~~~

The storm glares at him with eyes like his own.

No matter how dark the clouds are, how thickly the rain falls, or how strongly the wind batters him, Liu Jin cannot look away from those eyes that shine like crimson moons. Whenever lightning strikes, the shape of a giant dragon becomes visible around them.

Liu Jin wishes it didn’t.

“Well?” The voice of the storm resounds all around Liu Jin, reaching him through the howl of the wind and the crack of the thunder. “Have you not been taught any manners, whelp?”

“I have been taught many things,” Liu Jin replies. He uses Qi to make himself heard, and it feels like it is devoured by the storm around him, no different from rain falling into the ocean. “I do not believe I have ever been taught how to act in this exact situation.”

The storm rumbles, and it almost sounds like laughter.

“I suppose that is not surprising. Your father was thorough in his attempt to separate himself from his past. I felt it when he tore his soul and removed my gifts from it, but blood does not lie, whelp. I knew you when you were born, and now, I am here.”

The mention of his father is all Liu Jin needs to make sense of this.

In hindsight, the purple lightning made it obvious.

“You are related to the imperial bloodline of the Storm Dragon Empire,” Liu Jin says, wincing as powerful thunder leaves his ears ringing.

“I am your progenitor, whelp,” the storm says. “I am the shadow left behind to guard my descendants. I am your birthright, whether your father wishes it or not.”

Liu Jin frowns.

“My lightning turned purple. Was that your doing, Ancestor?”

“The light from the heavens is our gift. What others consider the pinnacle is merely a stepping stone for true greatness,” the storm replies. “Whenever one from my bloodline reaches maturity, I appear before them and, in doing so, open the path. Speak your name so that I might recognize you, whelp.”

Lu Jin stays silent for several seconds.

“Ancestor, I mean no disrespect when I say this, but I do not wish to be recognized,” Liu Jin says, bowing his head low. “I do not wish to rule.”

The thunder laughs at him.

“I have heard those words before, and not just from your father,” the storm says. “Do not be so foolish as to think keeping your name from me will stop this. Knowing your name is merely a formality, son of Qing Jianguo. Speak. Our time together draws to a close.”

Liu Jin takes a deep breath. His hands ball into fists at his sides.

“My name is Liu Jin,” he says.

Lightning flashes. He can see the dragon’s maw open before him.

“Is that so?”

“The name my father gave me is Liu Jin, ancestor,” Liu Jin replies. His body is rooted to the spot, yet his face refuses to show fear.

“Very well,” the dragon’s crimson eyes shine through the storm clouds. “I greet Liu Jin, son of Qing Jianguo, and I eagerly await the day you enter the imperial palace.”

As if those words were a spell, the storm begins fading. The dark clouds are peeled away and replaced by a blue sky

“If you wish to retrieve the woman who bears your mark, you will come to the palace.”

His ancestor’s parting words reach Liu Jin’s ears as a whisper, but he does not have time to make sense of them. Liu Jin is back in Rainstorm City. He is in the same place he was in when his lightning raged out of control. There is just one crucial difference.

The soldiers are kneeling.

All those who were not killed by the purple lightning are kneeling before him with their foreheads pressed against the ground. The lightning around Liu Jin is back to its former gold color, but there is no denying what the terrified soldiers saw.

They all saw the purple lightning. They all saw the huge purple bolt piercing the sky.

Everyone in the city saw it.

“My lord!” Lei Kong appears in a blur of speed. His shocked eyes take in every aspect of the scene before him. He has seen the lightning bolt. He has felt Liu Jin’s Qi. He is smart enough to put the pieces together, yet his mind fails him. “What? What is…? I do not…”

“Lei Kong, enough!” Liu Jin’s sharp command is all Lei Kong needs to control himself. Liu Jin glances at the kneeling soldiers. “We’re taking these men as prisoners.”

“Them?” Lei Kong asks, unable to keep the dubiousness out of his voice.

“These men might be savages, but we’re not,” Liu Jin says. He begins walking. “I’ll decide their fate later.”

“My lord, where are you going?”

“Where do you think?” Liu Jin asks without turning back. One Ground Contraction is all it takes to get him to the front gates of the City Lord’s mansion. Lu Mei and Bai Wen are already waiting for him there.

Big Sister Bai speaks to him first.

“I felt you tap into your Dao,” she says. “It was most impressive.”

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“I thank Big Sister for her words,” Liu Jin says. “However… Big Sister Bai, you could have intervened at any moment, couldn’t you?”

A moment passes before she replies.

“I could have,” she admits. “However, you would not have been under the same pressure had I done that. In trying to help, I might have inadvertently done you wrong.”

It is the answer Liu Jin expected to hear. As a cultivator at the peak of the Heaven Realm, Big Sister Bai could have stopped Han at any moment. Even if she didn’t want to interrupt his battle with Han, it would have been trivial for her to save all the civilians who died due to the collateral damage.

However, she prioritized his development as a cultivator over the lives of the people. Maybe her Dao compelled her to do so, finding more Justice in helping him realize his Dao. Maybe she imposed her will over her Dao. Either way, the choice was ultimately hers.

It is possible something similar happened with others. The clash of his and Han’s nascent Dao probably served as a signal for others not to interfere, lest they ruin what could bloom from their fight. Otherwise, Lei Kong would have probably abandoned his orders the moment he sensed he was in danger.

He’ll have to ask him later, not that it matters.

He is the one who didn’t ask Big Sister Bai’s help from the start. He sensed Han in the city and assumed him to be a known quantity. What point was there in asking Big Sister Bai for help to deal with the likes of him? It would be a problem if he got into the habit of relying on a stronger cultivator to solve his every minor problem. Those had been Liu Jin’s thoughts.

Underestimating Han’s growth was by far his biggest mistake in battle, and the ones who suffered for that arrogant mistake were the people of Rainstorm City.

How can he be angry at Big Sister Bai for not interfering when he is already angry at himself for not asking for help?

“I thank Big Sister Bai for her consideration,” Liu Jin says, bowing his head. “Did my development meet Big Sister Bai’s expectations?”

Once again, it takes Big Sister Bai a moment to answer him.

“In many ways, it surpassed them, but I shall not trouble you with questions,” she replies. “Do not let me distract you from your duties.”

Liu Jin gladly takes the dismissal and moves to the next person

Lu Mei is smiling.

It is a very tight smile that tells him she is trying really hard to prevent it from growing wider out of consideration for him.

“You are happy.”

“Happy?” Lu Mei laughs. Her gold eyes are almost glowing. “Jin, I am ecstatic. How can I not be? You were magnificent.”

Liu Jin does not glance back at the many destroyed houses and buildings behind him. There is no need to. The image is already firmly imprinted in his mind.

“I do not feel magnificent.”

“I expected that, and I will make sure to be happy enough for the both of us,” Lu Mei tells him bluntly, crossing her arms. “Feel free to keep brooding but only in moderation.”

Liu Jin’s eyebrow twitches slightly.

“Excuse me?”

“You have defeated an enemy and gained not just power but recognition,” Lu Mei tells him. There is no mistaking what she is referring to. “It is fine if you do not wish to be happy about everything, but do not blind yourself to the positives. Ignore them, and you’ll find yourself wanting again.”

“How harsh,” Liu Jin says, yet his tone is noticeably lighter than before.

“You are the one who sets unreasonable standards for himself. I merely offer advice on how to reach them,” Lu Mei says.

“And that your advice pushes me in a direction you want is just a coincidence, I am sure,” Liu Jin notes dryly.

“Naturally, our interests just happen to align exceedingly well,” Lu Mei replies shamelessly. “You could even say it is proof of how suited we are to each other.”

That gets him to crack a smile. Liu Jin looks at the mansion. The City Lord’s Qi overflows so strongly with emotions that there is no need to guess how he feels, yet Liu Jin asks the question all the same.

“How is he?”

“Terrified.”

Liu Jin thinks about that for a moment.

“Good.”

