Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace…
Deep within a secluded chamber of the Imperial Palace, the Emperor was kneeling before a large, dark mirror.
The chamber was completely silent. Not even the slightest ray of sunlight penetrated the room. Strange black mist occasionally seeped from the mirror, carrying with it a sinister aura that would make an ordinary cultivator tremble in fear.
Despite being the ruler of a mighty empire, the Emperor had lowered his proud head before the mysterious existence residing within the mirror.
"Immortal Master, I have done as you commanded. I have massacred the Dragon-Tiger inheritors. Their family is no more," the Emperor reported while kowtowing respectfully.
For several breaths, there was silence.
Then—
"Hahahahaha!"
A sinister laugh suddenly echoed throughout the chamber.
The dark mirror trembled as the black mist surrounding it grew thicker.
"Truly… truly, mere mortals know nothing!"
The dark entity's voice carried a trace of mockery and anger.
"I can still sense one bloodline."
The Emperor's expression immediately changed.
"One survived?"
"Search the entire continent for that person!" the entity commanded. "I can sense that the remaining inheritor is still a young child. Find him and kill him before he grows strong enough to become a threat."
The Emperor lowered his head even further.
"Yes, Immortal Master!"
"Now disappear from my sight!"
The dark entity's furious roar shook the entire chamber.
The Emperor immediately scrambled to his feet and hurried out of the room, not daring to remain for another breath.
The moment the heavy doors closed behind him, however, his frightened expression vanished.
His back straightened, his breathing became steady, and the submissive man who had been kowtowing moments earlier disappeared entirely.
In his place stood the mighty ruler feared and respected throughout the empire.
The Emperor possessed a cultivation base at the Heaven Realm, making him one of the few Heaven Realm experts on the entire Southern Continent.
The Southern Continent was also known by another name—
The Abandoned Land.
The spiritual energy throughout the continent was extremely thin compared to the records of ancient times. Because of this, cultivation had declined tremendously over countless generations.
In the present era, Heaven Realm cultivators were regarded as peak existences.
Reaching the Heaven Realm meant breaking away from many of the limitations binding ordinary humans.
A Heaven Realm cultivator could walk through the air as though stepping upon solid ground and travel tens of thousands of miles within a single day. Their bodies, spiritual senses, and lifespans had long surpassed those of ordinary mortals.
To the common people, such cultivators were no different from the immortals described in legends.
Yet the Emperor knew something most people did not.
The Heaven Realm was not the end of the cultivation path.
There were realms beyond it.
Very few people on the Southern Continent knew this secret, but the Emperor had discovered fragmented records within ancient texts stored deep inside the Imperial Palace.
Those ancient records spoke of cultivators who could overturn mountains, split seas, shatter the void, and possess lifespans beyond mortal imagination.
He believed those records.
He believed that somewhere beyond this abandoned continent existed a much broader cultivation world.
And that belief was precisely why he had formed a contract with the evil spirit residing within the dark mirror.
He wanted power.
He wanted to master the Demonic Dao, break through the limits of the Heaven Realm, and eventually leave this barren continent behind.
For that reason, he carried out every order the evil spirit gave him.
Even if those orders required mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
The Emperor walked toward the throne room.
Along the way, every palace guard and servant immediately lowered their heads and bowed as he passed.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
The Emperor ignored them.
Upon reaching the throne room, he sat upon his imperial throne and immediately established a mind link with the Chief Commander of the Imperial Army.
It did not take long before heavy footsteps echoed outside the hall.
General Qiang entered with an imposing presence.
He was heavily built, with broad shoulders and a large scar running down the left side of his face. Heavy silver armour covered his body, while a massive double-edged sword hung at his side.
Each step he took seemed to carry the pressure of countless battles.
General Qiang possessed a cultivation base at the peak of the Profound Realm. Unfortunately, due to insufficient comprehension of the next realm, he had remained trapped at that bottleneck for many years.
He approached the throne and immediately bowed.
"Your Majesty, you sent for me?"
"Yes."
The Emperor looked down at him.
"Gather your troops and search for the last Dragon-Tiger inheritor."
General Qiang's expression became solemn.
"There is still a survivor?"
"So it seems."
The Emperor retrieved a strange talisman and sent it floating toward General Qiang with a wave of his hand.
"Take this."
General Qiang caught the talisman.
"This talisman can detect the aura of the Dragon-Tiger bloodline. When you approach the surviving inheritor, it will light up."
General Qiang lowered his head.
"Your subordinate understands."
"Find the child."
A cold light flashed through the Emperor's eyes.
"And leave no loose ends."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
General Qiang accepted the imperial command and immediately departed.
Within a short period, he gathered an elite group of Imperial soldiers and left the Imperial City.
None of the soldiers accompanying him were weak.
Even the lowest among them possessed cultivation at the peak of the Spirit Realm.
Their destination was the former residence of the Xiao Family—the family that had inherited the Dragon-Tiger bloodline for generations.
When they finally arrived, there was almost nothing left.
The once magnificent Xiao Family estate had been reduced to ruins.
Collapsed buildings, scorched walls, shattered weapons, and dried pools of blood covered the grounds.
The smell of death still lingered faintly in the air.
General Qiang ordered his soldiers to spread out.
"Search everywhere!"
"Yes, General!"
The soldiers immediately searched through the ruined estate, inspecting every collapsed building and hidden corner.
However, after searching for a long time, they could not find any trace of a living person.
General Qiang frowned.
If someone had truly survived the massacre, where had they gone?
Just as he was about to order a wider search, something caught his attention.
Blood.
A faint trail of dried blood stretched away from the ruins.
General Qiang crouched down and examined it.
"This blood trail is relatively recent…"
His eyes narrowed.
"Follow it!"
The soldiers immediately followed him.
The trail led them away from the destroyed Xiao residence and deeper into the surrounding wilderness.
Eventually, they arrived beside a stream.
The blood trail continued along the water before abruptly disappearing.
General Qiang carefully examined the surroundings.
There were no footprints.
No traces of spiritual energy.
Nothing.
He followed the stream until the thunderous sound of falling water reached his ears.
Ahead stood a massive waterfall.
General Qiang approached the edge and looked down.
Mist rose continuously from below, obscuring much of the area beneath the waterfall.
His expression became thoughtful.
If the surviving inheritor had been seriously injured and fallen into the raging water, the probability of survival was extremely low.
"General, should we continue searching downstream?" one of the soldiers asked.
General Qiang remained silent for several moments.
He looked at the talisman in his hand.
There was no reaction.
No light.
No indication that the Dragon-Tiger inheritor was anywhere nearby.
Finally, he shook his head.
"There is no need."
He looked toward the violent waterfall one final time.
"With injuries severe enough to leave that much blood behind, even a cultivator would struggle to survive these waters, much less a child."
He turned around.
"Conclude the search. We are returning to the Imperial City."
"Yes, General!"
The Imperial soldiers quickly gathered and followed him away.
General Qiang never noticed that the path they had followed was connected to the very waterfall beneath which Su Mei had discovered the mysterious unconscious boy.
And somewhere far away, completely unaware that an Emperor and a sinister existence were searching for him, the last inheritor of the Dragon-Tiger bloodline was peacefully beginning a new life.
His former identity had been forgotten.
His family had been destroyed.
And he now carried another name.
Su Yang.