Jin sat cross-legged in the depths of the tunnel beneath the wall of debris, his gaze unfocused as he reached deep within himself, seeking that once boundless well of power, now hidden beneath layers of flesh and bone too fragile to hold his former might. His fingers brushed his abdomen, over the dantian he had painstakingly nurtured since reincarnating, its flow of energy a faint trace of the tempest he’d once commanded. Even the memory stirred something primal, a longing to wield again that dominance, to feel the blood of worlds answer his call. He tightened his fist, savoring the brief rush of energy that to his young body felt overwhelming. Yet he knew the truth: it was but a ripple against the ocean of power he had once possessed.

Jin’s fingers traced an unblemished, youthful palm. There should have been scars there. Lining his palms like threads woven into old fabric. Remnants of that final battle, when his enemies had swarmed like wolves on wounded prey. The new emperors ruled atop the empire’s carcass, four of them. It twisted his lips into a slight smirk, bitter and unyielding as iron. How swiftly they had taken his throne, like vultures pecking at the spoils left in his absence.

Remnants of the Emperor.

The Jade ruler had been strong—too strong to be considered prey, but still still just an obstacle surrounded by fools brave enough to defend an empire whose corpse he had already begun to carve. “You remember, don’t you?” Jin spoke aloud, his voice as low as the faint hiss of smoke curling up from dying embers, as though his old foes could still hear him. “The way your cities fell, one by one, until you were left clinging to your emperor’s shadow.” He smiled at the memory, the lingering satisfaction that came with such complete, calculated devastation.

Jin drifted back in the depths of his thoughts and felt the memories draw him in as if by chains, pulling him to the moment when he stood before the Martial Empire's connection to divinity. In his mind’s eye, he could still see the Jade Emperor’s last breaths—the moment the empire had been torn apart.

***

Atop the shattered steps of the imperial palace he had stood, blood pooling around his boots, the metallic scent filling him with invigoration. His eyes glowed white with a heavenly Dao that infused his every cell, and his bloodbound constructs flanked him, their forms unyielding and their eyes sharp with the full breadth of reason.

He gazed upon the grand doors and pushed them open without ceremony.

The Jade Emperor had sat upon his throne, confident and relaxed. Lazy, almost, as though the intrusion was not worth the effort of action. He wasn't even looking at him.

The emperors eyes pursed, finally turning to acknowledge Jin's existence.

"What do you see when you look upon my empire, Bloodseer?” The Emperor’s voice, hard as iron, drifted across the room. He spoke slowly, as if the words themselves held weight that could crush lesser men. “You think yourself above it, but empires, Gods—these things endure while men like you burn out in a burst of fury and fall to dust.”

Jin’s lips tightened, one hand drawing a blood whip up from his side, wrapping it around his arm, each thornlike barb glinting under the bright flames of the palace. He shifted his weight, his foot grinding against the marble beneath, leaving a smear of blood-red that floated to circle him like celestial bodies.

“I see a cage,” Jin answered, each word as metal forged in a furnace. His gaze moved to the towering walls, the banners that hung, each marked with the Emperor’s sigil, a roaring dragon caught mid-flight. “A flimsy façade for the ones too weak to see beyond it.”

Jin opened his mouth to speak further but paused as his eyes flashed white. He saw it then, a path: a blade raised, the Emperor’s head tilted slightly forward, the faintest arc of blood, signalling his end. He could see it clearly—one strike, a blow that would kill him.

A blood construct blocked the blow, its form imploding from the sheer weight it.

How did he—? Jin whirled to respond but the emperor remained seated, not a hair out of place. The Qi in the air had hardly drifted, and no other heartbeats rang in the vicinity.

“You would tear down everything we have built because you fear a life lived with purpose?” His voice fell, dark as shadow cast by flame, “Tell me, Bloodseer, what would you even create? Or do you think a god bleeds because you say so?”

Jin’s blood armor surged, shifting, hardening over his torso as he stepped forward, the thud of his boots resounding in the silence. “Your purpose,” he intoned, as if tasting the bitter words, “is hollow—a lie to make others worship the chains you’ve hung upon their necks.” He let his arm drop, the whip sliding to the floor, forming a pool of thick, red liquid at his feet, only to rise again, taking shape into a spear as his will commanded it. “What I would create is freedom. Not for the empire, but from you.” He stepped forward, his blood-forged spear gleaming with endless Qi and lifeforce, pointed at the Emperor.

A ripple crossed the Emperor’s face, and he moved, shifting forward, his hand rising in a single, languid motion. “You destroy because you’re empty. You are a wound upon the world, a void that swallows everything,” he hissed, his hand falling back to his side as if brushing Jin away. “Yet you think you’re saving them?”

Jin could feel the heat of the room rise as if a furnace had opened, stoked by his own fury. “I am not here to save anyone,” he growled, as he thrust the spear forward. The weapon sliced through the air in an arc of red, becoming a crimson comet aimed at the Emperor’s chest. The Emperor’s hand rose, catching it, divine blood spilling between his fingers.

Then they fought.

