"And you, Ice-Sword," Shen mocked. "You thought you were so strong. But I poisoned your daily lotus pills. I made sure your magic was always just a little bit too weak. I made sure you were always tired. I killed the strong Elders in secret, and I changed the testing rules so only the weakest, most fearful children were allowed to join the sect."Shen opened his arms wide, looking at the thousands of terrified teenagers."Look at you all!" Shen laughed. "You are weak! You are soft! You are a broken, dying family, and I am the one who broke you! I prepared this entire mountain to be a perfect, easy gift for Lord Julian!"Seraphina gritted her teeth. Her pale blue eyes burned with incredible hatred. "You are a coward, Shen," Seraphina hissed. "You talk about being strong, but you locked us inside a cage because you are afraid to fight us fairly.""Fairly?" Shen laughed loudly. "There is no such thing as a fair fight, little girl. There is only winning and losing. And today, I win."Shen

The heavy iron doors at the back of the Grand Hall were completely broken. Dust floated in the air.First Elder Shen stood in the center of the room, wearing his hidden golden armor. He looked at Lucien, who had just pulled the jagged black spear out of the wooden pillar.Shen’s shoulder was bleeding, but the golden magic inside his body was healing the wound very quickly. Shen stared at the dirty beggar. Then, the evil old man threw his head back and laughed loudly."A black spear?" Shen mocked. His voice echoed across the massive, poisonous room. "You think a heavy piece of rusty metal can scare me? You got lucky, beggar. You threw a spear from the dark. But I am an Earth-Shattering Master! I have the blessing of the Emperor! You are nothing but a bug crawling in the dirt!"Shen did not care about Lucien right now. Shen thought Lucien was just a strong, stupid rogue.Shen turned his back on Lucien. He looked down at Seraphina.The Ice-Veined Sword was lying on the hard wooden floor.

The thick cloud of golden smoke and dust slowly began to clear. From inside the smoke, a sound echoed. It was the sound of a heavy, crystalline boot stepping onto the broken floor.Clank.Another step.Shen’s eyes widened until they almost popped out of his head.Lucien walked slowly out of the smoke.The barrage of massive, explosive golden attacks had not done absolutely anything. The pitch-black, jagged crystalline armor was perfectly smooth. There was not a single crack. There was not a single scorch mark.Lucien was completely, utterly unhurt. The golden fire had washed over the dark armor like harmless drops of rain falling on a solid stone wall. He did not even raise his arms to protect his face. He simply walked right through the explosions.Clank. Clank. Clank.Lucien walked toward First Elder Shen. His steps were slow, rhythmic, and completely unstoppable. He looked like an inevitable force of nature."No," Shen whimpered. He backed away until his back hit the far wall of th

"We will try, Elder Seraphina," the head healer promised. The guards picked up the stretcher and ran quickly out of the Grand Hall, heading for the safest medical rooms in the Inner Court. Seraphina watched them leave. She took a deep, shaking breath. She turned her head and looked at Lucien. Lucien was standing quietly near the back of the hall, wrapping the torn blue cloth around his broad chest. He was watching her. Seraphina stood up slowly. She ignored the terrible, burning pain in her dislocated shoulder. She walked straight toward him. She did not say a word. When she reached him, she reached out with her good left hand. She grabbed his arm tightly. "Come with me," Seraphina whispered. Her voice was freezing cold, but it carried a desperate, urgent tone. Lucien did not fight her. He let her pull him away from the busy, crowded Grand Hall. She led him down a long, dark stone hallway. They walked past broken statues and torn banners. The sounds of the crying disciples and

"I am going to tear my father’s empire down to the dirt," Lucien promised. "I am going to erase their lies from history. But I cannot do it alone. I need a foothold on the surface. I need a general who knows the light, to stand with me when I bring the dark."He looked at her with pure, absolute sincerity. "I chose you, Ice-Veined Sword," Lucien said. "I chose you to help me break the false sun."Seraphina stared at the terrifying, beautiful, powerful man kneeling in front of her. Her struggle tore at her heart. She was an Elder of a righteous sect. She had been taught her whole life to obey the laws of the Empire. She was supposed to hate dark magic. She was supposed to report criminals to the Inquisition. If she helped Lucien, she would become a traitor to the Empire. She would become an enemy of the entire world. But then, she thought about the truth. The Empire had slowly poisoned her Sect Master for ten years. The Empire had paid assassins to murder her innocent students in th