The air inside the Zhang residence was heavy, thick with the ozone—a byproduct of the Patriarch's leaking spiritual pressure. It felt like the moments before a massive thunderstorm.
"That brat who defiled the princess ... we still haven't found him!" First Elder Zhang Song's voice shattered the oppressive silence. His face was twisted into a grimace of pure frustration. "We've scoured every cave and forest in Green Horn Mountain, but it's as if he vanished into thin air."
"Yes, Patriarch," another elder added, his voice trembling. "Despite our best efforts, I believe only the Yu Clan knows his true location."
"Enough!" The word hit the room like a physical blow. Suddenly, a terrifying pressure exploded from the head of the hall—the aura of an Eighth Grade Golden Core Realm expert. The floor groaned under the weight, and the elders felt their lungs flatten as if a mountain had been dropped upon their chests.
THUD.
The elders dropped to their knees, unable to withstand the Patriarch's fury.
"My son is dead," Zhang Min the hissed, his voice trembling with a mixture of grief and murderous intent. "The only heir to the Zhang Clan has been murdered by some unknown expert, and all you can talk about is a boy who escaped? Do you think I care about the defiled princess right now?!"
Zhang Song struggled to lift his head, sweat pouring down his face. "Patriarch... please! We believe the Yu Clan helped the boy escape. They likely employed a Nascent Soul expert. That is why the guards fell—including your heir!"
CRACK!!
Zhang Min's hand tightened on the armrest of his throne, the solid wood shattering into a spray of splinters.
"The Yu Clan... so they've finally chosen extinction."
He stood up, his eyes glowing with a cold, predatory light. He did not notice the slight flicker of triumph in Zhang Song's eyes. The First Elder had served the Patriarch for thirty years, but he had never seen this side of him—so devoid of humanity, so consumed by the hunt .
Zhang Song knew the Yu Clan was innocent of the murder, but a war was exactly the catalyst he needed to elevate his own position in this city.
"Fine," Zhang Min growled. "If that lad wants to play hide and seek, we'll turn the whole world against him. Issue a bounty of five thousand Blood Stones on the boy's head, dead or alive. Use the Demonic Tracking Array—I don't care about the cost!"
He stepped down from the dais, his boots crushing the stone floor with every step.
"As for that Nascent Soul 'expert' who dared to touch my blood..."
Zhang Min's face twisted into a demonic grin.
"I will go to the Capital. I will petition His Majesty to hunt that bastard down. I won't just kill him. I'm going to tear out his throat and boil him alive while he's still breathing!"
While a suffocating darkness settled over the Zhangs, the Yu Clan estate was a portrait of relief.
Yu Dong was celebrating with his elders; news had reached them that the heir to the clan was alive and safe.
Seeking a moment of quiet gratitude, Yu Dong went to the ancestral tomb to burn incense for his son's protection.
He knelt, the fragrant smoke curling toward the rafters as he offered a silent prayer.
"Patriarch..." a voice gasped, shattering the peace.
"Patriarch!"
Yu Dong turned, his brow furrowed in annoyance.
"What is it?"
"His Majesty... he has issued a decree. There is a bounty of five thousand Blood Stones on the clan heir's head."
Clang.
The incense burner fell from Yu Dong's hand, spilling hot ash across the stone floor.
"Is... is this true?"
His voice was a ghost of its former strength. The celebratory wine in his belly turned to lead.
"It is, Patriarch," the messenger gasped, leaning against the cold stone of the tomb. "The decree carries the Imperial Seal. They aren't just hunting a criminal; they've branded your son as the 'seed of discord.' Anyone who aids him, his own blood—will be executed alongside him."
Yu Dong looked at the fallen incense. The grey ash was being scattered by a sudden, cold wind.
The joy of the morning was dead.
Across the city, the Zhang min was already at the Emperor's door.
The Imperial Capital – The Hall of Supreme Harmony
Zhang Min stood before a towering set of vermilion doors. He did not wait for the eunuchs to announce him. He pushed through, his Golden Core pressure fo the royal guards to fall back, their spears rattling in their hands.
At the end of the hall, shrouded behind a curtain of hanging pearls, sat the Emperor.
The air here was different—it tasted of ancient incense .
"Zhang Min," a voice drifted from behind the pearls. It was calm, yet it carried the authority of a man who could erase cities with a stroke of a brush.
"You enter my presence with the stench of blood and unrefined Qi. Explain yourself."
Zhang Min dropped to one knee, but his head remained high.
"Your Majesty, the Jade of the Lord's Eye has been shattered. My son—a loyal servant to your throne—has been butchered by a nascent soul expert hired by the Yu Clan."
The silhouette behind the curtain shifted.
"A Nascent Soul expert,. In my territory? Without my presence?"
"Yes, majesty," Zhang Min hissed, his voice dripping with false concern for the state.
"The Yu Clan hides a 'Calamity Scion.' If they are allowed to harbor such a monster, the other clans will see the Imperial Law as a paper tiger."
A long silence followed, broken only by the crackle of spirit-lamps.
Zhang Min held his breath.
He knew the Emperor didn't care about his son, but the Emperor cared deeply about his defiled daughter.
"Five thousand Blood Stones is too low for the head of a rebel," the Emperor finally spoke.
"But I will not send my armies for measly low clan . Not yet."
A scroll flew from behind the curtain, landing at Zhang Min's feet. It was black silk, embroidered with gold.
"Take this. It is the Imperial Hunt Warrant. It authorizes the use of the demon-Searching Eye. You have seven days to produce the boy's head. If the Yu Clan interferes, you have my permission to 'quarantine' their manor."
Zhang Min's eyes flashed with demonic joy.
Quarantine was a royal euphemism for a massacre.
"And the Nascent Soul expert?"
"If he interfere," the Emperor's voice grew cold, "i will deal with him myself. No one stands above the Firmament in this land.Bring me the boy before the moon turns full."
Deep in the Forbidden Forest
Yu Zhou sat beneath the shade of a weeping willow, his eyes closed in meditation.
Suddenly, the "Lizard" let out a low, vibrating growl within his soul.
It wasn't the sound of hunger; it was the sound of a predator sensing a trap closing from miles away.
Yu Zhou opened his flecked-gold eyes.
A strange, itching sensation burned on his forehead he recongnise it—the invisible mark of the Imperial Hunt.
"So," Yu Zhou whispered to the shadows, his voice devoid of fear.
"The Emperor has decided to joined the game."
He stood up, the Deep-Crest Sword humming at his hip.
He didn't feel like a fugitive.
He felt like a cold man devoid of any emotion.
The hunt had begun, but the hunters didn't realize they were no longer chasing a boy.
They were chasing a dragon.