Chapter 108: Destruction!

"Archon, did you succeed?"

The handmaiden asked cautiously, stepping into the shadowy study of the fortified river estate.

"No."

Archon Zelia stood by the desk, staring blankly at the map of the capital spread across the wood.

She had remained in that exact position since returning from the storm.

"You failed?" The handmaiden’s eyes widened in genuine shock.

Zelia was at the strict peak of the Inner Scenery realm. She had assassinated targets guarded by entire sects.

The Abyssal Sword Sovereign was merely ranked first among the younger generation; he should have been prey!

"Did his master intervene?"

"No," Zelia replied. "His strength drastically exceeds his ranking. He possesses seven External Qi-Cores."

The handmaiden froze. Seven? That was a theoretical impossibility...

"Furthermore..." Zelia frowned, her crimson veil shifting as she tilted her head. "There is something anomalous about his aura. When his Abyssal energy collided with my shadow intent, it did not feel entirely hostile. Have you ever encountered a divine intent that actively dissolves the user’s hostility?"

"A pacifist domain?" The handmaiden pondered. "Perhaps a forgotten monastic art from the Western Wastes?"

"He does not fight like a monk," Zelia muttered.

She recalled the sheer density of his karmic fire. It was not the erratic, destructive heat of a demonic cultivator; it was the structured, sovereign weight of an emperor.

If the capital knew a nineteen-year-old had forged seven cores, the imperial family would deploy the royal guard to recruit him...

"Then..." The handmaiden hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "Sometimes, when our agents embed themselves deeply with a target, the hostility dissolves because of... affection. Could it be love?"

"Love?" Zelia’s aura flared aggressively, crushing the inkwell on the desk. "I am an Archon of the Shadow Syndicate!"

The handmaiden dropped to her knees, trembling.

"Go to the Grand Bounty Pavilion," Zelia ordered. "Withdraw the assassination contract on Theo."

"Yes, Archon!" The handmaiden scrambled out of the study as if she had just been granted amnesty.

Left alone, Zelia touched the hilt of her dagger.

Her mind was in turmoil...

How much of what Theo had said during their brief clash was true?

...

Meanwhile, in the shadowy third-floor office.

Liana uncrossed her legs and let out a long sigh.

Three times. This was the third time she had lost a Fate Comparison to him.

But her internal turmoil was not born from the sting of defeat.

As the Reborn Empress, her past life had been paved with catastrophic failures, near-death tribulations, and agonizing setbacks. She had endured the Heavenly Tribulation of the Nine Skies; she could endure this. She simply needed to treat this penalty as another trial of the Dao.

Liana closed her eyes. She actively channeled her *Aurora* intent, forcing her racing heart to calm and her flushed skin to cool. She built a fortress of ice around her emotions.

When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was sharp, solemn, and focused entirely on Theo.

Theo paused.

He was incredibly confused...

Why was she using her sword intent?

Why did she suddenly look like she was preparing to storm a fortified enemy stronghold?

Suddenly, a memory from his past life surfaced. He remembered accompanying a martial brother to a traditional acupressure clinic. The practitioner had been brutally aggressive, attacking every pressure point without mercy. His friend had treated the pain as an endurance challenge, refusing to tap out.

Theo realized what was happening. Liana was fiercely competitive. She assumed the "Full Abyssal Circulation" was going to be excruciatingly painful, and she was preparing to endure it without making a sound just to prove her resilience.

He decided to call her bluff.

"It seems you are taking this seriously," Theo said, crossing his arms.

"I am ready," Liana nodded coolly.

"Then you need to change your clothes," Theo stated.

Liana frowned. "Excuse me?"

With a triumphant smirk, Theo reached into his spatial ring.

He pulled out the *Midnight-Silk Two-Piece Swimwear* the scandalous, modern-style bikini the system had rewarded him with weeks ago. He held it up by the straps.

"You cannot receive the full meridian service wearing sect robes," Theo said, expecting her to draw her sword and chase him out of the room.

