Bated breath in the room, the bystanders bent over the little emperor's back.

"No hope, no chance," every single one of them thought. And yet…

The lotus tattoo on the little emperor's back remained unchanged.

There was a resigned look in the First Princess' red phoenix eyes. She sighed softly to herself, battling a disappointment she thought she had been ready for.

The other Duke healers often administered their treatments with loud whirls of sound and fury, sometimes causing the green light to grow strongly, battling the black lotus' qi at other times.

Of course, all of those tries had failed to do much.

Still, at least such epic struggles stirred hope within....