CHAPTER 5: THE RIPPLE OF DIVINITY AND THE EMPRESS'S DESPAIR
Thousands of miles away from the desolate and crumbling peaks of the Blue Cloud Sect, the capital of the Eternal Sword Empire stood as a testament to mortal defiance against the heavens. At its heart lay the Imperial Palace, a sprawling labyrinth of white jade and enchanted gold that hummed with the power of a thousand defensive formations. Inside the Throne Hall, a place where even kings of lesser nations dared not breathe too loudly, Empress Lin Yue sat in solitary silence. Her beauty was legendary—a cold, ethereal perfection that seemed carved from the finest celestial ice. Yet, for five hundred years, that beauty had been a mask for a soul that was slowly eroding under the weight of an unpayable debt.
Suddenly, the tranquil atmosphere of the hall was shattered. A massive tremor, not of the earth but of the Dao itself, ripped through the air. Lin Yue's eyes snapped open, her pupils contracting into needle-points of golden light. She gasped, clutching her chest as a phantom pain, sharper than any blade she had ever faced, tore through her Dantian. It was a resonance—a haunting, familiar frequency that she had buried in the deepest recesses of her memory.
"This feeling..." she whispered, her voice trembling in a way that would have terrified her subjects. "It's the same... the exact same ripple of power from that day on Cloud-Mist Peak."
Five hundred years ago, she had watched her Master—the Nameless Guardian—disintegrate into golden ash to save her from the Heavenly Tribulation. Since that moment, her life had been a hollow victory. She had reached the pinnacle of power, founded an empire, and become a living legend, but every breakthrough only served to remind her that her foundation was built upon his sacrifice. She had spent centuries searching for his reincarnation, scouring the forbidden zones and the ancient tombs, only to find nothing but cold silence.
But this tremor? It was alive. It was potent. And it was filled with an ancient, profound sorrow that felt like a direct call to her soul.
"Jing Wu! Enter at once!" she commanded, her voice booming through the palace like a crack of thunder.
A burly general, a Void Prying realm expert whose mere presence could suppress an army, rushed into the hall and knelt so hard the jade floor cracked beneath his knees. "Your Majesty! The entire continent is in an uproar. The spiritual veins of the Eastern Territories have just experienced a massive surge. Our celestial observers are reporting a phenomenon that defies logic."
"Report," Lin Yue demanded, standing up. Her imperial aura flared, causing the massive tapestries in the hall to incinerate into dust.
"The disturbance originated from a minor, third-rate sect called the Blue Cloud Sect," Jing Wu reported, sweat beading on his forehead. "Initially, it was thought to be a natural treasure maturing, but our spies in the region sent an urgent message via a one-way teleportation talisman. They say a disciple—a boy known as the 'Ninth-Rank Trash' named Li Xiao—suddenly broke through. But it wasn't a normal breakthrough. The sky turned violet, and a Golden Core aura emerged that was so pure it forced the sect elders to kneel in submission."
"Li Xiao? A Ninth-Rank trash?" Lin Yue's mind raced. The Nameless Guardian had always hidden his true talent behind a mask of mediocrity until the very end. The parallels were too striking to ignore. "What else? Tell me every detail!"
"The reports say he possesses an 'Ancient Sword Intent'," the general continued, his voice shaking. "And that he carries a gaze of 'Eternal Sorrow'. He has reportedly taken control of the sect, treating the elders like servants and the geniuses like dust. But the most disturbing part, Your Majesty... he spoke of a 'Simulation of Fate'."
At the mention of 'Simulation', Lin Yue felt her heart stop. In the final moments of her Master's life, he had whispered something about a 'path already lived'. She had never understood it, until now.
"Prepare the Imperial Teleportation Array," Lin Yue ordered, her eyes burning with a mixture of madness, hope, and agonizing regret.
"But Majesty, that array uses ten thousand high-grade spirit stones per activation! It is reserved for the end of the world!"
"Then the world has ended for me today if I do not reach that sect!" she roared. "I have lived five hundred years in a prison of my own making. If there is even a one-in-a-billion chance that he has returned... I will burn this entire empire to the ground just to see his face again. Move!"
As the general scrambled to obey, Lin Yue collapsed back onto her throne for a brief second, her hands shaking. She looked at her palms—the hands that held the power of life and death over millions. "Master... if it is truly you... please. Do not hate me for what I became. I am an Empress to the world, but I am still that shivering child in the snow to you. Please... wait for me."
***
Back at the Blue Cloud Sect, the atmosphere was surreal. Li Xiao sat in the highest pavilion of the Elder's Peak, watching the horizon. The system interface hovered before him, displaying the progress of his 'harvest'.
[ Target: Elder Gu. Status: Infected with 'False Golden Path System'. ]
[ Current Harvesting Rate: 85%. Cumulative Qi Gained: 12,000 units. ]
[ Host's Dantian Expansion: 12% increase in density. ]
Li Xiao felt the steady trickle of pure energy flowing into him. It was a cold, calculated efficiency. He didn't feel any guilt for Elder Gu; the man had been a predator in the sect for decades, and now he was simply becoming the prey. Li Xiao closed his eyes, sensing the space-time fabric miles away beginning to ripple. A powerful presence was approaching—a presence he knew all too well from the five hundred years he spent training her in the simulation.
"She's desperate," Li Xiao murmured to himself. "The regret I planted is like a poison. The more she tries to find me, the deeper it sinks into her Dao Heart."
He stood up and walked to the balcony, his long black hair fluttering in the wind. The disciples below looked up at him with terror and awe, but he saw them only as potential 'vessels'.
"Master," Elder Gu approached, bowing so low his head nearly touched the floor. "The preparations are complete. The Sect Master's seal has been surrendered. We are awaiting your next command."
Li Xiao looked at Gu, seeing the faint violet threads of the system entwined with the man's soul. "Good. An honored guest will be arriving shortly. She will be fast, and she will be angry. Tell the disciples to remain indoors. I do not want their insignificant lives to be snuffed out by her aura before I've had the chance to use them."
"A guest, Master? Who could be coming to our humble sect?"
Li Xiao looked toward the north, a faint, cruel smile playing on his lips. "The one who thinks she owns the sky. The one who forgot that her wings were made from my feathers."
As he spoke, the sky above the sect began to crack like glass, and the smell of ozone
and ancient power filled the air. The Empress was here.