In the heart of Chang'an City, within the royal palace, chaos was brewing.
An old eunuch with eyes clouded by age suddenly appeared before Empress Zhou Linglong, moving with an unsettling speed. His face was pale with panic, and his words stumbled from his mouth like a man desperate for air.
"Your Majesty... something terrible has happened!" he gasped.
Zhou Linglong, focused on her duties, glanced up at him, her brow furrowing in confusion. The old man was a powerful figure, a hidden guardian of the Great Zhou Ancestral Temple, rarely seen. For him to appear so agitated, something was truly wrong.
"Why the panic?" she asked, her tone calm despite the unease growing in her chest.
The old eunuch stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. Finally, after several failed attempts, he managed, "You must come with me... quickly!"
Despite her doubts, Zhou Linglong followed him, irritation building as they hurried toward the ancestral temple. If anyone else had summoned her in such a frantic manner without explanation, she wouldn't have bothered. But the old eunuch's centuries of service and his position gave her pause.
As they arrived, the doors of the ancestral temple loomed before them, ominous and heavy. Zhou Linglong hesitated for just a moment before pushing through.
Inside, she froze.
Shattered pieces of life tablets littered the floor, the remains of powerful ancestors and elders of the Zhou family. The air was thick with the weight of death.
Her legs buckled beneath her as she collapsed to the ground, shock coursing through her veins. The words refused to come; all she could do was stare at the devastation before her.
Among the broken tablets, one stood out: the life tablet of Zhou Huangye, her ancestor.
"This... this can't be!" she whispered, horror spreading like ice through her veins. The death of a single ancestor was a calamity, but this? It was the end of everything.
The life tablets of over twenty powerful masters were destroyed, a clear sign that they had all perished. Zhou Linglong's mind raced, panic clawing at her as a single name forced its way to the surface.
"Orion..."
The realization hit her like a tidal wave. Orion, the same man her ancestors had tried to eliminate, had struck them down. Even Zhou Huangye, a near-immortal being of unimaginable power, had fallen.
Desperation flared in her eyes. "The Emperor Ancestor... I need to find him!" she muttered, her voice rising with the urgency of a woman on the edge of ruin.
Zhou Linglong bolted from the ancestral temple, racing toward the forbidden area of the palace, the final sanctuary where the Emperor Ancestor resided—her last hope.
She wasn't the only one grappling with this nightmare. Across the land, powerful aristocratic families discovered that the life tablets of their own ancestors had also shattered. They too were struck by the crushing loss of their strongest protectors.
The elite families, the bedrock of Great Zhou, were in freefall. Their ancestral pillars had crumbled, leaving them exposed and vulnerable. Without their ancestors to shield them, they were suddenly at risk of losing their influence, their status, and perhaps their very survival.
Outrage brewed within the ranks of these noble houses. Whispers of rebellion echoed in private halls, their voices filled with fury.
"This is all Zhou Linglong's fault!" one patriarch spat, his face red with anger. "She forced our ancestors into battle! Now they're gone, and we're left with nothing!"
"If not for her disastrous decision, our ancestors would still be alive, advancing to new heights of power!" another voice added, bitter and scornful.
Resentment festered. Their hatred wasn't aimed at Orion, the true cause of their suffering, but at Zhou Linglong, the empress who had sent their ancestors to die.
The palace soon became a lightning rod for these grievances, and rumors spread quickly. "Have you heard? Even the six martial saints of Longting have fallen," one servant whispered.
"Serves them right!" came the bitter reply. "Zhou Linglong led them all to their deaths, and now she's paying the price!"
Though the families seethed with anger, none dared to openly challenge Zhou Linglong, not yet. They feared what lingering power the Zhou dynasty might still hold. Despite their losses, the Zhou family had ruled for nearly ten thousand years. Who knew what secrets they still kept?
So, outwardly, Chang'an remained calm. The bustling city showed no signs of the storm brewing beneath the surface. But anyone with influence could feel it: the fragile peace was on the verge of shattering.