The moment Li Qing and I stepped out of the Imperial Auction House, the atmosphere shifted from opulent excitement to dangerous tension.
The Thundercloud Sect young master — whose name I later learned was Lei Batian — waited with a dozen sect elders and inner disciples blocking the wide marble street. His face was twisted with humiliation, purple robes fluttering in the wind. The five thousand high-grade spirit crystals I had spent on the Time Dao fragment clearly still burned in his mind.
"You arrogant dog!" Lei Batian snarled, pointing at me. "Do you think hiding behind a princess's skirts makes you untouchable? You stole treasures that belong to my Thundercloud Sect. Hand over the Spatial Storage Ring and the Time Dao fragment, kneel, and beg for mercy. Maybe I'll only cripple your cultivation instead of killing you."
His elders — three at Core Formation stage — released their auras, pressuring the entire street. Passersby scattered in fear, shops closed their doors, and the royal guards around us tensed.
Li Qing's hand tightened on my arm, but her voice was ice-cold. "Lei Batian, you dare threaten me and my husband in the capital? The Emperor will hear of this insult to the royal family."
Lei Batian laughed mockingly. "Your 'husband'? A former trash from a minor border clan? Princess, you've lowered yourself. Step aside. This is between men."
I gently moved Li Qing behind me, my expression calm, almost bored.
"Five thousand spirit crystals is a fair price for what I won," I said quietly. "If you want them back, take them with your own strength."
Lei Batian's eyes blazed. "Kill him!"
Two Core Formation elders charged at once, their fists wrapped in crackling lightning — the signature Thunder Palm technique of their sect.
I held the God Rock through my new Spatial Storage Ring. In an instant, I copied their lightning-infused movements, then fused them with the fresh Time Dao fragment I had just acquired.
Time slowed around me.
For everyone else, I simply vanished and reappeared between the two elders. My spirit sword flashed twice — clean, merciless arcs.
Sching—sching!
One elder's right arm was severed at the shoulder, lightning still crackling uselessly from the stump as blood sprayed like a fountain. The second elder lost his head in a single horizontal slash. The decapitated skull tumbled through the air, eyes still wide with shock, before bouncing across the marble street.
Blood rained down in thick sheets.
The surviving elder screamed and retreated, clutching his bleeding stump.
Lei Batian's face drained of color. "Impossible… you're only Qi Condensation!"
I didn't give them time to recover.
Space folded. I blinked directly in front of Lei Batian, sword already raised. He tried to block with a lightning shield, but the God Rock fed me the exact flaw in his technique. My blade pierced straight through the shield and into his chest, skewering his heart.
He gasped, blood bubbling from his mouth.
"W-wait… my father is the Thundercloud Sect Elder—"
I twisted the sword viciously, then yanked it free in a gush of crimson. Lei Batian collapsed to his knees, then face-first into the growing pool of his own blood. Dead.
The remaining Thundercloud disciples froze in terror.
"Run!" one of them finally shouted.
They turned to flee.
I moved like a ghost. Short-range spatial shifts carried me among them. The sword became a silver blur of death.
Limbs flew. Heads rolled. One disciple's torso was sliced cleanly in half, intestines spilling onto the street in a wet heap. Another lost both legs at the thighs and screamed until I silenced him with a thrust through the throat.
In under a minute, the entire group lay butchered on the imperial street — a river of blood flowing into the gutters, severed body parts scattered like broken toys.
The few surviving elders staggered back, faces ashen, no longer daring to attack.
I wiped my sword on Lei Batian's purple robe and sheathed it.
"Let this be a message to the Thundercloud Sect," I said loudly enough for the entire street to hear. "Anyone who covets what belongs to Ye Tianhen will lose more than their young master. Next time, I will march to your sect and paint your mountain red."
Li Qing stepped forward, her crimson dress untouched by the carnage, phoenix eyes filled with fierce pride and open desire.
She took my blood-stained hand without hesitation and kissed me deeply in front of the shocked crowd.
"My husband is truly unmatched," she whispered against my lips. "Ruthless when needed, yet so gentle with me at night."
I pulled her closer, uncaring of the blood on my robes or the horrified stares.
The royal guards quickly cleared the street, but the news would spread like wildfire through the capital by nightfall.
A new monster had arrived in Hanlong City.
As we walked back toward the palace, hand in hand, the God Rock pulsed warmly in my storage ring. The Time Dao fragment was already merging with it, granting me deeper insights. Training time for Time techniques would now be cut even further.
Li Qing leaned her head against my shoulder.
"Father will want to meet you soon," she said softly. "After today's display, he may offer you a position… or test you. Be careful, Tianhen. The Emperor is no fool."
I smiled, eyes gazing toward the distant horizon beyond the capital walls.
"Let him test me. The stronger the opponent, the more techniques I can copy."
I squeezed her hand, voice softening just for her.
"And no matter what comes, you will stand at my side as my first wife. My flame. My equal."
She smiled, radiant and devoted. "Always."
That night, in her royal chambers, we celebrated the day's victories the only way we knew how — bodies entwined, her passionate cries echoing until dawn, our bond growing deeper with every shared breath.
Outside, the capital whispered in fear and awe.
Inside, Ye Tianhen continued his unstoppable rise.