Gu Yan Wu looked through his window inside the imperial palace, his face completely devoid of emotion, aside from the brightness within his eyes.
He let out a long breath and returned his hands to the papers on his desk, taking the imperial seal and stamping the document with his spiritual energy.
—Two weeks since Jian Long left. He will reach the edge of the forbidden border very soon. Well… if he dies without giving me more information, it is the same as reaching the end—
He simply took the document in his hands and walked out of the room.
A eunuch standing beside the doorway lowered himself, placing his forehead against the floor.
—Eunuch Bain Ying, deliver this letter to the headquarters of the Ghost Court—
he said, placing the scroll into the eunuch's raised hands.
—It shall be done, my lord—
The eunuch disappeared into gray mist in an instant, while Gu Yan Wu walked toward one of the largest doors within the imperial palace.
Before reaching it, a man approached, wearing red robes. His gaze resembled fire, and from afar his hands looked rough like sandpaper.
—Master blacksmith Guan Yu greets His Imperial Majesty—
he said, giving a simple bow.
—Have you come to request an urgent audience?—
His previously expressionless face shifted naturally into a warm expression.
—That will not be necessary. I would like to invite His Imperial Majesty to the celebration of the first conscious spirituality weapon created by our guild. Without your generous assistance, such an achievement would have been impossible—
There was an unusual glint of greed in his eyes.
—I will attend when possible. The empire currently stands in a troubling situation—
he replied calmly, smiling brightly.
—Yes, the matter with the exiled Jian Long—
He stopped midway through his sentence, avoiding the prince's former title.
—The Ghost Court, the sects… perhaps it would be wise to search for a new, more suitable heir—
he added calmly.
Guan Yu trembled slightly where he stood.
—I apologize for delaying you at such a moment. I shall take my leave. I hope for Princess Hui Cao's swift recovery—
He clenched his fists and bowed before leaving calmly and elegantly.
After watching the man's back disappear into the distance, Gu Yan Wu breathed quietly and pushed open the doors, closing them behind him.
Inside the chamber, only a soft humming sound could be heard. Beneath a tree whose leaves resembled blooming lavender stood a small stone gravestone, a faint current gathering the falling leaves with each movement.
To the left and right stood five swords embedded in small mounds of ordinary-looking stone.
Gu Yan Wu walked forward and sat beneath the tree of perpetual lightning, observing its leaves for a moment before placing his hand upon the gravestone.
—Zhao Lu—
The name engraved in the stone shone with golden light, though small pores had begun to appear across its surface.
—Zhao Lu… you know, my perfect memory has begun to fail. Not even dragon blood can change how cruel the world and time are—
He let out a quiet laugh while looking at the leaves in the distance.
He remained seated, circulating spiritual energy calmly within his body. Hours passed before he stood and walked toward one of the swords.
—Brother Shiao… you have no idea how much I hate our father for what he forced me to do—
He sat down once more.
A memory shattered his contemplative gaze.
Blood covered the imperial courtyard while two figures stood facing each other.
Four corpses with similar eyes lay on the ground, swords still tightly grasped in their hands.
An old man watched the battle in silence, holding a sword pointed toward both fighters.
—Martial Technique, Flowers in Eternal Silence—
A mist formed from black flowers enveloped both combatants, separating them from reality.
Inside that barrier, the older-looking man spoke.
—Little Wu… I regret that things turned out this way—
Driving his own sword down, he sealed his cultivation with spiritual energy.
Gu Yan Wu raised his sword and asked his brother:
—Shiao, I swear I will break this cycle. I will not allow the same thing to happen again—
Holding his sword with tears in his eyes, he pierced his brother's heart.
Leaving the pavilion of memories, he looked at the empty, colorless graves and said:
—Thirty-four thousand years—
He gazed at his reflection in his brother's sword, empty of anything beyond cold eyes.
—I have nothing left but one idea, Shiao—
he said calmly.
—Eternal life… perhaps it is the only chance to obtain it—
He raised his voice slightly while looking at the remaining swords.
—I'm sorry, Zhao Lu. I don't think my mind can remember your eyes much longer—
From his spatial ring, he took out the Yellow Dragon Tablet.
He observed Hui Cao's name glowing in gold, her energy now more centered, the characters cleaner.
