The snowy ridges of Huilan were silent.
Too silent.
Even the beasts had retreated from the pressure that lingered like smoke in the wind.
Kneeling beside a half-frozen pool of melted snow and demonic blood, Lin Tian gritted his teeth, his fingers dug deep into the ice-encrusted soil. The last flickers of qi residue dissipated in the air—like the ghost of a path already stolen.
> "Gone…"
"She was right here."
He punched the ground. A ripple of force cracked the ice in a wide radius. Frost leapt upward like needles from the earth. Broken trees, their trunks sheared diagonally, stood like skeletal monuments to his failure.
Above, the sun bled dimly behind gray clouds.
> "That bastard... was watching."
The image from the last flicker of his tracking talisman lingered: a figure in black robes, retreating silently into the snow, the trail severed before the talisman combusted.
His sword hissed as it returned to its sheath.
> "You saw that too?" he asked the silent presence in his mind.
The voice of his ring grandfather returned after a beat.
> "The Yin aura's gone. The girl's soul mark was… stabilized by someone else. Someone powerful."
> "Your fate thread around her snapped."
Lin Tian's fingers twitched.
> "Snapped? By whom?"
> "Not fate… a hand. Someone cut it."
A thin thread of killing intent poured from Lin Tian's core.
"…Then I'll find where she came from. Who trained her. Who feared her enough to exile her."
He looked southward, beyond the veil of mountains.
Toward the Imperial Capital.
---
Morning
The inn nestled into a pine-covered ridge, quiet and warm beneath the snowfall. Steam rose from the private suite's brazier. A peaceful illusion.
Shui Yuerou stirred beneath a silken blanket. Her body felt weightless—yet awakened. Her meridians, once knotted with backlash and broken pathways, now hummed in harmony. Her sovereign qi swirled with refined clarity.
But that wasn't all.
There was a warmth in her soul that hadn't existed before—a strange, soothing tether that seemed to pulse from deep within her dantian.
She turned.
Gu Changge sat at the window, sipping tea as snowlight spilled over his calm expression. His black hair was loose, glowing faintly silver in the dawn light.
"You're awake," he said softly.
Yuerou sat up slowly. The blanket slipped, revealing a sliver of her bare shoulder. She didn't flinch.
"I remember."
Her voice was quiet. Her fingertips grazed her lower abdomen where the Jade Sovereign Sigil glowed faintly—no longer seared, but engraved in calm fire.
"You healed it," she murmured. "Not just my body. My soul."
"I did," he replied, not boasting.
"You even shielded me from the backlash. I should have suffered soul erosion."
"You would have," he said, "if I were… ordinary."
Her golden eyes flicked up. "You aren't."
She stood. Snowlight traced her every curve, casting a regal aura about her despite her disheveled state.
"You carry something twisted inside you," she said. "Not demonic… but dangerous. Seductive. Sovereign bodies like mine shouldn't have felt anything beyond gratitude. But what I felt…"
She took a step closer.
"…was longing."
He met her gaze, silent.
"Who are you really?"
Gu Changge rose, tea set aside.
"A cultivator," he said, "who walks a path people would rather not look at."
She smiled, the curve of it razor-sharp and soft all at once.
"I was a general once. I've commanded legions, decapitated lords, sworn before a phoenix throne. But in one night, you've done what the court couldn't do in years."
He tilted his head. "Oh?"
"You made me choose to kneel."
She stepped forward—then dropped to one knee.
Hand over heart.
Head bowed in regal formality.
"In the name of my fallen banners," she said, "I offer you my loyalty. Not as a servant… but as a blade."
A seal pulsed to life around her. Blood qi, sovereign will, and ancient jade inscriptions swirled together.
> "I, Shui Yuerou, last of the Frost Banner Generals and bearer of the Jade Sovereign Flame, hereby swear to Gu Changge, until death or ascension binds me otherwise. My sword, body, and soul are his to wield."
A soundless pulse spread out across the room.
And the System responded.
---
> Ding! Villain Value +6000!
You have gained: [Oath of the Jade General]
Effect:
Increases influence over imperial bloodlines.
Oathbound Yin-physique women receive double cultivation when dual cultivating with you.
Title Unlocked: [Sovereign Binder]
Prestige among royalty and generals +40%
Enhances your charm and pressure when confronting noble or courtly figures.
Item Acquired: [Crownless Vow Sigil – Rare Charm Tool]
Effect:
Once per lunar month, grants temporary command over all oath-bound followers.
Boosts their combat ability by 50% for one battle.
Cannot be resisted by willingly sworn subordinates.
---
The notifications flickered and faded like breath against glass.
But Gu Changge's eyes never left Yuerou.
"Stand," he said quietly. "You don't belong on the ground."
She did, slowly.
No longer just a warrior.
Now—a vassal of the Tyrant.
---
👑 Imperial Capital – Distant South
Golden towers pierced the skyline like swords. The sprawling Dragon-Glass Palace shimmered behind layered barrier formations, each woven with sun runes and moon talismans.
Lin Tian stood in a merchant caravan, hood drawn low.
In his hand was a jade token—the Royal Pass granted to his father long ago by a general of the outer court.
He looked up at the towering gate with eyes filled not with wonder… but madness.
> "The truth is here," he murmured. "About Shui Yuerou. About the one who stole her. About me."
> "I will not fail again."
In his mind, the ring grandpa whispered:
> "Be wary. The Empress… is not as weak as she lets on."
> "Her Sovereign Moonfire Empress Physique... burns brighter than a hundred stars."
> "Then let's see what the moon fears," Lin Tian whispered.
---
🔥 Return to the Inn
Later, at the window, Gu Changge watched snow drift through sunlight like falling petals. The wind had changed direction.
Behind him, Yuerou inspected her blade—newly reforged in spirit fire and qi resonance.
"You're still hiding your cultivation," she said.
"I prefer it that way."
"Why?"
"Because thunder is only scary after it strikes."
She laughed once—sharp and clean. "You sound like a tyrant already."
"Maybe I am."
She held up a jade box. "This—what is it?"
"A gift," he said. "The Body-Shifting Bone Pearl. Take it. You'll wear another face once we enter the capital. You'll go as my maid."
She looked at him.
And then smiled, slipping the pearl into her mouth. Qi shimmered around her, transforming flesh and bone.
When it settled, she was no longer Shui Yuerou—but a pale, delicate servant girl, face modest, aura dimmed.
"Convincing?" she asked.
"Too convincing," he said, amused.
"Don't fall in love with the disguise."
"Too late."
---
Beyond the snowfields and distant pine hills, the skies over the Cangyu Kingdom began to darken.
In the Imperial Palace, a lone phoenix-feather banner stirred in the wind.
And behind a lattice screen, veiled in moonlight, a woman with silver-laced violet hair sat upon a throne of ice-flame glass.
She opened her eyes.
They glowed like molten starlight.
> "The Jade General has moved…"
> "And someone is stirring the fate threads of the empire."
Her voice was soft.
But when she exhaled, the air turned to glowing ash.
---
End of Chapter 16
---