The rain fell in cold sheets over Stonebridge Pass, turning the dirt road into slick, uneven mud. Li Fan moved silently through the downpour, his cloak drawn low to hide his face. Even so, every step seemed to echo in the empty night, as though the land itself was warning him.
He wasn't alone.
A flicker of killing intent brushed the edge of his senses. He stopped, one hand tightening around the hilt of his blade.
From the mist, a figure emerged—clad in black armor, marked with the insignia of the Iron Mandate. Behind him, more shapes formed, a dozen in total, each radiating the steady, disciplined qi of trained assassins.
The leader stepped forward, rain streaking down his helm. "Li Fan of the Nine Cauldron Arts," he said, voice like iron striking stone. "By decree of the Eastern Celestial Court, you are to be detained for the safety of the realm."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed. So it begins.
"I have harmed no innocents," he said, voice low but carrying through the storm. "Yet you hunt me as if I were a beast."
"You are a beast," the leader spat. "A wilden who has walked too far down the path of power. The people already fear you—better to end it now before the heavens do it for us."
The assassins moved as one, blades flashing silver in the gloom. Li Fan's qi surged in answer, the Seventh Cauldron roaring like a dragon within his dantian. The first strike met his guard, sparks flaring in the rain. He countered with a sweeping palm that sent two attackers flying into the mud.
They were skilled, but they were testing him, probing for weakness rather than rushing to kill. It was an ambush designed to measure his strength.
Lightning split the sky, illuminating the leader's grim expression. "So the rumors were true… your power is beyond reason."
Li Fan's gaze hardened. "Tell your masters this—if they want my head, they'll have to pay in blood."
With that, he launched forward, scattering the assassins in a storm of strikes. The leader barely managed to parry before Li Fan's second blow cracked his armor.
By the time the rain began to ease, the road was littered with groaning, beaten men. Li Fan stood alone, breathing steadily, the storm within him still unspent.
He looked toward the distant lights of Emerald Haven, knowing the battle had only just begun.
The first strike had been made—not by him, but by the world power that now sought to shape his destiny.
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