Time/Date: TC1853.01.20 – Evening

Location: Imperial Palace, Throne Room (sealed)

"Twenty-five thousand?" Tianrong’s eyebrows rose. He hadn’t realized so many people in the lower districts had such strong talents.

"Yes." Patriarch Lin seized the opportunity to explain, to turn vulnerability into value. "We initially didn’t understand it, but about fifty years ago, we noticed an increase in bloodline activity in the lower districts. It wasn’t until the first anomaly was discovered, and the secluded Sanctum sects informed us of the Sundering, that we realized spiritual energy had been gradually increasing for years—maybe even decades—before the so-called first anomaly was detected."

His voice carried the weight of revelation.

"The increase was so gradual that no one noticed. We should’ve realized something when our younger generations found cultivating much easier, but this was always put down to bloodlines strengthening."

Emperor Tianrong’s expression shifted, recognizing implications. "So just how many families in the lower districts are showing abilities to cultivate?"

While on one hand, he was happy to hear about increased cultivators, improper handling could lead to major instability. The main reason celestials and nobles had always been elevated above commoners was due to their bloodlines giving them cultivation ability.

For nearly eighteen hundred years, spiritual energy had been sparse—just barely enough to keep celestial families at the top. When the Sanctum reestablished connection with the Empire in TC1050, their pills and potions had helped tremendously with the cultivation of key assets in each celestial family.

Opening the sealed realm allowed limited spiritual energy to leak through each time the passage between realms opened—at least once or twice a year. Just enough to ensure the Second District always had higher spiritual energy than anywhere else on Ascara.

Even pure mortals could feel the difference in the air around the Second District, but they mistakenly took it as a sign that celestial families were different from anyone else.

If commoners realized they too could cultivate, they’d demand to stand equal with nobles and celestials.

This must never be allowed to happen.

Darian, listening to the conversation, was also very surprised. With a private army of twenty-five thousand cultivators, the Lin clan was a genuine threat. Thankfully, we’ve found out about this now. Else come the Sundering, the Lin would’ve seized power.

Emperor Tianrong had the same thought. At least there was something good from this disaster—else he’d never have known how much of a threat the Lin clan posed.

But more than that—he was thinking about the Wu clan. Three generations of blocking Xuán advancement. Three generations of sabotaging contracts, denying promotions to their allies, and using their influence to block policies, and they were questioning whether the Xuán’s could lead the empire through the trying times ahead.

The Wu believed they should rule when the Sundering came. That warrior culture should dominate. That strength should triumph over grace, combat over diplomacy, raw power over political maneuvering.

They might not be entirely wrong about needing warriors, Tianrong thought with bitter pragmatism. But I’ll be damned if I let them take the throne. This database, this secret army—these are tools I need. Not just for the Sundering, but to ensure the Wu never get the chance to challenge Xuán authority.

Patriarch Lin, sensing danger, immediately rushed to assure the Emperor. "The Lins have always been loyal to the Empire, and these people were always meant to be handed over to the Emperor when the time came."

By the Light, now I am grateful we never mentioned or even showed any desire to overthrow the Xuán family to the Lin Vanguard. When the Emperor investigated—and Patriarch Lin had no doubt that he would—he’d find that enlisted Vanguard were all conditioned to believe they were to protect the Lin family and the Empire.

He couldn’t help being grateful for that decision. Although at the time, it’d been more as protection just in case anyone in the Vanguard spoke out of turn.

"Really?" Tianrong asked skeptically. He didn’t believe the Lin clan was that patriotic.

"I assure you this is the truth," Patriarch Lin swore, looking solemn. "You can investigate at any time."

Realizing he needed to show some cunning to convince the Emperor, he continued.

"Although, I must admit, we’d hoped to use the Lin Vanguard to gain the Xuán family’s protection once the Sundering arrived." His voice carried calculated honesty. "You’re well aware that our clan doesn’t have the abilities to face the extreme threats coming. So we—or should I say, I—was hoping we’d be able to find sanctuary with the Xuán clan. At least that way, I could be assured that the Lins would survive the Sundering."

The admission was perfectly calibrated—enough truth to be believable, enough self-interest to be realistic.

Emperor Tianrong felt relief wash through him. He’d investigate, of course. But considering the Lin family’s position, and how they’d always tried to maintain a strong alliance with the Xuán and Long clans, it made sense.

The calculation was clear: When the time of the Sundering came, if the Lin family approached him with a large army of trained cultivators who could fight for the Empire, he would’ve been extremely appreciative and most likely would’ve met any of their demands.

He knew the Lins had been hinting toward a marriage alliance between the two clans. He definitely would’ve made such an alliance once the Lin offered him a battalion of cultivators.

Emperor Tianrong then turned to Darian, expression shifting to something more calculating. "Now tell me more about this potion your wife created that could cause a full bloodline regression."

While slightly horrified at the thought, Tianrong also couldn’t help feeling slightly excited. Getting his hands on such a potion meant he could eliminate threats permanently. The Wu clan. The troublesome families who’d been thorns in the imperial side for generations. Just as he was getting excited thinking about it—

"She was only successful once," Darian said, and Tianrong’s excitement deflated like punctured silk. "She used that on Selene, which destroyed all her bloodline sigils. Since then, she’s spent nearly thirty years trying to recreate it."

Thank the Light for that. Darian thought privately. Otherwise, just thinking of such a weapon in anyone’s hands would give me nightmares for the rest of my life.

