~~~
Rarely does one see Emperors fight. Rarer still is to feel one of them die. However, that is what has happened. Since the start of hostilities, four Emperors of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows have attacked the Storm Dragon Empire, and all four are now dead. It is nothing short of miraculous, and as the stunned stupor gives way to sheer relief and vibrant joy, people begin cheering all over the palace.
Only one place is the exception. Only one place remains in silence.
The throne room.
Serene End stands unnaturally still. She should be happy that the Temple of the Thousand Shadows suffered yet another humiliation, but her mind has a hard time accepting this outcome. Those on this side of the Dead Plains are weaker. That is what she has been taught all her life. They were not blessed enough to be born on the Sacred Lands.
So why is this the result?
Numerically, this side of the Dead Plains cannot compete with them. They have more Emperors and more Divinities, yet in this battle, where numbers and cultivation level were equal, the quality of those on this side was higher. Her mind rebels against the notion, but how can she deny what her senses so clearly felt?
“It seems there will be no need for your aid.”
Xiao Shuang is the one who breaks the silence. She looks at Serene End with a smug smile.
“Mind your words, little girl,” Serene End says, growing angry for the first time.
“No, she does not need to mind them,” Liu Jin says. The shadow of a Divinity hovers around him, invisible yet impossible to miss. “The matter has been settled. Your offer is no longer required. Thus, you are no longer welcome here. I could remove you from the premises, but since you did offer your aid, I believe it is only fair to allow you to walk away.”
“I ask that you reconsider your words, Your Majesty,” Serene End says. “Your country just barely survived the day, and there is a group of us waiting just outside your borders. Do you really wish to risk angering us?”
“Do you really wish to risk losing your lives to the combined might of Lady Meng Yue and Lord Feng Shang?” Liu Jin asks her.
“They are tired!” Serene End counters. “They must be!”
“I assure you that the Storm Dragon shows me their energies with far greater clarity than you possess,” Liu Jin counters. “I have nothing to fear.”
“For my master, a battle such as this is not worth speaking about,” Xiao Shuang adds.
“There you have it,” Liu Jin says. “I believe that, should you choose to pursue this course of action, the risk of the Death Fashioning Scripture losing Emperors would be quite high. Considering the Temple of the Thousand Shadows is sure to begin hostilities against you, wouldn’t it be better to preserve your strength as much as possible and deal with my existence later?”
“For you!” Serene End shouts, pointing at him. “That would be better for you!”
“It would be, wouldn't it?” Liu Jin says. “How fortuitous.”
In the end, Serene End can do nothing but retire.
~~~
“Congratulations on your victory, Lord Feng Shang,” Lu Mei says as he lands by her window. “Shall I bring you to the Emperor?”
To her surprise, he shakes his head.
“That will not be necessary,” he says. “I must go collect your brother. A meeting with the Emperor will have to wait until then. I merely wished to ascertain you were in good health before I left.”
Lu Mei smiles.
“Lord Feng Shang, I am inside the Storm Dragon Palace. My life was never in danger,” she says.
“Even so, I worried,” Lord Feng Shang replies. “One can never be too sure of anything when Emperors are involved.”
Lu Mei supposes that is why he is personally going to collect Feng Zhuo, even though there is already a group of healers on their way. No one can say that Lord Feng Shang has not acted sensibly today.
However…
“Will Lady Feng understand that?” Lu Mei asks.
Lady Feng will have no issues with Lord Feng Shang acting to help Feng Zhuo. Still, by directly intervening in the Storm Dragon Empire, Lord Feng Shang has greatly boosted Lu Mei’s position. Ever since Lady Meng Yue arrived, the balance in court tilted heavily in Xiao Shuang’s favor, even if neither of the two tried to capitalize on it. Now, people will remember that it was her father who came to their aid.
Lady Feng will be furious.
“I do not mean to imply anything untoward,” Lu Mei adds. “I am just a little concerned about Lady Feng’s mental state, especially because of the rumors that have been circulating since the end of the Crimson Cloud Tournament regarding you and Lady Bai ”
During the last day of the tournament, Lord Feng Shang’s technique banished several cultivators away from Imperial Cloud City to diminish the chaos. They all returned eventually, but it had not escaped people’s notice that it was Lady Bai Lianshi and Lord Feng Shang who took the longest to return.
“Lady Bai is a woman of impeccable character who has better things to do than to waste time in dalliances with a married man. Do not besmirch her name,” Lord Feng Shang tells her sternly. “And Lady Feng’s mental state is not for you to worry about.”
Meaning, he will make it so that she doesn’t have to worry about assassins.
“I understand,” Lu Mei says, bowing her head. “I apologize for my indiscretion.”
“It is already forgotten,” Feng Shang replies. “I must go now, but… It is good to see you are in good health, daughter.”
“You as well…father.”
~~~
“How long will it stay like that?” Liu Jin asks.
