Chapter 18: The Dragon Prince and the Metal General
Location: The Combat Arena – Sector 1
The morning sun beat down on the largest open-air arena in the Imperial University. This wasn't the dirt pit of Purgatory Island; this was a coliseum built of white marble and reinforced with S-Rank kinetic barriers.
Two hundred freshmen stood in formation. These were the elite—the top scorers from every region.
At the front of the formation stood General Iron.
The instructor for Combat Theory wasn't fully human. Half his face was chrome, and his left arm was a heavy-duty hydraulic cannon. He was a veteran of the Void Wars, a man who had traded flesh for firepower.
"Listen up, maggots!" General Iron's voice was amplified by a speaker in his throat. "You heard the news. The Inter-Academy Tournament. The Void Border."
He paced back and forth, his metal feet clanking on the stone.
"Usually, Freshmen fetch water for the Seniors. But this year, the Alliance needs bodies. They opened Five Slots for the first-year team. Five."
He held up his metal hand, five fingers gleaming.
"That means out of the two hundred of you 'geniuses', one hundred and ninety-five are staying home to do homework. The other five are going to war."
A ripple of excitement went through the crowd. War meant glory. It meant titles. It meant planets.
"Jiang Chen is obviously Captain," a student whispered. "He soloed Purgatory."
"Don't be so sure," another hissed back. "Look who just arrived."
The crowd parted.
A young man walked into the arena. He didn't wear the standard uniform. He wore a golden martial arts robe embroidered with a five-clawed dragon. His hair was long, tied back with a jade ring, and his eyes were vertical slits of amber.
The pressure coming off him was suffocating.
[Target Analysis]
[Name: Long Ao]
[Identity: Heir to the Long Clan (The Capital's #1 Clan)]
[Rank: S-Rank (Early Stage)]
[Talent: Ancient Wyrm Bloodline]
Long Ao. The "Dragon Prince" of Beijing. He hadn't participated in the Purgatory Exam because he was already considered qualified. He was the undisputed King of the Capital's younger generation.
Long Ao walked straight to the front, ignoring General Iron. He stopped in front of Jiang Chen.
He sniffed the air.
"You smell," Long Ao said. His voice was deep, resonating like a bell.
"I showered this morning," Jiang Chen replied calmly, hands in his pockets.
"You smell of Dragon," Long Ao's amber eyes narrowed. "But not a Wyrm. Not a Drake. It smells... Archaic. Like dust and death."
Mo You, standing behind Jiang Chen in her student uniform, bristled. Her shadow stretched out, flickering dangerously.
'Husband,' Mo You projected telepathically. 'This lizard is rude. Shall I peel him?'
'Not yet,' Jiang Chen replied. 'Let's see what he wants.'
"My name is Long Ao," the Dragon Prince announced. "I heard you bullied some country bumpkins from Shanghai. Do not think that makes you a King here. In the Capital, the Long Clan is the sky."
"I prefer the ground," Jiang Chen smiled. "It's where I bury my enemies."
The air between them crackled. Purple sparks clashed with Golden sparks.
"Enough!" General Iron shouted. He aimed his cannon arm at them. "Save the testosterone for the ring. Selection starts now!"
The Selection Process
"The test is simple," General Iron announced. "I have placed five flags in the center of the arena. When the bell rings, you fight. The five holding the flags at the end of ten minutes make the team."
"No rules?" a student asked.
"One rule," General Iron grinned, his metal jaw clicking. "Don't kill anyone. Maiming is fine. The Infirmary needs practice."
He raised a flare gun.
BANG.
Chaos erupted.
Two hundred S-Rank and A-Rank students unleashed their powers simultaneously. Fireballs, ice storms, and gravity wells exploded in the center of the arena.
"Out of my way!" Long Ao roared.
He transformed. Golden scales covered his skin. His hands turned into claws. He didn't cast spells; he used pure physical dominance. He swiped his hand, and a shockwave blasted ten students out of the ring.
He walked calmly to the center and grabbed a flag.
"One," Long Ao declared. He looked at Jiang Chen. "Come and get one, 'Freshman King'. If you can."
Jiang Chen stood at the edge of the arena. He hadn't moved.
"Husband, the flags are ugly," Feng Xi critiqued. "Can I burn them?"
"We need them to qualify," Jiang Chen said. "Go get two. One for me, one for you."
"What about me?" Mo You asked.
"You're my Shadow," Jiang Chen smiled. "You go where I go. You don't need a slot."
"Acceptable."
Feng Xi cheered. "Race you!"
She launched herself.
[Solar Art: Flash Step.]
She was a beam of light. She weaved through the chaotic battlefield, dodging earth spikes and water cannons.
She reached a flag. But just as she grabbed it, a massive shadow loomed over her.
It was Ye Kuang. The Berserker from Shanghai who had been eliminated on Purgatory Island. He had somehow clawed his way back into the selection.
"Not this time, little girl!" Ye Kuang roared, swinging a new axe. "I have S-Rank armor now!"
Feng Xi looked at the axe. She looked at her flag.
"You are blocking the sun," she said.
She kicked him.
It looked like a gentle tap. But her leg was reinforced with the density of a collapsing star.
BOOM.
