The morning after the Namgung compound burned, fear spread through the empire faster than any messenger could ride.

In teahouses and sect halls from the northern passes to the southern deltas, men spoke in hushed voices over cooling tea.

The Namgung family-one of the five great pillars of the Murim Alliance-had been erased in a single night. Their ancestral halls reduced to ash. Their disciples scattered or dead.

Their legendary patriarch, Namgung Hyuk, gone without a trace. No one knew who had struck or how.

Only that the attack had been swift, silent, and absolute. For generations, no one had dared raise a hand against that name. Now the name itself felt like a curse.

In the great hall of the Prime Minister's pavilion in Changyi, Alex stood at the long map table, fingers tapping once against the dark wood. Zhuge Liang waited opposite him, calm and precise as always.

"Yuan Shao is moving," Alex said. "He sent the Murim Alliance after me. What do you think?"

Zhuge Liang inclined his head. "Their strongholds lie far to the north. They favor lone blades over open war. An assassin draws less attention and invites less retaliation than an army."

Alex's jaw tightened. He hated the feeling—the sense that men across Xia believed they could test him, wound him, and walk away untouched. "So they see me as weak. Someone they can prod and ignore."

He looked up, eyes cold. "Two fronts are testing us right now. Yuan Shao with his Murim blade. And the remnants of Dong Zhuo's generals-Li Jue and Guo Si-who sent Zhang Ji against us. They still play their old games from the capital."

Zhuge Liang's expression did not change. "In this world, my lord, only power speaks loudly enough to be heard."

Alex nodded once. "Then it is time they heard mine. Tonight. We strike back. You are coming with me."

Zhuge Liang bowed. "As you command."

***

Night fell over Liang Province like a closing fist.

Ten heavy aircraft climbed into the darkness from hidden pads outside Changyi, their hulls wrapped in shimmering camouflage fields that bent starlight around them until they vanished. Inside the lead transport, Alex stood near the forward viewport, arms crossed, watching the black landscape slide beneath them.

Five thousand Wudang disciples filled the fleet-white robes traded for dark, close- fitting gear that blended cultivation discipline with modern stealth. Their swords rested ready at their sides. The low, steady thrum of the engines vibrated through the deck plating.

Gaia's voice spoke directly into Alex's mind through the neural link, calm and precise. “Target compound acquired. Luoyang capital mansion. Twenty Core Formation-level threats concealed along the perimeter."

Alex's reply was steady over the encrypted channel. "Core Formation teams. Neutralize the outer guardians. Silent. No alarms raised."

"Yes, young sect master."

Small strike units detached from the main force as the aircraft held position high above the city. The disciples dropped like shadows, qi suppressed until they were almost invisible to spiritual sense.

They landed on rooftops and in courtyards without a sound. Swords moved in short, economical arcs-throats opened, vital qi points sealed before any cry could form.

Bodies were lowered silently to the ground and hidden. Within minutes the perimeter was clear. The hidden guards died without ever knowing they had been found.

From the aircraft, Alex watched the Gaia overlay bloom across his vision-real-time thermal maps, heart-rate signatures, faint qi fluctuations painting the interior of the main mansion in perfect detail.

Li Jue sprawled in his private chambers, four women tangled around him in exhausted sleep. Guo Si occupied an adjacent wing, a young woman curled against his side.

Alex's mouth curved in cold contempt. "Eight Core Formation per target. Take their heads. Clean and fast."

Another channel opened. “Liu Piao. Twelve men. Secure the false emperor alive. Extract him."

"Yes, young sect master."

The elite teams moved through the mansion like ghosts. They bypassed locked doors with precise qi techniques or forced them with minimal effort. In Li Jue's chamber the eight disciples struck as one.

One moment the general lay lost in dreams of power and flesh. The next, cold steel found his throat and sealed his meridians. His eyes flew open in shock.

No sound escaped. His head came free in a single clean motion. The women stirred too late; a soft qi pulse dropped them into deep, dreamless sleep.

The same scene played out in Guo Si's room-swift, professional, merciless. Head taken before the man could reach for his weapon.

Liu Piao's team hit the false emperor's guarded chamber at the same instant. The impostor tried to shout. His guards died before the sound left his throat. The boy was bound, gagged, and pulled from the room without raising a wider alarm.

A sudden, crushing pressure descended over the mansion like an invisible mountain crashing down from the sky.

Every Wudang disciple still standing felt their bones shake. A terrifying Nascent Soul aura erupted from the central courtyard, scorching and overwhelming, rising with ferocious speed.

