Alex stood in the rubble, blood dripping from his split lip onto the broken stone. His left arm hung useless at his side, the bones shattered from Namgung Hyuk’s earlier blow.He ignored it. Pain was a luxury he could not afford. He raised his good hand.“Attack now!”Feng Taiyi charged forward without hesitation, pouring every ounce of his strength into the assault. But Namgung Hyuk was older and stronger.“You will never win,” Namgung Hyuk sneered.The two Nascent Soul masters collided high in the dark sky. Their swords clashed with explosive force, sending streaks of sword light flashing like silver lightning weaving through turbulent storm clouds.Then, without warning, five thousand Wudang disciples emerged in perfect unison. They appeared on every rooftop, in every shadowed courtyard, and from every hidden vantage point surrounding the Prime Minister’s pavilion. A sea of white robes rippled as one, silent and disciplined, like an avalanche ready to descend.They had been waiting

The night air in the ruined courtyard still carried the sharp tang of smoke and blood. Li Tianlong stood rigid, his sword lowered but his eyes burning with the kind of fury that could ignite cities. His voice cracked across the open space.“If you do this, you are no longer human. How can you drag my entire family into your games?”Alex met his gaze without blinking. “I gave you a chance once. I am giving you another. Choose. Friend or enemy. But choose quickly.”“I serve only Emperor Liu Jian,” Li Tianlong spat. “The true son of the dragon. Not your puppet boy from the provinces.”Alex nodded once, a small, cold movement. “Liu Piao. Kill the emperor.”The fat Wudang disciple holding the bound false emperor tightened his grip. Liu Jian’s eyes widened in sudden terror as Liu Piao drew his blade in one smooth motion, the steel singing as it cleared the sheath.“Wait!” Li Tianlong roared.But Lu Piao had already driven his sword straight into the Emperor's heart. The blade erupted from

The war room’s doors opened without ceremony. Li Qingxue stepped inside, white robes streaked with road dust, her breathing controlled but tight. She bowed once, sharp and precise.“Young Sect Master. Urgent news from the Murim Alliance.”Alex did not turn. “Speak.”“They have declared Wudang an enemy of the righteous sects. Five days. Surrender the sect and its assets, or their combined forces march on our halls.”The words landed like stones in still water. Alex’s eyes were calm, almost cold.“Good. They finally moved.”He shifted his attention to the man waiting on the far side of the map.Zhuge Liang stood with his usual stillness, hands clasped behind his back, the faint lines at the corners of his eyes the only sign he had absorbed every word.“Zhuge Liang. My orders.”“Yes, Prime Minister.”“First, the two provinces still clinging to the Yellow Turbans. Send our most reliable high-ranking officers—those whose loyalty is beyond question. They shall enter as the new governors. Pr

The victory at Guangdu shook the very foundations of the empire.One after another, the remaining provinces submitted and bent the knee. Those ambitious governors who had once danced to their own tunes were unceremoniously removed and replaced by hand-picked loyalists who owed their allegiance solely to Alex.In less than a month, Bai Xiaochun stood as the undisputed master of all eighteen provinces of Xia.The once-mighty armies of each province, which had previously swept across the land like tempests, were all summoned back to their provincial capitals and silently disbanded.Only token garrisons remained — sufficient to preserve peace, yet powerless to ignite war.“No governor shall ever again wield the strength to raise his blade against his peers,” Alex proclaimed to the assembled governors.“Transform every soldier into a farmer! Let them abandon the path of slaughter. Let them take wives, beget children, labor in the fields to feed their families, and raise generation after ge

The sword struck with a wet, final sound.Emperor Liu Xie jerked once, his dragon robes blooming dark red across the chest. His fingers slipped from the throne’s armrest. Then he slumped forward, eyes wide with the stunned look of a man who had not yet understood he was already dead.For one terrible heartbeat the entire plaza froze.Then the screaming began.“Guards!” Alex roared. “Seize Murong Sheng and Xiao Wuji. They tried to kill the Emperor.”Wudang disciples poured from the side chambers in a disciplined wave, elders at their head. Their robes snapped as they moved. Swords and qi flared in unison.Ten of the strongest elders fanned out around Murong Sheng and Xiao Wuji, faces grim, killing intent thick in the air.Murong Sheng’s blade was still humming from the deflected strike. He stared at the fallen Emperor, then at the sword that had killed him, and something cold and ugly twisted behind his eyes.“No,” he said, voice hoarse. “It was an accident. Someone must have redirecte