Rocky, who was cultivating in his room, suddenly opened his eyes and jumped up. All the spiritual
power around him glinted like bright stars in the sky. He then hastily flew out of his room and landed on
the ground outside. His palms moved the same way leaves flutter in the wind. The spiritual power that
sparkled around him soon transformed into a glowing sphere, looking like a miniature universe that he
held in his hands. He threw the glowing sphere to the ground, letting it roll away like a bowling ball.
The spiritual power of the Earthly Stage spun around the sphere.
Boom! Several streaks of spiritual power burst out from the sphere with a loud bang. Black smoke
instantly filled the air. Once all of the smoke cleared away, Rocky's eyes were greeted with dozens of
cracks and crevices on the ground caused by the strike.
"Wow! The Nebula Rolling Strike is absolutely amazing! I just exerted ten percent of my strength, but its
strike was still very powerful! If I had used my full power, it possibly would have bored a huge hole on
the ground!" As Rocky shut off his dragon spiritual power, the Dragon Spirit Mark around his left arm
also stopped glowing. He looked at the cracks on the ground and felt satisfied. The strike he
summoned was called Nebula Rolling Strike, a spiritual martial arts attack from the Vast Nebula Skill.
Even though he just reached the Earthly Stage, he had already mastered the Vast Nebula Skill at such
a shocking speed.
The loud noises attracted the attention of the imperial guards who were on patrol nearby and rushed to
the scene at once. They were extremely alarmed to see several cracks on the ground and Rocky in the
middle of it.
"Your Royal Highness, what happened? Are you all right?" one of the guards asked, eyes wide in
shock.
"Don't worry! I'm fine. I was just practicing a new skill I just learned. Everything's fine here," Rocky
reassured them and gave them a smile. He was suddenly reminded that he was in the Imperial Palace.
He would not be able to do whatever he wanted as he did before in the bamboo grove in the dragon
field.
The guards then began chattering among themselves.
"When did Prince Basil become so good? I remember that he had been so talentless before."
"Yeah! I've heard that he was even able to defeat a great master who is at the ninth grade of the
Heavenly Stage during the Dragon Birth Festival!"
"So has the prince been concealing his true ability all along? Lucky for us, we've never offended him.
Otherwise, we would be regretting it now."
Overhearing the guards' conversation, Rocky loudly cleared his throat. "Is there anything else you need
here?" he asked, shooting them a glare.
The guards immediately panicked. They all then left hurriedly and went back to their jobs.
Rocky glanced up at the sky and saw that the sun was starting to set. The autumn breeze brushed his
cheeks and the sun's afterglow was scattered across his face. His eyes shone with fortitude and the
childishness that was formerly seen in them was now gone.
"From now on, nobody will dare call Basil a worthless piece of shit ever again! They don't know that the
real Basil has died and that the one living in this body is none other than me, Rocky Bai. Basil, I've
gotten rid of all those humiliating titles. You are not a useless prince anymore. If you can hear me from
the afterlife, I hope that you wouldn't have to suffer any humiliation in your next reincarnation, even if
you aren't a prince anymore," Rocky murmured and let out a soft sigh.
He then suddenly heard a roar coming from beside him. He turned his head and saw Uriah.
"Oh, you're finally awake! Ha-ha! You little lazy boy! Do you know how long you've been sleeping?"
Rocky exclaimed as he stroked Uriah's head. Uriah had not left Rocky's bed ever since it lay down on
it.
Rocky then took Uriah back to his room as several servants brought them supper. It was already dark
by the time they finished eating.
Just as Rocky started to wonder when Lena would come to meet him, a slender figure in a cloak
walked into his room. The figure removed its hood and an angelic face appeared.
"I thought you'd never show up! What took you so long?" A bright smile appeared on Rocky's face as
he saw the face. This mysterious visitor was none other than Lena who promised to go with Rocky to
the lantern show that evening.
"Do you know how tough it was for me to sneak in here? Do you know how many people are around
keeping a close eye on me every day?" Lena grumbled, glaring at Rocky.
"Oh yeah, my bad. You are the Witch of the Holy Dragon Empire after all. Fortunately for me, I don't
have to go through such a trouble. Ha-ha!" Rocky mockingly said.
Lena rolled her eyes at Rocky. She then threw a cloak at him and told him to put it on.
"Ooh, it's like we're going to elope, isn't it?" Rocky finished putting on the cloak and grinned at Lena.
