The morning sun had barely crested the eastern horizon, casting a long, golden shadow across the marble pathways of the Dragon-Vein Bamboo Estate.
Despite the looming storm brewing across the Central Imperial Capital—with the Crimson-Sun Clan and the Blood-Blade Sect mobilizing their massive forces for a noon siege—inside the secluded valley of the Southern Mist District, the air remained remarkably still. The gentle rustle of iron-bamboo leaves provided a soothing background melody to the calm morning.
Li-Wen stood at the center of the courtyard, his broad coat fluttering slightly in the cool breeze. He looked down at Xiao-Yue, who was carefully wiping her wooden practice sword with a small handkerchief.
Her Fire-Lotus bloodline had stabilized completely after consuming the Grade-5 Nine-Leaf Frost-Lotus Stabilizing Pill, but Li-Wen's keen divine perception picked up something deeper within her dantian. Beneath the newly reinforced meridians, an ancient, dormant seal was flickering softly, responding to the alignment of the surrounding spiritual atmosphere.
Her bloodline is not merely a rare fire attribute, Li-Wen thought, his eyes narrowing slightly. It carries the distinct, ancient resonance of the Primordial Era. To ensure her bloodline awakens without flaws, I must understand the true origins of the Fire-Lotus lineage.
Li-Wen turned his head toward Vice-President Lin Xuan, who was waiting respectfully near the courtyard gate.
"Senior Li," Lin Xuan bowed, stepping forward. "The city's atmosphere grows tenser by the minute. Are you certain you wish to venture out before the noon hour?"
"Where is the oldest repository of historical records in this city?" Li-Wen asked, his voice low and level.
Lin Xuan paused, caught off guard by the question, before answering quickly. "That would be the Ancient Imperial Library, located on the third floating island near the central palace. It houses texts dating back over ten thousand years, preserved directly by the Imperial Scholar Guild. Even the supreme clans must request official permission to access its restricted vaults."
"Lead the way," Li-Wen said calmly, taking Xiao-Yue's small hand in his.
Xiao-Yue looked up, her bright eyes shining with curiosity. "Brother Li-Wen, are we going to a place with many storybooks?"
Li-Wen looked down at her, his cold expression softening slightly. "Yes. Books that hold the answers we need."
The Ancient Imperial Library was a magnificent, three-tiered structure built from white star-stone that hovered majestically on a floating island above the city's central district. Giant, ancient scrolls made of preserved dragon-hide hung from its marble pillars, glowing with faint protective arrays that kept the dust and moisture of centuries at bay.
Normally, the library was surrounded by hundreds of scholar-cultivators and noble students. However, due to the imminent military mobilization declared by the Crimson-Sun Clan, the vast plaza before the grand library gates was surprisingly sparse.
SWISH...
A discreet, black-and-gold spirit-carriage provided by the Sovereign Merchant Council landed smoothly on the white stone plaza.
Li-Wen stepped out, holding Xiao-Yue's hand. He carried his wrapped heavy blade across his back, its silent, abyssal presence causing the few nearby scholar-guards to shift uncomfortably without knowing why.
Lin Xuan stepped up to the massive bronze doors of the library, presenting a purple-gold merchant token inscribed with seven stars.
The heavy bronze doors creaked open smoothly, revealing a vast, towering hall lined with thousands of floating stone bookshelves that stretched dozens of floors upward into a grand, star-lit dome.
"Welcome, Vice-President Lin," a soft, echoing voice called out from the darkness of the central aisle.
An old scholar dressed in simple grey linen robes floated down from an upper floor, resting lightly on a wooden platform. His hair was snow-white, and his eyes carried the deep, wise light of someone who had spent centuries immersed in ancient texts—this was Master Lu, the Chief Keeper of the Imperial Library.
Master Lu's gaze swept past Lin Xuan, resting immediately upon Li-Wen and Xiao-Yue.
The moment Master Lu's eyes touched Li-Wen's plain dark coat, his thin eyebrows twitched slightly. As an old scholar who had studied ancient aura records, he felt a faint, phantom chill touch his soul—an aura so vast, cold, and unyielding that it reminded him of the ancient northern records written in the lost eras.
"This must be the esteemed guest Vice-President Lin mentioned," Master Lu said, bowing respectfully with folded hands. "I am Lu Cheng. How may the Imperial Library assist Senior today?"
Li-Wen stepped forward, his boots making a crisp, light sound on the polished stone floor.
"I seek the true historical lineage of the Primordial Fire-Lotus Bloodline," Li-Wen stated directly, omitting any unnecessary pleasantries. "Specifically, its connection to the ancient Northern Sovereign Lineage."
Master Lu's eyes dilated slightly. "The Northern Sovereign Lineage? And the Fire-Lotus?"
