Night of the Broken Gliph

Chui Yim and Kam Chin Kee were on the path which led back to their residence at the Wandering Son’s Lake. They were worn out after the trip.

“Life’s much better at home.”

“Yeah, I’d rather spend my time daydreaming in South Imperial City.” Kam Chin Kee agreed with a sigh.

“Uh-huh.”

With a tacit agreement, neither spoke as they dragged themselves home and passed the tacky couplet that Chui Yim had pasted up.

“Hmm? You guys are back?” They immediately heard Yeung Chun. A smile formed on their faces when they saw how neatly Yeung Chun maintained the garden. “Yes, we’re back.” 

“Go ahead and rest. I’ll prepare dinner.” Yeung Chun similarly smiled after he saw both of them. 

“It’s fine,” Kam Chin-Kee and Chui Yim spoke simultaneously. “We’ll rest first and eat tomorrow after we wake up.”

“Uh-huh.”

Chui Yim went to his bed immediately, falling asleep the instant he lay on it while Kam Chin Kee flashed an apologetic smile at Yeung Chun before heading for his room. He fell asleep equally quickly. Startled, Yeung Chun burst into laughter after a short pause.

“They must be exhausted!”

---

Night slowly fell, dyeing the skies black. In a courtyard that was deliberately cleaned up were a few puppets that would be able to shock experts due to their material — Clandestine Silver, a costly and rare metal. It had two traits; it was a good conductor of energliph with the ability to recover over time.

For example, a fire-forger would mix Clandestine Silver with other metals when they forge a grade three or higher gliph weapon as it would then be able to conduct energliph much more smoothly and restore itself as time goes by one the condition that it wasn’t too damaged. This was also the reason why fire forgers were irreplaceable. They were also the origin of metalsmiths in this world. Be it grass-refining or water-casting, those were secondary methods that were created much later. These were good methods with their own strong points, but neither could replace fire forging.

The puppets were surprisingly made of so much Clandestine Silver they could be used to forge about twenty gliph weapons. Fire forgers usually only ground a small amount of the silver before sprinkling it on gliph weapons! How costly were these puppets? Moreover, there were five to six such puppets in the courtyard!

Boom! An attack that felt like huge waves caused the puppet to shatter into pieces. The silver shards were like stars as they fell to the ground. They quickly melted into a silver liquid and solidified into a puppet quickly.

A shadow-like teenager stood outside the courtyard silently, blaming himself for being incapable.

The teenager in the courtyard was similarly blaming himself. He was drenched in sweat, but he continued shattering the puppets one by one with his gliphility. Soon, he used up all his energliph, and he collapsed to the ground to catch his breath as he replenished his energliph.

The sorry figure was none other than Lam Zaa. It had been a long time since he felt so drained. He was the pride of his clan, breaking through his innate chamber at the age of ten and cultivating energliph for his second chamber since then. He was confident of reaching the two-chambered state by twenty. Such an achievement would be enough to consider him a genius regardless of era.

Well, maybe except for this era.

Chor Kwong Laan, Wong Chow Yip, On Kuet, Lee Bak, Yeung Tin Hun…All of them were similarly strong talents who would be the strongest of their generation if born in another era. But such geniuses now seemed like a dime a dozen. Despite this, Lam Zaa never paid much attention to them as he wasn’t some brainless fighter but the future emperor.

Chor Kwong Laan, Wong Chow Yip and On Kuet were just chess pieces on his board.

As the crown prince, he had access to extensive resources that others didn’t. His style may not be as powerful as that of the Blazing Skies Moutain or Four Season Heaven, but it was still a grade four style. With his status, he could browse countless gliphilities and even learn the Metallic Blood War Gate’s secret techniques if he wished.

Thus, he had never taken cultivation sincerely, believing that time was all he needed. He’d mature as time passed, becoming strong enough to rule the South. But this trip had burst his bubble.

Time? The world wouldn’t wait for him. He witnessed his schoolmate, who enrolled to forge connections get eaten by a gliphic beast while other gliphers were tossed onto the spider web as food. Even he and Yam Chui Ying were one of those on the spider web.

Nobody noticed them back then, as not a single soul had the time or energy to spare back then.

Including him and Yam Chui Ying; there were about twenty disciples stuck on the net. In other words, if Mung Si, Wong Chow Yip and Chor Kwong Laan didn’t rescue them from the net, they would’ve died even with Woo Nim’s or Cheuk Kwun’s help. What was worse was that even with the Old Ngai’s jade, he couldn’t crush it. 

On the other hand, those he looked down on shone brightly. Chui Yim wasn’t involved in the fight but had great medicinal skills and entered the great master state at thirteen. But Chui Yim wasn’t what made him feel the worst. It was Kam Chin Kee.

All the Cloud Palace outer sect disciples were so frightened that none fought, and it was Kam Chin Kee who stepped forward to save Lee Bak. He had the courage that Lam Zaa didn’t, and it was this courage that brought them together against the spider. Lam Zaa had always thought that he’d be the people’s leader.

However, it wasn’t him but someone else. Lam Zaa was extremely displeased by this. The worst thing was that Kam Chin Kee never even spared him a look during the battle.

Crown Prince? Genius? Nobody there ever cared about those titles. All they cared about was who they would become in the future. The status Lam Zaa was so proud of was nothing to them. The more Lam Zaa thought about it, the worse he felt. He stood up abruptly and left the courtyard.

Yam Chui Ying followed behind him silently. As Lam Zaa continued walking, Yam Chui Ying’s face fell. He knew the Evergreen Palace like the back of his hand and knew where this path led. “Your Highness, are you──”

“I’m going to the Citrine Ghost Lake.” Expecting Yam Chui Ying’s question, Lam Zaa cut off Yam Chui Ying determinedly. 

“Your Highness, please don’t!” Yam Chui Ying shrieked. “The Citrine Ghost Lake is extremely dangerous for those below the three-chambered state!”

However, Lam Zaa was determined. “Back then, the Tse Clan’s founder, Tse Mun Tin, did so as a one-chambered cultivator and returned perfectly fine. The Chor Clan’s Sir Chor Huet Zhin did so as well…”

“Your subordinate is aware of this, but──”

“But?” Lam Zaa stopped in his tracks and turned back to face Yam Chui Ying. “Are you questioning my talent?”

Yam Chui Ying kneeled immediately, not daring to speak further. Lam Zaa sneered and looked up at the sky. “I do not simply wish to be the crown prince or emperor, but the first emperor who is also a Cloud Palace disciple. When that happens, I will grasp the greatest authority of this world! My competitors are too powerful. If I do not give it my all, I will not even have the chance to compete with them.

“I do not have any other options.” Lam Zaa laughed, self-deprecatingly. After a long pause, Yam Chui Yim looked up. He did not stand as he remained kneeling on one knee. “Your subordinate would be here awaiting Your Highness’s return.”

Lam Zaa smiled. Only now did he actually feel like a crown prince. “Mm. Wait for me. I, Lam Zaa, will be the greatest genius of this era!”

With that, he made his way towards one of the Evergreen Palace’s forbidden areas, the Citrine Ghost Lake. 

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