Great Xuan Empire.
The capital was in chaos, the loyalists of the Xuan Empire had officially rejected the claim of Xuanyuan Wentain to the throne.
The people backed the loyalists and refused to acknowledge the Emperor, their message was clear; "We do not want you who betrayed your brother to rule us."
This caused extreme tension within the empire, everyone knew that a civil war was going to break out at any moment, it was only a matter of time.
One might ask, how could the loyalists wield such power? To challenge the emperor...
The answer lied in the identity of their leader, the minister of war, warlord Han Fei.
Han Fei commanded thousands of warriors in the Xiantian stage, dozens in the inner heaven stage and he himself was at the moon forming stage of the heavenly awakening realm.
He was a legendary figure who had slain many demons and cultivators. Protected the Empire for decades and was the sworn brother of the previous emperor. Not to mention, Xuanyuan Wenhao, the banished crown prince, was his godson.
Han Fei had been busy in the southern borders when the Emperor died and the previous crown prince was found guilty. He only found out weeks after the trial was over; He searched for Wenhao but the banished prince had gone missing.
Filled with regret and rage, he began plotting to take revenge. He wished to uproot the corrupt, slay the empress, and build a better empire.
But all that changed when his secret sources brought him a piece of information, the pregnancy of Wenhao's wife changed everything. His goal was to take revenge at first but after hearing that, he knew what had to be done.
He had to make sure that the legitimate successor became the emperor, Wenhao's child.
So he gathered all those who were loyal and trustworthy then began resisting the self-proclaimed emperor. The people stood with him and he pressured the royals with great momentum and power.
But how could it be so easy, the royal guard rivaled his military power and the empress had the backing of the Holy Empire.
A strange balance was formed, neither side could win and a direct battle meant the destruction of the empire.
Just as Han Fei felt that things were going nowhere and considered premature war, two guests came. Disciples of the Dao Sect.
The Minister was overjoyed, he knew that with the backing of the Dao Sect, he could win. However, the two had come on their own and to his shock, were friends of the missing prince who according to them was a Core disciple of the sect.
He was relieved, and a ray of hope appeared before him; He began planning for war. Han Fei knew that the 1st thing he had to do was to rescue the child. Thus, he chose his most elite and gave them a mission, one of the two disciples of the Dao sect chose to participate.
Lian Qiu and 4 others wore black robes and masks, they looked very shady as they sneaked in the shadows of the capital streets. No one could see them and those who had good cultivation, only felt a passing feeling. They looked like assassins...
Lian Qiu was very determined, no hesitation could be felt from him as the group approached the palace. He had memorized the map of the palace and knew that Ling Tian's wife was going to be somewhere in the dungeons based on the intel given by the spy of Han Fei.
The night sky was pitch black due to the clouds obstructing the moon and the stars, the streets were mostly empty since they were not safe. Groups of soldiers belonging to either side patrolled around.
The group stopped near the palace's west entrance, hiding in the shadows of a building, one of them showed a few signs with his hand.
Lian Qiu understood them, 'Wait for the distraction here...' he thought and tightly held the handle of the blood bringer sword that Ling Tian had used to fight Mo Hui.
A few seconds passed in silence, suddenly, a loud boom echoed in the distance; Fire and smoke raged in the eastern part of the palace.
They looked at each other and nodded, instantly disappearing in the shadows.
Mere moments later, they had run past the guards and entered the palace while 2 of them sheathed their swords. Behind them, the guards fell down without their heads.
The palace was a lovely place, like a garden with beautiful buildings and pavilions around connected to each other through stone roads. Lian Qiu could see flowers and trees everywhere as he followed the group.
They jumped from the shadow of one building to another, to the walls and trees. No guard was around since the explosion in the eastern part must have attracted their attention.
With their cultivation levels, in no time at all did they reach the entrance of the dungeon. It was a simple stone building with a big entrance.
The guards in front of it were talking to each other as they pointed at the east, "What do you think..." He didn't manage to finish his sentence as his head went flying.
The other guard's eyes widened and looked down, he saw a blade had pierced his neck from behind. He looked at the bloody tip with disbelief before he died.
The group didn't linger and entered the dungeon, before any guard could react, they were killed on the spot. The average cultivation of these guards was at the Xiantian stage while they were in the inner heaven realm, they stood no chance.
They descended through the steps and finally reached the lowest level, there they saw a figure suspended mid-air in chains. Lian Qiu flinched a little looking at the scars but he could easily see the figure was still alive, judging by the bulge on her stomach, it was obvious she was their target.
The iron door was broken down as one of them kicked it, they entered inside and took out their swords.
The next moment, Lian Qiu caught Cai Lingxin before she could fall to the ground. She was unconscious...
"Let's leave..." They all nodded and quickly ran back up. Lian Qiu wanted to fly but he knew that it would instantly give them away.
Just as they reached the dungeon entrance to leave, a voice interrupted, "Leaving so soon?"
Lian Qiu vigilantly looked at a tree and saw a dark red-haired beauty with wine-red eyes leaning on the tree casually. She wore a luxurious dark red robe and looked noble and graceful.
The group drew their weapons and aimed at her, she smiled and pretended to be nervous, "You would hurt a girl like me? How cruel..."
One of the guards charged at her but exploded in a bloody mist before reaching her. The others in the group were shocked. Lian Qiu felt her power and gulped nervously, 'She has definitely created her Qi Core... She is higher than me in cultivation...'
The girl continued as she walked toward them casually, "I am Xuanyuan Yawen, the eldest princess. One of you must come with me, the others will... die."
She snapped her fingers and a red wave moved towards their direction, Lian Qiu easily dispelled it but the others weren't so lucky, they were blown back. Lian Qiu couldn't compare to Ling Tian's power but he was not weak at all.
What determined the difference of power in cultivators of the same stage was the cultivation technique, their skill in techniques, and comprehension of Dao.
Lian Qiu had cultivated a top-grade technique thanks to his background, meanwhile, the princess had gotten hers from her mother and by extension, the holy empire.
The princess's eyes widened slightly when she noticed Lian Qiu was completely unaffected.
Lian Qiu considered the situation and came to a decision, 'I must flee as fast as I can. I can get out of the palace in seconds so it doesn't matter if they find out... The heavenly awakening realm cultivators are in the eastern part. I can make it.'
He turned around and flew close to the ground, as fast as he could. In mere seconds, he reached the westers entrance of the palace.
The princess chased him with a smile, 'No one in the empire can dispel that attack in inner heaven realm, only an outsider can... Who is he?' she wondered.
He shot out of the palace like a bullet while holding Cai Lingxin, the princess chased him relentlessly.
He turned around and saw her smiling at him a dozen meters behind. Her smile looked strange. For some reason, he shuddered as if a cold wind had passed through his body.
He sped up and managed to keep the distance for a minute, he saw that he was reaching the city wall.
Lian Qiu was conflicted on what to do, 'I can't run to Han Fei's secret base, it is crucial to the plan that it remains a secret. And the war can't begin now, if I run there, the war will begin when they engage the princess in battle... The preparations are not complete.'
He looked at the approaching wall, 'Going out of the capital means fighting with the princess... I might not win...'
He thought hard, 'What would Ling Tian do?'
Suddenly, he smiled, 'How silly of me, he faced a greater demon while in inner heaven realm, how can I call myself his friend if I am afraid to face someone with slightly higher cultivation than me? A man without courage is not a man.'
He confidently left the city, princess Yawen followed with interest.