The sun had not yet fully crossed the walls of the Imperial Palace, but the sky was already beginning to turn a faint gold. High in the East Wing, where only members of the royal family could walk freely, a female figure gazed at the horizon from a carved jade balcony.
The young woman stood erect and silent, like a lotus flower blossoming in the morning mist. Her skin, pale as pure jade, shone with a radiance that was not natural, but cultivated. Her reddish hair, loose around her shoulders, fell like a fiery waterfall over the delicate dark blue fabric of her robe, embroidered with spiritual threads. Her amber eyes reflected not only the light of dawn, but also an inner fire, dense and ancient, as if an ancestral flame burned within her spiritual core.
Xiu Wang.
The adopted princess of the Lianhua Empire. But within her chest, that title weighed like a chain of golden silk. Brilliant on the outside, but cold and silent on the inside.
From a very young age, rumors had surrounded her like an invisible aura. It was said that the Emperor had found her wrapped in a spiritual blanket, abandoned in front of the Celestial Lotus Field during a dawn when the sky thundered three times without a trace of a storm. No one knew where she came from. No one knew who had left her there. And yet, the Emperor didn't hesitate. He ordered her adoption, gave her a name, and raised her as if she were his own flesh and blood.
However, not everyone at court shared her enthusiasm.
"A child without lineage, without clan, without a destiny mapped out by the ancestors... What place does she have at the top of the world?" the ministers' wives whispered, hidden behind silk fans.
But the rumors died away quickly. Because all it took was seeing her channel her Qi to understand that there was something beyond her mysterious origins.
By the age of five, her spiritual core had already awakened. At eight, she had mastered five basic techniques without a teacher. And now, at fifteen, she found herself in the late stage of Qi Refinement, just one step away from body transformation. Her path had been swifter than that of the royal princes, more stable than that of the cultivators at the imperial academies.
And yet, she knew the true journey had yet to begin.
"My Lady," the voice of Yu Lin, her maid, brought her from her thoughts. "The carriage is ready. Today is your first day at the Royal Academy. The Emperor expects you to worthily represent the Imperial Household."
Xiu nodded without turning around. Her gaze was still fixed on the horizon, where the Jinlong Mountains rose like sleeping colossi. Between their peaks, according to legend, sacred beasts still walked, and the ruins of ancient civilizations waited to be discovered by those powerful enough to survive the attempt.
"Have you prepared the Lotus Sword?" she asked.
"Yes, My Lady. She's in the carriage."
Xiu finally turned. She walked down the jade corridor, where ancient paintings narrated conquests, pacts, and betrayals of past generations. She passed by the statues of the Founders, whose stone eyes seemed to silently follow her. But she felt no fear. She had learned since childhood to ignore glances. To not rely on affection.
Because in this world, strength was everything.
The logic of power governed even the smallest gestures. A cultivator wouldn't kneel unless there was someone strong enough to make them bow. Fine words were worthless unless backed by fists. And kindness without strength… was only an invitation to extermination.
She boarded the carriage without a word.
From within, she could feel the vibration of the spiritual core of the guards escorting her. They were all at least in the middle stage of Bone Strengthening, and their presences were like extinguished fires, silent but ready to burn. Still, they all lowered their gaze as they passed by her. Because, regardless of age, the intensity of her spiritual presence was something none could ignore.
As the carriage passed through the Palace gates, Xiu closed her eyes.
And she saw it again.
The dream.
Always the same.
She was walking in a sea of mist, without sky, without land. In front of her, a figure with golden eyes and a black robe watched her silently. Every time she tried to get closer, the mist swallowed her up, and a voice whispered:
"Daughter of Origin... it is not yet time."
That same day, as she left the Palace, three golden cranes flew over the carriage in perfect formation. An omen. In the culture of the Lianhua Empire, they signified transformation, revelation, and connection. The elders guarding the gates knelt in silence. The scholars of heaven noted the sign. But no one interpreted it quite right.
For the fate that awaited Xiu Wang was not written on scrolls or in the stars.
It was engraved in her blood. In her core. And in a past the world had forgotten… but to which she was about to awaken.
As the carriage descended from the imperial mount, the white silhouette of the Royal Academy appeared on the horizon, surrounded by stone dragons, statues of sages, and a living wall made of trees that flourished only in the light of the spiritual sun.
A new chapter began.
And with it, the world would take its first step toward a new order.