There was no way the icy, dignified Aurora Sword Empress would ever wear something so blatantly revealing.

Liana stared at the midnight-silk garment. Her silver eyes flickered.

"You... go wait in the hall," Liana whispered, her voice barely audible over the rain.

"I figured you would—" Theo started to smile, ready to pack the garment away.

"Leave the silk," Liana commanded.

Theo’s brain short-circuited.

He dropped the swimwear onto the velvet chair as if it had burned him, spun around, and practically fled into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him.

Inside the shadowed office, the system projected a helpful, if slightly mocking prompt.

[Current Meridian Mapping Progress: 8%.]

The system had apparently counted the foot and calf massage...

Liana looked at the midnight-silk swimwear resting on the chair. The design was entirely foreign, utilizing minimal fabric held together by thin, elegant strings. It was marginally better than some of the more degenerate dual-cultivation garments she had seen in her past life, but it was still shockingly indecent.

Where had he acquired this? And why did the Abyssal Sword Sovereign, who acted like a polite, sunny, and refined gentleman carry such a scandalous outfit in his personal spatial ring?

Liana’s eyelashes fluttered. She let out a sigh, resigning herself to her fate.

"Calm as still water," Liana murmured, reciting a Daoist mantra. "Let nature take its course..."

She unfastened the silver clasps of her outer robe, letting the fabric slide off her shoulders.

The chill of the storm outside seeped through the broken window, raising goosebumps on her arms, but her internal body temperature was rising swiftly.

She picked up the delicate silk strings, trying to deduce their architectural purpose.

Out in the hallway, Theo was leaning against the door. He had a spare calligraphy brush clenched between his teeth, chewing on the bamboo handle to channel his severe nervous energy.

He truly had not expected her to call his bluff...

"Sovereign, what are you doing?"

Theo looked up. Corey had just walked up the stairs, holding a bucket of fresh well water.

The twelve-year-old was staring at the brush in Theo’s mouth with profound confusion.

"When I am facing a complex tactical dilemma, I chew on something to focus," Theo lied smoothly.

"Oh, I see," Corey nodded. He did not fully understand, but since Theo was a genius, the boy assumed it was a secret cultivation technique.

Corey immediately reached into his pocket, pulled out a hardened alchemical root on a stick, and popped it into his own mouth.

"Sovereign, what is the tactical dilemma?" Corey asked, sucking on his root. "Perhaps I can offer strategic advice."

"I am calculating the probability of experiencing a fatal spike in blood pressure within the next five minutes," Theo replied honestly.

"A medical crisis?" Corey gasped, dropping his bucket. "I will go alert Elder Thorne!"

Theo grabbed the boy by the collar before he could run.

"It is not that kind of medical crisis, Corey," Theo sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "Go play downstairs. I will manage this myself."

"If you say so," Corey shrugged, retrieving his bucket and wandering down the hall.

Several minutes passed... The hallway was quiet.

Finally, a clear voice drifted through the door.

"You... may enter."

Theo took a deep breath. He circulated his Abyssal forge, attempting to use the karmic intent to suppress his racing heartbeat and clear his mind of any distracting thoughts.

Strangely, the technique failed entirely...

The ambient qi in his meridians was running hot and chaotic.

The life-and-death struggle against Silas the Mad Blade had not made him nearly this nervous.

But backing down now was impossible. If he fled, the Reborn Empress would never let him live it down.

Theo pushed the door open and stepped back into the shadowed office.

When his eyes adjusted to the golden lamplight and landed on Liana, Theo instantly realized that he had catastrophically underestimated the situation...

The contrast between the midnight-black silk and her silver hair was staggering.

All of his prior tactical calculations regarding meridian mapping and pressure points evaporated from his mind, replaced by blank static...

The issue was not the *Midnight-Silk* swimwear itself.

While the design was certainly revealing, it was merely fabric...

The true weapon of mass destruction was the Aurora Sword Empress herself!