"You're Wei Zhuang…," Goku said, turning to the cold-eyed youth.
"Yes." Wei Zhuang's reply was crisp. His gaze was proud—meeting Goku's without a flicker of fear.
"Good eyes," Goku said mildly. "But to posture before me, you need the strength to back it."
A shard of light flashed in Goku's eyes—no more than an instant.
Pfft—
Wei Zhuang reeled as if struck by a hammer. Blood sprayed from his lips; his face blanched. He dropped to one knee, shaking.
"Wei Zhuang!" The refined youth—Zhang Liang—stepped in front of him and bowed to Goku. "Sir, Wei Zhuang is young and headstrong. If he has offended, I beg your pardon."
Wei Zhuang lifted his head, horror tightening his features. A look—just a look—had hurled him into an abyss, an instant from death.
"Without strength," Goku said evenly, "your pride is worthless."
"How…" Wei Zhuang locked eyes with him, voice hoarse but steady. "How does one gain strength?"
"You want power?" Goku nodded. "Very well. From today, you are Han's Grand General."
"What?!"
Zhang Liang stared, stunned. Even Chi Lian (Princess Honglian) turned to Goku in disbelief.
"You're saying… make me Han's Grand General?" Wei Zhuang's voice wavered.
"Isn't that what you've always longed for?" Goku's tone was calm.
A chill slid down Wei Zhuang's spine. Under that gaze, his deeply buried ambitions felt naked, laid bare.
Goku looked past them to where Mo Ya and Bai Feng had leapt down from the pavilion. "You two are free now," he said. "I do have a task—but you may refuse."
The pair exchanged a glance, then bowed. "Please command us, Goku-daren." After witnessing Goku's unfathomable strength, respect had become conviction.
"From now on, shadow Wei Zhuang," Goku said. "Assist him. You're free men—you may decline tasks you do not wish to take."
"Understood!"
Goku turned to Zhang Liang. "I'm handing this rotten Han state to you all. Let's see how far you can take it."
"We will not fail," Zhang Liang said, eyes brightening despite himself. He hadn't expected fortune to fall from the sky, but he trusted his own ability: he would set Han's crooked course straight.
"I knew it," Xue Nu said as she and the others alighted from a nearby roof, drifting down to Goku's side. "If the city shakes, it must be your doing." She glanced around the square. "This time you were… extravagant. There must be tens of thousands lying here."
"Relax," Goku replied with a faint smile. "They're merely unconscious. If they were dead, Han's palace would be a hollow shell by nightfall."
The women nodded—they had sensed as much.
"Come," Goku said, looking to Chi Lian. "We should visit your useless father."
Chi Lian shot the women a wary glance—then hurried after Goku. Xue Nu watched Chi Lian and Nongyu in turn and sighed inwardly. One day away, and there are two more flawless rivals.
---
Sunset painted the sky; evening drew near. Standing on a cliff above the cloud-wreathed capital, Chi Lian's eyes held a trace of reluctance and sorrow. "Goku… can we really leave Han to them?"
"They're the right hands for it," Goku said, gaze resting on the city gilded by the last light. "At least Han can have a few more years of peace."
Leaving Mo Ya and Bai Feng with Wei Zhuang had been a whim—and a nod to the thread of fate. 'I'm taking Chi Lian; I'll leave you Mo Ya. Let the tapestry of Qin's Moon retain some of its pattern.'
"A few more years? You mean…" Xue Nu looked over, surprised. The others turned, curious.
"Han is fated to fall in a few years," Goku said softly.
"What?!" Chi Lian blanched. "Why?"
"Not only Han," Goku went on. "The other kingdoms will fall in turn. In the end, only Qin will remain."
"You mean Qin will swallow the Six States—unify the realm?" Ji Fei asked, wide-eyed.
"You're quick," Goku said with a nod.
Shock rippled through the group. Only Xiao Li and the High Priestess remained serene. If Goku spoke it, then it was already written.
"Goku—please," Chi Lian said, clinging to his arm, eyes full of desperate faith. "If it's you, you could save Han."
"I've no interest in meddling with mortal politics," Goku replied. "And unification is not necessarily a bad thing."
Mortal… The word struck them. They looked at him; their hearts beat faster. If they were mortals—what did that make him?
"From today, stay by my side," Goku said to Chi Lian. "You are no longer Princess Honglian. You are… Chi Lian. That is your name from now on."
"Chi Lian…" She tasted the name, and a strange, bright light rose in her eyes.
---
Autumn faded to winter. Time flowed swiftly.
In a tranquil courtyard, Goku sat cross-legged. Seven-colored radiance circled him, fragrant and pure, scouring away dust until he seemed sacred and untouched by smoke of the human world—yet beneath that sanctity pulsed a terrible power of destruction. Only the spatial barrier hedging the yard contained it; without it, all—even space itself—would already have unraveled.
His eyes opened and closed by reflex alone while his mind reached for rule and origin. The myriad things of the world rose and fell within his heart. Insight hovered—wordless, immense.
At times the sea of laws surged and howled, threatening to capsize him; it was too vast for mortals to command, and a misstep meant spirit-sundered annihilation. Goku's spirit-sense sat in that ocean like a lone skiff, bobbing and swaying—tiny, fragile, crushable at any instant. And yet, when that dread tide neared him, it bowed—submissive to its true master—its ferocity sheathed.
Above him shone a seven-hued divine pearl, casting down streams of dense runic laws. They poured into him, fusing with spirit and body, playing out their transformations before his inner sight.
As time flowed, the courtyard brightened; the ocean of rules thickened—like a carp vaulting the Dragon Gate to take wind as a dragon—qualitatively transforming, At sunrise, light and sea dissolved; the world fell still.
Goku opened his eyes and stretched; his bones crackled like firecrackers.
"Didn't expect higher-order laws to be this stubborn," he murmured. "How long will it take to fully grasp the rules bestowed by the Dimensional God Pearl?"
Months had passed; he still hadn't finished digesting even the sliver of supreme law the pearl had fed back after absorbing the Goddess's Sovereign power.
"If supreme rules were easy, they wouldn't be supreme," he sighed. "Looks like less than a year or two won't cut it… what a pain. And true accomplishment? A few hundred years, at least."
He shook his head again, wry. "I thought I could mow down a batch of Sovereigns, absorb the pearl's feedback, and be done. Turns out… this path is far more difficult than I'd hoped."
___
🎉 Shoutout to Samael and Leonardo Ibarra! 🎉
A huge thank you to Samael and Leonardo Ibarra for joining my Patreon and supporting the journey! Your support means a lot and helps keep the chapters coming faster. Welcome to the VIP club! 🙌✨