Ye Kuang's S-Rank armor shattered like glass. He was launched across the arena, through the kinetic barrier, and into the spectator stands.
"Home Run!" Feng Xi giggled, grabbing two flags. She tossed one to Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen caught it. "Good job."
He looked at the center.
Long Ao was holding his flag, surrounded by defeated students. He looked at Jiang Chen holding a flag.
"Too easy," Long Ao scoffed. "If you want to lead the team, Jiang Chen, you have to beat the Alpha."
Long Ao dropped his flag.
He charged at Jiang Chen.
"I challenge you for the Captain's seat!"
The other students stopped fighting. They cleared a circle. This was the main event. The Dragon of the Capital vs. The Sovereign of Shanghai.
Long Ao punched. His fist was wrapped in a golden dragon avatar.
[Dragon Fist: Heaven Breaker.]
Jiang Chen didn't draw Nightfall. He wanted to test his new physique.
He punched back.
[Chaos Sutra: Void Fist.]
Purple energy swirled around his hand.
COLLISION.
The shockwave cracked the arena floor in half. The kinetic barriers flickered and died. General Iron had to brace himself against the wind.
Long Ao slid back three meters, his boots carving grooves in the stone.
Jiang Chen didn't move an inch.
Long Ao's eyes widened. "You... you blocked my Dragon Force with raw strength?"
"Your Dragon Force is impure," Jiang Chen said calmly, shaking his hand. "It lacks... weight."
"Impure?!" Long Ao was insulted. "I have the blood of the Ancient Golden Wyrm!"
"Wyrm?" Mo You stepped out from Jiang Chen's shadow.
She didn't attack. She just looked at Long Ao. Her eyes turned into vertical abyssal slits. She released her True Dragon Aura.
It wasn't a roar. It was a frequency. A predator's hum.
Long Ao froze. The golden dragon avatar around his fist whimpered and dissipated. His bloodline—the proud Golden Wyrm—was trembling inside his veins. It was the instinctual fear of a lower species facing the Apex.
"W-What are you?" Long Ao stammered, staring at Mo You.
"To you?" Mo You smirked. "I am your Ancestor."
Jiang Chen stepped forward. "Stand down, Long Ao. We are teammates now. Save your anger for the Void."
Long Ao looked at Jiang Chen. He looked at the terrifying woman beside him. He grit his teeth, swallowed his pride, and picked up his flag.
"This isn't over," Long Ao muttered, though his voice lacked its usual fire. "But... I acknowledge your strength. For now."
BRRRING!
The bell rang.
General Iron walked into the ruins of his arena. He looked at the five students holding flags.
* Jiang Chen
* Long Ao
* Feng Xi
* Bai Ling (The Ice Witch from Shanghai, who had quietly secured a flag while everyone watched the titans fight).
* Gu Jian (The Sword user, who had recovered from his trauma enough to steal a flag).
"Pathetic," General Iron spat, though he looked pleased. "Only five of you worth a damn. The rest of you, go run laps until you vomit."
He looked at the five winners.
"Pack your bags. We leave for the Void Border in one hour."
Location: The Transport Cruiser – One Hour Later
The team sat in the briefing room of a military-grade starship. They were leaving the atmosphere, heading for the edge of the Solar System.
General Iron projected a hologram of the Tournament Zone.
It was a massive space station orbiting a Black Hole.
[Location: Station 9 (The Neutral Zone)]
[Hazard Level: Extreme]
"The Tournament is a 5v5 team battle," General Iron explained. "But it's not in an arena. It's in the simulation pods connected to the Void."
"Simulation?" Gu Jian asked.
"Yes. You will project your consciousness into a pocket dimension. If you die there, you wake up with a headache. But..."
General Iron paused.
"The Void is restless. The simulation is... thinning. There have been reports of real damage transferring to the players."
"So if we die in the game, we die in real life?" Bai Ling asked, her face pale.
"Maybe," General Iron shrugged. "Try not to find out."
Jiang Chen looked at the hologram of the Black Hole. He felt his Grandmist Core spinning. It was hungry.
"Who are we fighting?" Jiang Chen asked.
"The other three Great Academies," General Iron said. "The European Battle Academy. The American Hunter Institute. And..."
He swiped the screen. A logo appeared. It was a jagged red eye.
"The Academy of Silence."
"Never heard of them," Long Ao frowned.
"They are new," General Iron said grimly. "They appeared three years ago. They accept anyone. Criminals. Mutants. Heretics. Their fighting style is... wrong. They don't use mana. They use something else."
"Corruption," Jiang Chen whispered.
General Iron looked at him. "Exactly. We suspect they are a front for the Cult of the Hollow."
Jiang Chen leaned back in his chair. The Cult. The same people who gave Luo Zhen the seed. The same people who corrupted the professors in the Astral Tomb.
"So," Jiang Chen smiled, a cold, predatory smile. "We aren't going there to win a tournament."
He looked at his wives.
"We're going there to take out the trash."
[System Notification]
[Arc 2: The Academy of Gods]
[Main Quest: Win the Tournament.]
[Side Quest: Expose the Academy of Silence.]
[Reward: Planet Ownership Deed.]
The ship's engines roared. They entered Warp Speed.
Next stop: The Void.