The Spring Proving had ended, but its echoes lingered.
Court scribes inked every movement Kai Jin made onto long scrolls, artists etched his final duel into woodblock prints, and high-born daughters whispered behind painted fans about the man with three loves and a sword like moonlight. In the upper balconies, envoys from rival sects watched with tight smiles and sharper intentions.
The Broken Sky envoy compound, once treated as an afterthought of politics, now thrummed with attention—envy, fascination, fear.
That fear found its home in the council chambers.
⸻
Elder Jian stood before the Emperor, voice raised.
"He has upset the old ways. Brought chaos to structure. If we permit this, the sects will fracture beneath the weight of his sentiment."
The Emperor did not speak.
Elder Song added, "And what of the women? The healer, the demon-touched one, and the Crimson Blade? He flaunts his affections without shame. It sets a precedent we cannot control."
Still, the Emperor said nothing.
Instead, he turned to his Grand Historian.
"What happens to rivers that break their banks?"
The Historian bowed. "They create new paths, Your Radiance. And drown what no longer belongs."
The Emperor smiled faintly. "Let us see which the boy is."
⸻
Meanwhile, in the envoy estate, the tone had shifted.
Lin Su lounged across the tiled balcony wall, reading a crimson-threaded scroll. Her demon mark pulsed lazily along her spine.
"Three more invitations," she said aloud. "Two from suitors. One from a sect who wants to… observe me."
Yue raised a brow. "Observe, or cage?"
"Do they ever mean anything different?" Lin replied.
Bai Ru passed through with an armful of dried mountain lotus, her expression focused. She didn't look up.
"It's beginning," she said quietly. "The sects are watching. Measuring. We have days, not months."
Kai entered, hair damp from his training. His presence settled the air.
"Then let them measure. We will not be still."
Yue crossed to him, slipping a hand beneath his robe to feel his pulse.
"Strong," she murmured.
"Stubborn," Lin Su added with a grin.
"Steady," Bai Ru confirmed, laying the lotus down.
⸻
That night, in the inner courtyard beneath moonlight, the four gathered in meditation. But it was not cultivation that passed between them.
It was resolve.
Kai closed his eyes, the World Eye flickering behind his brow like a waiting storm.
The next arc is not peace. It is the blade hidden behind a smile.
He saw visions:
• A shattered banner
• Yue crying behind closed doors
• Bai Ru holding a poisoned needle
• Lin Su standing over a body she chose not to kill
And behind it all, the faint symbol of a crown… cracked and burning.
Kai opened his eyes.
"Something comes."
Yue nodded. "Let it."
Bai Ru whispered, "We hold the line."
Lin Su licked her lips. "And if it breaks… we become the flood."
⸻
Far from the capital, in a cold stone monastery, a masked youth trained alone, slicing wind with a black-tipped spear. His master approached and said only one thing:
"The Crownless Tournament has begun."
The youth grinned. "Then let Kai Jin bleed."
⸻
[To Be Continued in Chapter 78: Broken Petals, Hidden Blade