Library
Search
STEEL LOTUS
10

1 rating · 1 reviews

STEEL LOTUS

Warlast updateLast Updated : 2026-09-16

By:  ChideznyOngoing

Language: English
18

Chapters: 57 views: 631

Read
Add to library
Report
ActionAdventurousDramaArrogantHeir/HeirnessWarriorKingdom BuildingWeak to StrongCultivation

The heavens wept the day the Dragon's Spine Mountains bled fire. The Oda Clan once stood as the greatest military house in the Imperial Dominion of Yamato, where cultivation and warfare forged legends. In a single moonless night, the Shogunate branded them traitors and wiped out forty-seven thousand lives. Only one survivor remained. At twelve, Kaito Oda watched his father die beneath the executioner's blade. Five years later, he lives under a false name in the lawless Crimson Port, carrying nothing but his father's sword, a shattered cultivation core, and a terrifying gift—the ability to see the death of any technique used against him. To avenge his clan, Kaito infiltrates the Imperial Academy, the very institution that trained the generals who slaughtered his family. There, he begins mastering the forbidden Sword Emperor's Testament, a cultivation art fueled by bloodshed alone. Every victory brings him closer to the truth behind the massacre—and closer to the empire's destruction. But revenge is never simple. The brilliant strategist who orchestrated the Oda Clan's fall now commands the Eastern Armies. His only surviving childhood friend serves the regime he swore to destroy. And beneath the imperial capital, an ancient force awakens, threatening to consume every clan locked in their endless struggle for power. Empires rise. Dynasties fall. Legends are written in blood. Kaito Oda isn't fighting for a throne. He's fighting to erase an empire. Welcome to the Dominion—where trust is weakness, mercy is fatal, and the Steel Lotus blooms only in the ashes of war.

