Years passed.
The fields in which Zi Feng had once fought like a mad god were now green again. The Grass had swallowed the bones. The rivers had washed away the blood that flowed like red wine away. To the people of Tianxu Realm, the war had become a memory spoken in taverns, half-truths told to frighten children.
But ofcourse those who witnessed it was surely not going to forget.
High in the Abyssal Wraith Prison, where no light ever touched, a shadow stirred.
Chains forged of divine light coiled around a figure seated in the endless dark. His hair had long grown wild, but his eyes still burned red, and his face was oddly calm....infact far too calm for a man who had once shaken the heavens.
It was Zi Feng.
His lips curled in a faint smile, though no one was there to see it.
"So… the world thinks itself at peace?" His voice was hoarse, more like a growl than speech. "Let them. Peace is but the moment before the blade falls."
The chains tightened, golden light pressed against his skin until smoke hissed from his flesh. But he did not flinch. Pain had become his companion long ago.
"But you… Shang Pu…" His smile twisted, teeth flashing in the dark. "You opened the door… and I will walk through it one day."
His laughter echoed through the empty prison. Into the dark.
---
Meanwhile, beyond the prison, Tianxu Realm flourished.
The rebellion's end had left the Imperial Chu Clan unchallenged. With the loyalty of the Four Great Clans and the oversight of the Buddha Sect, the Empire entered an era of growth.
And where there is peace, sects rise like stars in the night sky.
---
The first sect to be announced was the...
The Heavenly Ascension Sect
On the eastern mountains, the Heavenly Ascension Sect soared in glory. It was once a sect not known by many, but it had grown into the pride of the realm. Its teachings were vast, its masters were wise, and its spirit halls filled with young geniuses from every corner of the Empire.
Even the heirs of the Great Clans trained there.
Chu Bing, the Imperial Prince, walked its paths clad in white robes, his fiery aura restrained but never extinguished.
He had inherited his father's fire, but not his father's temper. Where Emperor Chu Ping was fierce and domineering, Chu Bing was thoughtful, calculating. He often trained beside Bi Long, the lightning-wielding son of the Bi Clan, and Nu Zuchin, the ice princess whose gaze was cold.
Together with other heirs, they formed a circle of brilliance within the sect, each striving to surpass the other.
"The future of Tianxu lies with us," Chu Bing once said, after defeating Bi Long in a spar. "If we do not rise above, we will fall beneath what lurks in the shadows."
Bi Long scoffed.... clearly not convinced but he said nothing. Even his pride could not dismiss the unease in the Prince's words.
---
Next was the....
The White Lotus Sect
White Lotus Sect is a place of serenity and beauty. Here, cultivation was blended with philosophy, teaching both balance and grace. It was at the southern part of the realm.
And within its jade halls trained Chu Ling, the Imperial Princess.
Unlike her brother, she did not walk the path of politics or power. She sought understanding, harmony with the world. Yet her talent was undeniable, her flames burning with a purity rarely seen.
The disciples of White Lotus adored her—some as a leader, others as a sister, and some… as something more. But Chu Ling's heart remained distant, her thoughts often wandering to the war her family never spoke of.
"Peace is precious," she once said to her master, "but why does it feel so fragile? As though one whisper could shatter it?"
Her master only sighed. "Because, child, peace is never the natural state of this world. It is always borrowed time."
---
And of course...
The Divine Sword Hall
Located at the far western part of the realm, it is a sect unlike any other....cause it rose from the dust.
Divine Sword Hall was founded not by a clan, nor blessed by nobility, but by a rogue cultivator.
It's master, Lu Fin, was once a nameless wanderer, a cultivator with no clan, no backing, and no future. Yet through sheer will and talent, he ascended to the Void Merging Realm—the same realm Zi Feng had once sought at all costs.
Thus...Lu Fin gathered the outcasts, the orphans, the rogues cultivators that were despised by clans, and gave them a home. His hall became a beacon for those who had nothing, proving that even without noble blood, the heavens could still be challenged.
"Steel is forged in fire, not birthright," Lu Fin declared. And his disciples, wielding blades honed through suffering, became feared across the land.
It was said that one day, Lu Fin's hall might rival even the Great Clans themselves.
---
Thus, the Empire thrived.
Markets bustled, sects flourished, disciples clashed in friendly duels, and the Emperor's banners stretched farther than ever. From the highest peaks to the deepest valleys, Tianxu Realm shone with prosperity.
But beneath the brilliance, shadows deepened.
---
In the north, where mountains were scarred black and the winds carried whispers, a crack pulsed faintly against the world's skin.
From it seeped mists darker than night, carrying the stench of corruption. Within that mist, shadows twisted into shapes that should not exist, their claws wss scraping against the veil between worlds.
The Mysterious Saint Hall had not been idle.
While the clans celebrated, while the sects grew, the demons gathered. Slowly, quietly, feeding on the crack until it widened.
Shang Pu, their Demon Lord, stood before the gate with a smile that mirrored Zi Feng's in the Abyssal Prison.
"Patience," he whispered, his voice was hoarse. "Let them fatten themselves on peace. When we step through… their blood will season the feast."
And the crack pulsed again, like the heartbeat of a beast waiting to awaken.
---
Back in the Imperial Capital, Emperor Chu Ping stood upon his balcony, gazing at the horizon. His hair had grayed, his fire dimmed, but his eyes still held the weight of a man who once faced rebellion and won.
Behind him, Empress Chu Ning approached softly. "You are thinking of the past again."
"I'm thinking of the future," Chu Ping replied. His voice was heavy. "Zi Feng may be sealed, but ambition cannot be bound forever. I fear for what my children will inherit."
The Empress laid a hand on his arm. "They are strong. Stronger than we were."
"Strength is not enough," the Emperor murmured. "It is wisdom, unity, and… vigilance that preserve a realm. Peace is the most fragile thing of all."
As his mind wandered off to his children.
Subconsciously, pride and fear warred in his heart.
Proud of who they are becoming and also scared of the what's to come.
Cause he knows that peace does not last.
---
And so, the Tianxu Realm prospered under a peace that was never truly peace.
The sects thrived, heirs grew stronger, and the people lived without fear. Yet, in the Abyssal Prison, Zi Feng's laughter echoed against chains of light. In the northern wastes, demons whispered beneath the veil.
The world turned, day after day, toward the storm it could not yet see.
And when it came, no one would be ready.