"Hah… Hah… Hah…" Kairu's breathing was rough, standing in the center of scattered jet-black daggers. His strong body suffered many cuts and blood started to dye his skin.
He suffered under Lu An's relentless attack, the unlimited swap with the daggers caught him off guard. He could not read where Lu An would come from. Even if he predicted it once, Lu An would just swap with the other daggers. He tried to destroy the dagger, but it was futile as Lu An made more daggers.
If this continued, he would lose for sure. Kairu was thinking hard about how to turn the situation in his favor. However, the Flaming Lion could not think another way aside from going all out. But if he went all out, he might accidentally kill his opponent.
'Screw it!' Kairu did not care anymore about the sparring. This was about his honor as a member of the Crimson Clan. He was not willing to get taken down without using his all.
Kairu's fur stood up as his body released out a thick hot air. His fur turned redder as his mane slowly transformed into fire.
Lu An stopped his attack as soon as he noticed the change in his opponent. He decided to observe his opponent before deciding his next move. He was thinking about how to make Kairu give up, the despair.
From a distance, Tang Shaoyang noticed the change too. Kairu was using a huge amount of mana he should not have in the sparring match. He could see the fierce mana around the lion beastmen and was aware of who was the winner of the match.
Without any words, he moved from his spot toward Kairu who was in the middle of the transformation. He put his hand on Kairu's shoulder, "This is enough, you lose!"
"I am–" The Flaming Lion was about to tell out that he had not lost yet until a huge force pushed his shoulder. Kairu easily fell on his knees and looked up in shock and anger mixed. The lion beastmen met with Tang Shaoyang's scary gaze while grinning at him.
"I told you this is just a sparring match, not a life and death fight. I allowed you to fight but you were not allowed to fight seriously, were my words not clear enough for you?"
Kairu immediately lowered his head as his body trembled faintly. The Flaming Lion felt the scary presence from Tang Shaoyang. His sharp instinct was screaming at him to listen to the man's words.
"You lose today, but this is not the end. Lu An is not going anywhere, as long as you follow me, you will always have a chance to take back your honor by defeating him!" Tang Shaoyang pulled Kairu up and tapped his shoulder, "Of course, you have to be stronger than him!"
"But I haven't lost yet…" the unyielding spirit in Kairu's eyes remained there. He thought he could win as long as he used his all.
"You didn't use all your powers so did Lu An," he pointed at the surroundings with the scattered daggers, "He just swapped his body around with the dagger, it was just a movement skill but you could not even match him. He did not even try to harm you by avoiding the vital spots!"
Kairu lowered his head as he could not refute Tang Shaoyang's view about the match.
"You know, Kairu! Knowing and acknowledging your weakness is what man ought to do. You learn from your mistakes and move forward by improving yourself! That's what you should do, not staking your life in a battle against your ally. That is just stupid!" Tang Shaoyang tapped his shoulder a few more times before sending a thumb to Lu An, "Great skill, I see you are improving so much."
Lu An's ice-cold expression broke into a smile. The young man faltered in front of his Boss's praise, and he bowed his head slightly.
"Here you are!" Zhang Mengyao's voice rang from afar as she approached the group. As she came closer, she scanned the surroundings. She noticed traces of battle around. She sent an inquiring gaze to Tang Shaoyang.
"Just a friendly match so they can become closer," Tang Shaoyang grinned while pulling Kairu and Lu An. With his strength, he easily pulled them and made them appear like they were friends.
"I don't care what you men did, but you should hurry back! The feast will start soon and we can't start it without you there!" Zhang Mengyao hurried Tang Shaoyang. As for his explanation, she did not believe him. There must be something happening, but as she said, it was men's matter so she did want to dip her feet into their matters.
"You heard our Supreme General. The feast is waiting for us, let's go back!" Tang Shaoyang hurriedly followed Zhang Mengyao who went ahead without him, leaving the awkward atmosphere behind.
After the battle, Lu An and Kairu had an awkward atmosphere. They just did not know how to treat each other. They were allies for sure, but also rivals at the same time.
The source of the problem was Lu An. He did not like Kairu who always followed his boss and assumed a bodyguard position for the Boss. He was the first one to follow his Boss, it was him who should be in that position. That was why he challenged Kairu into a fight with a stake.
If he won, Kairu was not allowed to follow Tang Shaoyang closely again. That was his position and what he should do. And what if he lost, Kairu asked to fight regularly against him. That was the deal behind the challenge that Tang Shaoyang did not know.
Now the Boss seemed to value the two highly. He was not asking to get along directly with his words, but from his gesture earlier, both assumed Tang Shaoyang wanted them to get along.
Kairu was the first one to make his move, he stood in front of Lu An, "I may lose this time, but I will take you down next time!" After saying that, Kairu left the group.
"Next time will be the same. You will never win against me," Lu An replied as he chased after Tang Shaoyang, leaning Wei Xi, Cao Yuntai, and Wen.
The three exchanged glances as they did not know how to take this, "General Zhang told us the feast is ready, let's go," Wei Xi was the first one to break the silence as he invited the Jade Eagle with him.
"My name is Wen, let's work together for the better empire," Wen introduced himself politely.
While Lu An and Kairu had a rivalry, the three were harmonious. They went back together for the feast and had a great night by sharing their stories. The feast washed away the gloomy and heavy atmosphere between the people. People were laughing and chatting happily even though they did not know that the feast was related to their Leader's marriage.
Of course, amidst the happy atmosphere, there was one depressing girl. The girl just looked at Tang Shaoyang and his women with a melancholy gaze, 'I should be bolder, I can't get depressed like this. Come on, Li Na! Don't lose with those girls!'