High above the mansion hovered an old man with iron-gray hair and eyes like burning coals. His sword was already drawn, and his qi roared violently around him in visible, turbulent waves.

"Who dares lay hands on the Emperor?” Li Tianlong's voice cracked across the compound like thunder. "You will die for this treason!"

He moved before anyone could answer.

A single slash sent a crescent of sword qi screaming downward. It slammed into the Wudang disciples still on the ground.

Core Formation experts who had just executed a perfect strike were hurled backward like leaves in a gale. Bodies hit stone hard enough to crack it.

Blood sprayed from mouths. Several disciples collapsed, convulsing, vomiting dark blood onto the scorched earth. The formation they had held so cleanly broke in an instant.

From the lead aircraft hovering above, Alex's eyes narrowed.

"Open the hatch," he ordered.

The ramp dropped. Cold night air rushed in. Alex stepped off the edge without hesitation and dropped like a stone toward the courtyard. Wind tore at his robes. Below him, Li Tianlong was already gathering power for a second strike.

Alex met the descending blade of qi head-on.

He caught the old man's wrist in mid-air, fingers locking like iron. The devastating impact sent a powerful shockwave rippling outward, instantly shattering every wall and window of the mansion in a deafening explosion of stone and wood. Alex's boots skidded across empty space as he halted his fall, hovering face-to-face with the Nascent Soul cultivator. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth where the residual force had struck him, but his grip did not loosen.

Li Tianlong's eyes widened in genuine shock.

"Who are you?"

"Prime Minister Bai Xiaochun." Alex replied. "Acting on the direct order of Emperor

Liu Xie, I came to punish traitors who installed a false emperor and defied the throne. And you are?”

The old man's qi flared brighter. "Li Tianlong of the Luoyang Dragon Gate Li Clan.”

Alex kept his grip firm, eyes locked on the older man's. "This is a matter of the imperial government. Murim sects have no right to interfere in the affairs of the throne. If you stand in the way of lawful punishment, you and every member of your Dragon Gate Clan will be branded traitors Your halls will burn. Your name will be erased."

Li Tianlong stared for a heartbeat, then threw his head back and laughed a deep, booming sound filled with Nascent Soul arrogance. His qi surged again, pressing down on Alex like a physical weight.

"You speak boldly for a man whose cultivation is barely worth noticing. I am one of

the top ten cultivators in all of Xia. No one has dared move against the Dragon Gate

Li Clan in a hundred years. You think you can threaten my family? My clan is not so easily destroyed."

Alex's eyes stayed flat and cold. He did not release the man's wrist.

"Namgung Hyuk said almost the same words last night," he replied quietly. "Right before his entire clan compound was reduced to ash and his bloodline was scattered or slaughtered. Tell me, Li Tianlong-do you truly believe the Dragon Gate L Clan is so much stronger than the Namgung ever were?"

The laughter died in the old man's throat.

He had heard what happened to the Namgung family. Looking at his own situation, he could see that his family was no better off. If even the powerful Namgung clan could be completely erased, then so could his. After all, his strength was far below Namgung Hypk's, and his family was nowhere near as

powerful as the Namgung clan.

Li Tianlong's qi flickered for the first time uncertainty cutting through the arrogance.

Alex leaned in slightly, voice dropping to something almost conversational.

"Walk away now, old man. Take your clan and stay out of imperial business.”

He truly didn't want to fight this old man. Deep down, he wasn't confident he could win if they truly clashed.

Below them, the surviving Wudang disciples were already regrouping despite their injuries. Their swords glowed faintly as they formed up once again, ready to fight.

The captured false emperor and the severed heads of Li Jue and Guo Si were already being carried over by the disciples.

The moment Li Tianlong saw this, his expression changed. He abruptly drew his sword and roared, "I cannot let you have them! My daughter is the Emperor's wife I must protect him!"

With that, he launched a fierce sword strike straight at Alex.

Alex swiftly drew his sword to block the blow, but the overwhelming force sent him flying backward like a cannonball. He smashed heavily into the mansion, collapsing walls and sending debris flying everywhere.

"Even if you are the Prime Minister, you still have to die!" Li Tianlong roared.

Alex slowly rose to his feet, dusting off his clothes. A cold, merciless light flashed in his eyes.

“Good.” He turned toward the Wudang disciples below and declared in a commanding voice, "Wudang disciples! I order you to annihilate the Luoyang Dragon Gate Li Clan immediately! Kill every single person inside - don't leave even a dog alive! They are traitors of Great Xia!"