A faint chill passed through Kaelen Viremont’s eyes.At first, it had just been a suspicion. A quiet feeling in the back of his mind that the Sixth Prince’s Mansion might come after him. Nothing concrete—just instinct. The kind you learn not to ignore after surviving long enough.But now?No need for guesses anymore.They were here.And not just casually either—they came ready. War-repeating crossbows were already trained on him, their cold metal frames catching what little light the night offered. These weren’t your average weapons. Each one could punch through fortress walls, rip apart armored troops like paper.Weapons meant for battlefields.Not for one man.And yet… here they were.A faint smile tugged at Kaelen’s lips. It didn’t reach his eyes.So they really went all out, huh.The air tightened, like the calm right before a storm breaks.Then—no warning at all—They fired.Eight bolts shot out at once, tearing through the darkness with sharp, screaming whistles. The sheer force

Serenya Vale walked forward slowly, a long sword still dripping blood from its edge.The battlefield behind her was dead quiet now. No more fighting. No more shouting. Just that faint, lingering smell of iron in the air… blood. It gets stuck in your nose if you stay too long.She stopped beside Kaelen Viremont and glanced at the last survivor—the Martial Spirit Tier expert.Or well… what was left of him.He was on his knees, shaking like a leaf in a storm. The arrogance from before? Completely gone. Wiped clean.Serenya hesitated a bit, then asked quietly, “Master… what should we do with him?”Kaelen looked down at the man.A calm smile showed up on his face. Nothing warm about it, though.“A Martial Spirit Tier isn’t easy to find,” he said casually. Like he was talking about something ordinary. “Killing him would be wasteful.”The kneeling man froze instantly.Kaelen continued, voice still relaxed. “Tie him up with Cailor. Then send a message to the Sixth Prince’s Mansion. Tell them…

The old soldier sounded genuinely panicked as he rushed forward.And honestly, you couldn’t blame him. He’d been around the Seventh Prince’s Mansion for years—long enough to see it slowly lose its edge. The glory wasn’t what it used to be. The influence had faded. Even nearby powers didn’t take it seriously anymore.It was… fragile. That was the word.So when the Sixth Prince suddenly showed up with a full force outside the gates, it felt less like a visit and more like a hammer coming down on glass.To him, this wasn’t just “someone arriving.”It was a disaster waiting to happen.Serenya Vale stood on the courtyard path, calm as ever. The morning wind played with her hair a little, but her attention was elsewhere. She glanced at Kaelen Viremont beside her.“Master,” she asked softly, “do you think something happened in the Sixth Prince’s Mansion last night? Is that why he came all the way here this morning… for an explanation?”No fear in her voice. Just curiosity. Plain and simple.

After Chu Yuxiao and Chief Commander Li were finally pulled back from the brink of death, everything around them went quiet. Almost uncomfortably so.No one spoke for a moment.Slowly, both of them lifted their heads again and looked toward Kaelen Viremont.But something had shifted.The arrogance was gone. The earlier confidence, that slight air of superiority—they had all vanished without a trace. What replaced it was much more basic. Much more raw.Fear.Not the usual kind either. This wasn’t just nervousness. It was the kind of fear that sinks deep into the bones and stays there.Chu Yuxiao tightened his fingers slightly, forcing himself to breathe steadily. But the scene from moments ago kept replaying in his mind. Kaelen’s movement hadn’t even felt human. It was like something else had stepped in for a second—something absolute. Unquestionable.Behind him, Chief Commander Li stood pale and silent. Years of battle experience meant nothing in front of that feeling. Nothing at all.

Kaelen Viremont looked down at Chu Huanshu, still in his arms,s and, almost absentmindedly, ran his fingers through her long black hair. A faint smile showed up on his face—barely there, easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention.“It’s not like a life-and-death farewell,” he said, voice calm as always. “Even if I leave someday, there’ll still be chances to meet again.”He said it like it was nothing. Like it didn’t matter much either way.But Chu Huanshu understood.Things like this… never really worked that simply.In the world of cultivators, nothing was ever straightforward. The so-called geniuses who made it into the Myriad Dynasties Battle either died along the way or rose so high they stopped being part of the same world entirely. They’d end up inside those legendary hegemonic forces—existences that looked down on entire nations like gods watching ants.Once you crossed that line, distance wasn’t measured in miles anymore.It was worlds apart.A quiet resolve formed in Chu Hu