Morning settled quietly over the Supreme Citadel.
Unlike the lively mornings of ordinary cities, where merchants shouted and children chased one another through crowded streets, the royal palace awakened in disciplined, suffocating silence.
The first rays of dawn filtered through the heavy layers of protective formations surrounding the palace, bathing the golden rooftops in a sharp, metallic glow. Spiritual cranes glided lazily above the jade courtyards while streams of pure spiritual energy surged beneath the palace foundations like unseen, roaring rivers.
Outside Lin Wan's chamber, twelve elite Shadow Guards remained stationed exactly where they had been throughout the night.
None had moved a single inch.
None had spoken.
The only sound breaking the dawn was the occasional rustle of their heavy black cloaks whenever the biting mountain breeze swept through the corridor.
Inside the chamber, Lin Wan had already been awake for nearly an hour.
