Sometimes a trapped dragon meets the transforming rain, washing away the hot blood flowing through the mortal world

The autumn wind stirred the Imperial Banners. Sunlight spilled over Yanjing's countless streets and wards, but the usually bustling lanes held little merriment today. Almost the entire city lay beneath the oppressive weight of an approaching storm.

Thud, thud, thud...

Large contingents of Northern Liang Imperial Guards in Bright Light Armor hurried down Heavenly Avenue with spears and shields. Scholars, peddlers, porters, and martial wanderers from every direction crowded between the buildings on either side of the broad street, gazing toward the Imperial City and whispering among themselves:

"How could Sword Immortal Hua have colluded with the Southern Dynasty...?"

"With a deployment like this, the evidence must be conclusive. No wonder Sword Immortal Hua escaped unscathed every time he encountered the Night Great Fiend..."

The street at the very center of Yanjing was named Ziwu Street. However, since both North and South had inherited the Great Liang founded by the First Emperor, people still commonly called it Heavenly Avenue.

At its end stood Northern Liang's Imperial City. All nine gates were now tightly shut, and densely packed Imperial Guards could be seen atop the walls.

Outside Ding'an Gate in the center, a raised platform had been erected overnight. The eunuch supervising the execution and the executioner stood beside it.

With the famed sword Peace hanging at his waist, Xiang Hanshi stood behind the battlements beneath the City Gate Tower, surveying the capital's countless streets and wards. By this day, a measure of desolation at the shuttle-swift passage of time had entered his eyes.

Sixty years had hurried past. The little boy who had knelt beneath the walls, looking at his master's corpse, had unwittingly come to stand atop them, a man in power who could influence the course of the world.

His path through life had clearly been difficult: