Someone Here in The Dark

The Yuhua God Dynasty welcomed a new emperor, and the world also welcomed a period of stability.

For five years, Lin Tianyuan, the Ming Emperor, continued Emperor Yuan's reform.

He worked hard to settle the land annexations, suppressing the aristocratic families, and taking in the refugees. All in all, this was the continuation of Emperor Yuan's ideals.

In addition, he thoroughly cleaned up the lands that the nine vassals had previously occupied.

He also launched a hunt for the rebels that had close connections to the vassals.

In time, the persistent problems that had plagued the Yuhua God Dynasty for hundreds of years were eventually solved by Lin Tianyuan.

The entire dynasty and the public praised his great work.

But Lin Tianyuan did not get carried away, he knew that this was not his own work.

He was just in charge of tying up the loose ends, cleaning up the battlefield.

The real problems have already been settled by his uncle in the Cold Palace.

Five years since ascending the throne, he had been too busy with state affairs to see his uncle.

Of course, part of the reason was that Lin Jiufeng did not like to be disturbed.

Lin Tianyuan, on the other hand, didn't dare to slack off. He was afraid of letting his father down.

Lin Tianyuan, the second Emperor Yuan, became intoxicated with state affairs.

He was constantly approving or revising memorials day and night.

He did not dare to slack off—even for a moment.

…

Cold Palace.

For five years, Lin Jiufeng's appearance did not change at all.

However, his aura became more ethereal and profound.

Those who had seen him would understand what it meant for one to become as beautiful as jade.

Lin Jiufeng's sword still gleamed like a rainbow all this while.

In the past five years, Lin Jiufeng never left the Cold Palace.

He comprehended the Heaven Patching Technique and was constantly improving himself.

Lin Jiufeng estimated that the outside world would be peaceful for a while.

That trip that he made seemed to be rather impactful.

Before the ambitious people did anything, they had to think over whether they could withstand that sword from the imperial capital of the Yuhua God Dynasty.

Hence, even though the current was turbulent beneath that calm sea.

No one dared to sacrifice themselves first and become someone else's stepping stone.

In line with Lin Jiufeng's expectations, every time Dachun came to the Cold Palace to report in the past five years, he had never said anything about any major events that happened in the outside world.

As a result, all he talked about were insignificant matters.

For example, Dachun got married and had a child. He was also promoted.

Lin Jiufeng listened to Dachun quietly as he spoke.

Dachun was his only source when it came to news about the outside world.

Today, Lin Jiufeng laid on the frost jade bed, sighing.

"It's a pity. I've been cultivating the Heaven Patching Technique for five years. This secret technique is profound, and it has improved my body and fixed some of my past issues. But I still haven't broken through to the second step of the Martial Sage Realm."

The first step of the Martial Sage, Profound Insight.

Second Step of the Martial Sage, Life Knowing.

Third Step of the Martial Sage, Fish Leap.

Fourth Step of the Martial Sage, Great Sage.

Lin Jiufeng was at the peak of the first step of the Martial Sage Realm.

He stood at the peak of the pinnacle.

He had already understood the subtleties of martial arts, and he was currently peering into the greatness of the world.

The Heaven Patching Technique had patched some of the past issues that Lin Jiufeng had been suffering from.

He felt complete.

But he couldn't break through the bottleneck.

It seemed like he was lacking something.

But Lin Jiufeng didn't know what he was lacking.

Lin Jiufeng said regrettably, "Making a breakthrough in my cultivation has become significantly difficult ever since I entered the Martial Sage Realm. It's no longer as quick as before."

Although he was a little disappointed, he was not impatient.

If five years was not enough, he would spend another five years.

Lin Jiufeng was not young. He was already in his forties, almost fifty.

In his previous life, he would've already been a weathered middle-aged man.

But now, he was still young and relatively stable mentally.

He continued to Sign-In in peace.

Although the Cold Palace was big, Lin Jiufeng had already visited all the places that he could possibly use to Sign-In.

Hence, Lin Jiufeng decided to start exploring the underground area of the Cold Palace.

There must be several layers of areas underneath a palace of this size.

Back then, Lin Jiufeng didn't bother exploring the area underneath the palace since he still had enough places to Sign-In from. But now, he wanted to explore underground.

