The sky over Longwei City was no longer blue. It was the color of a bruised vein, choked with the purple lightning of the Longshen Empire's ancestral array.
Long Xiaoyan stood on the high balcony of the Eastern Palace, his breath hitching in his chest. Below him, the "Dragon Authority" was crumbling. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and the copper tang of blood. He could hear the rhythmic thud of heavy infantry breaching the Inner Sanctum—the very heart of the empire his father, Long Huochen, had ruled with justice for forty years.
"Your Highness! You must retreat to the secret passage!"
A figure blurred into existence beside him. It was Zhao Hanyue, Captain of the Elite Guard. Her silver armor was cracked, and a deep gash ran across her shoulder, but her eyes remained fierce.
"Where is my father?" Xiaoyan asked, his voice cracking. "Where is the Emperor?"
Zhao Hanyue flinched, her gaze dropping to the blood-stained marble floor. "The Emperor... was ambushed in the Throne Room. By the Second Prince and the Prince's Uncle."
Xiaoyan felt as if the world had tilted. Long Haoran—his own brother. And Long Huojiang, the man who had taught Xiaoyan how to hold a sword. They hadn't just betrayed the empire; they had murdered his family.
"They are coming for the Sovereign Ring, Xiaoyan," a cold, mocking voice drifted from the roof above.
Xiaoyan looked up. Standing on the eaves of the palace was Long Haoran. He looked magnificent and terrible, his robes fluttering in the wind, surrounded by arcs of the Heaven-Rending Thunder Veins. His cultivation had clearly reached the peak of the Divine Realm, far surpassing Xiaoyan's meager Mortal Realm foundation.
"Brother..." Xiaoyan hissed, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the stone railing. "Why?"
"Why?" Long Haoran laughed, a sound like grinding stones. "Because the Heavens are blind. They gave the title of Crown Prince to a waste like you—a boy born with a bottom-tier Mortal Inner Root. You are a clog in the drain of our lineage. I am the true dragon. Give me the ring, and I might let you die with a whole corpse."
"You killed Father for a piece of jade?" Xiaoyan roared, his grief turning into a white-hot spark of rage.
"I killed a stagnant old man for the right to rule the Cangyuan Continent," Haoran replied. He raised a finger, and a bolt of violet lightning hissed through the air with the speed of a thought.
BOOM!
Zhao Hanyue threw herself in front of Xiaoyan, her spiritual shield shattering instantly. The force of the blast threw them both backward, crashing through the heavy rosewood doors of the prince's private chambers.
Xiaoyan hit the floor hard, the world spinning. He tasted iron in his mouth. Through the haze, he saw Long Haoran walking calmly through the smoke, his boots clicking on the floor.
"Pitiful," Haoran sneered, reaching down to grab Xiaoyan by the throat. He lifted the younger boy effortlessly. "You have the blood of the Long family, but your body is trash. Your Inner Root is a withered twig. You were never meant to be a cultivator."
He squeezed, and Xiaoyan's vision began to go black. As his consciousness faded, Xiaoyan's hand brushed against the dull black ring on his right hand—the Sovereign Ring, a relic everyone thought was a useless heirloom.
Suddenly, a searing heat erupted from the ring.
A voice, ancient and cold, vibrated not in his ears, but in the very marrow of his bones.
[...Balance Breaker Protocol Initiated...]
[...Host Life Force: 5%... Emergency Evolution Required...]
[...Targeting Mortal-Grade Inner Root... Beginning Forced Ascension...]
A pillar of golden light erupted from Xiaoyan's chest, blinding Long Haoran and throwing him back across the room. The purple lightning in the air screamed as it was devoured by the golden radiance.
Inside Xiaoyan's dantian, the "withered twig" of his Inner Root was being torn apart and remade. The pain was like a thousand needles being driven into his soul, but beneath the pain, there was a roar of power.
[...Evolution Complete...]
[...Inner Root Grade: Mortal → Divine (Low-Tier)...]
[...New Ability Unlocked: Spiritual Codex Devour...]
Xiaoyan gasped, his eyes snapping open. They were no longer the eyes of a weak prince. For a fleeting second, they glowed with the terrifying light of a True God.
"What... what is this?" Haoran stammered, picking himself up, his face filled with genuine fear.
"Your Highness, go!" Zhao Hanyue used the last of her strength to trigger a hidden spatial talisman on the floor. "Live! Reclaim the throne!"
"Haoran..." Xiaoyan whispered as the spatial light began to wrap around him, pulling him into the void. "Wait for me. When I return to Longwei City, I won't just take the crown. I will tear down the Heavens you worship."
The light flashed, and the "Trash Prince" vanished, leaving behind only the scent of ozone and the echoes of a broken balance.