Chapter 2: The Hundredth Regression and the Royal Meeting
The first thing Zhen Luochen felt was silence.
Not the silence of death, but the silence of beginning again.
He opened his eyes to the glittering ceiling of the Imperial Palace. Carved jade dragons coiled across the beams, golden constellations stretched above, and sandalwood incense drifted faintly in the air. He was fifteen once more, reborn for the hundredth time.
His body was young. His soul was ancient.
The ninety-ninth life had ended in fire and ruin. The hundredth had begun.
He sat up slowly. A maid entered the chamber, bowed hastily, and nearly tripped over herself as she fled. Even in this form, his quiet presence was suffocating. Luochen's expression did not change. His black hair fell over cold violet eyes as he whispered to himself.
"This time… no hesitation."
That night, he stood on the palace balcony, gazing over the vast capital of the Empire. Lanterns shimmered like fallen stars. Millions of lives burned below him. His fingers curled slightly, the void pulsing faintly beneath his skin. Tomorrow, everything would change.
The following day, the royal court assembled in the grand hall. Twelve thrones for twelve children of the Emperor. At the head sat the Dragon Throne, towering and eternal.
The princes and princesses bickered and whispered, believing the meeting to be about succession and politics. The Demon threat? They thought it far away. The Empire had always stood strong.
Luochen walked forward, his footsteps quiet, his expression blank. No one expected him to move, yet the atmosphere shifted as though the very air recoiled.
He raised a hand. Void energy rippled outward, sealing the hall. A barrier of silent darkness wrapped around the chamber. No one could leave.
"Brother, what are you" one prince began, only to choke on his words as Luochen dragged a man into the center of the hall.
The Sixth Prince's most trusted advisor, bound in chains of black light, writhed on the marble floor. His skin cracked, his eyes blackened, and the demon beneath was revealed. The court gasped in horror.
"You see?" Luochen's voice was soft, but every syllable struck like thunder. "They have nested in our Empire. They whisper in your ears. They stand beside your thrones."
The Sixth Prince shouted in denial, but the truth burned before all of them.
"You think the Demon threat is far away. You are wrong. It is here. It has always been here."
But still, suspicion filled the hall. One sister narrowed her eyes. "And how do we know you are not in league with them? You wield power that looks no different from theirs."
Luochen's violet eyes glowed faintly. "Then see for yourselves."
He raised his palm. Darkness swirled, not destructive, but revealing. A tide of memory surged into the chamber. The princes and princesses froze as their minds were forced open to visions that were not their own.
They saw him bleeding in a thousand battlefields.
They saw cities collapse, comrades torn apart, continents burning.
They saw him kneel before the corpses of friends, burying them again and again.
They saw him stand before the Demon King, broken but unyielding—ninety-nine times.
When the vision ended, silence devoured the chamber.
The Second Princess fell to her knees and vomited, shaking uncontrollably. One prince stared blankly, muttering prayers. Several others wept openly.
And yet Luochen stood there, calm, expressionless, as though it had nothing to do with him.
"You see now what I have endured," he said quietly. "Ninety-nine lives. Ninety-nine failures. Do you think I desire your throne? Do you think I care for crowns or glory? I want only one thing, that the nightmare ends."
His gaze swept across them, merciless.
"From this day, the Empire will purge every demon within its borders. That is our first task. The First Prince will inherit the throne. The rest of you will abandon your thirst for power. You will guide the Seven Nations, fortify them, prepare them. Because the gates are not slowing. They are accelerating."
"You dare dictate terms to us?" another brother snapped. "You sound more like a tyrant than a prince!"
The void pulsed. A crushing pressure filled the hall, forcing him to his knees.
"If you wish," Luochen said flatly, violet eyes burning, "I will kill you all here and face the demons alone. I have done it before. Ninety-nine times."
No one spoke.
The Emperor himself watched in silence, ancient and unreadable.
But Luochen did not wait for judgment. He turned, void trailing behind him like a shadow that devoured light, and left the throne hall.
This was only the beginning.