The imperial banners did not announce themselves this time.
They arrived at dawn.
No drums.
No ceremony.
Only presence.
Lin Xiao felt it before the gates opened.
Crimson qi.
Refined.
Heavy.
Not like Long Wei.
Stronger.
Sharper.
He stood beneath the elm tree, eyes half-closed, guiding golden threads through his two fractured pathways.
The seal had not cracked further since the ridge incident.
But it had changed.
It no longer felt like stone.
It felt like layered scales.
Adaptive.
Observant.
The golden shard pulsed once—
Alert.
Footsteps echoed beyond the courtyard walls.
Not guards.
Not clan disciples.
Command.
Mu Yin emerged from the inner walkway, frost faint but controlled along her sleeves.
"You feel it," she said quietly.
"Yes."
This was not inspection.
This was arrival.
At the front gate of the Liu Clan estate stood a single rider.
No escort.
No soldiers.
Just one man.
He dismounted slowly.
His robes were crimson trimmed with gold.
On his chest, embroidered faintly in darker thread—
The imperial dragon.
Long Jin.
Crown Prince of Chi Long Huangchao.
Early Core Formation peak.
A man whose aura alone could suffocate an estate.
Elder Liu Zheng bowed deeply.
"Your Highness."
Long Jin did not smile.
"I was in the region," he said calmly.
"A fluctuation reached the capital."
The elder did not reply.
Long Jin's gaze drifted across the courtyard.
He did not need to ask.
He knew.
Lin Xiao stepped forward before being summoned.
Mu Yin moved with him.
The Crown Prince's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You are Lin Xiao."
"Yes."
"And you are Mu Yin."
"Yes."
He studied them in silence.
The air tightened.
Crimson qi seeped outward gently from his body—not aggressively, but deliberately.
Testing.
Probing.
The golden shard responded instantly.
Pressure built.
Not explosive.
Measured.
Long Jin's gaze sharpened.
He stepped closer.
"Raise your head."
Lin Xiao met his eyes evenly.
For a brief second—
Their auras collided.
Crimson imperial dragon.
Golden uncrowned fragment.
The courtyard trembled faintly.
Disciples dropped to their knees under the pressure.
Mu Yin's frost thickened involuntarily.
Elder Liu Zheng clenched his jaw.
The collision did not explode.
It compressed.
The golden shard did not roar.
It did not bow.
It simply endured.
Long Jin's brows tightened almost imperceptibly.
"You are not imperial," he said quietly.
"No."
"You carry dragon."
"Yes."
"Fragmented."
"Yes."
Silence.
Long Jin's qi pressed harder.
Testing dominance.
Testing obedience.
Lin Xiao's pupils flickered gold.
The seal strained.
The second fracture vibrated violently.
Pain shot through his meridians.
Mu Yin stepped closer instinctively.
Her Yin qi flowed into him.
The golden pressure stabilized.
Long Jin's eyes flicked briefly toward her.
"Interesting."
He withdrew his aura slightly.
The courtyard air loosened.
"You are unstable," he continued.
"Yes."
"And yet you did not kneel."
Lin Xiao's gaze remained steady.
"Should I?"
A faint ripple passed through the watching disciples.
Elder Liu Zheng felt his pulse spike.
Long Jin stared at him for several long breaths.
Then—
He laughed once.
Soft.
Cold.
"You have courage."
He turned slightly.
"Or foolishness."
His eyes returned to Lin Xiao.
"Both are useful."
Later, within the inner hall, only five remained.
Long Jin.
Elder Liu Zheng.
Zhao Kang.
Lin Xiao.
Mu Yin.
The Crown Prince paced slowly across the stone floor.
"An assassin visited you," he said without turning.
Lin Xiao did not react.
"Yes."
"Not mine."
"I assumed."
Long Jin stopped.
"So you believe I would send one?"
"You are not subtle."
A faint smile touched the prince's lips.
"Correct."
He turned to face them fully.
"The imperial court is divided."
This was no small admission.
"Some view you as threat."
"Others," he continued, "view you as opportunity."
"And you?" Mu Yin asked quietly.
Long Jin regarded her calmly.
"I view him as unfinished."
His gaze returned to Lin Xiao.
"You are fragment."
"Yes."
"Fragments are dangerous when uncontained."
"Yes."
"I can contain you."
The words were not boastful.
They were simple fact.
Lin Xiao did not deny it.
"Perhaps," he said.
"But you have not."
The room stilled.
Zhao Kang inhaled sharply.
Long Jin's eyes darkened slightly.
"You are bold."
"I prefer direct."
Silence.
Then—
Long Jin stepped closer.
So close that their breaths nearly touched.
"You stand in a rural estate," the prince said quietly.
"I stand at the center of the empire."
Lin Xiao did not blink.
"And yet you came here."
For the first time—
Long Jin's smile faded completely.
He straightened.
"Yes."
"I did."
Far beyond the estate walls—
Liu Ming stood alone beneath the pine ridge once more.
The sealed chamber beneath the earth trembled faintly.
"You saw?" Liu Ming whispered.
The buried voice answered.
"The prince walks."
