The Stele Spirit Fragments Revealed, the Heaven Stele Awakened

Golden light flowed from the Heaven Stele overhead, bathing the entire mountaintop in a warm glow. Beneath it, however, an eerie tension gripped the crowd.

Surrounded by Ji Family elders, Ji Taiyan was half-supported, half-carried off to one side.

After swallowing a pill, his breathing gradually steadied and some color returned to his pale face. But his eyes still churned with unmistakable resentment and madness.

Why didn't you help me just now? he roared inwardly. Why did you withdraw your power?

Even if I'd lent you more power, you couldn't have beaten him, a deep voice replied in his mind. And I would have risked exposing myself.

How do you know I couldn't beat him without trying? Now he has the Heaven Stele Token. His Bloodline Power will surpass mine outright. How am I supposed to compete with him?

Ji Taiyan clenched his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.

The Heaven Stele isn't the only way to improve someone's potential. The voice paused, its tone turning suggestive. Don't forget the method I mentioned before.

Ji Taiyan stiffened slightly.

He knew what that method was.

But it was a path that could never bear the light of day. If word got out that he had done such a thing, even his status as a prince might not protect him.

Yet if he refused, would he ever have another chance to sit on the Golden Throne?

Madness and hesitation warred in Ji Taiyan's eyes.

Beside him, the Ji Family elders were wrestling with complicated emotions of their own.

They could hardly believe that His Highness the Fifth Prince, the Imperial Clan's finest martial talent, had lost—and that the man who defeated him was an emperor's son no one had ever known existed.

Countless thoughts raced through their minds.

The impact of Dongfang