That very night, Luo He left for the capital. There was no announcement. No escort. No delay.
The moon hung high and pale, casting a silver wash over the sleeping world, and Luo He moved through the darkness like a phantom. With his newly unlocked ability, his body surged forward at a speed that defied all reason.
Trees, hills, and rivers blurring into fleeting shadows. The wind screamed past him, snapping his robes violently, yet his expression never wavered from calm, focused stillness.
Three hundred miles an hour. A journey that once demanded days became meaningless.
Before long, the towering walls of the capital rose beneath the moonlight. Massive, imposing, heavily guarded.
Torches flickered atop the battlements while armoured soldiers paced the gates below. To any ordinary man, entering the city at this hour would have been impossible.
Luo He slowed. His aura shifted, settling into something duller, softer, more forgettable. By the time he reached the gate, he had become nothing more than a wealthy merchant.
"Stop," a guard ordered. "State your business."
Without a word, Luo He pressed a gold coin into the man's hand. The faint gleam of gold answered for him. The guard's eyes flickered, then he stepped aside. "You may pass." He said reverently.
Inside, the capital operated by different rules entirely. The rich and the poor lived in separate worlds. And gold bought influence, convenience, silence. What ever a man required.
Even at this hour the city breathed with life: Lanterns lit the bustling streets, laughter spilled from tavern doors, silk curtains swayed in upper windows of brothel's, and the mingled scent of wine and incense drifted on the air.
Luo He ignored all of it. The Xu family, he thought. They wouldn't stop at land or soldiers. They would reach for the throne itself.
He took a room at a quiet inn and waited, turning the thought over and over. "I placed Lin Su inside the palace," he murmured to himself. "There's no way they haven't attempted the same."
By morning, through carefully placed bribes and quietly traded favours, Luo He had secured a private audience with Eunuch Long. The man who drafted nearly every decree that left the palace walls.
They met in a secluded courtyard where bamboo leaves rustled overhead and a small pond caught the early light, rippling gently with each breath of wind.
"My lord," Eunuch Long said, bowing low. "It has been a long time." Luo He wasted no time. "A decree benefiting the Xu family was issued recently." "Yes," Long replied carefully.
"Did the emperor issue it?" He asked.
"No." The eunuch said. A silence settled between them. "As expected," Luo He said. Long's voice dropped lower. "It originated within the inner palace. One of the imperial consorts."
Luo He's eyes narrowed. "Which one?"
"I cannot say for certain," Long admitted. "But a newly favoured consort has risen in status with curious speed."
"The Xu family placed someone inside," Luo He concluded quietly. "And now they whisper through the emperor himself."
The imperial palace stood at the heart of the capital.
Tall gates, countless guards, layer upon layer of defence. None of it mattered.
Luo He vanished. A flash, a shadow, and the guards never saw him pass.
He moved through the palace faster than mortal eyes could follow, a ghost slipping between pillars and patrols alike. Moments later, he stood within the emperor's private study.
Golden pillars rose toward a painted ceiling, silk drapes framed the throne in soft folds. The emperor sat hunched over his documents, utterly unaware. Then the air changed.
Luo He stood before him. A faint thread of red lightning flickered around his eyes, contained, controlled, and all the more terrifying for it.
The colour drained from the emperor's face. "Guards!" he shouted, the word tearing out of him on instinct. "Protect the throne!"
The chamber doors burst open. A Transcendent-level captain stormed in first, six Grandmaster-level experts close behind him, their combined auras pressing against the walls like a held breath.
The captain stepped forward. "Your Majesty!" Eunuch Long moved quickly, bending close to the emperor's ear, his voice dropping to the barest whisper.
"My Emperor... look carefully. That man is the Crown Prince of the Flame Kingdom." The emperor went rigid. Old memories surfaced unbidden.
A grand ceremony, foreign rulers gathered beneath blazing banners, a young prince declared heir to one of the world's most powerful empires. A face he had seen only once, years ago.
Older now. Colder. But unmistakably the same. The captain caught the shift in his expression. "Your Majesty?" The emperor forced himself steady. "Leave," he ordered sharply.
The captain blinked, hesitating. "Your Majesty?" He asked. "I said leave! All of you! No one enters this chamber unless I summon them personally."
The captain's instincts screamed that something was deeply wrong, but an imperial command was absolute, and he had no choice but to obey it. "As you command."
He bowed, the six Grandmasters following suit, and the chamber doors closed behind them with a heavy finality.
Silence returned.
The emperor stared at the man before him. Then his knees gave out entirely. He collapsed from the throne, his forehead striking the floor once, twice, a third time.
"My lord!" he cried, his voice cracking. "Forgive this ignorant ruler for failing to recognize Your Highness!" The Emperor of the Yue Kingdom knelt like a common servant before his own throne.
Luo He only watched. No anger touched his face, only a quiet, settled certainty.
"Now," he said, "let us talk." The emperor remained on the floor.
"I arrived in your capital last night," Luo He continued, his voice carrying an authority that needed no volume to be felt. "And yet I have not been properly received." He stepped closer.
"If my father learned how his son was treated here, he would likely order the extermination of your entire bloodline."
The emperor trembled. "My lord..."
Luo He lifted a hand, and the man fell silent.
"I don't intend to punish you for crimes you didn't commit," Luo He said. "But there is one matter you do bear responsibility for." He said.
"I have never taken part in any conspiracy against the Flame Kingdom!" the emperor blurted. "I'm not speaking of that."
Luo He seated himself casually on the arm of the throne, propping his feet atop the imperial desk. Documents slid and scattered across the floor.
Whatever dignity remained in the room scattered with them. "I recently married the daughter of Count Jin," he said. "I am now the Jin family's son-in-law." He let that settle before continuing.
"One of your consorts, working with the Xu family, gave orders to the Black Mang forces. They came for my head. That, I could have tolerated." He said calmly.
His gaze darkened, and a thread of red lightning danced briefly across his eyes.
"But one of your people struck my pregnant wife." The room went silent.
"They died where they stood." Luo He said plainly. The emperor shook, understanding crashing over him fully now. An attack on Luo He's wife was an attack on the Crown Prince himself.
On the future bloodline of the Flame Kingdom. Luo He drew a folded list from his sleeve and let it fall before the kneeling emperor.
"Thirteen names. The Xu family's patriarch, his children, and everyone else involved." The emperor picked it up with shaking hands.
"I want evidence created," Luo He said.
The emperor looked up, stunned.
"My lord,"
"It will appear to be your decision," Luo He cut in. "Documents. Witnesses. Whatever is necessary. They will be judged by imperial decree. They will be executed."
His eyes settled fully on the emperor's. "No one is to know I came here. Because only you know who I truly am. If my identity spreads, I will consider it your responsibility."
A faint, almost pleasant smile touched his lips. "And perhaps I'll mention to my mother how poorly I was received on my first visit to her son's future kingdom."
The blood drained from the emperor's face. The mere mention of the Flame Kingdom's empress was enough to inspire terror on its own.
Luo He rose. "Find them. Judge them. Execute them." He turned toward the door. "And make certain no one ever discovers whose order truly set this into motion."
The emperor remained on his knees, the list trembling in his grip. Before he could speak again, Luo He was gone.
Vanished like a shadow. The chamber doors never having opened at all. Eunuch Long lowered his head. "Your Majesty," he said softly, "it would be wise to begin immediately."
The emperor stared down at the thirteen names. Then, slowly, he nodded. The weight of imperial judgment had settled onto his shoulders, and this time, refusal had never been an option.