The succession to the Kete Kingdom's throne finally came to a complete close amid a silent reckoning.
The chancellor's faction, which had once dominated the court, was uprooted by the swift and overwhelming intervention of Shiheng, the mysterious Saint expert. From beginning to end, Shiheng never spared another glance for the bloodshed at court or the open struggles, secret schemes, and simmering undercurrents among the noble factions. To him, the Kete Kingdom's power struggles were nothing more than passing clouds. He had intervened only because he had seen a sense of responsibility in Prince Kete and appreciated it. With the supreme authority of a Saint expert, he left behind a decree that cowed the court and the kingdom, then handed Prince Kete a Radiant Church elder's token engraved with his own distinctive aura, along with some cultivation resources-enough to protect the young monarch and secure his throne. Once all this was done, Shiheng withdrew completely from the Kete Kingdom's center of power without the slightest lingering attachment, vanishing without a trace, as though he had never set foot in that land of strife.
What Shiheng did not know was that, six months later, under the protection and with the assistance he had left behind, Prince Kete devoted himself to arduous cultivation and broke through to become an Eighth-level Warrior, then seized complete control of the kingdom's military and government with overwhelming force. The monarch, who had ascended the throne so young, shed his former immaturity and became decisive in matters of life and death, knowing when to tighten his grip and when to ease it. Within the court, he used iron-fisted measures to purge the chancellor's remaining followers, suppress the restless old nobility, and stabilize the foundations of his rule; beyond it, he introduced new policies that reduced labor levies