"Why do you always talk like that now? You're so different from before." Lena had been getting the
feeling that something was strange with Basil ever since he lost his memories. She could not see the
Basil she knew in this man in front of her. He was like a completely different person.
"The Basil in the past was an idiot, but this current Basil is a genius," Rocky said and gave his
eyebrows a wiggle.
"My goodness! Listen to yourself! Don't you know how arrogant and egotistical you sound? You
reached the Earthly Stage in just two months and now you think you're so powerful?" Lena scolded
Rocky. "Don't forget that I can defeat you anytime!" she proudly added.
"What, so you're going to fight me?" Rocky said as he stepped closer to Lena until there was only an
inch between them.
"Tch! Cut it out! Let's just go already!" Lena turned towards the door to hide her blush and then walked
out of the room.
"Uriah, I'm going on a date tonight. Be good and just stay in here, okay?" Rocky told Uriah and then
followed after Lena.
Uriah gave out displeased whines as it stared at Rocky's back, devastated that its master was leaving it
for a date.
Rocky climbed down the stairs and found a carriage waiting for them outside. A beautiful mature
woman was sitting on the driver's seat.
"Get on," she said. Lena and Rocky nodded at the woman and got on the carriage.
The carriage then went off.
They were stopped by a palace guard once they reached the first palace gate.
"I fetched a special guest by order of Her Royal Highness. Here's her token," the woman firmly said.
"Alright. Send my regards to Her Royal Highness and her guest. Open the gate!" As soon as the guard
saw the Witch's token, he opened the gate without further inspection of the carriage.
"Wow! Your title really does carry a lot of weight, Your Royal Highness!" Rocky loudly blurted out, doing
a mock bow for emphasis.
"Hush! What if the guard hears you? I'll get in trouble if anybody else finds out that I sneaked out,"
Lena warned as she slapped her hand over Rocky's mouth.
"Your hand smells so good. Are you wearing perfume?" Rocky interrupted, changing the topic. He
raised his eyebrows. He found the smell of Lena's hand extremely refreshing.
"Hey!" Lena exclaimed and drew her hand back at once, her face glowing red.
The carriage passed several other palace gates and finally got out of the imperial palace. Rocky
immediately started hearing the hubbub from the outside. He rolled up the curtain and was greeted with
a grand sight. The crowded streets were infected with excitement. Lanterns of various shapes and
sizes—traditional globes, fish, dragons, goats—were hung everywhere. Many children held small
lanterns while walking the streets with wide grins on their faces.
After a while, they finally stopped somewhere not far from the downtown area.
Rocky and Lena then stepped out of the carriage.
"I will wait here for you, my lady. Just remember to come back soon. Otherwise, your guards will find
out about your disappearance and I might take the consequences for it," the woman said as she bowed
to Lena.
"Don't worry about it, Randi. We won't be long," Lena reassured her with a smile. Lena then nodded at
Rocky and walked to the crowded streets with him.
"That lady you called Randi is your...?" Rocky curiously asked.
"Randi is my servant who has been taking care of me since Consort Karen, your mother, passed away.
She has been very kind to me and we are as close as sisters. I always call her Randi when it's just the
two of us," Lena answered.
"What about your parents?" Rocky followed up.
Lena shook her head and smiled bitterly, "I don't even remember what they look like. I was sent to the
imperial palace when I was just a little girl."
"Have you ever thought of trying to find them?" Rocky looked at Lena with sympathy.
"As the Witch of the Holy Dragon Empire, emotion is forbidden. We're isolated from our families. Even
romantic entanglements aren't allowed. Otherwise, the ability that the Dragon Master Clan has given
me would be affected. Many Witches have died alone, and that's also my destiny," Lena sighed,
lowering her head.
"You're not allowed to love?" Rocky's brows knitted in befuddlement.
Lena slowly nodded.
"Then what if you meet someone you like?" Rocky raised one brow.
"Then I have to eliminate that emotion inside my heart." Lena looked at Rocky and pursed her lips.
"That's so ridiculous! Have you ever thought about giving up the position? You don't have to suffer that
depressing fate!" Rocky complained.
"Ha-ha! Don't be so silly! Anyway, let's stop talking about this and just go enjoy the lantern show," Lena
insisted. She was soon captivated by the beautiful lanterns and her face beamed with delight. On the
other hand, Rocky could not get his mind off the cruel destiny that Lena was facing.
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