He looked down at Xiao-Yue, whose small hand was holding her pink lotus lantern. Master Lu's divine thought caught a tiny, almost imperceptible pulse of liquid fire dancing deep within the child's core, harmonizing flawlessly with the cold spatial energy around Li-Wen.
Master Lu drew a deep breath, his expression becoming solemn and reverent.
"Senior... the records you seek belong to the Ninth Underground Vault—the Forbidden Historical Tier. Only those with royal clearance or individuals possessing extraordinary spiritual merit may enter."
Lin Xuan immediately brought out a glowing, crystal-encoded voucher from his sleeve. "Master Lu, the Merchant Council is willing to guarantee—"
"No need," Li-Wen interrupted smoothly.
He raised his right hand, making a subtle gesture with his middle finger. A single, hair-thin thread of pure, sapphire-blue frost light materialized at his fingertip, hovering quietly in mid-air.
It carried no destructive force, yet the moment it appeared, the glowing protective arrays covering the surrounding ten thousand floating bookshelves dimmed simultaneously! The ancient dragon-hide scrolls hanging from the ceiling vibrated in quiet, submissive harmony!
Master Lu gasped, taking two steps back in absolute shock!
The Ancestral Frost-Flame Rune! Master Lu screamed in his mind, his hands trembling violently inside his grey sleeves. It's real! The ancient texts weren't legends! The Northern Sovereign Clan that sealed the Southern Demon Void ten thousand years ago... its true legacy has returned!
Without a second thought, Master Lu dropped to one knee, bowing his head deeply.
"Forgive this old scholar's blindness!" Master Lu spoke in a hushed, trembling voice. "Please, follow me to the Ninth Vault immediately!"
Deep below the floating island, inside a vast, circular chamber forged from ancient black volcanic iron, the noise and light of the upper world vanished completely.
The Ninth Vault was lit by single, hovering blue spirit-orbs that cast long, mysterious shadows across ancient stone tablets, glowing bamboo slips, and fragile parchment scrolls preserved inside spatial glass cases.
Master Lu led Li-Wen and Xiao-Yue to the center of the chamber, stopping before a colossal, ten-foot-tall slab of dark crimson-and-blue stone.
The stone slab was split precisely down the middle: the left half was carved with intricate, frozen snowflake runes, while the right half was carved with blooming, fiery lotus patterns. Where the two halves met in the center, the two opposing energies did not clash or destroy each other—they flowed together in a perfect, harmonious circular swirl!
"This is the Tablet of the Dual Sovereigns," Master Lu explained softly, his voice echoing in the vast, dark vault. "It was recovered eight thousand years ago from the ruins of the High Northern Ridge."
Li-Wen stepped closer to the stone slab, his dark eyes reflecting the faint blue and red light radiating from the ancient carvings. He reached out his hand, his calloused fingertips lightly tracing the split line down the center.
HUMMM—!
The moment Li-Wen's finger touched the stone, the Ancestral Northern Rune on his chest flared brightly through his dark coat!
At the same time, the wrapped pink lotus lantern in Xiao-Yue's hand began to glow with a rich, magnificent crimson light!
A soft, illusory image projected outward from the tablet, filling the entire Ninth Vault with a projection of the ancient past!
In the illusory projection, a vast, frozen mountain range stretched across the sky. Atop the highest peak stood two towering figures side by side.
One was a warrior clad in dark frost-armor, wielding a massive, wrapped heavy blade that could freeze the sky with a single sweep—the Northern Frost Sovereign.
Beside him stood a magnificent woman wrapped in glowing crimson silks, holding a blooming, nine-petaled fiery lotus that illuminated the dark world—the Primordial Fire-Lotus Empress!
The projection shifted, showing the two ancient figures combining their powers to lay down a massive, world-spanning spatial seal over a dark, abyssal rift in the earth, burying an ancient demonic horde beneath thousands of feet of spatial ice and eternal fire.
Master Lu gasped, tears welling up in his old eyes as he witnessed the ancient memory unfold before him.
"So the legends were true..." Master Lu whispered in awe. "The Primordial Fire-Lotus lineage and the Northern Sovereign lineage were never enemies! They were twin pillars created by the same celestial Dao to balance the world! One governs the absolute cold of spatial order, while the other governs the eternal heat of life creation!"
Li-Wen stared at the illusory projection, his heart filled with profound clarity.
He now understood why Xiao-Yue's Fire-Lotus bloodline had reacted so strongly to his Northern Frost-Flame when he first met her in the border wasteland. Her bloodline was not an anomaly or a dangerous curse; it was the natural twin counter-part to his own inheritance!
