"Li-san." Dojin called out to her as he left the training field. Yeon was thoroughly annoyed. She let her sword fall to the wind as it disintegrated."I definitely have the most disgusting brother ever," Yeon said to herself. "How can you abandon your own sister for her?""Great, here comes the prince. I was so sure he was going to confront me if he saw me," Li-san sighed."Well, the prince doesn't really look like a bad person, but... yeah, I don't trust him," Kaien replied."It's not even about trust, Kaien. I don't like him, and he won't accept that I'm not interested. I'm exhausted. I don't even want to go home." Li-san's frustration was evident."Well, it's too late now. You're just going to have to deal with it right here, right now," Kaien told her.With that, the prince halted in front of her. He took her hands and kissed them. "Good morning, my queen."'Your queen?' she thought irritably. 'I am definitely not his queen.'"Yeah, good morning. How are you doing?" Li-san asked c

"Li-san's blood?" Dojin shook his head. "Is this some sort of joke?""It's no joke, my prince. Her blood is the only way to keep the prison stable enough to hold Vex'tharion."Dojin raised a brow. "But why her? Why human blood? Wait—how much blood are we talking about?""My prince, we need a whole lot of it..." Mo Tianxuan managed to say. "A little alone won't do."Dojin frowned. "So you want to turn her into some sacrificial lamb because of Vex'tharion?" Mo Tianxuan couldn't reply. "Li-san won't be used as a sacrifice to keep a prison stable.""But my prince—" Vex'tharion's words stopped him."There's no need to argue with the prince. If he refuses to do as told, then we can make it just that much easier for us."How so?"Manipulate him into doing it. Use your magic to make him carry out the task," Vex'tharion answered. "There's no point arguing with him."Dojin turned away from the mage before facing him again. "How do you even know about all of this?""My father taught me a lot of

The village of Ashmoon sprawled across the landscape like something alive—constantly growing, constantly changing. Yeon moved through it like a ghost, unremarkable despite being royalty. No one glanced twice at her. That was the point, she'd explained as they left the castle. During official ceremonies and public appearances, her face was always hidden behind veils and ceremonial masks. The people knew the princess existed, but they'd never actually seen her.Which meant she was, effectively, invisible.Han couldn't stop staring. Everything about Ashmoon felt different. The marketplace alone was massive—stalls stretched for what looked like miles, organized in neat rows but bursting with life and energy. The population density was nothing like Azure. There were more people in this one district than in entire towns back home."Look at the buildings," Han muttered to Kaien as they walked, his eyes tracking the architecture. "The stonework. Everything's reinforced. There's actual infrast

The first cultivator strikes first with a controlled burst of fire, hurling his fist towards Kaien, who sidestepped the attack casually. The cultivator kept hurling his fist at Kaien, refusing to stop, so sure he could land a hit. But Kaien caught his fist midway and pulled him forward, delivering a punch to his jaw. The force sent the first cultivator hurtling into his comrades."Argh!" They all released a groan, crashed against one another. Kaien didn't give them time to recover as the first cultivator tried to get up.Kaien spun around on his right foot and immediately kicked the head of the first cultivator.The cultivator could have sworn he felt his head leave his body, but he'd gotten lucky. Instead, his entire body was sent hurtling through a market stand."I hope the rest of you can do better," Kaien said coldly.Kaien took a proper stance after brushing off their ring leader.Yeon was amazed by what Kaien had just done. If she was correct, the first cultivator that Kaien had

Their footsteps stopped abruptly. Kaien halted, and Han Seojun and Princess Yeon had no choice but to stop with him. A cliff stretched out ahead of them, the edge sharp and unforgiving."Why would the servant come this way?" The question carried a weight that made Kaien's gut tighten.Yeon's eyes widened. Fear flooded her face, and she couldn't speak. She was trying to process what she was seeing, but it didn't make sense. None of it made sense.Seojun tried to lean toward the cliff's edge, but Kaien grabbed him and pulled him back. Then Kaien moved to the edge himself, crouching on his heels and looking down.Below was a body. It took him a moment to register what he was seeing. The servant. Dead on the rocks beneath them, soaked in blood.When Yeon saw Kaien staring down there for too long, she gasped. Her heart sank like a stone. He's dead. She said it under her breath at first, then louder, making sure Kaien and Seojun heard. "The servant is dead."Kaien's gaze swept across the ar