Show more
Overview
Catalog
TABLE OF CONTENTS
    Comments

    • Chidezny

      10

      I love the story so much ...️

      2026-09-16 16:37:28
      0
    Latest Chapter
    More Chapters
    You may also like
    57 chapters
    The Blood Price
    The rat died between Kaito's fingersHe squeezed until the tiny spine snapped, then dropped the carcass into his sack. One of twelve. Enough for a day's meal if he found a merchant willing to trade. Three would go to rent his corner of the alley. The rest he'd eat rawSurvival had a taste. It tasted like blood and desperation.Footsteps splashed through the puddles behind him. Kaito didn't turn. He knew the rhythm—heavy, uneven, the gait of a man who'd had too much rice wine and too little sleep. A harbor enforcer. One of Captain Daigo's dogs."Boy." The voice grated like stones grinding together. "You the one selling information about the Oda survivors?"Kaito's hand moved to his belt. His fingers found the hilt of a rusted knife—not his father's blade, too dangerous to carry openly. Just a piece of scrap metal he'd sharpened against a stone."Don't know what you're talking about," he said, keeping his voice flat.The enforcer laughed. "Liar. We've been watching you. You ask too many
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-07-31
    Read more
    The Culling
    The iron gate loomed before him like a mouth waiting to swallow.Kaito pressed his back against the rain-slicked wall of the alley, watching the Imperial Academy's entrance from the shadows. Two guards flanked the massive doors, their armor gleaming with cultivation-enhanced steel. Each pulse of their cores sent faint ripples through the air—visible even to Kaito's broken senses.They were cultivators. Real ones.And he had nothing but a rusted knife and a dead man's name."Ryu Kenzaki," he whispered, tasting the false identity. "War orphan. Northern Province. No clan. No family. No history."The scroll in his pocket felt heavier than the sky above him.He'd read his father's message a hundred times during the journey to the capital. The words hadn't changed. They still burned.*"The Sword Emperor's Testament lives in your blood. Claim it, my son. Burn them all."*Kaito's core pulsed weakly beneath his ribs—a dull throb that reminded him of everything he'd lost. The generals who'd mur
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    Trial by Blood
    Twenty survivors stood in a ragged line.Kaito counted them twice. Each face bore the same expression—relief mixed with fear. They'd passed the first test. But the culling wasn't over. It had only just begun.Commander Morita paced before them, his white robes pristine despite the rain. Behind him, the shattered remains of Kaito's testing orb still lay scattered across the courtyard."Congratulations," Morita said, his voice dripping with false warmth. "You've proven you have potential. Now you must prove you have the will to use it."He gestured toward the far end of the courtyard. A steel cage rose from the ground, its bars humming with cultivation energy. Inside, a massive boar pawed at the dirt. Its tusks were jagged, its eyes wild, and its core radiated a beast's raw fury."One of you will enter the cage," Morita announced. "You will fight the beast. You will kill it. Or you will die trying."The candidates exchanged nervous glances. Kaito studied the boar. Its power level was lo
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    The First Night
    The dormitory smelled like fear.Kaito lay on his cot, staring at the ceiling, his body screaming with exhaustion. The boar's blood had dried on his hands hours ago, but he could still feel it—warm, sticky, alive. The Testament hummed beneath his skin, a constant reminder of what he'd done.What he'd become.The room held twenty cots, twenty initiates who'd survived the culling. Most were asleep, their breathing shallow and dreamless. A few whispered in the darkness, trading names and allegiances like currency.Kaito listened to every sound. Every shift of fabric. Every creak of the old building's bones.He couldn't sleep. Not here. Not surrounded by enemies wearing friendly faces.A shadow moved near the door.Kaito's hand found his hidden knife. He didn't move, didn't breathe. The shadow crept closer, silent as a ghost.Then it stopped beside his cot."Ryu Kenzaki." The voice was soft, feminine. "I know you're awake."Kaito's grip tightened on the knife. "Who's asking?"The shadow r
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    The Keeper of Names
    The girl's grip on his arm was iron.Kaito's hand moved to his hidden knife. One quick motion. He'd done it before."Don't," she whispered. "They're watching."He froze. Her eyes flicked toward the dormitory window. Through the rain-streaked glass, he saw a silhouette—one of the senior initiates, standing motionless, observing."Who are you?" Kaito demanded, keeping his voice low."Not here." She released his arm and stepped back, her expression shifting to something neutral. "Meet me in the archives. Tomorrow. Dawn."Then she turned and walked away, disappearing into the darkness as silently as she'd come.Kaito's heart pounded. His true name. She'd spoken his true name. That meant she knew. She knew everything.He didn't sleep that night.The archives were a labyrinth of stone and shadow.Kaito arrived at dawn, his body aching from exhaustion but his mind razor-sharp. The girl was already there, seated at a reading table surrounded by scrolls. Her back was to him, her braided hair t
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    The Underground River
    The tunnels twisted like a dying serpent.Kaito followed Yuki through the darkness, his hand brushing against damp stone walls. The air smelled of earth and something older—decay, maybe, or the residue of forgotten cultivation.Behind them, the shouts of the initiates had faded. But Kaito knew they'd be back. Morita wouldn't let two students being attacked go unanswered."Where does this lead?" he whispered.Yuki didn't slow. "To the river. There's a way out through the drainage system.""The drainage system." Kaito's jaw tightened. "You want me to crawl through sewage.""I want you to survive." She glanced back at him, her eyes catching the faint glow of luminescent moss. "The Academy's walls are warded. Every gate is watched. The only way out without being detected is beneath."Kaito swallowed his pride and kept moving.They emerged into a low-ceilinged chamber where water trickled down the walls in dark rivulets. The river—if you could call it that—was a sluggish channel of murky w
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    The Hunter's Trai
    The canal water tasted like iron and decay.Kaito pressed himself flat against the tunnel wall, his breath shallow, his heart hammering against his ribs. The footsteps echoed closer—three men, maybe four, their boots splashing through the stagnant water.He'd been running for hours. His legs burned. His core throbbed with the remnants of Yuki's cultivation pill, but the energy was fading fast."Spread out," a voice commanded. "He can't have gone far."Kaito recognized that voice. Commander Morita's lieutenant—a man named Captain Sato, whose face had been on every wanted poster in the Crimson Port.The hunters were closing in.Kaito's hand found his hidden knife. One blade against four trained soldiers. The odds were impossible.But the Testament didn't care about odds. It cared about blood.He slipped into a side tunnel, his movements silent. The water here was deeper, reaching his chest. He held the journal above his head, keeping it dry.Behind him, a soldier's voice rang out: "Trac
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    The Spider's Web
    The Crimson Port rose from the coast like a wound.Kaito crested the final hill and stared down at the city—a sprawling maze of wooden walkways, rusted ships, and crumbling towers. Smoke rose from a thousand chimneys, mixing with the salt fog that rolled in from the sea. The port was alive with noise: merchants shouting, slaves groaning, the constant clang of shipwrights hammering steel.It smelled like desperation.Kaito pulled his hood lower and descended into the city. Three days of hard travel had left him hollow—his clothes torn, his body bruised, his core flickering with barely contained energy. He'd eaten nothing but raw fish and stolen bread. He'd slept in ditches and abandoned barns.But he'd survived.Now he needed to find Shiori.Yuki's journal had been clear: *"When you get to Crimson Port, find a woman named Shiori. She'll know what to do."*Kaito had no idea what Shiori looked like, where she lived, or whether she could be trusted. But he had a name and a desperate need
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    The First Lesson
    The training room smelled like sweat and blood.Kaito stood in the center of the circular chamber, his body aching from the previous day's ordeal. Shiori had insisted on starting his training immediately—no rest, no recovery, no excuses."The Testament is not a gift," she'd said, her voice cold as steel. "It's a weapon. And like any weapon, it must be mastered before it masters you."Now she circled him, her footsteps silent on the polished stone floor. In her hand, she held a wooden training blade—plain, unadorned, but humming with contained energy."Your father was a master of the Testament," Shiori continued. "He could kill a hundred men without breaking a sweat. But he also understood the cost. Every death feeds the hunger. Every kill makes it harder to resist."Kaito's jaw tightened. "I know the cost.""Do you?" She stopped in front of him, her eyes boring into his. "You've killed four men. Four lives extinguished by your hand. How many more will you take before you lose yourself
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    The Beastman's Bargain
    The wilderness swallowed them whole.Kaito followed Shiori through the dense forest, their footsteps silent on the fallen leaves. Behind them, the Crimson Port had vanished into the morning mist—along with the bodies of the soldiers they'd left behind."How far?" Kaito asked, his voice rough."Two days." Shiori didn't slow. "There's a safe house in the mountains. We'll rest there. Plan our next move."Kaito's core throbbed with the Testament's hunger. He'd killed eight more men. Eight souls now lived inside him, their whispers clawing at his mind.He could feel them. The enforcer's rage. The initiates' fear. The soldiers' desperation.And something else. Something ancient and cold that lurked beneath the surface of the Testament itself."You're struggling," Shiori said, glancing back at him. "I can see it in your eyes. The souls are speaking to you."Kaito nodded. "I can hear them. All of them. They won't stop.""They won't." Shiori's voice was gentle but firm. "But you'll learn to li
    last updateLast Updated : 2026-08-13
    Read more
    view more
    Explore and read good novels for free
    Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
    Read books for free on the app
    Scan code to read on App