Jin drove his spear forward, the crystalline blade slicing through the space between them in a single decisive thrust aimed at the Emperor’s soul. He could see it clearly, the way it connected with all things, even himself. To sever it would end not only the empire, but the fate itself.

It would free them all.

A blinding flash of jade light split the air as the Emperor countered, his form shifting faster than sight. The spear struck empty space, a decoy dissipating like smoke. Jin’s eyes glowed white, his future sight catching a flash of jade energy lancing toward his side. Instantly, he stepped back, evading as the Emperor’s energy carved a trench through the ground where he’d stood.

"Such a strong connection to divinity." The Jade Monarch scoffed with authority, rising. "So that's how you made it this far."

Jin struck in response, a myriad of summoned blood spears mimicking his strike, forcing the Emperor to step back.

"You're close to the truth, but so far from it." The Emperor’s hands moved as he spoke, conjuring a blade of divine energy that shone menacingly with altered reality. His robes flowed like liquid gold as he struck, the clash of their weapons rumbling the very foundations of the structure they stood within. Jin parried effortlessly, his blood armor adapting to the impact to absorb and redistribute the force.

"You think your Dao makes you special, Bloodseer." The Emperor's eyes flashed with a golden light. For a brief moment, Jin's vision blurred; his connection to the future severed. The Will of Heaven had blocked his sight. A sharp pain erupted in his side as an invisible force struck him, sending him skidding across the marble floor as the Emperor spoke again. "But its simply a fraction of one greater whole. A Piecemeal."

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Jin rose clutching his bleeding side, undying green fires clawing at his wound. "It's more than enough," he said. Constructs of blood materialized around him as he spoke, each emerging with eyes glowing white in synchronization with Jin’s own, reacting to the realm of forms.

Some held spears of blood, some bloodwhips, others swords, and one stood taller than the rest, armoured in red, wielding great axes in each hand as though they were knives.

The Dual-Wielder snarled in excitement. “Even gods can fall to mortals!” it taunted with glee, darting forward with ferocity, its long axes snapping and twisting outward.

But the Emperor moved without sound or warning, his jade strike materializing behind the construct, bypassing its awareness to land a blow that shattered its weapons. “Keep going!” a Spear-wielding blood construct called, lunging at the Emperor’s form, its spear driving deep enough to chip jade from its opponent's divine armour before the Emperor swept it aside. The Dual-Wielding construct moved beside him, now with whips trailing crimson arcs, weaving an intricate pattern of blurs as it struck at the Emperor’s reflections, splintering jade fragments with every lash.

“Come now, is this all?” the Dual-Wielder taunted, its eyes bright with fervor as it continued to drive the Emperor back with relentless strikes.

From within the tempest of battle, Jin’s vision slipped fractions ahead, catching sight of the Emperor’s forthcoming strikes—a distortion in the air just inches from his shoulder, then his neck, then his heart and spine simultaneously. Jin dodged them all. He willed himself sideways, feeling the hum of that lethal space pass by, and struck out in retaliation, causing the emperors blade to go flying into the darkness, its divine fires snuffed out by waves of blood. He met the Emperor’s gaze, both unmoving in an instant of predatory calm, and Jin watched the Emperor as a hunter would watch a deer.

"Master, his power disrupts our foresight," a blood construct warned, its weapons held without fear and its voice steady despite the chaos.

Jin simply nodded. His summons held a fraction of his powers, even his connection to the Dao, and as long as he had blood and Qi they would endlessly regenerate. His Blood Sapients had razed armies of immortals to nothing and would surely do the same to the emperor.

"I am the arbiter of order itself, Bloodseer," the Emperor spoke and raised both hands to the sky. Thunder rumbled as bolts of lightning arced down, striking newly formed Bloodsapient to eradicate them instantly. "This realm, from its stars to the grains of earth, bends to the decree set forth by the heavens. By me."

"You could rend the sky, overturn mountains, and still, you would be following the lines already laid before you," the Emperor’s voice rolled through the battlefield like thunder, unfathomable and unyielding.

"You will die here today, Bloodseer. Because I declare it so."

Through Jin’s sight, reality split and reformed, layered over with the realm of forms—a realm of perfect, unchanging representations of the true essence of things, dictating reality by serving as a blueprint for everything seen and experienced in the physical world. It was a world of abstract perfection, the core of all things, pulsing beneath the surface. The very seat of the Dao. Every tree, stone, breath was tethered by invisible threads leading back to some ideal essence, unaltered and eternal. It was as if his vision had stripped away the planet’s skin to expose its soul. He watched as these forms converged upon the Emperor, as if bound to him, infinite fragments of truth anchored to his presence, the embodiment of an inescapable design.

'Because I declare it so,'

Through the realm of forms, Jin saw the Emperors words branch out and seize the endless pieces of reality, so many they were beyond counting. Each word stretched outward like roots, reaching to seize the very fabric of reality, locking each moment in place, leaving Jin trapped in a fate that felt as permanent as the stars.

The Emperor had spoken. No matter how his vision swept across possible futures and endless paths, every possibility and outcome converged to ensure his death. No matter what occurred today, Jin would be destined to die. Because the Emperor declared it so.

