Night gradually deepened.
In a room of the Eastern Palace, a figure lay on the bed, seemingly asleep.
Three figures stood beside the bed.
They were the current Yi Emperor, the Dao Chief, and Meng Kaiyang, the Royal Family's only remaining Ninth Tier ancestor.
People came and went outside the door, and more kept arriving, but all maintained their distance. They watched from afar, not daring to approach.
After the Military brought Meng Haoran back to the Jade Capital from Yuanzhou that day, they took him straight to the military hospital, where a team of leading medical experts was already waiting. Yet their examinations only ruled out damage to his body and Spirit Sea. They had essentially found nothing. Since neither his body nor his Spirit Sea was injured, but he remained unconscious, the problem could only lie with his soul.
With the succession to the throne at stake, His Majesty had personally called the Jade Peace Temple and invited the Dao Chief. Both the Buddhist and Daoist Orders had studied the soul extensively. The Bodhisattva of Calamity was in seclusion and rarely left the White Pagoda, so the Dao Chief was their only option.
The Dao Chief was speaking softly. "Brother Cao sought him out for the Origin Fragment, of course. But his injury wasn't caused by the fragment leaving him. It was likely caused by the way Brother Cao extracted it. For now, we can only take him to the Jade Peace Temple and care for him while his soul recovers. Perhaps he'll wake up."
"Perhaps?" the Yi Emperor repeated.
"I can't say for certain," the Dao Chief said. "I'd put his chances at about fifty percent."
"Fifty percent..."
"Don't be too pessimistic, Your Majesty. The Founding Emperor's Mark on the young Imperial Grandson hasn't faded. At least