~~~

“Impossible! It’s not possible!”

City Lord Lei yells at him while hiding behind his desk. It is a pathetic sight, but that is only to be expected.

City Lord Lei has always been a pathetic man.

“It’s a lie! A trick!” the City Lord keeps yelling, pointing a trembling finger at him. “That has to be it! You just figured out how to change the color of your lightning, haven’t you? You cannot be… You cannot… Those eyes... Heavens save me, the eyes.”

The man is shivering from head to toe. Though he could easily break through the walls to try to escape, he realizes how useless it would be.

There is no escape for him.

“Must we really do this,” Liu Jin asks, taking a seat in front of the City Lord’s desk. “Whether I am or I am not does not matter here. You tried to have me killed, and you have failed. You have sold your citizens like cattle and grown fat on their suffering. All of that ends now.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the City Lord whispers. He laughs hysterically. “That’s right! None of it matters! You can’t do anything to me! You don’t rule this place! General Murong does! You cannot go against the Lei Clan without incurring his wrath! So what if I sell my citizens? Do you think that matters to the general? How many people do you think we sell every year? What does it matter where they came from?”

Liu Jin nods with a far too calm look on his face.

“That’s true. Murong Bang won’t care that you have been selling your citizens. Of course, that’s not your only crime, is it?” Liu Jin looks at the door. “Could you please hand that over? Thank you.”

City Lord Lei watches, mystified, as one of his servants comes in and hands over some papers to Liu Jin. He pales as soon as he realizes what they are.

“What are you doing?” He yells at the servant. “Disloyal dog, where did you find those?!”

“You can go now,” Liu Jin tells the servant, who is all too happy to flee the room. “And he is not disloyal. How can he be when he was never one of your servants?”

“What?”

The expression on Liu Jin’s face is almost pitying.

“You never noticed, did you? You were so busy focusing on Lu Mei and what she might do that you never thought to look at the servants around her. You never even thought to remember the faces of your own servants, and so, never noticed the two that weren’t.”

It hadn’t been just Big Sister Bai who stayed behind. Rust and Nail did as well. By disguising themselves as servants, the two had been able to walk unimpeded through the City Lord’s house. The only ones who noticed were the other servants, and they only needed to be told that their master had ordered them to help out while they stayed there.

Not one of them dared to ask their master for confirmation.

“You’re remarkably good at record-keeping,” Liu Jin says, giving the papers a light pat. “Every head counted. Every shipment made. Every coin earned. It’s all here.”

By now, the City Lord is even whiter than the papers in Liu Jin’s hands.

“You have been lying to Murong Bang about how much you have been making from those slaves. You have sold far more than what you reported. You and the Lei Clan have been stealing from General Murong all this time.”

Liu Jin leans forward. The room seems to darken as he does.

“Tell me, what do you think will happen once I let him know?”

City Lord Lei flees. He dashes with such strength that he breaks through the walls and jumps out into the city.

Liu Jin’s aura rises in the shape of a gigantic snake and chases after the City Lord. It moves swiftly, easily catching up to the City Lord before he has finished falling. Its jaws close around him and drag him down to the dirty streets of his own city.

The trapped City Lord is tossed right in front of Lei Kong.

Liu Jin never rises from his seat.

~~~