But now, he wanted to explore it.

…

Outside the imperial capital of the Yuhua God Dynasty, a group of people was looking at the imperial capital from a remote hilltop.

They were dressed in very old-fashioned clothes. They looked completely out of place with the current fashion trend. Their clothes seemed to be from hundreds of years ago.

The leader was an elderly man with a dark complexion, dry skin, and hands similar to chicken claws.

He was looking at the imperial capital.

"Corpse Elder, you've been searching for over three days now. Have you seen anything?" A strong man behind Corpse Elder asked helplessly.

"Butcher, do you know what I'm looking at?" Corpse Elder asked without turning around.

The strong man nicknamed Butcher, who had his arms folded in front of his chest shook his head and said, "I don't know what you're looking at. But I know that no matter how much you look, you will not be able to get the treasure in the relics of my Chasing Corpse Sect."

The others nodded, agreeing with Butcher.

These people were members of the Chasing Corpse Sect. They had been in hiding for so many years.

Corpse Elder was the leader of the group. Instead of leading them to the imperial capital, he remained in the deep forest and only looked at the imperial capital from a distance which made Butcher unhappy.

"Do you all know about that One Sword in the imperial capital?" Corpse Elder sneered.

"Of course, who wouldn't? There's an unpredictable One Sword hidden in the imperial capital of the Yuhua God Dynasty. But we're here to look for the treasures in the relics of the Chasing Corpse Sect, not to fight," Butcher said helplessly.

He thought that Corpse Elder was being too careful.

But he didn't expect that he would become so timid after hiding for hundreds of years.

"Since you know about it, do you still think that I'm being too careful?" Corpse Elder asked.

"So what have you learned after these three days of watching?" Butcher asked.

"Nothing."

Corpse Elder shook his head.

"One Sword has hidden himself well. I cannot see anything."

"Then, are you going to continue looking?" Butcher squinted helplessly at Corpse Elder.

"No more watching."

"Let's enter the imperial capital…"

"But remember. No causing trouble and no revealing your auras."

"Especially you, Butcher…"

"I know that you have broken through to the Martial Sage Realm. But still, don't do anything reckless." Corpse Elder warned Butcher.

"I know. This is the imperial capital. To Martial Sages, this is the most dangerous place in the world. I don't want to be killed by a sword flying through the skies from out of nowhere. I will be very careful." Butcher decisively agreed.

Looking at the serious Butcher, Corpse Elder didn't say anything anymore.

He waved his hand. "Let's go to the imperial capital now. It's about to go dark, so let's take advantage of the night to look for the treasures."

Butcher was overjoyed. He immediately followed Corpse Elder to the imperial capital.

After passing the scrutiny of the city guards, they finally managed to enter the imperial capital.

They hovered around the Cold Palace, patiently waiting for nightfall.

"This palace is so big, why is it deserted?"

Butcher asked curiously as he looked at the huge palace.

The Cold Palace was big, but it was dilapidated.

No one came to maintain the place.

In fact, some parts of the outer wall were already peeling off, revealing red bricks inside.

"This is a place where only the losers of the royal struggle of the Yuhua God Dynasty come to stay. Do you think that anyone would want to come voluntarily here?" Corpse Elder calmly asked.

Night came and the world darkened.

Corpse Elder and Butcher moved rather quickly after nightfall.

"The relics of the Chasing Corpse Sect are here."

"Everyone, be on your toes. Don't act rashly," Corpse Elder said.

The group of people immediately jumped over the wall and entered the Cold Palace.

"Hey, there's a courtyard with some lights in here."

Butcher found Lin Jiufeng's courtyard and he wanted to take a look.

"Don't go there. I've done my research. There's a dethroned crown prince who is also Emperor Yuan's brother living in this Cold Palace. He's been here for decades. I think he must've already gone mad. Let's carry on with our search, don't provoke him."

Corpse Elder grabbed Butcher and stopped him with a solemn look.

Butcher could only give up

They walked deep into the Cold Palace.

Lin Jiufeng, who was in his own courtyard, wore a strange look on his face.

There were actually thieves sneaking into this godforsaken cold palace?

And they even said that he has gone mad?