While Darian was loyal to the Empire, he had no delusions about Emperor Tianrong. Adequate as a leader, yes. But suspicious of those around him and prone to paranoia about the celestial families.

His father had once confided something troubling: According to Kaelith Long, his father told him that Zhenyuan Xuán had changed his mind later in life about succession. From what Thaeron Long had said, it seemed that Zhenyuan had become displeased with his son Tianrong. After consultation with the Xuán Sphinx Guardian Beast, Shaolong was to be chosen as heir apparent.

But a few weeks later, Shaolong was killed in a border dispute.

Zhenyuan had been devastated. Shaolong had shown great promise as a warrior-scholar, with both military and literary achievements. He’d also shown great political acumen when he managed to negotiate a military alliance with the Northern Reaches.

Thaeron Long had always suspected that Tianrong had something to do with his brother’s death. Unfortunately, Zhenyuan Xuán died less than two years after Shaolong’s death, and Tianrong came into power.

If given Caelia’s potion, Tianrong Xuán would be ruthless enough to use it to wipe out entire clans. No matter how difficult certain families made things politically, the truth was that the Empire needed them all.

Especially the Wu clan. They were battleborn warriors. With the Sundering coming, the Empire would need every able-bodied warrior it could field.

"So what’s the potion she’s been using on the celestial and noble children?" Emperor Tianrong asked.

"It’s a much milder form. At most, you can regress a bloodline by two to three levels—nowhere near as potent as the one used on Selene." Darian’s voice was clinical, delivering information without inflection. "From what Caelia told me, she has no idea how that original potion turned out so perfect. She’s used the same ingredients, tried to recreate the exact same conditions, even down to the weather and location. But no matter what, each one fails."

Emperor Tianrong brought his hands together as in prayer, resting them around his chin with index fingers pointing up. The gesture spoke of deep contemplation as he processed everything he’d heard.

From the briefings, Selene Lin was a broken woman. She should be easy to handle, potentially even turned into an asset. Maybe if given the opportunity to retaliate against her twin, Selene Lin could recreate the potion that stole her bloodrite.

Of course, the situation would need to be handled delicately. But it’d be worth it to have such a potent weapon.

The Wu were a problem, but as long as the crescent-marked child could be contained, the situation was controllable.

"How did it go with your daughter?" Tianrong asked directly. "Mara."

Darian’s expression shifted, embarrassment coloring his features. "She... she calls herself Raven now."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow at that.

"She seems difficult to get along with," Darian continued, the admission clearly costing him. "And she seems to harbor resentment toward us." He narrated how it was Raven who’d confronted them, systematically dismantling Caelia’s lies.

The Emperor was shocked. A seventeen-year-old girl could crack Caelia’s lies while people three or four times older than her were deceived for nearly fifty years?

"She is formidable." Darian admitted it, and though embarrassed, he also couldn’t help showing a tiny bit of pride in his voice.

It was strange—this flicker of paternal pride he had no right to feel. This girl he’d never known, who’d suffered because of his family’s failures, who’d been poisoned and starved and beaten... she’d proven herself sharper than any of them. Outsmarted Caelia. Dismantled decades of deception with the precision of a general planning a campaign.

My daughter did that. The words carried weight he hadn’t expected. She survived seventeen years of hell and came out strong enough to tear apart everything Caelia built.

Part of him—the military commander who valued competence and strategic thinking—recognized what that meant. Raven wasn’t just a victim. She was dangerous. Intelligent. Someone who could be a powerful ally or a devastating enemy.

And she’d chosen to pursue justice through legal channels rather than bloody revenge. That showed restraint. Discipline. The sort of thinking that made good officers, good leaders.

If circumstances had been different—if she’d been raised as she should’ve been, with proper training and resources—what could she have become?

"Can we control her?" Emperor Tianrong asked directly.

Darian looked undecided, then admitted, "It’s difficult to say."

The pride vanished, replaced by tactical assessment. Control implied leverage, and what leverage did they have? The girl called herself Raven, not Mara. Had rejected the Brenner identity entirely. She’d grown up with nothing and survived—which meant she didn’t need luxury or status.

She’d been abused by his sons. Poisoned by his wife. Stolen from at birth by his family’s failures.

Why would she want anything to do with the Longs?

Emperor Tianrong’s mind turned, weighing each possibility. Several prophecies spoke of the crescent-marked child—foretelling their pivotal role in the turmoil to come.

While no one was quite sure what would happen when magic returned to Ascara with a vengeance, what was clear to everyone was that this was a catastrophic event on the scale that led to the end of the First Era. Ascanans had to start from scratch—the landscape was rewritten, and hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people died.

Emperor Tianrong was very displeased. He felt he was being placed in a position of choosing between Raven and his alliances with the Long and Lin families.

Losing the Long family would cripple Xuán’s military strength. The Wu clan would then have the power to overthrow the Xuán—they wouldn’t even need to wait for the Centennial War Games in two years. It was the military strength of the Longs that kept the Wu in check.

But according to Darian, the only way he might be able to keep the destined child on his side would be to sacrifice the Long and Lin families.

Emperor Tianrong didn’t like the look of the situation. He felt that either way, he was in a precarious position.

Just then, his private communicator rang. The signal was an emergency protocol that should only be used in dire situations.

Seeing that it was Kael calling, Emperor Tianrong immediately answered. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Kael." The single word carried layers of warning. "This had better be catastrophic."