1 first encounter

His eyes shot open. He quickly turned around and he noticed the person. Something seemed to click within him. 

Click

His face flushed up slightly, but it was barely noticeable. He looked behind him casually, trying not to show any emotion on his face. Something in his brain suddenly felt like exploding. His eyes shook silently in their sockets. 

There was just one problem about this beauty. 'She' was in fact a 'he'. 

---

"Are males that short… it doesn't make any sense…" The boy wondered. It was pretty clear that the person was a male. While he was still 'short' he was still slightly taller than the girls around him. He had a slight smile on his face as he talked to his friend. The boy told himself again that this person… couldn't possibly be female. His clothes had been rather loose and you could see a part of his chest. Definitely, definitely not female. However… that didn't make this mysterious person any less breath taking to the boy. 

"Yue Yang? Stop spacing out. Are you ill?" His friend, Zi Zhen called. 

"No… I'm fine." Yue Yang resumed his composure and wiped off any evidence that could have shown on his face that someone had caught his eye. Yet… Zi Zhen still noticed the quick rearrangement of his features and chuckled. 

"Which one from that group is it? None of them there are particularly gorgeous though?" Yue Yang blinked. Tsk. That was just if you saw the girls around there. The male there was honestly so beautiful it would be hard to miss him. 

Yue Yang's face curved down into disgust. "No." Zi Zhen couldn't understand. Wasn't he clearly staring at someone from the group? 

"CROWN PRINCE! WE WELCOME YOU TO OUR ESTABLISHMENT!" The male jumped. Yue Yang's eyes widened slightly and he cocked an eyebrow up. 

Crown Prince? 

"There's no need for greeting. I'm just here to learn like any other person… there is really no need." The male's face flushed red with embarrassment and the person who had come to greet him bowed again. 

Eventually, the words grew softer and softer and Yue Yang couldn't hear the conversation anymore. Crown Prince? No wonder he was so beautiful. 

"Eh… It's odd. I don't remember the crown Prince of Yu having strong magical abilities…" Yue Yang turned his head slightly to hear the conversation next to him. Huh? 

"Yes… his magic was always quite weak. He's honestly barely a man. I heard it's hard from him to wield a sword properly!" 

"Is it that serious? I thought it was simply the amount of power he was born with!" 

"He's got nothing but a pretty face honestly. I wonder how he got here. I've never heard him being praised for his cultivation." 

"It's true all he has… is a pretty fa-" The first male was cut off by a flying purple curved dagger. It was smoking and it pinned the poor boy to a nearby tree. His neck rested in the space of the curve of the blade and the tree trunk. 

"Forgive me, I don't mind any rumours or whatever other frivolous things that anyone has said but… I hate being judged based on just my face." The male called the knife back with his index finger calmly and the knife flew back happily. He raised his left arm and let the sword hover over his glowing palm before the knife slowly vanished in the air. 

Yue Yang, after seeing this whole scene, felt slightly guilty. He hadn't known the male at all. He was in a way no different from the two boys. Simply looking the prince for his face. The second boy who had been gossiping turned to Yue Yang and murmured. 

"Teach him a lesson will you. He's so arrogant. It must be that he took some magical enhancing pill. He didn't use a proper sword. Disgusting." Yue Yang blinked. Did it really matter anyways? At the end of the day, he still seemed quite strong. 

"Who is he?" Yue Yang asked cautiously, making sure he didn't sound too awestruck by the prince. It was hard to not be amazed by him though. He was beautiful and he seemed… pretty cool. 

"Bi Jing. You don't know Yu Zi?" Yue Han shook his head. He had heard of the famous Kingdom, but barely. He had lived most of life in the phoenix village, training. It was a pure, beautiful stroke of luck that he even managed to get out and go to this cultivation school under the esteemed cultivator Ling Wu. 

Bi Zhen… it was a beautiful name. But... didn't 'Zhen镇' mean tranquil? How ironic.

Yue Yang struggled to keep in a tiny chuckle. 

"Never mind. He's just so arrogant though… I don't recall his magic being purple though! He must have done something! You're one of the best cultivators here, go and put him in his place!" Yue Yang struggled not to roll his eyes and kept a polite smile on his face. He had no interest. 

"Sorry, but I don't feel the need. You are welcome to do so yourself. No one is stopping you. It's not like he is my property and only I can inflict damage on him. Do it yourself." Yue Yang realised how strange that last part had sounded. Zi Zhen looked over in interest and he found Yue Yang's last comment slightly disturbing too. Yue Yang would never say anything so unrefined about somebody. It was clear that there truly was something hiding around hovering in his brain. 

"Yue Yang… are you a cut sleeve?" Yue Han looked at Zi Zhen with a shocked face. He creased it slightly to make his shock seem more as if he was offended but his facial muscles seemed to get stuck and he instead turned slightly red. He. Was doomed.

"Eh? So… the person you had your eye on wasn't any of those ladies but… on the prince?" Yue Yang never felt so embarrassed before. Zi Zhen knew him too well. 

"I'm not one! I simply… just kind of like him…" Yue Yang's speech was now no longer eloquent. It was full of pauses and it wasn't like him at all. 

"Do you… have any plans on pursuing that beauty then?" Zi Zhen snorted. He was surprisingly calm. Yue Yang thanked the heavens for such a friend before he thought about it. Maybe? 

"Why not? He's bound to have both male and females flock to him due to his beauty. What's the issue with adding one more?" 

"You sound disgusting." Yue Yang frowned. Tsk. 

"However… he's barely been here for an hour… how did you even start liking him?" 

Yue Yang sighed. He opened his communication array and whispered. 

"I have no idea myself too." 

--- 

"Huh? You want to challenge me to a duel?" 

"I've been intrigued by your methods of cultivation. Think of it as a friendly competition." Yue Yang muttered smoothly. There was no quake in his voice. 

"Hah? Ok." Bi Zhen got up from his table and crossed his arms. 

"When and where?" 

"Forest clearing, at the eighth hour of the day tomorrow." Yue Yang smiled and he walked away. 

Bi Zhen felt slightly unsure about this challenge. He had been slightly unsettled by how much taller the other male was. Was he really that short? He had teased about his height before when he was younger. This male was interesting. He had light blond hair and his pupils were lighter than the average person's. Shrugging, he sat back down, wanting to resume his unfinished conversation about how braised pork was better than roasted pork. Or at least to him. 

"Tsk, those disgusting morons." Bi Zhen blinked. Huh? 

"He's the only one in this school who's a phoenix. It's obvious by his hair. He's one of the stronger, if not the strongest cultivator here. You shouldn't have agreed. Someone must have told him to challenge you due to that little bit of drama earlier. Disgusting!" 

"I don't think so? He seemed genuinely interested in my style of cultivation." Yes. Yue Yang was interested. He just wasn't interested in just Bi Zhen's cultivation method. 

"I'm still concerned." His friend sighed. 

"I'm not going to back down anyways. Who cares about a few injuries. I don't think I'll be killed so…" Bi Zhen returned back to his plate of food.