Imperial Palace.
Under the golden sunlight overhead, Taiji Hall shone in a blaze of gold and jade.
Ji Xuan stood atop the Nine-Tiered Steps, looking at the great hall stretching out beneath his feet, thoughts surging in his eyes.
"This old servant congratulates Your Highness!" Behind him, a withered old man slowly appeared. The old man wore a drab grey robe, his face beardless, his eyes murky.
"What joy is there?" Ji Xuan said lightly.
"Your Highness oversees all affairs of court and is Great Xia's Uncrowned King. Once the timing is ripe, with a single thought, Your Highness can change the heavens and replace the sun! This is a matter of great joy," the Withered Old Man said.
Ji Xuan shook his head faintly, his tone calm and without a ripple. "Change the heavens and replace the sun? If This Prince wanted that seat, I could have sat upon it a hundred years ago. What I seek now has long since ceased to be Authority of the Human Realm."
The Withered Old Man bowed even lower. "This old servant misspoke. It is only that the Dao Path opportunity Your Highness planned for a hundred years was obstructed by that Dongling Marquis. Now that he has returned to the Royal Capital, why did Your Highness not denounce him on the spot in court? With Your Highness's might, even if the Imperial Advisor protected him, he could still be suppressed with thunder."
Ji Xuan turned and looked toward the vast sky outside the hall. His gaze seemed to pierce through the palace walls and fall in the direction of the Imperial Advisor's Residence.
"Him? He is not worthy of making me lose face in court. A junior who rose later—though he is called the foremost Martial Path talent in eight hundred