—Father wished for dragon blood to continue. That fool believed killing us was the only way to keep dragon blood pure from dilution—
He walked toward the center of the room, holding the tablet in his hands before sitting down.
—And now that blood dilutes through time like rotten water in a clean river. His blood has already spread as far as possible. The Ghost Court, as long as profit comes first, will always avoid the death of any imperial child—
He sighed quietly as his thoughts continued.
For a brief moment, Gu Yan Wu's heart stirred, and he looked toward the horizon.
—I lived long enough to reach this goal… but now, after so many years, what remains? This empty and mournful face? An eternal empire sustained only by benefit?—
He glanced once more before a sound cut through the empty chamber.
Gu Yan Wu's fingers still rested upon the cold surface of the Yellow Dragon Tablet when the air behind him tore open.
Not in Bain Ying's silent, calculated manner. It was a rupture. Something fell to the ground with the wet sound of broken flesh.
Gu Yan Wu did not turn. His eyes remained fixed on the leaves of the tree, on Zhao Lu's gravestone, on the five swords carrying the weight of thirty-four thousand years.
—Eunuch Bain Ying—
he said without inflection.
—You have forgotten your place.
The man did not respond. Only his breathing could be heard—fast, irregular, the gasping of someone who had run through forbidden corridors with death at his heels.
Gu Yan Wu carefully set down the tablet.
—My lord—
Bain Ying's voice arrived broken, dragging itself across the threshold along with his body.
—I dare to violate your command because…
He stopped. Gu Yan Wu heard the dull sound of his forehead striking stone.
—Because if I did not, my lord, there would be no one else who could.
The Dragon Emperor turned his head just enough to see the eunuch collapsed on the floor. Bain Ying, always immaculate, always distant, lay with torn robes and a trail of black blood stretching from the doorway to his trembling hands. His cultivation was shattered. Someone—or something—had broken through the defenses protecting the emperor's closest servant.
—Who—
Gu Yan Wu asked, and for the first time in hours, his voice carried an edge.
—No one, my lord. I sealed my own cultivation to cross the threshold, damaging myself in the process. I knew your will forbade entry. I knew your energy would kill me if I entered protected. So I entered bare, as a mortal, so your barrier would recognize me as harmless.
Bain Ying raised his head. His once expressionless face now showed the cracks of someone who had paid an unbearable price.
—The Frost Altars of the Bright Moon Sects have exploded.
The silence that followed was not empty. The leaves of Zhao Lu's tree shook violently. The five swords emitted a faint hum.
Gu Yan Wu did not move.
He glanced lightly toward the Yellow Dragon Tablet and noticed that, through a small breach in the room's barrier, a new name had appeared upon it.
Unlike the princess's name, it bore no strange symbols—only a faint, pure yellow glow.
—What kind of opportunities beyond the heavens have begun to fall into this world?—
His hands trembled for only an instant before he spoke again.
—My lord… then the exile has found the princess?—
Before Bain Ying could finish, a sword moved and pierced through his head.
—Jian Long's fortune has surpassed the destructive capacity of the Frost Altars. Two chances to reach the heavens, both found by my children—
He exhaled slowly. With a single breath of dragon aura, the eunuch's corpse turned to ash as he walked out of the chamber.
—In the end, the one with the greater opportunity will rise. If Jian Long wins, he will come for revenge against me. Then I must prepare for a battle in the future. But the more interesting case is Hui Cao… what will you do, daughter?—
He carefully closed the door, sealing it from the world with a portion of his spiritual energy.
Before him stood three people, cold sweat covering their foreheads, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
—We beg for mercy, Lord of the Empire, Eternal Dragon of a Thousand Years—
their voices shook with every word.
—We failed to stop Eunuch Bain Ying. He used his technique to avoid the main entrance and bypass the guards—
They stared only at Gu Yan Wu's feet.
Gu Yan Wu glanced at them and simply moved his hand as he spoke.
—After you send the next message to the Bright Moon Sects, take your own lives. The remaining groups will be forgiven.
Their trembling intensified instantly.
—Sister-in-law, do not move your Mist Hunters against him for now. If Hui Cao is in danger, do as you wish—
he said calmly.
His cultivation surged, and in a single step, he vanished from the guards' sight.