s worries were replaced with shock. Hou Jingshu was fine. Her clothes were a little burnt, but she was uninjured. The staff that her brother was thrown remained in the palm of her hand, and her fingers were clasped around the end to hold it aloft.

Hou Chao landed back on the ground. He looked like he had just seen the ghost of his ancestors.

“What… the in the nine heavens…? That’s impossible!”

“Oh, brother. You seem to have dropped something,” Hou Jingshu said in a singsong voice. She tossed the staff, caught it, then spread her feet wide as she prepared to throw it. “Here. You can have it back.”

Her throwing form was quite beautiful, but that beauty was marred by how deadly her throw was. Yu Chenguang could barely even see the staff as it roared through the sky like a dragon in flight. Hou Chao screamed as he scrambled out of the way. The spear flew past where he stood, shockwaves pulsing as it broke the sound barrier, then slammed into the wall with concussive force.

Yu Chenguang looked at the staff, now embedded into the wall. He shifted uncomfortably. This arena was supposed to have a barrier that stopped techniques from reaching the audience, but it did nothing against physical attacks. That staff would have been stopped if she had used even a little chi in her throw.

Which means she didn’t enhance her body with chi. That was pure muscle. Just what sort of ridiculous strength is that? Is this the true power of her cultivation method? Nine Heavenly Dragons Embodiment, a method said to embody the strength and pride of a dragon. What a terrifying cultivation method.

“Her Highness has gone insane,” Li Hua said.

“What are you saying?! Big Sis is so cool! Look at how strong she is,” Yu Mao declared. The girl practically had stars in her eyes.

“Please don’t ever become like Her Highness,” Liu Heifeng said blandly.

“What? Why not?!”

Yu Chenguang shook his head at their conversation. Her Highness certainly looked like she had lost her marbles. The young woman was grinning from ear to ear, and her opponent looked ready to piss himself. Hou Chao was sitting on his butt, his knees shaking. He wondered if she was even aware of how frightened her brother was of her right now. She probably didn’t even realize it. It was like she had become lost in the ecstasy of battle.

Is this a result of her cultivation as well? I hope she doesn’t lose herself to battle lust.

***

What the hell is this? What in the name of King Yama is going on?!

Hou Chao could scarcely comprehend what had happened. One second, he was on the verge of winning, his victory all but assured, and the next, he was getting beaten up like a ragdoll. He could barely keep up with everything that was happening.

“Pay attention, brother!”

“EEEEEK!”

Hou Jingshu had leapt into the air when he wasn’t looking. Her ominous shadow alerted him to the danger. He scrambled out of the way as she plunged spear first into the arena floor. Her spear sliced straight through hard tile like it was butter. How was that even possible?! This tile was supposed to be capable of withstanding even a Human Limit Realm Cultivator, so why was she destroying it so easily?!

“Ah…”

Hou Chao froze when Hou Jingshu turned to look his way. Primal terror like nothing else welled up inside of him. He was so afraid that his body even forgot to breathe.

Hou Jingshu’s eyes had changed. They were still blue, but her pupils had turned into black slits. They looked reptilian. He’d seen lizard type magical beasts with similar pupils. What was going on here? And was he just seeing things, or were scales beginning to appear around her face and hands? He wanted to rub his eyes to double check, but he was afraid she would be on him before he could even do something.

Hou Jingshu stood up, yanked her spear from the floor, and held it over her shoulder. Her demeanor was almost overbearing. The pressure she exuded pushed on Hou Chao like a mountain. Just breathing was hard now. He had never felt anything like this.

“Are you just gonna sit there? Our battle isn’t over yet,” she said.

“Eh?”

Hou Chao almost jolted at her words, but then his cheeks began burning with shame. This little girl was looking down on him! His little sister was looking down on him! How dare she?!

“How dare you make me feel this way…” he muttered under his breath.

“Excuse me? You’re gonna have to speak up. I can’t hear you.”

“You dare… mock me?!” Hou Chao climbed to his feet. His knees were trembling, but he couldn’t tell if it was anger or fear. “How dare you mock me! Who do you think you are?! You’re just a monster in disguise! How dare you look down on me! How dare you mock me! I’ll show you! I won’t lose to you!”

Hou Jingshu bit her lip for a moment. She looked truly hurt. Hou Chao hesitated to say more.

He had always blamed Hou Jingshu for their mother’s death, even though he knew it wasn’t her fault. She had no more wished for their mother’s death than he had. Yet he had blamed her anyway. When he was younger, he had been too young to understand, and as he got older, he had become so used to blaming her that it felt natural. This wasn’t the first time he had called her a monster, but now it felt like maybe he had crossed the line.

“A monster, am I?”

And yet the look on Hou Jingshu’s face soon vanished, replaced by a wide grin. Uh… were her teeth sharper than he remembered? Those canines looked like they could tear through flesh.

“I think you’ve got it wrong, brother. I’m not a monster.”

Her skin began glowing with a bright golden hue as lines of chi ran across her face, neck, and arms, forming into the shape of scales. Dragon scales. More changes soon overcame her. Ethereal chi projections extended from her back and forehead. They took the shape of wings, a tail, and two sloping horns that curved around her head like a crown.

“I’m a dragon.”

Hou Jingshu launched herself forward so fast that Hou Chao had no time to even put up a defense. He didn’t even see her as she slammed into his stomach, but he sure as hell felt her fist when it became embedded in his flesh. He bit back a gasp. It felt like his insides were being liquified.

Hou Jingshu must have put all of her strength into that attack. He was launched clear off the ground. His vision blurred for a moment as he soared through the air. It only came back when a shadow appeared above him. He had just enough time to see Hou Jingshu, her body twisting around as she brought down her heel upon his chest.

He would have screamed if he could. His chest seemed to cave in as he was blasted into the arena floor. Tiles shattered around him as the breath was stolen from his lungs. He didn’t have the oxygen to cry out, but tears welled up in his eyes.

What did I do to deserve this…?

Hou Chao rolled onto his stomach as Hou Jingshu landed on the ground by his feet. She wasn’t carrying her spear. She must have stored it inside of her ring. He gnashed his teeth together and tried to crawl away. His legs weren’t working and his chest felt like it was on fire. Several of his ribs were obviously broken.

Before he could get too far, a hand grabbed his left leg. He looked down, and his eyes bulged when he saw a hand covered in golden scales and claws gripping him.

“NOOOOOO!”

He tried to scramble away, but it was no use, for the hand was far too strong.

Hou Jingshu lifted Hou Chao as easily as an adult might lift a child… except he was being held by his leg. He dangled upside down as Hou Jingshu gazed into his face with her now reptilian eyes. Her face was no longer smiling. That just made the terror welling up in his chest grow.

“You have always hated me ever since our mother died. I never forgot all the things you called me. Murderer. Killer. Monster. You can’t imagine how much it hurt to have my own flesh and blood call me that. I would cry myself to sleep every night. You’re half the reason Father sent me away to the countryside. Yet no matter how many times you hurt me, I still loved you. You are my brother, after all.”

Hou Chao twitched as he listened. He didn’t know how to feel. Should he say something? What would he say? What could he say?

“However, this and that are two different things. I don’t like hurting you, but I am going to win this match, and I am going to relish this victory.”

“Huh…?”

Hou Chao felt only a single moment of confusion. Then something hard and vicious slammed into his face and everything went black.