The Highway Revears POVMy legs suddenly refused to move, I guess from the panic cause I was freaked out. My breath came in short, broken gasps as my mind tried, and failed, to make sense of what I was seeing and not seeing. There was a flicker right in front of me. For the briefest moment, I saw it.A translucent, bone-like spike, it was wet and dripping.De Tian’s blood slid down its surface in slow, heavy drops before it vanished, retracting back into his chest. My stomach dropped.My hands trembled at the realisation. This wasn’t a weapon. It wasn’t magic. It was carried out and fully controlled by him. He was the dismantler. It was all him. “Please…” The word slipped out before I could stop it.It was pathetic but it was all I had left.Lin Feng didn’t even look at me, that hurt more than anything.I wasn’t worth his attention. I wasn’t even worth finishing personally.He stood there as the last of my men died, one after another, their bodies hitting the ground in uneven, fina

Lin Feng's POV“Let me see that!”The Captain moved instantly, lunging forward and snatching the badge from my hand. His confidence vanished as quickly as it had appeared.His fingers traced the engravings, his face drained of that smug smile he had on a while ago.Color fled from his skin, leaving behind something uncertain. “This…” he whispered, his voice no longer carrying authority, only disbelief. “This is the Grand Elder’s seal…”His hands trembled.“Where did you get this? He’s been missing since the Trial.”“He was met with an unfortunate accident, rest his soul.” I said, stepping closer.Close enough that only he could hear the rest.“He left me in charge of his… interests.”I let the words settle between us, then leaned in just slightly more.“Now,” I murmured, “are you going to keep the Grand Elder’s ‘representative’ waiting in the dirt with the livestock…”A pause.“…or are you going to open the damn gate?”The Captain looked at the medallion, then at me, then back at the

Lin Chen’s POVThe sight of my brother, Feng standing within my orbit looking like a man who had crawled out of a mass grave, sent a sharp, involuntary jolt through me.How he got past security at the gate of the city looking like that baffled me, and the most shocking thing was how he found his way into this building without being caught as a nullity. This place was a place for high nobles, and it was heavily guarded to the peak with tier-3 mana securities. But anyways, the moment I saw him, I felt a sense of fast, unwanted, ugly relief. For a single, fragile heartbeat, everything else fell away, the gold, the silk, the weight of the expectations of the High Lords pressing against my shoulders. For that one moment, all I saw was my big brother. Not the ragged figure before me, not the cold eyes or the unnatural stillness, but him.Feng, he was alive. Last I heard of him, I was being told he was taken to the slave pits to rot and die. Perhaps I was seeing a ghost, I expelled that

Lin Feng’s POVThe meetup with my brother made me realise something. Despite everything I had become and how strong I really was. And after everything Chen had done to me. There was a part of me that cared about him, or maybe not. I didn't dwell on the thought for too long. “Where are you coming from?” Shen asked as if he cared about my whereabouts. Deep down I know he wants to stay around me in case things go South, then he can call me to come to his aide. I ignored him and began changing my clothes. “Feng, you can't give me the silent treatment forever or this cold shoulder. You dragged me here mostly against my will, you have to start talking.” Shen said, but I didn't look at his faceI left, fully clothed to another location. The Great Hall of the Capital was a cathedral of excess.It didn’t simply display wealth, it weaponized it.Massive chandeliers forged from suspended sun-crystals hung far above, each one radiating a blinding, immaculate light that poured down in cascadi

Lin Feng’s POVI had to find a way out of the gathering as soon as I could, I needed a way to stop what was going to befall Chen and I but I couldn’t do shit here. I needed at least a place different from here where this mana was so strong and eyes were everywhere. That was probably what was making the tablet heat up. I couldn't use the door, because why would a servant leave when the function wasn't yet over. That was begging for death, whereas I was sort of a wanted man in the capital, even though not many people knew. I knew I wouldn't die, but I really didn't want to find out or be involved in any brawl. I decided to go through the basement. The descent into the Great Altar’s basement wasn’t marked by a single doorway or an obvious entrance.That would have been too simple.No, the designers of this place had worked it out perfectly with intent. Layers upon layers of security, not all of them were visible to the naked eye, and of course as you'd expect, not all of them were phy