That was it. That was why the emperor had to die.

No-one should control fate, Jin thought as his eyes flashed white again. He foresaw the next move—another direct assault aimed to finish him. But the Emperor's endless Dao made prediction uncertain. The Jade Emperor vanished, reappearing directly before Jin, a celestial blade poised to strike.

Reacting on instinct, Jin raised his blood-forged sword just in time. The impact sent shockwaves through the hall and the floor cracked beneath them, marble splintering.

Jin leapt back, assessing the battlefield rapidly. His constructs were faltering against the Emperor's overwhelming power. He focused, drawing upon deeper reserves. The blood on the ground coalesced, forming into new shapes—a legion of lesser sapients rising to join the fray.

Jin thrust forward, his Bloodforged spear extending ahead, his Bloodbound Sapients flanking him, their expressions fierce and unwavering. A Spear-Wielding construct lunged, driving its weapon straight at the Emperor’s side, striking with a focused intensity that cracked the jade-tiled floor beneath them.

"More blood, master!," one hissed, rushing forward, blade raised—only to be caught mid-air by chains of jade fire, dissolving into crimson.

Another construct sprang forth, bearing twin lances. “You can’t bind us forever, old man!” it taunted, diving under the chains and thrusting upward with its lances aimed for the emperor’s chest. The lances pierced the Jade rulers flesh as he shifted, sending crimson arcs spraying against the empty air.

A shockwave scattered the construct towards Jin, his blood whip unfurling. He struck with the whip and it split into three, wrapping around the jade monarch to bind him, tearing at divine flesh until it burned and vanished in jade fire.

Jin smiled at the sight of the emperors blood.

"Do you believe that your strength and your cunning could unsettle the order woven by Heaven itself?" The Emperor studied the numerous lacerations and stab wounds that covered his form. His body erupted in jade fire, every inch of his body burning under intense heat. "Even now, as you lash against it, you serve it." He spoke from within the flames. When the fires snuffed out, not a wound remained "To oppose me is to oppose the very foundation of this world, for I am woven into its core."

The Emperor stood statuesque, eyes burning with divine fury.

Jin's eyes glowed too. White with the threads of time. He glimpsed the next moments—a death-strike aimed at his heart; with no visible angle, no trace, impossible to block. He shifted with ease, evading as the space he occupied folded inward, collapsing into nothingness by the Monarch's unreadable blow before he summoned and launched a blood spear in retaliation, targeting not where the Jade Emperor was, but where he knew the Emperor would be. It struck, sinking into jade and leaving red in its wake. But the wound healed instantly, the spear bubbling to nothing under jade fire.

The constructs formed barriers, counterattacking; one unleashed blood rain as lethal projectile drops, but the Emperor’s flames consumed them all.

"Your defiance ends here," the Jade Sovereign declared, his voice resonating with absolute authority.

Jin disagreed, he had already seen how this would end.

The Emperor had decreed that Jin would die, but he had not decreed that he would survive Jin's death. Jin eyed the Emperor’s soul through the realm of forms and commanded his constructs to attack, his focus unwavering from the point that connected the Jade Deity with all things in the universe. The threads of karma and fate stretched into the depths of the Emperor’s soul, locked in place by his iron will. Jin saw every inch of it, fixed as it was by his fate, and settled into a stance, his spear held at the ready. Holding his stance, Jin’s spear poised, his sight remained locked on that singular nexus, his entire being sharpened and honed on his enemy’s link to the universe itself.

With one thrust, The Bloodseer ended the empire.

His spear struck the emperors very soul, fracturing it to pieces. Then he leaned forward to whisper in the dying Monarch's ear. "It's over. There's no recovering from this, no reformation of the body, no return of the soul." He withdrew his weapon in a burst of movement and spray of blood. "And no immortality"

The throne room fell silent and the torchlight dimmed, as the Emperor’s gaze fell to the blood upon his hand, each drop falling to the floor, a steady beat in the stillness. “Chaos,” he breathed, as his hand loosened, releasing the broken blade that fell to his feet. “Ruin. You will leave them with nothing but despair. Do you think they will thank you for it?”

A grim smile spread over Jin’s face, his fingers curling as he commanded the blood back, his spear reforming, the weapon twisting as if alive in response to his will. “They will curse me,” he said, stepping forward, the whip lashing behind him, marking the floor with lines of red. “But they will see beyond the walls you’ve built. They will suffer—and in that suffering, they will find freedom.” As Jin approached, the emperor opened his mouth to respond and Jin saw existence twist to obey him.

"I will li—"

Jin cut off his head.

Blood spattered, the severed head hit the ground, rolling to a silent stop at his feet as the doors to the throne room shattered open, and seven generals stepped through, powerhouses of the Empire; their faces drawn, weapons raised.

In that moment of victory and release, Jin saw a small portion of the threads of fate and karma shift, from the emperors corpse to him, latching on, locked in a final gift ensuring his guaranteed end.

He was still destined to die.

Jin's fingers tightened around the severed head, blood dripping like crimson rain.