~~~

From the first blow to the last, the battle between Emperors takes a little over a minute.

Words cannot describe the silence that falls over the Empire during that one minute. Even as earthquakes rock the nation and day turns to night, the people hold their tongues in awe. Soldiers drop their weapons, and the puppets they are fighting fall over. Enemies and allies alike all understand that they will never forgive themselves if they give a battle between Emperors anything less than their full attention.

Even in Storm Dragon Palace’s war room, no one dares utter a word. The reports have stopped coming. The strong quakes knock over the figurines on the war map one after another, but no one tries to pick them up. Grizzled soldiers and dignified nobles strain their senses to their utmost, trying to follow the battle as best as they can and flinching with every hit.

When General Nie Dan emerges victorious, the relief is palpable. A man jumps and lets out a whoop of joy. Another one praises the Heavens. People hug each other and laugh. Some have tears in their eyes. More than one person collapses, finding their legs have lost all strength.

Emperor Qing Jin remembers to breathe.

He brings his hands together and leans back into his seat. The support of the fine wood is the only thing that keeps his back straight. Liu Jin is more tired than he remembers being in a long time. Just sensing the battle might have advanced his cultivation in ways he cannot quite grasp yet.

They won.

A grin tugs on his face, but he fights it. The Emperor must be calm and collected at all times so that his subjects may take comfort in his unshakable demeanor. Or so General Nie Dan claimed. Listening to his advice seems fitting at the moment.

“Status report,” he says.

His words, which he somehow delivers without stuttering or sounding breathless, break the haze that had taken over the war room. His advisors remember themselves. Figurines are picked up, the war map is reorganized, and everyone's seats are put back into place. Reports soon resume as the country emerges from its stupor.

“The enemy is retreating, Your Majesty! The puppets are disappearing from all battlefields! Many are being left abandoned!”

“We must hunt down the puppeteers!”

“Belay that,” Liu Jin says. “Let them flee. They will act as our messengers. The Temple of the Thousand Shadows needs to know they have been beaten tonight.”

As amusing as keeping the Temple of the Thousand Shadows in the dark would be, Liu Jin needs them to learn the role the Death Fashioning Scripture played tonight. Letting their men go is the best way to accomplish that.

“I-Of course, Your Majesty,” the soldier says, nodding nervously.

“The damage caused by General Nie Dan’s battle with the Emperor of the Temple of Thousand Shadows is still hard to estimate, but no populated areas were caught in the final blast!”

The men cheer once more, but Liu Jin feels uneasy. General Nie Dan deliberately took that fight several miles into the sky to avoid collateral damage. Despite that, the entire country trembled under his power. He wouldn’t be surprised if more than a few houses collapsed because of the quakes.

What is going to happen when more Emperors step into the field?

“Casualties are still being estimated,” a soldier says as more information arrives. “We are looking at several thousand injured. The medical corps are already mobilizing. However, deaths seem to be minimal.”

Minimal but not zero. That was always the best outcome he could have hoped for. Liu Jin came to terms with that a long time ago.

He still cannot feel good about it.

“Early reports indicate that General Peng and his men suffered no casualties. The same seems to be true for the members of the Eternal Flame Clan and Divine Frozen Palace! They led the charge against the Temple of the Thousand Shadows and prevented much damage!”

Liu Jin visibly relaxes. His trust in Huang Shing and the others runs deep. Even so, against those from the other side of the Dead Plains, one can never be certain of anything. Had any of them fallen tonight…

No, he’d rather not think about it.

“Your Majesty! Urgent message from your Imperial Uncle!” A man shouts as he bursts into the room. “He has made contact with General Nie Dan and his lordship the Duke! He is bringing them back as we speak! Lord Feng Zhuo has already left to help speed up their retrieval!”

So that’s why he felt his Qi leaving the palace. Liu Jin breathes a sigh of relief and stands up.

“Your Majesty?” Minister Chu asks, confused as Liu Jin heads for the door. “The meeting is still-”

“We have two Emperors in dire need of medical treatment, and I’m the best doctor in the Empire,” Liu Jin says. “If we want to keep having two Emperors, you will understand why this meeting must continue without me. I trust you to make a full report later. Does anyone have any objections?”

No one does.

~~~

The possibility of General Nie Dan encountering a fellow emperor on the battlefield has always existed. Liu Jin might not have expected it to happen during the first night of the war, but he always knew it would happen. As such, he has already procured countless ointments, remedies, and miraculous pills with which to treat the Heavenly General.

Liu Jin still feels woefully unprepared when Feng Zhuo places the charred body of General Nie Dan before him. If it weren’t for the Qi radiating from him, Liu Jin would mistake him for a corpse.

The Duke is in a far better state. Severe burns, broken ribs, and a slowly healing hole in his stomach all fall within what can be expected from a clash of high-level cultivators. Liu Jin only needs to give a few instructions to the palace doctors before taking General Nie Dan into a specially prepared room.

As an Emperor, General Nie Dan represents a significant fraction of their fighting force. They cannot allow him to remain wounded for long. However, it is because he is an Emperor that treating him is such a daunting proposition. An Emperor Qi’s will naturally lash out to protect him, destroying lesser cultivators. It is only because they are in the Storm Dragon Palace that Liu Jin dares to try.

There is nothing that can be done to heal skin that’s already charred, meaning Liu Jin needs to cut an Emperor’s flesh before anything can be done. It might not be as inherently dangerous as modifying the general’s meridians would be, but it is nerve-wracking from the first cut and takes hours of work. General Nie Dan somehow regains consciousness during the procedure. It gives Liu Jin quite a fright, but it also allows the general to help by purposefully lowering his physical toughness.

