1182 Boss
"Alright, let's return home now." Xi Meili said to Yuan after they finished eating at their 6th restaurant.
"Okay."
Despite being rejected, Xi Meili did not feel dispirited at all. In fact, she felt even more motivated to marry him. Dragons are highly prideful and stubborn creatures, especially someone as positive as Xi Meili.
'Since we've only known each other for a short time, all I need to do is increase that time! And the more time you spend with someone, the more likely they will grow attracted to you!'
Sometime later, they returned to the palace, where a massive feast was waiting for them.
"Uh…" Xi Meili stood before a long table that was filled with food, and on her face was a nervous smile that one would make when they realized that they'd screwed up.
Since they came straight from the restaurant, their body still lingered with the aroma of food from that place, and Xi Mingze could smell it even before she saw them.
"I recall telling you that we would be having a feast later, yet you've stuffed yourself with food right before coming back? Are you purposefully being defiant?" Xi Mingze glared at Xi Meili with narrowed eyes.
"I-It's a misunderstanding! I completely forgot about it after an intense fight with Yuan!" Xi Meili quickly tried to explain herself.
"You two fought?" Xi Shengmo raised an eyebrow.
She nodded, "At the Ancestral Dragon Temple. We went there last year, as well."
Xi Mingze sighed, and she turned to look at Yuan with an apologetic smile on her face, "I'm sorry if she was rough on you. She can be inconsiderate at times."
Xi Meili frowned at her mother's words that implied she had bullied Yuan on the stage when it was the complete opposite.
"Hey! That's not fair! I did no such thing! In fact, I lost to him!"
"What?" Xi Shengmo looked at her with wide eyes.
Although Xi Meili was the youngest in the family, she was much stronger than her older brother, Xi Murong, and her Soul Strength was stronger than her parents when they were at her age.
"It's true. And it was a fight using only our Soul Strength. Yuan is much stronger than he looks." Xi Meili said.
"…"
Xi Shengmo and Xi Mingze turned to look at Yuan with pondering faces.
Sure enough, Yuan didn't appear to be anything special at glance, but if they tried to look deeper, they would realize that they couldn't see the extent of his strength.
'He's only a Spirit King, so why can't I fathom his strength? It feels like I am weaker than him despite having a superior cultivation.' Xi Shengmo thought to himself.
Of course, he didn't believe that he was weaker than Yuan, who was not even a hundred years old. Not only does he have more experience than Yuan, he also lived for much longer. Furthermore, he was a Divine Beast with a royal bloodline.
It was simply unthinkable that he would be weaker than a human.
Xi Mingze had similar thoughts even though she was weaker than Xi Shengmo.
"Ahem." A voice suddenly broke the awkward silence.
"Hey, Boss, since you just ate, how about a quick spar with me to empty your stomach?"
Everyone in the room turned to look at Xi Murong, who just spoke.
"Boss?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.
Then Yuan recalled that Xi Murong had stated that he would address him as 'Boss' if he surpassed Xi Murong's record of seven pillars at the ritual last year.
Though, Yuan wasn't expecting Xi Murong to keep his words.
"Pfttt…" Xi Meili couldn't help but chuckle after hearing such a word come out of Xi Murong's mouth, as it sounded very out of character.
Xi Murong endured it and spoke again, "So what do you say?"
Yuan nodded with a smile, "Sure."
Xi Shengmo and Xi Mingze exchanged glances with each other, but neither of them opened their mouths. They were also curious about Yuan's prowess.
Although Xi Murong may not be as strong as his younger sister in terms of Soul Strength, he was actually slightly more experienced than her in combat, especially since he has been training his butt off after meeting Yuan.
Sometime later, everyone gathered behind the palace in the training ground, where a stage that functioned like the ones at the Ancestral Dragon Temple was located in the center.
"What are the rules?" Yuan asked him.
"First one to surrender or 'dies' loses. We can use any weapon we want. As for our cultivation, I will suppress it to match yours." Xi Murong said.
Yuan then said, "Sounds good, but you don't need to match my cultivation. My cultivation is a little deceiving, after all."
"If you say so."
Xi Murong's cultivation was at the Sixth Level Spirit Emperor. Logically speaking, a cultivator at the peak of Spirit King wouldn't be able to touch someone at Xi Murong's level. Despite that, Yuan didn't feel the slightest pressure as he stood before his opponent.
Yuan retrieved his Empyrean Overlord. Meanwhile, Xi Murong took out a golden spear from his spatial ring.
"A spear, huh?"
"Spear is our family's speciality." Xi Murong said.
Once they were prepared, Xi Murong moved first by thrusting his spear at Yuan's head.
The speed of the strike was insanely fast— so fast that it didn't even look like Xi Murong moved.
However, in Yuan's eyes, it was as slow as a snail.
After dodging it with ease, Yuan didn't immediately strike back. Instead, he waited for Xi Murong's next strike, almost as though he was evaluating Xi Murong's strength.
"..."
Xi Shengmo and Xi Mingze did not miss Yuan's intentions, and they were in disbelief.
'He's actually testing Xi Murong? When he's half a realm lower in cultivation?' Xi Shengmo was becoming more and more intrigued by Yuan's full strength.
Unbeknownst to him, even Yuan doesn't know the extent of his full strength at this moment, as he has yet to find himself in a situation where he needs it.