2026-04-02 19:57:24
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Chapter 74 (The first cut) Chen’s POV
That was my final say— breaking the system. The massive heart at the center pulsed steadily, each beat dragging another wave of Qi through the veins carved into the earth.Yan Hu’s hand was white-knuckled on the hilt of his blade. Long Wei was trembling, his hands pressed so hard against his temples I thought he might bruise his own skin.“Chen,” Yan Hu rasped, his voice cutting through the humid air. “Say the word. We cut this thing out of the earth right now.” His voice echoed once.Then again—delayed.Like the chamber itself was listening.I didn’t answer.Instead, I stepped forward, slowly. Deliberately.Up close, it looked less like an energy core… and more like woven veins. Almost -transparent. Pulsing faintly. Carrying strands of Qi upward toward the throne room.Thin, silver gray streams of life force trickled down from the city in constant motion. While the core spun the raw energy, stripping away humanity and leaving only the cold, high-density power of the abyss. And hid
Chapter 73 (The heart beneath the throne) Chen’s POV
We didn’t move immediately.The forest boundary lay behind us, silent now—as if what we had just encountered had never existed. Ahead, the Imperial Capital lay beneath the bruised purple of a pre-dawn sky. It looked peaceful—a sprawling jewel of architecture and power. But to my eyes, the city was no longer a home for the living. It was a feeding trough.No one spoke.Not because there was nothing to say… but because the decision had already been made.Long Wei was the first to break the silence.“It’s getting louder,” he whispered.His voice wasn’t afraid.It was strained.Like a man trying to listen to something too vast for his mind to contain.Yan Hu frowned. “From the forest?”Wei shook his head slowly, eyes unfocused. “No… from the palace. Whatever is inside… it’s waking up faster.”Yan Hu exhaled sharply and turned to me. “Then we wait. Regroup. If this thing is accelerating, rushing in blind—”“A Sovereign does not wait for rot to spread, Yan Hu," I said, my voice like the sn
Chapter 72 (A part of the system) Chen’s POV
Even after the corpse crumbled into gray dust, even after the last trace of movement vanished, the forest remained… still.The silence of the Forbidden Forest wasn’t peaceful; it was predatory.I crouched again, this time slower, my gaze narrowing on the body that hadn’t yet disintegrated. The black veins—jagged, root-like—spread across the chest in unnatural convergence.“Look here,” I murmured.Yan Hu stepped closer despite himself. Wei didn’t move—his body was rigid. I brushed aside the torn fabric at the corpse’s chest and there. At the exact point where the black veins converged— A symbol.My eyes sharpened.It wasn’t carved. It was embedded.A spiritual imprint, etched beneath the skin like a command branded into the soul.My stomach turned cold.“It’s the same pattern…” Yan Hu muttered.I nodded slowly.“The reverse talismans at the imperial gate.” I grabbed the corpse’s wrist and turned the palm upward.Yan Hu inhaled sharply.“Another rune.”But identical to the marks burne
Chapter 71 (what the night carries) Chen’s POV
The heavy iron gates of the inner palace groaned shut, a sound like a guillotine blade finding its mark. The "Prince" was gone, tucked away behind gold-leafed stone, but the phantom weight of his gaze remained. It sat on my skin, cold and oily, a predatory mark that refused to be washed away by the evening mist.The cheers didn’t die immediately.They lingered—rolling through the capital like thunder that refused to fade. But beneath it, something else began to surface."Did you see his eyes at the end?" Yan Hu’s voice was barely a breath. He didn't look at me, his focus shifting through the thinning crowd like a soldier checking for an ambush. "He didn't just see us, Chen. He didn't even recognize you, he would have attacked you head-on, or did he? Is this another game?”"He recognized a meal, not me. His eyes are abstract" I said, my voice flat.As we moved through the darkening streets, the atmosphere curdled. In the shadows of the tea houses, the whispers had changed."Third one
Chapter 70 (The prince who returned) Chen’s POV
As we slipped into the imperial capital, heads bowed under deep traveling cloaks, the sheer weight of the atmosphere hit me.The Imperial Capital didn't smell like incense and gold. It smelled like stagnant pond water and old copper. This was the heart of the Yan Empire—the "City of Eternal Radiance"—but the light felt filtered through a shroud.The cloaks did little to hide the unease that crept up my spine. The Imperial Capital should have been radiant—golden banners, glimmering tiles, the kind of light that made a man feel alive.Instead… It was gray. Muted. Heavy.A crowd pressed around us, excitement plastered on their faces, but the energy beneath their movements was off. Like a river whose flow had been forced into a rigid channel.Yan Hu walked beside me, his eyes scanning the city, jaw tight. “This… doesn’t feel right,” he murmured. “What is the celebration about, why does it feel dark?” I said nothing. I didn’t need to. Every instinct, every thread of Qi, told me the city
Chapter 69 (Trio) Chen’s POV
The mountains stretched ahead like jagged teeth, the forest between them thick, heavy and silent, like it wasn’t a path made to we walked on. We were three days out from the Demon Subdued Cave, carving a path through the jagged spine of the mountains that led to the Imperial heartland. The further we moved, the more the atmosphere shifted. It wasn't just air and fine anymore— it was a pressurized system of residual Qi, hidden surveillance arrays, and the predatory intent of the Emperor’s hounds.Long Wei walked five paces ahead of us. He didn’t look like the shivering boy from the cave. His eyes were wide open, but the pupils were dark, swallowing the light as he tracked the invisible ley lines of the forest.Suddenly, he stiffened. He didn't turn around, but his voice drifted back to us, thin and sharp as a needle.“There are three ahead,” Wei whispered. “They don’t feel like the standard guards we saw at the Tao gates, they are stronger... but they feel hollow. Like echoes.”I felt
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