The golden amber glow of twilight slowly faded from the sky, giving way to a tranquil, deep-indigo night over the Sea of Forgotten Stars.
The quiet waves of the open ocean glistened under the silver light of two pale moons hanging high in the heavens. Floating sea-flowers drift lazily across the water, emitting soft blue luminescence that illuminated the path of the Azure-Orchid Clipper.
Driven by the gentle night breeze and the silent spirit-arrays, the azure-oak vessel glided effortlessly toward the easternmost edge of the sea. Here, rising directly out of the deep ocean bed like a solitary sacred pillar connecting the earth to the sky, stood the Mount of the White Lotus.
This isolated, sea-encircled peak was home to the Ancient White Lotus Temple—the oldest sacred sanctuary of the Eastern Realm.
Unlike the imperial sects of the Central Continent, which fought ruthlessly for territories and dragon-veins, the monks and priestesses of the White Lotus Temple lived in absolute seclusion. They guarded the ancient spatial boundaries that separated the Eastern Sea from the legendary Primal Dragon Continent.
The Azure-Orchid Clipper docked smoothly at the base of the mountain peak, where a broad staircase carved entirely from white moon-marble wound upward through dense bamboo groves and misty waterfalls.
Li-Wen stood on the quiet dock.
CRUNCH... CRUNCH... CRUNCH...
His heavy leather boots pressed firmly into the cool, damp marble steps as he began his steady ascent up the mountain.
His dark traveler's coat flapped gently in the night draft, its hem carrying faint, sparkling traces of sapphire frost. Across his broad back, the Pitch-Black Heavy Blade rested in absolute silence inside its unadorned iron scabbard, its terrifying kinetic density completely sealed. His short hair, heavily streaked with pure white roots, caught the soft silver light of the twin moons above.
In his left arm, he held little Xiao-Yue securely against his chest.
The small girl was fast asleep. Her small face rested comfortably against Li-Wen's broad, warm shoulder, her breathing steady and peaceful. In her relaxed hands, she loosely held her fully repaired pink lotus lantern. The silver frame—now flawlessly mended with Star-Marrow Ore—emitted a soft, rhythmic pulse of comforting ruby light that wrapped them both in a protective, tranquil cocoon of warmth.
Li-Wen walked with light, microscopic care, adjusting his broad arm so that not a single step disturbed her quiet slumber.
At the top of the white marble stairs stood the ancient, quiet entrance of the White Lotus Temple.
Dozens of stone lanterns lined the courtyard, burning with sweet sandalwood incense. Sitting quietly on a woven reed mat in front of the primary shrine was the High Priestess Jing-Yuan—a legendary Stage-6 Peak Sovereign who had guarded the temple for over eight hundred years.
Behind her stood twenty young priestesses in white robes, holding silver bells.
When Li-Wen reached the top of the stairs and stepped into the quiet courtyard, none of the priestesses raised weapons. None of them drew swords or activated offensive spatial arrays.
High Priestess Jing-Yuan slowly stood up, smoothing her white silk robes. She looked at the broad-shouldered man carrying the sleeping child, and bowed her head deeply, pressing her palms together in absolute, serene respect.
"Peace be upon your path, Northern Sovereign," High Priestess Jing-Yuan spoke in a clear, soothing voice that carried the tranquil chime of spring water. "The ancient lotus of our shrine bloomed silver at midnight, announcing the arrival of the world's quietest mountain."
Li-Wen stopped ten paces from the shrine. His dark, abyssal eyes rested calmly on the elderly priestess.
"She is sleeping," Li-Wen murmured, his deep, raspy voice dropping into a low, flat rumble that carried no malice. "I seek a quiet place to rest until sunrise."
High Priestess Jing-Yuan smiled warmly, her gentle eyes reflecting the ruby glow of Xiao-Yue's lantern.
"The Sanctuary of the Quiet Lotus has been prepared for you," she said softly, gesturing toward a peaceful wooden pavilion built beside a calm, moonlit lily pond. "No wind, no noise, and no worldly conflict shall cross its threshold tonight."
"Good," Li-Wen flatly stated.
Inside the Sanctuary of the Quiet Lotus, the air was warm and smelled of dried lotus petals and sweet mountain pine.
Li-Wen stepped into the room with silent boots. He walked over to a wide, low bed lined with soft silk mattresses and clean white sheepskin blankets.
With extreme gentleness, he laid little Xiao-Yue down onto the bed. He carefully untied her small boots, placing them neatly beside the wooden frame, and pulled the warm sheepskin blanket up to her shoulders. He set her mended pink lotus lantern on a small wooden table beside the bed, where its soft ruby light continued to glow steady and bright.
Xiao-Yue stirred slightly in her sleep, nuzzling her face deeper into the soft sheepskin pillow, letting out a small, satisfied sigh before drifting back into deep, peaceful dreams.
Li-Wen stood beside the bed for a long moment, watching her calm, rhythmic breathing.
He reached out his broad, calloused hand, his rough thumb lightly brushing a tiny strand of hair from her forehead. His flat, iron-carved expression softened into a quiet, protective calm that only existed when he looked at the little girl.
He did not lie down to sleep.
Instead, Li-Wen turned around and walked quietly toward the open wooden veranda overlooking the vast, dark ocean. He sat down cross-legged on the polished cedar floorboards, resting his broad back against the wooden pillar.
The Pitch-Black Heavy Blade remained across his lap. His broad right hand rested lightly on its dark hilt, guarding the doorway to her sleep like an immovable, eternal mountain.
