Two living people—just like that, right in front of everyone, fell to their deaths, not even leaving behind their bones. Even though they’d always known Skyvault Mountain was dangerous, knew that every year a few people died here, actually seeing Fortress Lord Ling die before their eyes still left everyone utterly shocked.
"Heavens." Someone covered their mouth, their legs trembling uncontrollably with fear.
Staring at the bottomless chasm below, one by one they lost the courage to descend the mountain, terrified they’d end up like Fortress Lord Ling—dead from a fall.
"Father." Linden Ling sat there in a daze, collapsing to the ground and staring blankly toward the mountain’s base.
He’d always wanted to be the one in charge of Skyvault Fortress, but he’d never imagined his father would die like this, right in front of him. It was too horrifying.
Someone, please tell him this isn’t real, that his father isn’t dead.
Tears slipped from Linden’s eyes, falling one by one...
Linden looked so pitiful that those nearby couldn’t help but feel for him. The Master of Moonvault Palace sighed at the unpredictability of fate and gently comforted him: "Linden, don’t be too heartbroken. Maybe Fortress Lord Ling was lucky and didn’t fall into the abyss. What matters now is going down to check—if he landed at the base, with his martial skills, he’d surely be fine."
"Yes, yes, my father will be fine, he won’t die. I’ll go down and look for him right now." Linden snapped back to himself and rushed down the mountain.
He believed—his father had to still be alive.
Of the two who fell from the mountain, one really did survive—but it wasn’t Fortress Lord Ling, it was Greenshine. Zed and Logan Ling had already set up a huge net to catch her.
Landed on the giant net, Greenshine lay motionless for a long time before she could believe she was actually alive. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes as she looked up at the gray sky, clutching the hairpin in her hand. A faint, barely-there smile touched her lips: finally, she was free—no more living in constant fear.
With the mission complete, Logan Ling took Greenshine to secretly meet up with Ninth Royal Uncle. Zed, once he learned the job was done, didn’t say a word—just vanished.
Afterwards, when Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena found out, they realized burning Skyvault Fortress had been Zed’s idea. They didn’t press Logan Ling for details—just told him to quietly take Greenshine back to Eastlyn, while they would leave a little later.
Linden Ling led the search, gathering the remaining people from Skyvault Fortress and circling the mountain base several times, but couldn’t find any trace of Fortress Lord Ling or Greenshine. No matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, he had to face the truth.
In a single day, his father and his two closest maids had died tragically before his eyes. Now he was the only one left—no one to share future honor or disgrace with.
"Father." With a thud, Linden Ling knelt at the foot of the mountain and burst into tears.
After something like this, of course everyone tried to comfort him, telling Linden to restrain his grief. As for everything else, no one bothered him—they just handled their own food and lodging.
Ninth Royal Uncle heard about it and gave a single quiet order. Instantly, all the martial artists were settled with perfect efficiency. Grateful for the help, many wanted to thank Ninth Royal Uncle—but he had no intention of accepting thanks and simply disappeared.
As a result, even more people felt Ninth Royal Uncle was truly a good man, worth befriending. His reputation in the martial world only grew.
As for Fortress Lord Ling’s funeral?
Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena didn’t attend. A few days after they left the mountain, they received a letter from William Wang Jinling, urging them to hurry back to the Capital—the Lord of Liancastle was getting more and more aggressive, and William could barely hold out.
With everything at Skyvault Fortress wrapped up, Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena didn’t plan to meddle in the aftermath—they set out for Eastlyn.
Still, Fortress Lord Ling’s funeral was grand—he’d been influential in the martial world, and on the day of the ceremony, crowds came to pay their respects. But no matter how many showed up, it couldn’t change the fact that Skyvault Fortress was about to fall. When a man dies, his lamp goes out; just because people give Skyvault face now doesn’t mean they will in the future.
A father is a father; a son is a son. A hero’s child isn’t always a hero. People like the Master of Moonvault Palace—they just sighed at Fortress Lord Ling’s death, some even felt secretly glad.
The martial world isn’t that big—every faction has its turf marked out. To get more resources, you have to take them from someone else. Under Fortress Lord Ling, nobody dared make a move on Skyvault Fortress, but with Linden Ling in charge, things were different.
Linden Ling was just a young upstart—no matter how capable, everyone could see his limits. And unlike Skyvault Palace, which keeps out of worldly affairs and lives off inherited wealth, Skyvault Fortress held a huge trove of resources. Plenty of people coveted Skyvault’s assets; they’d been itching to act, only waiting for someone else to make the first move.
"Give them a hand," Ninth Royal Uncle said with a smile, closing his book.
Strike while the iron’s hot. With Ninth Royal Uncle stirring things up, Moonvault Palace led the charge—while Linden Ling was busy investigating the fire and Fortress Lord Ling’s death, the sects slowly ate away at Skyvault Fortress’s power, poaching its talent. By the time Linden caught on, Skyvault’s strength had shrunk by two-fifths.
"Bastards!" Linden Ling cursed furiously, smashing everything in his study to pieces.
He investigated last month’s events, but no matter how deep he dug, everything led back to himself—the long-haired monster was raised by his father, meant to be used against Ninth Royal Uncle. In the end, it killed his own father.
At this point, Linden Ling was certain his father’s death was connected to Ninth Royal Uncle—but he didn’t dare reveal the truth. If people learned his father had tried to kill Ninth Royal Uncle, they’d just say he deserved it, and all the good reputation his father had built would be ruined.
"Father, I swear I’ll avenge you." Linden Ling clenched his fists, eyes bloodshot.
"Ninth Royal Uncle, Moonvault Palace—I won’t let any of you off." Linden Ling ground his teeth so hard his lips bled.
Even without proof, Linden Ling was sure the fire at Skyvault Fortress couldn’t be separated from Ninth Royal Uncle and Moonvault Palace.
But...
Skyvault Fortress wasn’t what it used to be—he didn’t have the power to take revenge. All he could do was watch his enemies walk free and still force himself to smile and play along.
"Father, only now do I understand how hard it was for you." He’d always wanted to be master of Skyvault Fortress, but now that he was, he realized just how difficult it was. He’d been far too naïve before.
Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena didn’t care about Linden Ling’s anger. Without Fortress Lord Ling, Skyvault Fortress was no longer a force to be reckoned with. Plus, with all the sects joining forces to suppress it, Skyvault’s glory was long gone. Still, Ninth Royal Uncle and Serena had planted plenty of hidden agents in Skyvault Fortress.
These agents didn’t have to do anything most of the time, not even gather intelligence—their only job was to watch Linden Ling and see if he made contact with Northlyn. Ninth Royal Uncle could tolerate Linden’s ambition, but not any collusion with Northlyn...