Chapter 36

The Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival starts. The Phoenix Cry Empire's first princess makes a stage appearance, and everybody cheers.
Being a nation's princess was also pretty sorrowful. It was like having to live your whole life as a cricket in a jar.
That was a life of hidden fighting all day and night. But thinking about himself, he had also ended up in a life like that.
If you didn't suppress others, then you would simply be trampled on. Being stepped on by those above you was something that just happened, but more importantly, they would crush you firmly to death.
Whether this had to do with enmity, right and wrong, etc., didn't matter. Perhaps this struggle was just the most primitive of man's nature.
---
The next one was Chu Yao's lantern. Chen kept his eyes wide open, afraid to miss a single detail.
First, a few fireworks lit up the sky, accompanied by cheering.
Then immediately after, a huge dragon kite whistled through the air.
At the same time, beside the huge dragon was a colorful phoenix with gorgeous wings. Golden powder sprinkled from its wings, just as if a real phoenix had descended upon the earth.
Along with the scattering powder, the dragon and phoenix shone, making it seem as if everyone had entered a world of legends.
They slowly fluttered down to the earth. From the dragon's mouth came a large sphere of white light that burst open, sending streamers flying.
From those ribbons, a beautiful woman dressed in an ancient costume slowly appeared, shapely and leisurely, a beauty that made you never want to stop looking at her.
The entire crowd erupted in acclaim when the third princess appeared. Many of the young men had heard of the third princess's beauty before. Hers was a beauty that could cause the downfall of an empire. 
Her eyes wandered over the crowd. Suddenly, her eyes brightened when she saw Long Chen, and she tossed a small ball which slowly flew out towards him.
Long Chen reached out his hand to catch it and found that the ball had a small tag on it.
The entire crown immediately went silent, all of them staring at Long Chen. The Empress Dowager was also startled, but she didn't say anything.
But the person whose expression was most unsightly was definitely the Grand Xia's Xia Changfeng. Although he tried to appear natural and at ease, his uncontrollable anger turned his face green.
The Empress Dowager had already decided to marry off Chu Yao to Xia Changfeng, but her display today of the dragon and phoenix had obvious significance. Moreover, that ball was thrown directly towards Long Chen.The name Long Chen (龙尘) literally translates into 'Dragon Dust'. The character for Chen (尘) is different from that used for the common Chinese surname Chen (陈).
Normally, a ball didn't have any special meaning, but that was not the same when added with the display of the lanterns. It was the exact same custom as in ancient times when maidens threw embroidered balls to pick their husband.
Xia Changfeng gets really jealous at Chen and bursts out in public.
Wei Cang then challenges Chen to an alchemist duel with Xia Baichi.
Chen accepts.
== Notes ==