Without his northern cold to stabilize her core, her fire would burn her meridians to ash. And without her fire-lotus vitality, his absolute frost energy would eventually turn his own heart into unyielding stone.
They were two sides of the same ancient, sovereign coin.
Xiao-Yue looked up at the glowing projection of the Fire-Lotus Empress, her big eyes blinking in wonder. She tugged gently on Li-Wen's sleeve.
"Brother Li-Wen," she whispered softly, pointing at the projection. "The lady in the red dress... her lantern looks just like mine."
Li-Wen crouched down beside her, his broad palm resting gently on her head. "Yes. That is the origin of your power. You don't need to fear it anymore."
As the illusory projection slowly faded back into the dark stone slab, Master Lu walked over to a small spatial cabinet on the side of the chamber. He brought out a glowing, leather-bound ancient diary, presenting it to Li-Wen with both hands.
"Senior," Master Lu said respectfully, "this is the personal journal of the last High Scholar who studied the Fire-Lotus lineage five hundred years ago. According to his research, when the Crimson-Sun Clan rose to power in the Capital, they discovered a fragmented branch of the Fire-Lotus bloodline."
Master Lu's voice turned serious and cold. "However, the Crimson-Sun Clan did not seek to nurture the bloodline correctly. They created a forbidden blood-refining array called the Sun-Gorging Crucible! Their goal was to capture a pure bloodline bearer, drain their core vitality, and forcibly fuse it into their Patriarch to break through to the Stage-6 Realm!"
A cold, lethal glint flickered deep within Li-Wen's abyssal eyes.
So that is why Yan Fire-Demon and his clan were so desperate to seize Xiao-Yue, Li-Wen thought, his broad hand clenching into a tight fist. They didn't want to adopt her—they wanted to use her as a human pill ingredient.
"Where is this Sun-Gorging Crucible located?" Li-Wen asked, his voice so quiet and cold that the moisture in the Ninth Vault instantly turned into white frost mist.
Master Lu shivered, lowering his head. "It is built directly beneath the Crimson-Sun Floating Sanctuary, powered by the primary volcanic ley-line of the Central Capital. If Patriarch Yan Crimson-Heaven activates that array during today's siege..."
"He will not have the chance," Li-Wen interrupted flatly.
Li-Wen took the ancient diary, storing it inside his dark coat. He turned around smoothly, stepping toward the vault's exit.
"Master Lu," Li-Wen spoke without turning back, "thank you for the records."
Master Lu bowed deeply to the floor. "May the Northern Sovereign's blade bring absolute justice to the Capital!"
When Li-Wen, Xiao-Yue, and Lin Xuan emerged from the grand doors of the Ancient Imperial Library, the sun had already climbed to the high center of the sky.
The noon hour had arrived.
BOOOM—!
Suddenly, a thunderous, sky-shaking explosion echoed from the southern sky!
A colossal, blood-red light pillar shot straight into the clouds above the Southern Mist District, spreading outward like a massive, burning spiderweb across the blue sky!
The Crimson-Sun Alliance's Ten-Thousand-Man Siege Array had been fully activated!
The sky above the Southern Mist District turned into a terrifying sea of churning, blood-red flames. Thousands of armored sun-knights mounted on violent fire-beasts were forming heavy battle lines in the air, while dozens of Blood-Blade Sect war-barges hovered surrounding the Dragon-Vein Bamboo Estate!
The entire Central Imperial Capital held its breath as the terrifying, oppressive aura of four Stage-5 Peak Martial Sovereigns descended upon the city!
Standing on the high plaza of the floating library island, Lin Xuan looked toward the southern sky, his face turning pale as paper.
"They... they have locked down the entire district!" Lin Xuan gasped, his voice shaking. "Senior Li! The spatial coordinates are completely blocked!"
Xiao-Yue looked at the blood-red sky in the distance, but she did not hide. She stood firmly beside Li-Wen, holding her wooden sword in her right hand and her glowing pink lotus lantern in her left.
Li-Wen looked at the burning sky five miles away, his expression remaining as unyielding as an ancient, frozen mountain peak.
Slowly, his right hand reached behind his broad shoulder, his calloused fingers wrapping firmly around the heavy hilt of his wrapped blade.
"Stay behind me, Xiao-Yue," Li-Wen murmured, his voice echoing clearly against the high marble pillars of the library plaza.
"Yes, Brother Li-Wen!" she replied loudly, her eyes bright and fearless.
Li-Wen took a single step off the edge of the floating island, stepping directly onto thin air!
SWISH—!
A streak of brilliant, sapphire-blue frost light erupted beneath his boots, forming an icy pathway through the sky as he walked calmly toward the bloody storm waiting in the southern sky!
See you in next chapter.....