“The answer is a finite number, but for all practical purposes, it is more accurate to say that it will remain like that forever,” Lady Meng Yue replies, sounding very proud of herself. “Very impressive, isn't it, Xiao Shuang?”
“Yes, master," Xiao Shuang says, sounding very much like she is only saying it because it is expected of her. "It is an incredible feat.”
The three of them are looking at the massive block of ice beneath the Storm Dragon Palace, the product of Lady Meng Yue’s [Eternal Coffin of the Eighth Frozen Hell]. Red Shadow might have escaped it, but everyone else inside the massive shadow was caught in Lady Meng Yue’s technique.
“We can’t release them,” Liu Jin says, rubbing his forehead. “They will panic and attack, which will force us to put them down. Better to keep them trapped. How long can they remain like that?”
“It is like the name says, Your Majesty,” Meng Yue replies. “The coffin will keep their minds, bodies, and souls sealed for eternity.”
Liu Jin looks at Xiao Shuang, realizing this is the same technique she tried to use on him. She has the decency to look away, embarrassed.
“What happens if another Emperor breaks it from outside?”
“Nothing,” Meng Yue replies. “The sealing is not something that can be undone so easily. Breaking it will just leave you with broken, but still sealed, pieces of people.”
“Really?”
“No, that’s just something we like saying,” Meng Yue says. Xiao Shuang facepalms. “An Emperor of sufficient power will be able to undo the seal and free those inside. Of course, and I am not only saying this to boast, finding an Emperor with power comparable to mine will be difficult.”
Liu Jin refrains from mentioning that the Temple of the Thousand Shadows managed to field two today. It would ring hollow considering the results of the battle.
“We have no way of sending this back to them,” Xiao Shuang says, crossing her arms. “Unlike them, we cannot travel to the Other Side. The Death Fashioning Scripture can, but I think I’d be kinder to destroy the people inside than to turn them over to that group.”
“That can be arranged,” Meng Yue says, raising a hand. Cold Qi emanates from it.
“Please, don’t,” Liu Jin says, sighing.
They attacked his country, but executing prisoners of war who are already incapacitated seems needlessly cruel.
“Then what do you want to do?” Lady Meng Yue asks him, crossing her arms. Liu Jin thinks about it for a moment.
That day, the Storm Dragon Empire gains a new landmark, one that is always guarded by a garrison of soldiers, just in case.
~~~
“That brat grows too bold. I say we strike now and show him his place!”
Serene End glares at her companion. Her copy has already left the Storm Dragon Palace. Her real self is in a dark cave a few miles away from the Storm Dragon Empire, where she and other members of the Death Fashioning Scripture lie in wait.
“Did you miss what just happened?” she asks him. “There’s no point in attacking now.”
“Oh?” says another voice. Older. Deeper. Serene End tenses. “That’s an interesting perspective. Elaborate.”
“The Temple of the Thousand Shadows just lost three more Emperors to this country,” Serene End says. “Repeating their mistakes would not be prudent.
“That’s all the more reason why we should attack!” says the first voice. “They’re weak! We can kill them now, take the country, and be done with it. Don’t tell me you have grown fond of the little Emperor. Are the rumors true? Does he like collecting women?”
Serene End glares at him.
“Do you even listen to yourself, fool? Think!” Serene End says. “If we defeat these Emperors, what happens next? Their allies will just send more Emperors!”
She’s nearly certain that Emperor Qing Jin had been bluffing about Feng Shang and Meng Yue being in fighting shape, yet she still chose to retreat. For millennia, they have been certain of their superiority over this side of the Dead Plains, and that superiority is not a lie. However, it has blinded them to several simple realities.
“All their Emperors are close by and ready to lend their aid,” Serene End says. “They can easily send reinforcements, but our numbers are always limited. We have more Emperors than they do, but are we really going to tell fifty Elders to cross the Dead Plains?”
“I see what you mean,” says the second voice. He strokes his chin. “Even if we did such a thing, that’d just invite the Divinities from this side to retaliate. Then, our own Divinities would need to get involved. We’d be putting entirely too many resources in this place, a risky proposition when the Temple of the Thousand Shadows is so clearly about to attack us.”
Serene End nods, grateful that he understands. It is not that they cannot defeat these people. It is just that the resources required to do so make it impractical.
“So, what do we do?” asks the first voice. “Do we just let the brat get away with refusing our offer twice?”
“He’ll join us,” Serene End says.
“You sound certain,” says the second voice.
“The Temple of the Thousand Shadows wants him dead,” Serene End explains. “As long as things continue as they have, the circumstances will force him to side with us. We just need to be patient. The Death Fashioning Scripture will be complete.”
~~~
“You should destroy them now and be done with it.”
Liu Jin takes a deep breath and pretends to be paying attention to the man in front of him. The whispers of the Storm Dragon are louder now that he is awake. Liu Jin should command him to go back to sleep, but it would be far too rude after using him to save every life in the country.