"And the fragment lives."
"I tried," Liu Ming said bitterly. "He refused."
The earth pulsed slowly.
"Then break him."
"How?"
"Push."
"Push what?"
"His pride."
The ground stilled.
Liu Ming clenched his fists.
If the prince claimed Lin Xiao—
He would never rise.
But if Lin Xiao fell—
He could ascend.
The thought twisted inside him.
He turned back toward the estate.
Within the inner hall, Long Jin concluded calmly:
"You will come to the capital."
Elder Liu Zheng stiffened.
"Your Highness—"
"Not now," Long Jin interrupted.
"When you reach Mid Body Refinement."
He looked at Lin Xiao again.
"If you survive."
The implication lingered.
"You may remain here," he added, almost casually.
"But know this."
His aura flared briefly.
Crimson dragon phantom shimmering behind him.
"If you lose control and harm imperial interests…"
The threat did not need finishing.
Lin Xiao nodded once.
"I understand."
Long Jin's gaze shifted briefly to Mu Yin.
"And you."
She met his eyes steadily.
"Your Yin is valuable."
"I am not for use," she said softly.
Long Jin's lips curved faintly.
"Everyone is."
He turned and exited the hall.
No farewell.
No ceremony.
His presence faded only gradually as he left the estate grounds.
Only when it vanished fully did Elder Liu Zheng exhale.
"You are fortunate," he said.
"For now."
That night—
The seal trembled violently.
Not from imperial pressure.
From within.
The buried fragment beneath the ridge pulsed stronger.
Its call echoed faintly in Lin Xiao's consciousness.
Break.
Release.
Uncrown.
The golden shard stirred in response.
Not tempted.
Alert.
Lin Xiao sat cross-legged, breathing slow.
Mu Yin knelt opposite him.
"The earth is louder," she whispered.
"Yes."
"Will it rise?"
"If pushed."
Silence stretched.
Then—
The estate ground shook.
Not collapse.
Not explosion.
A tremor.
Disciples shouted outside.
Elder Liu Zheng rushed toward the northern ridge.
Lin Xiao rose instantly.
"Stay," Mu Yin said.
"No."
They ran.
The ridge cracked open slightly.
Not full collapse.
But enough.
Dark mist seeped upward.
Liu Ming stood at its edge.
Eyes wild.
"You should have broken it!" he shouted at Lin Xiao.
"Now it rises on its own!"
The ground ruptured.
The buried altar beneath began splitting.
A thin black crystal emerged through the soil.
Not fully free.
But exposed.
Pressure rolled outward.
Not dragon.
Not Yin.
Older.
Lonelier.
Uncrowned.
The golden shard flared.
Mu Yin's frost intensified.
Liu Ming staggered backward.
The crystal pulsed.
A thin voice echoed through air now—
"You refused."
Lin Xiao stepped forward.
"I did."
"You will kneel."
"No."
The crystal cracked further.
Dark qi spilled outward.
Disciples collapsed under its weight.
Elder Liu Zheng attempted stabilization—
The formation faltered.
Lin Xiao inhaled deeply.
The golden shard pressed forward.
The second fracture widened dangerously.
Pain tore through him.
Mu Yin grabbed his wrist.
Yin flooded his meridians.
Stabilizing.
The golden pressure condensed.
Not outward—
Downward.
Toward the crystal.
Lin Xiao extended his hand.
Golden qi surged like a focused spear.
Not explosive.
Not chaotic.
Precise.
It struck the exposed fragment.
The crystal shrieked.
A sound like stone grinding across bone.
The buried voice twisted in fury.
"You are incomplete!"
"Yes."
The golden qi intensified.
The seal screamed.
A third hairline crack formed.
Not break.
Not rupture.
But potential.
The crystal splintered.
Not destroyed—
Retreated.
The earth sealed partially once more.
Silence returned.
Dark mist dissipated.
Liu Ming collapsed, unconscious.
Lin Xiao staggered.
Mu Yin held him upright.
The golden shard pulsed violently—
Then stabilized.
The third fracture remained.
Not open.
But waiting.
Elder Liu Zheng stared at the sealed ridge.
Then at Lin Xiao.
"You refused it twice."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Lin Xiao's breathing steadied slowly.
"Because I will not borrow crowns."
The elder did not understand fully.
But he felt truth in the words.
Far away—
Within the capital—
Long Jin felt the tremor through distant formations.
His eyes opened slowly.
"Good."
Long Xiu's black mirror shimmered faintly gold and black intertwined.
He smiled.
"The board moves."
Back in the Liu Clan estate—
Lin Xiao stood beneath the elm tree once more at dawn.
His body ached.
His seal trembled.
His third fracture faint but real.
Mu Yin stood beside him.
"The prince will return," she said.
"Yes."
"And the buried fragment?"
"It will try again."
She studied him quietly.
"Are you afraid?"
Lin Xiao looked toward the rising sun.
"Fear wastes energy."
For the first time—
She smiled fully.
The empire watched.
Princes calculated.
Ancient fragments stirred beneath earth.
And he—
Was still unfinished.
Uncrowned.
But no longer weak.