The Royal Palace

Not a wink of sleep.

Sui Ming shuffled through the streets, dark circles so heavy under his eyes that people might’ve mistaken him for a panda. Black and white contrast, big round eyes… Who could blame them?

“Hurry up! If you don’t move faster, we’ll be late!” the crow urged, fluttering in irritation.

“…And whose fault do you think that is?”

“Oh, and if you say ‘ehe~’ one more time, I’m boiling you into soup.”

The crow opened its beak… and thought better of it.

She stifled her laugh, deciding not to provoke the deranged panda-man today.

Soon, the duo arrived at the heart of Mingxi City—the foot of the royal capital.

“This place is…”

“…a bit much,” Sui Ming muttered.

Golden gates towered above them, flanked by a legion of knights clad in silver-white armor. From the faint aura they gave off, it was clear—all of them were [Soul Invokers].

“Given the royal family’s centuries of accumulation, this level of extravagance is hardly surprising,” the crow said flatly.

But to her, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

What truly defined a faction’s strength wasn’t the number of Soul Invokers, but the quality of its top-tier fighters—and the number of [Authority Relics] in its possession.

Take the [Inscription Scale] cloaking the whole of Mingxi City, for example. That alone was a high-grade Authority Relic, rule-based and immensely powerful.

As for its side effect of keeping the public in check? The crow barely acknowledged that as a feature.

“Hey, Sui Ming,” she whispered.

“See that cyan array up on the palace ceiling?”

Sui Ming squinted at the sky. Just clouds and endless blue—nothing unusual.

Judging by his expression, the crow figured it out instantly.

“Right. Almost forgot. Here, put this back on.”

She slid the pale purple ring back onto his ring finger.

In an instant, a magnificent cyan magic circle bloomed across the heavens.

Thousands of runes pulsed within it. Even from so far away, Sui Ming could feel the immense magical power radiating from it.

“Holy sh*t—is that a nuclear reactor?!”

“That’s the core of the [Inscription Scale], the Authority Relic enveloping the entire city.”

“Wait, Authority Relic—another term I don’t know.”

“Lemme break it down: Authority Relics are objects born from divine concepts. Once something absorbs that divine idea, it becomes a Relic.”

“Basically… the corpse of a god.”

“There are still gods in this world?” Sui Ming asked.

“Yup. Plenty. But not relevant to you right now.”

She glanced up at the massive array circling the city and suddenly grinned.

“Actually, if you manage to get your hands on that, you wouldn’t even need [Return of All Things].”

“Hell, with that thing, I’d take you straight to pick a fight with the Goddess of Life herself.”

“That strong, huh?”

He didn’t know what madness the crow was dreaming up, but for some reason… it fired him up too.

“So, can I get it?”

“Of course.”

“All you have to do is solo the entire Mingxi City.”

“Should be easy. With your strength… mm… maybe die a hundred thousand times? Wait—no—make that a million.”

“Why’d you even bother saying anything?!”

Guess skipping straight to endgame content wasn’t going to work. Better to stick to the main quest for now: find [Return of All Things] and keep himself alive.

If he could just keep playing it safe—anything was possible.

The interior of the royal palace was no less extravagant than its exterior.

In fact, it was even more over-the-top.

White jade pillars stretched skyward, golden carvings like coiled dragons spiraled around them, supporting a roof that practically glowed with wealth.

Elegant murals sprawled across every wall—vivid, lifelike.

To Sui Ming, it felt like he’d walked into a treasure vault.

He was just some countryside bumpkin burdened with debt—debt from a very conniving, very smug crow. He was half tempted to break off one of those golden pillars and hock it.

“Alright, stop acting like you’ve never seen money. We’re almost there,” the crow reminded him.

She flashed her golden card at the gatekeeper, who nodded and pushed open the massive doors with ease.

Light burst into Sui Ming’s eyes.

And then—dozens of figures standing tall within the hall.

Their eyes swept across Sui Ming… and immediately turned upward—toward the stairs that led to the throne.

Bathed in dazzling golden light stood a cyan-robed elder.

Her face was aged, but carried overwhelming dignity. Short white hair shimmered with faint cyan light.

Mingxi City’s supreme ruler: Bai Yunqing – Filar.

And at her right hand stood the famed [Inscription Princess], Mingxi’s one and only moonlight:

Bai Luoxia – Filar.

At the sight of her, a fiery glint flashed across the eyes of everyone present.

Each of them teenagers at the peak of adolescence.

And in front of them—a beauty so ethereal she could outshine even the moon.

Even the female participants felt themselves bow inward under that frosty, moonlit elegance.

They didn’t want to compete. They wanted to submit.

Even Sui Ming, who thought himself unshakable, felt a chill in his spine the moment he saw her.

But his reaction… wasn’t quite the same as everyone else’s.

There were just too many clues.

His predecessor—a teenage hero—had apparently stormed into the palace alone and killed the [Regent].

Said Regent?

Uncle of the very princess standing before him.

Which led to that infamous wanted poster, now listing a bounty of over a hundred million Fal. Unshaken at #1 on the reward list.

The incident in the forest earlier?

That was likely her trying to confirm if he was the same Sui Ming from back then. His hair might’ve changed, but his face had not.

Now that he’d pieced everything together, only one conclusion remained—

Stay the hell away from her.

No matter what.

Even if she threw herself at him.

She could easily be probing for weakness.

If his identity was exposed…

He could already picture the result.

And honestly, being drawn and quartered might be getting off easy.