“Your sense of fairness speaks well of your character, but it is also a weakness. A ruler must deal in various types of cruelty, whelp.”
Just for that, Liu Jin is tempted to send the Storm Dragon back to sleep right away, but doing that would mean letting him win. That can never be allowed. He’ll give the matter a couple of days. Regardless, he is not changing his mind about the people in the ice coffin. They might even find some value for them as hostages later down the line, though Liu Jin rather doubts it.
“-minimal casualties,” Minister Chu says as he finishes his report. “While the lives of those lost in the initial attack are a tragedy, this has ended as safely as it possibly could.”
Liu Jin rubs his forehead.
“I sense a but coming.”
Minister Chu looks uncomfortable for a moment.
“Morale is shaken, Your Majesty,” Minister Chu says. “It’s obvious in the palace, and I imagine it is going to be worse among the soldiers.”
Liu Jin sighs.
They might have repelled the enemy with minimal casualties, but the fundamental truth of the incident remains unchanged. The Temple of the Thousand Shadows destroyed a whole fortress, marched their way into their territory, threatened every life in the country, and had to be stopped by two foreign Emperors. The nobles have been left shaken, and General Nie Dan’s frustration can be felt all over the palace.
“Minister Chu,” he says. “The Storm Dragon Empire still stands. We could have lost countless people today, but we didn’t. That is cause for celebration. I believe that is your specialty.”
Minister Chu blinks.
“A party?”
“Whatever you desire," Liu Jin replies. "What is important is that we lift up people’s spirits. I want them to look back on these events positively.”
“Then not just a party… We’re talking about a national holiday,” Minister Chu whispers, rubbing his chin in thought. “A celebration…A festival! Games, Your Majesty! We can have games!”
Liu Jin blinks.
“Games?”
“Contests! Competitions! Feats of strength!” Minister Chu rattles off as the ideas come one after another. “The army will compete! Oh, and of course, there will be prizes! You will be the one to hand them off, obviously! That will help lift their spirits! The people will compete harder if their Emperor is watching them! We can use the ice block as the site of the games!"
And on and on, he went.
~~~
“Congratulations.”
Xiao Nan greets him from his bed. Lord Feng Shang brought him to the palace along with Feng Zhuo.
“I believe I should be the one saying that,” Liu Jin says. Even in his state, Xiao Nan's Qi fills the room to the brim. There is no mistaking the obvious.
He is an Emperor now.
“I am pretty amazing, aren’t I?” Xiao Nan says, grinning and patting himself on the chest. “I must be the youngest Emperor in recorded history. Possibly. I am not sure about the Wandering Wind, but there is no need to count her. Please, lavish me with praise, Little Brother.”
“I would have thought that being free of the Renegade Realm would have put your ego under control,” Liu Jin says dryly.
“Ego is simply having an accurate sense of one’s worth,” Xiao Nan explains to him seriously. “Little Brother, I cannot help it if mine is greater than most.”
The two laugh.
“I am happy that you are well,” Liu Jin says. “It was a hard battle, and you did the Storm Dragon Empire a great favor by fighting to defend it.”
“Little Brother, I barely did anything.”
“You defeated an Emperor,” Liu Jin says. “Didn’t you say you have an accurate sense of your own worth? Do not make yourself a liar so quickly.”
“Very well, I heartedly accept your thanks,” he says. His smile drops. “Little Brother…I cannot remain here.”
“Xiao Fang,” Liu Jin says in understanding.
“You are safe here, but he’s out there,” Xiao Nan says. “I am sorry that I am leaving after you have helped me so much. I know it’s ungrateful of me. I wouldn’t have reached the Emperor Realm without you, but-”
“Elder Brother!” Liu Jin interrupts him. “There is nothing to apologize for. Yes, I helped you reach the Emperor Realm, but you would have gotten there even without me. If you want to go help Xiao Fang, how can I say no? Please, go. You will put my mind at ease. If it makes you feel better, I will make it a command. Save our stubborn and foolish brother.”
Xiao Nan smiles.
“Ah, if you put it like that, Little Brother, how can I say no?” Xiao Nan says. “By the way, I’m telling him you called him stubborn and foolish.”
“Bring him safe, and I will say it to his face.”
~~~
Mini-Character List
Liu Jin: Our protagonist. Will make time to insult Xiao Fang.
Serene End: Disciple of the Death Fashioning Scripture. Logistical complications.
Xiao Shuang: Disciple of the Divine Frozen Palace. Can smug.
Lu Mei: Lord Feng Shang’s daughter. Actually really curious about what happened between Feng Shang and Bai Lianshi.
Feng Shang: Lu Mei’s father. Will never congratulate you on your piano recitals. Will never miss a single one even though he hates piano.
Meng Yue: One of the Five Fairies of the Divine Frozen Palace. Landscaper.
Minister Chu: Minister of the Storm Dragon Empire. Morale improver.
Xiao Nan: Prodigy of the Xiao Sect. Revolutionary Striker.