"Get down here, Mo Xuanxiao!" he barked unceremoniously.
The crowd's first reaction was that this student was tired of living. To dare challenge Crown Prince Mo less than a year after entering the academy. And knowing Mo Xuanxiao's temperament, he'd likely kill this student after the challenge.
*Slap! Slap! Slap!*
To everyone's surprise, Mo Xuanxiao, occupying the fourth seat, actually applauded. A sinister glint flashed in his eyes, and he leaped from his seat, landing on the martial arts stage. He struck a mocking pose upon arrival.
"Imperial Brother, oh no, I should call you former Prince now. After all, you're no longer part of the royal family. Hahahaha!"
With that, Mo Xuanxiao erupted into unrestrained laughter. He deliberately spoke loudly, wanting everyone in the audience to know that the one challenging him was Mo Qian, the former prince who had an affair with a concubine, shamed the royal family, and was expelled.
"Former Prince? Is he Mo Qian!"
"Why is he at the Four Symbols Academy, and how dare he get on the stage? His skin is incredibly thick."
"To commit such a disgraceful act as a prince, it's no wonder he was expelled from the royal family."
Mo Xuanxiao noticed the stir in the audience and smirked, clearly relishing the prospect of Mo Qian's humiliation. However, Mo Qian remained unfazed, his gaze fixed on a single goal: defeating Mo Xuanxiao and clearing his name.
Shortly after Mo Xuanxiao took the stage, Mo Qian charged forward, initiating the attack.
"You're asking for death!"
Mo Xuanxiao sneered at Mo Qian, who was rushing to his doom. He met the charge head-on, drawing the Mo Yuan Sword from his spatial ring and slashing at Mo Qian.
Mo Qian's eyes widened slightly. The Mo Yuan Sword was a heritage spiritual artifact of the Mo Yuan Empire. Its appearance in Mo Xuanxiao's hands meant their father had already acknowledged him and truly intended to hand over the throne and the empire to Mo Xuanxiao.
"Father, you've disappointed me so much," Mo Qian murmured, shaking his head.
He then channeled spiritual energy into his leg and swept it out, shattering Mo Xuanxiao's protective spiritual barrier. Simultaneously, he kicked away the Mo Yuan Sword from Mo Xuanxiao's grasp. The entire sequence was so swift that Mo Xuanxiao had no time to react. Mo Qian then grabbed his hair and violently slammed Mo Xuanxiao's head into the ground. With a thunderous thud, Mo Qian's force created a deep crater on the stage. Mo Xuanxiao's face, hitting the ground first, was instantly bloodied, and his teeth were scattered like loose pebbles.
The onlookers shivered, thinking how ruthless he was.
"You... how... are you so strong...!" Mo Xuanxiao could barely speak through his injuries.
But Mo Qian gave him no respite, slamming his head into the ground several more times.
"Stop... stop it... I'll die at this rate!" Mo Xuanxiao's former dignity as the fourth-ranked seat was gone. Under the eyes of everyone present, he begged for mercy, utterly disgraced.
Mo Qian threatened, "If you don't reveal the truth, I'll kill you right here!"
"You wouldn't dare!" Duan Xuan, acting as the host, exclaimed in anger as her words were ignored.
"Do you think Elder Duan Xuan can save you in time?" Mo Qian continued his threat. Mo Xuanxiao looked at the hand pressed on his head, knowing Mo Qian could crush his skull with a slight surge of spiritual energy. In that moment, Elder Duan Xuan would certainly not be able to intervene. Thus, he shouted with all his might, "I'll talk! I'll talk! Don't kill me..."
"Mo Qian did not have an affair with Father's concubine. I deliberately framed him. My goal was to seize the position of Crown Prince. His expulsion from the royal family was also my doing..."
The truth sent shockwaves through the audience.
"What? Mo Qian's scandal was fake!"
"Then Mo Qian must have suffered immensely, bearing all that slander and being expelled from the royal family."
"Crown Prince Mo is so insidious, framing his own imperial brother."
Upon hearing the truth, many began to pity Mo Qian and felt a surge of anger towards Mo Xuanxiao. Mo Xuanxiao thought that once he revealed the truth, Mo Qian would spare him. To his horror, Mo Qian turned, picked up the fallen Mo Yuan Sword, and approached him step by step with a chilling gaze. Terrified, Mo Xuanxiao's nose and tears streamed down his face as he desperately grabbed at the ground.
"Don't... don't... don't come closer, Brother Mo Qian, the Crown Prince. At most, I'll return the position of Crown Prince to you. Don't kill me."
Seeing the escalating situation, Duan Xuan attempted to intervene immediately. After all, the Dean of the Vermilion Bird Academy was watching, and she absolutely could not allow a death to occur on the stage. However, Mo Qian suddenly plunged the Mo Yuan Sword into the ground mere centimeters from Mo Xuanxiao's nose. Mo Xuanxiao's eyes widened in terror, and his breathing hitched.
"Crown Prince? Heh, I don't care for it!"
"From the moment I was expelled from the royal family, I ceased to be a prince. True nobility and honor are earned through one's own struggles."
"You are merely a group of useless degenerates who feast on the glorious achievements of your ancestors, scoundrels and brutes. No amount of fine clothes can hide the true ugliness and baseness within you. You are not fit to be Crown Prince, and Father is not fit to be King."
These impassioned words expressed not only Mo Qian's inner resentment but also his disgust for the Mo Yuan Empire's royal family. Since his expulsion and life on the streets, he had witnessed scenes of utter desolation in a ruined city, where children fought wild dogs for a moldy piece of bread, and the very roots of trees for miles around had been gnawed bare. Meanwhile, the royal officials lived in comfort, enjoying the fruits of the common people's hard labor. In Mo Qian's eyes, the Mo Yuan Empire was ailing, and his father had descended into utter senility. The Mo Yuan Empire was being consumed and ravaged by officials and nobles in human skin, devouring their ancestral legacy. He had to change all of this.
Mo Qian turned his back to Mo Xuanxiao and said in a cold, menacing tone, "Go back and tell Father, I will return one day and drag him from his high position!"
Mo Xuanxiao was too stunned to speak. He believed Mo Qian had gone mad, daring to oppose their father and challenge the entire Mo Yuan Empire!
Thus, under the stunned gazes of the crowd, Mo Qian became the fourth seat of the Vermilion Bird Academy.
"Oh my, I certainly didn't come here for nothing. The seat battles in the Vermilion Bird Academy are certainly much more interesting now," said Liu Mu Ming from the audience, still the picture of someone who enjoyed chaos.
The top ten seats of the Vermilion Bird Academy were now largely settled. Although Li Jianxing and Mo Qian had emerged as unexpected variables, no one else dared to challenge for the remaining seats afterward. Both Liu Fuyao and the sub-dean were quite satisfied with this outcome.