Chapter 12
The Core Formation Master's spiritual energy slammed into Ye-Liyun's falling body. It was a massive, sweeping wave of power intended to obliterate the source of the array disruption. The force was enough to crush him into paste against the cobblestones below.
"Liyun! You must use the ring! Direct the energy into the ring! Now!" the Emperor screamed, his mental voice a desperate, final plea.
Ye-Liyun, plummeting toward the ground, instinctively clutched the wooden ring. He forced the last vestiges of his life-force Qi to flow into the artifact. The ring flared with a blinding, emerald light, absorbing the bulk of the Core Formation strike. The residual force still slammed into him, sending a shockwave of agony through his exhausted frame. His meridians, already unstable, began to tear violently. The Core Formation strike, combined with the earlier life-force drain, was too much. The icy tremor that had been a warning was now a full-blown, internal earthquake. His foundation was collapsing, and he knew this was the end.
He hit the ground—a patch of soft, freshly tilled earth in a secluded courtyard. The impact was brutal.
The Core Formation Master, the City Lord's chief enforcer, landed beside him, his eyes blazing with fury.
"You survived my strike? Impossible! Who are you, and what artifact are you carrying?!"
"Liyun! He's a Core Formation master! You are dying! You must escape!"
Ye-Liyun tried to crawl, but his body refused to move. He was pinned by the sheer spiritual pressure of the master.
"The artifact is mine!" the enforcer roared, reaching for the wooden ring.
Suddenly, a new voice cut through the air—a voice as smooth and cold as polished jade.
"I wouldn't do that, Master Enforcer. That boy is under my protection."
A figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Lady Lin, dressed in simple, elegant scholar's robes, radiating a calm, terrifying power that matched the Core Formation Master.
The Enforcer froze. "Lady Lin! This boy is a criminal! He violated the City Lord's Array and stole a priceless artifact! He is a thief!"
Lady Lin stepped closer, her gaze never leaving Ye-Liyun. "He is a thief, yes. But the artifact he stole is now under my ownership. The Broker works for me. I paid a very high price for the right to deal with him and the fallout. Release him, or face the consequences of interfering with my business."
The Enforcer hesitated. Lady Lin was the known power behind the city's Black Market, a figure whose influence was vast and whose enemies often vanished. He knew that interfering with her business was a greater political risk than letting the thief go.
"Very well, Lady Lin," the Enforcer spat, his face contorted with rage. "But if he leaves the city, I will hunt him down and kill him myself."
Lady Lin smiled, a cold, predatory expression. "He won't leave the city. He's dying. He needs my help to survive."
The Enforcer vanished in a flash of spiritual light.
Lady Lin knelt beside Ye-Liyun, her eyes scanning his body. She saw the chaotic, unstable spiritual energy flickering around his core—the sign of a foundation on the brink of collapse.
"You are a fool, young man. You survived a Core Formation strike, but your foundation is on the brink of collapse. You have maybe an hour left." She looked pointedly at the wooden ring on his finger. "That artifact saved your life, but it cannot save your foundation."
Ye-Liyun felt a desperate, cold fear. He was exposed.
"Who are you?" Ye-Liyun managed to gasp, the pain making his voice a ragged whisper.
"I am Lady Lin. The Broker gave you the test to see if you were worthy of my attention. You passed. Now, I need you. I have a political rival—a high-ranking official who is trying to use a hidden artifact to destroy my standing in the city. That artifact is hidden in the City Lord's Vault."
She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a small, shimmering vial filled with a thick, golden liquid.
"This is Golden Dew Nectar. It will stabilize your meridians for a week. The price is simple: you will work for me. You will use your unique knowledge and your ruthlessness to retrieve that artifact. You are my asset now."
Ye-Liyun looked at the vial, then at the woman who had just saved his life. He was no longer a banished son; he was a slave to a powerful, mysterious master.
"Liyun! She is a Core Formation master! She is dangerous, but the nectar is real! You must accept! It is the only way to survive!" the Emperor commanded, his voice weak but firm.
"I accept," Ye-Liyun whispered, the word tasting like ash.
Lady Lin smiled, a genuine, terrifying expression. She poured the nectar into his mouth. The liquid was warm and sweet, and the moment it touched his throat, the agonizing collapse of his meridians instantly halted. He felt a surge of stable, powerful Qi flood his body.
"Excellent. The Blood-Key you stole is a fake. The real one is in the City Lord's Vault, along with the artifact I need. The Vault is protected by a formation that requires a specific, ancient signature to bypass. I need you to retrieve both."
Lady Lin's eyes fixed on the wooden ring on his finger.
"You see, Ye-Liyun, I don't know who you are, but I know that ring contains an ancient, powerful spiritual signature. The Vault is protected by a formation that requires a specific, ancient signature to bypass. I need you to retrieve the artifact."
She leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "The artifact I need is a Scroll of Oath—a document that proves the current City Lord is a usurper and that the true authority of this entire region belongs to a Founding Guardian—an immortal being who established the very clans and cities. My political rival is trying to use this Scroll to ruin me. I need you to steal it."
Ye-Liyun's blood ran cold. The Scroll of Oath. A Founding Guardian. An Immortal.
"Liyun! She doesn't know! But the Scroll… it is the proof of my divine mandate! The City Lord is the one who left me to die! If she gets that Scroll, she will expose me and use me! You must get that Scroll, but you must never let her have it! It is the key to the entire city! It is the key to the Divine Authority itself!" the Emperor screamed, his voice filled with a desperate, raw fury Ye-Liyun had never heard before.
Lady Lin smiled, a genuine, terrifying expression. "You will use that signature to steal the Scroll. Do this, and you will have your Cloud-Heart Flower and a steady supply of nectar. Fail, and I will let your meridians collapse."
Ye-Liyun was trapped. He was a pawn in a political game that spanned centuries and involved the gods themselves, and his only way out was to commit a grander, more dangerous heist than the last.