Inside Black Wind Valley, the air smelled like blood.
Li Chaoyang stood on a large rock, her bow ready. She was no longer shocked; she was alert. But she wasn't aiming at Li Tianhan. Her arrow pointed at the Seventh Prince, who was screaming on the frozen ground.
"Thirteenth Brother, explain this," she said. Her voice was cold. She was trying to show she was in charge.
Li Tianhan didn't look up. He walked slowly toward the broken Seventh Prince and knelt down. He whispered so only the prince could hear.
"Seventh Brother, people have accidents during the Imperial Frost Hunt all the time. A fall from a horse, a trip off a cliff. It is very common, isn't it?"
The Seventh Prince began to shake with fear. Li Tianhan stood up and finally looked at the Princess. His eyes were like ice.
"Sixth Sister, you got here late. You saw nothing," he said firmly. "The Seventh Prince and his friends fell off their horses. I will call the guards to help them soon."
Li Chaoyang gripped her bow tighter. He wasn't asking for her silence; he was telling her how things were going to be. She was terrified of this nine-year-old boy.
Suddenly, a massive roar shook the valley.
A giant bolt of purple lightning shot into the sky. A wave of dark energy hit the area. Horses collapsed in fear, and people were thrown to the ground.
"It is the Thunder-Maned Calamity!" someone yelled.
The famous monster of the hunt had appeared.
Nearby, the Fifth Prince, Li Qingtian, saw the monster. He wasn't scared; he wanted glory. He ignored the warnings and charged. He used his full power, sending a golden energy dragon toward the beast.
The monster didn't care. It swiped a lightning-covered paw.
The golden dragon shattered like glass. Li Qingtian gasped as his own energy hit him back. Li Chaoyang fired three arrows at the monster's eyes, but a shield of electricity burnt them to ash.
The two best young fighters in the Azure Empire had teamed up, and they couldn't even make the beast move.
The monster opened its mouth and shot out a net of lightning. Several nobles behind the Fifth Prince died instantly.
"Monster!" Li Qingtian yelled. He charged again, but the monster hit him in the chest. His armor broke, and he was sent flying through the air. He crashed into the dirt and passed out.
Li Chaoyang fell back, blood dripping from her mouth. Everyone else began to run away in terror.
Then, a small figure walked out from the trees. It was Li Tianhan.
As he walked, the lightning seemed to stay away from him. Everything went quiet. A survivor cursed at him, "The waste is here to die!"
Marshal Wei Yan arrived just in time to see the Fifth Prince fall. He saw the boy and screamed, "Get back! You don't belong here!"
The monster looked at Li Tianhan. It roared and shot a huge bolt of purple lightning at him.
Everyone watched in horror as Li Tianhan simply raised his hand.
Frost covered the ground. The lightning froze the moment it touched his palm. It turned into a statue of ice. Li Tianhan tapped it with his finger.
The ice broke into a thousand purple pieces.
The area went silent. Li Chaoyang was stunned. Wei Yan couldn't believe his eyes. Everyone was frozen, watching a nine-year-old stop a monster.
In the silence, the injured Li Qingtian woke up. He hadn't seen Li Tianhan's power. He only saw the monster dying and his hated brother standing there. He was jealous and angry.
"You trash! You stole my kill!"
Li Qingtian forced himself up and attacked Li Tianhan from behind with everything he had left.
Li Qingtian tried to stab Li Tianhan in the back with his last bit of strength.
Li Tianhan didn't even turn around. The blood-red energy suddenly stopped exactly three inches from his back. It didn't just slow down; it froze solid in mid-air. Li Tianhan's invisible "ice circle" had completely destroyed the attack.
The energy from the failed move snapped back and hit Li Qingtian like a hammer. He was thrown through the air like a ragdoll, and the sound of his bones breaking filled the valley. He crashed into the dirt and fell into a deep coma.
It was the ultimate embarrassment. He had knocked himself out with his own weak attack.
The area became deathly quiet. Princess Li Chaoyang stared in shock. She realized that her thirteen-year-old brother was much stronger than she ever imagined. Her plans to control the power between the princes now seemed like a joke.
Li Tianhan walked over to the dead monster. He didn't even look at his unconscious brother. He pointed his finger, which was now covered in frost, and sliced open the monster's thick skull as if it were paper.
He reached into the mess and pulled out a glowing purple core filled with lightning. He didn't bother to clean the blood off his hands. He just stood there with the core, looking around. Every noble who saw his eyes immediately looked at the ground. He had won the prize with pure, scary power.
Inside the palace, the Emperor of the Azure Empire watched everything through a magic mirror. At first he was shocked, but then he started laughing.
"Amazing! My son has been hiding his true strength this whole time!"
The Emperor started planning how to use Li Tianhan as a weapon for the empire. He immediately gave Li Tianhan the title of Prince Han, a huge mansion, and a big salary. Li Tianhan became the youngest prince in history to get such an honor.
Three years passed quickly.
Li Tianhan was now thirteen. He spent those years living quietly and practicing his skills. Because he had so many resources, he reached the ninth level of the Spirit Origin Realm. In his past life, he didn't reach this level until he was eighteen. Now, he was years ahead. He was quiet, but he felt more dangerous than ever.
His success messed up the balance between the other princes. The Empress and the Fifth Prince's followers hated him, but they were too afraid to attack him because the Emperor was protecting him.
But the peace didn't last. A boy named Long Chen, the top genius of the Long family, challenged Li Tianhan to a fight in the public arena. Long Chen was sixteen and thought he was the best. He couldn't stand that a younger kid was more famous than him.
The arena was full of people watching.
Long Chen roared and used his family's "Dragon Body" technique. He looked like a beast, throwing punches that sounded like thunder. To the crowd, it looked like he was winning. But Li Tianhan was just walking around the arena, dodging every hit as if he were bored. He was just studying how his opponent fought.
Finally, Long Chen used his strongest move: a giant dragon head made of blue energy. Li Tianhan just raised his hand and squeezed.
The energy dragon froze instantly into a block of ice. Li Tianhan flicked his finger, and the ice shattered into a thousand pieces. Long Chen coughed up blood and fainted. Li Tianhan hadn't even moved from his spot.
That night, Li Tianhan was walking home from the library when the air turned cold. Ten assassins in black jumped out. They were all experts.
Even worse, two Spirit Lords were hiding in the shadows. This was a death trap. Li Tianhan used his ice power to freeze two assassins instantly, but a stronger force smashed the ice.
A Spirit Lord attacked. A giant magic hand came down from the sky to crush him. For the first time, Li Tianhan thought he might actually die.
Just then, someone sighed.
The giant magic hand turned into dust. An old man who looked like a simple servant appeared in front of Li Tianhan. He waved his sleeve, and the two Spirit Lords were blown back, spitting blood. They were so scared that they used a secret move to disappear and escape.
The old man didn't chase them. He turned and bowed to Li Tianhan.
"I am sorry I was late to protect you, Your Highness," the old man said.
The next morning, the Emperor was furious. He punished the guards for failing to protect the city and started a big investigation. The trail led to enemy countries, but everyone knew the truth: the investigation stopped once it got too close to the other royal families.
The Emperor blamed outsiders, but the message was clear. The bloody fight for the throne had officially begun.