"Brother!"
Chloe Snow was delighted to see Ian Song arrive.
The two chatted for a while, then Ian suddenly took Flora Thrall's Treasure-Vault Jade Pendant out of his Storage Ring.
"Ah!"
Chloe let out a cry of surprise—the Treasure-Vault Jade Pendant on her chest had suddenly turned scorching hot. Startled, she quickly took it off.
Seeing Chloe's reaction, Ian was now almost certain she was a descendant of the Radiant Emperor.
Looking at the pale-blue Treasure-Vault Jade Pendant in Ian's hand, Chloe couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Brother, how come you also have one...?"
"Let me tell you a story!"
Ian smiled, then told her about how, when the old empire was about to fall, the last emperor—the Radiant Emperor—split the Treasure Vault master key into five parts and entrusted them to the Whale Prince and his four personal bodyguards.
After hearing the story, Chloe looked even more puzzled. "Brother, are you saying I might be a descendant of one of the Radiant Emperor's four bodyguards?"
"No!"
Ian shook his head. "You should be a descendant of the Whale Prince. The four guards' Secret Keys each held a strand of one of the Four Sacred Beasts' essence—their pendants were pale blue, deep blue, gold, and fiery red. But the one you have is clear as crystal, and whenever your pendant gets close to any of the others, it reacts in a special way!"
"That's right. It's still burning hot right now."
Chloe nodded.
"Here, let me take a look at your pendant."
Without hesitation, Chloe handed her Treasure-Vault Jade Pendant to Ian.
"Buzz!"
The instant the two pendants touched, each burst into radiant light and quickly twined together. Then, both began to melt. When the glow faded, the two pendants had fused into one.
Seeing this, Ian fell into thoughtful silence.
According to Flora Thrall, only if the Whale Prince or his descendant raised an army would the four guards hand over their Secret Keys. But Ian didn't quite agree—no matter how much the Radiant Emperor trusted his guards, it couldn't surpass his trust in his own son. So the Whale Prince must have had his own way to gather the other four keys, or maybe...
"Put it on!"
Ian handed the fused Treasure-Vault Jade Pendant back to Chloe Snow.
The moment Chloe's fingers touched the pendant, something unexpected happened.
A phantom silhouette suddenly shot out from the pendant and flew straight toward Chloe's brow.
"Hmph!"
Ian snorted coldly, reached out, and instantly imprisoned the phantom in the void.
"Impudent!"
A vast imperial aura erupted from the shadow. It tore open the sealed void and lunged again for Chloe's forehead.
But immediately, the void was sealed even tighter. No matter how the phantom struggled, it couldn't break free.
"How dare you! Who are you to imprison my soul?"
The phantom started to solidify, revealing a middle-aged man in dragon robes—his hair wild, but his whole body radiating imperial majesty.
"A fallen emperor dares to act up in front of me?" Ian sneered. He'd been an emperor before—why would he care about a fragment of the Radiant Emperor's soul?
That's right. Ian was sure now—this remnant soul was the Radiant Emperor's.
Just as Ian expected, the Radiant Emperor never truly trusted his four guards. He used them as decoys, splitting his soul into five and hiding the fragments in the five Treasure Vault Secret Keys. Once the keys merged, he'd seize the body of his descendant and be reborn.
But what he didn't expect was...
After the old dynasty fell, the Whale Prince never raised an army. All these years, the five Secret Keys never had a chance to merge.
The Radiant Emperor's remnant soul only survived by drawing on the beast-essence inside the Secret Keys. But after so long, the essence was all used up.
That's why Ian couldn't sense any beast-essence in Flora Thrall's or Chloe Snow's pendants. It was also why he grew suspicious.
With the essence exhausted, if the Radiant Emperor didn't possess someone soon, his soul fragment would fade away. So even with only two keys merged, he couldn't wait—he tried to seize Chloe's body right away.
Hearing Ian's words, the Radiant Emperor's face changed. He glared at Chloe. "You are my descendant—order him to let me go!"