Around midnight, while the world was wrapped in deep silence, a sinister crimson glow began to taint the silver moonlight above the sea!
HUMMMMM—!
The calm space five miles north of the White Lotus Temple suddenly tore open! A massive, dark-red spatial rift—three hundred feet wide—gaped open in the night sky!
From within the spatial rift, four terrifying shadows stepped out into the open air!
These were not mortals, nor were they ordinary sect elders. They were the Four Imperial Ancestors of the Eastern Dragon Domain—four legendary Stage-6 Peak Experts who had ruled the deep sea territories for thousands of years!
Wearing heavy crimson dragon-scale armor and holding massive spatial tridents, they radiated a suffocating, bloodthirsty pressure that turned the peaceful ocean waters below into boiling dark red foam!
"NORTHERN SOVEREIGN!" The lead ancestor, Dragon-Ancestor Ao-Kuang, roared with thunderous spatial force, his voice echoing across the ocean like exploding volcanic peaks!
"You humiliated our royal prince at Dragon-Wharf! You slaughtered our sea dragons in the Azure Abyss! Do you truly believe you can stride through the Eastern Realm without paying blood debt?!"
The four Stage-6 Peak Ancestors unleashed their full spatial domains, combining their power into a colossal, thousand-foot blood-dragon phantom that towered over the ocean sky!
"We have brought the Imperial Dragon-Sealing Array!" Ao-Kuang shrieked with terrifying arrogance. "Tonight, we shall sacrifice your flesh and soul to pave our path into Stage-7!"
Inside the temple, High Priestess Jing-Yuan and her priestesses rushed into the main courtyard, their faces turning pale as they looked at the terrifying thousand-foot blood dragon darkening the sky!
"The Four Dragon Ancestors..." High Priestess Jing-Yuan whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "They brought the ancient forbidden array of the Dragon Sect..."
She quickly turned toward the Sanctuary of the Quiet Lotus, preparing to step forward to defend the sanctuary's peace.
However, before she could take a single step, the sliding wooden door of the quiet pavilion opened slightly.
Li-Wen stepped out onto the open veranda.
He did not look at the four ancestors hovering in the sky. He did not look at the thousand-foot blood dragon that was threatening to tear the sky apart.
He slowly turned his head back, looking toward the soft bed inside the room where Xiao-Yue was sleeping.
Her small brows had slightly furrowed at the thunderous sound of the dragon's shout, her hand reaching out blindly in her sleep for her lantern.
Li-Wen's dark, void-like pupils shifted back toward the four Dragon Ancestors in the sky.
The temperature in the air around the mountain peak did not fall gradually—it instantly plummeted into absolute non-existence.
"You woke her," Li-Wen murmured.
His raspy voice was extremely low. It was quiet, flat, and carried no theatrical fury.
Yet, that single sentence carried an absolute, cosmic physical decree that made the entire Eastern Continent's tectonic plates freeze in place!
Li-Wen did not draw the Pitch-Black Heavy Blade from his lap.
He simply raised his broad right hand from the hilt, extended his index finger toward the sky, and executed a subtle, downward tapping motion against the wooden floorboard.
TAP.
CRACKLE—! SHATTER—! REPRESS—!
A single, microscopic point of absolute-zero sapphire kinetic mass erupted from the tip of his finger, penetrating straight into the spatial fabric of the atmosphere!
The thousand-foot blood-dragon phantom, the four Stage-6 Peak Dragon Ancestors, their crimson spatial tridents, and the three-hundred-foot spatial rift behind them didn't even have time to utter a sound!
The instant the sapphire cold touched their spatial structure, the entire blood-dragon domain, the four supreme ancestors, and the sky itself were instantly snap-froze into a giant, five-mile pale-blue ice crystal suspended over the ocean!
CRUMB.
Li-Wen casually withdrew his finger back into his coat pocket.
SHATTER—!!!!!
The five-mile pale-blue ice crystal collapsed silently into billions of microscopic, sparkling frost-dust particles that fell harmlessly into the ocean below, melting instantly into the deep blue water without making a single sound!
The dark crimson rift vanished. The spatial pressure vanished. The twin moons shone brightly once more over the calm, peaceful sea.
The four Supreme Dragon Ancestors—who had ruled the Eastern Realm for thousands of years—were erased from the universe in less than a second, simply because their voice had disturbed a little girl's sleep.
Silence—absolute, pristine, and eternal silence—returned to the Mount of the White Lotus.
High Priestess Jing-Yuan and her priestesses stood frozen in the courtyard, their eyes wide, their hands trembling in sheer, paralyzed horror as they stared at the completely empty sky!
Four Stage-6 Peak Ancestors... erased with a single tap of a finger against a floorboard!
Li-Wen did not glance at the sky again.
He calmly walked back into the Sanctuary of the Quiet Lotus, gently closing the sliding wooden door behind him to block out the faint night breeze.
He walked over to the soft bed, reaching out his broad hand to gently smooth Xiao-Yue's sheepskin blanket back over her shoulders.
Xiao-Yue's furrowed brows relaxed. A tiny, sweet smile returned to her sleeping face as she hugged her soft sheepskin pillow, sinking back into her peaceful dreams.
Li-Wen sat down on the cedar floorboards beside her bed, resting his back against the pillar. He placed the Pitch-Black Heavy Blade across his lap once more, closing his dark eyes as he kept his silent, eternal watch.
The silver light of the twin moons shone softly through the paper window, illuminating the tranquil room where the Northern Sovereign sat quietly in the dark, guarding the warmth of his world until the dawn.
See you in next chapter.....