Chapter Three: That Must Be Innate

That day, Lin Lei became the disciple of the Sphere of Light.

Before he could begin formal lessons, he had to first learn how to communicate with the Sphere. This communication, of course, wasn’t about how to talk to it, but rather about how to understand the writing within it. The characters drifting inside the Sphere were ancient scripts, their shapes resembling tadpoles. Studying them felt as if a swarm of tadpoles were running amok in Lin Lei’s mind—a truly excruciating experience. On top of that, the Sphere demanded that he write a piece of cultivation fiction every week and submit it.

It claimed that more material about cultivation was needed to research the proper methods, but Lin Lei was convinced it simply wanted to read stories.

Now, another story-delivery day had arrived.

“Your Highness, are you sure this doesn’t hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt, trust me. I’ll have it in before you know it.”

On a soft bed, a dainty little girl, cheeks rosy and skin like porcelain, lay shyly beneath Lin Lei. Her wide, watery eyes gazed at him as he drew closer and closer...

“Ouch!”

A minute later, the girl sat disheveled on the bed, crying as she rubbed her eyes with both hands. “Too much! You promised it wouldn’t hurt...”

“It’s your first time—I’m still not very skilled at it,” Lin Lei said, holding up the clothes he’d just removed. “Put these on, and then wear a wig and a mask. You’ll look exactly like me!”

“...Really?” The girl stopped sobbing and looked into the mirror. After slipping in the colored lenses, her green eyes truly did turn black.

“Just like Your Highness.”

“Exactly!” Lin Lei deftly helped her change into his own clothes. “This outfit is expensive, so make sure you distract those old men well for me.”

“Yes.” The girl nodded. Those lenses had cost him two months’ allowance to have made, and now he was entrusting her with something so precious—she couldn’t let him down.

“Those old mages are terrible, always pestering you and making the circles under your eyes so dark!” The girl looked at Lin Lei’s panda eyes with deep sympathy, harboring nothing but resentment toward those mages whom she considered the worst of villains.

“This wig is quite well-made. Three sleepless nights well spent.” Lin Lei fitted her with the wig and mask, nodding in satisfaction. With this black-haired, black-eyed double, his future movements would be much easier.

“Let’s go!” He led the girl toward the royal mage tower, stopping at the final corner.

“Go ahead.” Lin Lei urged. The girl nodded obediently and, timidly, walked alone toward the tower.

She hadn’t even made it halfway before the waiting royal mages spotted the conspicuous black hair.

“It’s the little prince! It’s him!”

“Everyone, quick—let’s catch him for the information!”

“We have to get him before the Guardian does! Afterward, we’ll hand him over. The Guardian betrayed us—wants to keep everything for itself and won’t share the data!”

Dozens of mages suddenly poured out of the tower, red-eyed and stampeding toward the girl, their long robes kicking up dust behind them.

The girl was terrified. She turned and ran, but in her panic, she barely made it a few steps before crashing into a wall, allowing the mages to swarm over her.

What followed was a chaotic tearing of cloth.

“I’ve got the documents!”

“Don’t block me—I can’t reach!”

“Haha, I’ve got them too... Wait, why are these so soft?”

“This isn’t paper!”

One of the mages suddenly realized he wasn’t holding paper, and as he noticed the sound of sobbing, he cried out, “Stop! Everyone stop! Someone’s crying—this isn’t the little prince!”

That little prince feared neither heaven nor earth, heartless since birth—he would never cry!

The others froze at his words and looked at the “documents” in their hands. These weren’t documents at all, but scraps of torn clothing.

“Whose clothes have we ripped off?!”

The mages recoiled in horror and looked toward the child huddled in the corner. This was no prince, but a girl stripped down to her undergarments.

She crouched against the wall, trembling all over, tears streaming down like a waterfall.

“So scary... too scary...”

“Look at what you’ve done!” someone suddenly shouted. The mages turned to see Lin Lei standing at the corner, face stricken with righteous indignation. “You wretched old geezers, how dare you bully a little girl in broad daylight!”

“Your Highness—this is a misunderstanding!” the mages cried out in panic.

“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding!” Lin Lei roared. “Clearly, you’re venting your resentment against the Chief Mage by bullying his granddaughter!”

What?

Chief Mage’s granddaughter?

A chill ran through the mages as they sensed a murderous aura rising behind them. They turned stiffly to see an old man with flaming red hair standing there.

The kingdom’s Chief Mage, Grandmaster Wang Xiong, was so furious he looked like an enraged bear, his face crimson and hair bristling.

“Sir, please—let us explain—”

“No explanations needed!” the Grandmaster thundered. With a wave of his scarlet staff, every mage present vanished.

The western sea outside Twin Moon City suddenly erupted in a tremendous explosion. The sky blazed red as meteors wreathed in fire rained down like the end of the world.

Lin Lei watched the spectacle and couldn’t help but sigh, “What a magnificent sight!”

“Y-Your Highness...” The girl, clutching her clothes, ran sobbing to Lin Lei. He gently patted her head, his face full of sorrow. “See? They really are villains.”

“Waaah!” the girl wailed, throwing her arms around Lin Lei, nearly convinced she’d never marry now.

“Sins upon sins...” Lin Lei muttered, though he felt utterly refreshed—those old geezers would be resting quietly in the infirmary for some time.

Unfortunately, in less than three days, those cockroach-like royal mages emerged from the infirmary, all bandaged up. That very night, they burst into Lin Lei’s bedroom, leaving him unable to get out of bed for three days.

Worse still, once the Chief Mage learned the truth and tattled to the king, the furious monarch issued a far-reaching decree—the girl was betrothed to Lin Lei as his future bride.

The eldest prince immediately sent her off, beaming, to the kingdom’s second-largest convent, under the noble pretext of “bridal training.”

The convent was named Lily Convent, notorious for reasons best left unsaid.

After taking hundreds of beatings from the mages, Lin Lei, once restored, began plotting his revenge, engaging in a relentless battle of wits against the royal mages.

According to their later collective memoir, “Never Bow: Our Twenty Years Against the Prince,” they were framed by Lin Lei one hundred and thirty times in half a year—nearly once a day.

Lin Lei was certain his own wretched temperament as an adult was the mages’ doing, while the mages sobbed and swore—he was simply born that way!