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After all the dead flesh has been removed, Liu Jin gives pills to the general and applies ointment to his injuries. One needle after another appears in Liu Jin’s hand, always softly glowing with Qi as he targets the general’s acupoints with unerring precision, stimulating and guiding the flow of his Qi to speed up his recovery. The general's body almost looks like a pincushion by the time Liu Jin is halfway done.

By the end of it all, General Nie Dan is completely covered in bandages, but his physical injuries should be healed in about a week. It is not ideal, but it is the best Liu Jin can do for now. If he became the Storm Dragon once more, he would be able to do better, but…

Liu Jin wipes the sweat from his forehead as he leaves General Nie Dan alone so he might heal in peace. His whole body hurts, and his Qi has been pushed to the limit. Even with all his advantages, healing an Emperor is not an easy thing to do. It’s a reminder of how much more he needs to climb, but right now, he just wants to lay his head down and rest.

The Duke has other ideas.

“It is time we talked,” the Duke says, looking down at him. Liu Jin is not sure how long he has been waiting outside the treatment room, but it can’t have been from the beginning. His injuries have been bandaged, and he has received new robes.

He is an Emperor now.

It might only be the first level of it, but it represents an incredible boost to the power of the Storm Dragon Empire. Liu Jin would like to be happier with this outcome, but he remembers what the Duke promised.

"When I become an Emperor, I will see what has become of my homeland. If I disapprove of your results, I will kill you."

Liu Jin is not the only one aware of those words. There might only be a few servants in the hall with them, but Liu Jin can detect that most people in the palace are holding their collective breaths. They are not unaware of the history between Liu Jin and the Duke–people can be such gossips–and now they stretch their awareness so they might better sense their confrontation.

A burst of Liu Jin’s Qi thrums throughout the castle, forcing everyone back to their duties and reminding them that there is no reason to panic.

In this palace, no one can hurt Liu Jin.

Not even an Emperor Realm cultivator.

“Surely, you can see how there are other things that take precedence at the moment,” Liu Jin says.

“I made a vow,” the Duke says. “Reasonable as your words are, a man is nothing without his word. Besides, I saved your Heavenly General tonight. This shall be my reward.”

Liu Jin’s eyebrow twitches. Had he not sensed the Duke approaching the battle, he would have probably used the authority of the Storm Dragon to move the palace and protect General Nie Dan. However, a battle won by the men of the Storm Dragon Empire is better for the army's morale than one in which they needed to be saved by the Emperor’s Inheritance.

“You said you’d see the Empire,” Liu Jin argues. “So far, you have only seen what remains of Cloudburst City.”

“If something happens in this palace, how long does it take you to be aware of it?” the Duke asks. “I imagine you are aware of everything at all times, and have had to train yourself to stop noticing many things. I will not claim I can replicate such a feat, but I was a Renegade for a long time, boy. My vision extends further than you can imagine.”

That is… not impossible, but it is extremely unlikely. Could it be a side-effect of the Duke’s Dao, or is it because he has returned to his homeland after so long? In any case, Liu Jin does not dare call him a liar. The young Emperor’s hand opens and closes as he considers the best way to deal with this situation. Tempting as subduing the Duke sounds, there is no need to show such distrust just yet. It is as the man said. He did help them greatly tonight, and… he has earned a reward.

“Follow me,” Liu Jin says. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Under his uncle, the terrain surrounding the Storm Dragon Palace was left at the mercy of the Grand Storm, meaning it was all a barren wasteland. That changed when Liu Jin took over. The Grand Storm was no longer needed, and Minister Chu was given full administrative powers to beautify the area. The man had, with the aid of a squadron of gardeners, turned the previously barren lands surrounding the palace into something…elaborate.

The dragon theme in the palace gardens is not just noticeable. It is inescapable. There are statues of dragons, ponds shaped like dragons, and small wooden bridges that cross them with handrails that have dragons carved into them. Even the bushes have been cut to resemble dragons, and the flowers that decorate the garden are all things like snapdragons, dragon lilies, and more.

“Is this supposed to be a statement of confidence?” The Duke asks.

He is not talking about the way the garden is decorated. He is looking at the garden walls. The place Liu Jin has chosen for this conversation is mere yards from the barrier. So long as Liu Jin is inside the perimeter of the walls, he is unmatched. Outside of that, he is merely a Heaven Realm cultivator.

“You have done a lot of good tonight,” Liu Jin says. “I want to make it clear that I will not keep you here if you do not wish to be.”

“You will not come with me if I ask you to?”

“The list of things that I must do before I can die a peaceful death is far too long.”

“How arrogant of you to assume you merit a peaceful death.”

“Don’t I?” Liu Jin challenges him.

“This war is the result of your actions,” the Duke reminds him.

“This war is happening so we don’t find ourselves overrun by demons without realizing why,” Liu Jin counters.

The Duke glares at him.

“For the first three days, my gaze focused on the areas around the remains of Cloudbust City, all that was once ruled by the madman Murong Bang,” the Duke says. “It is a damnable wasteland, and the only areas worth looking at are those belonging to the Lei Clan, which you have allowed to continue existing for some reason.”

“All their previous leaders are dead, and the one leading them now is of unquestionable loyalty,” Liu Jin counters.

“I am not finished,” the Duke says. “I turned my eyes to the territories under General Nie Dan next. His cities are the most prosperous in the Empire, and his people are healthy and strong. However, his deeds are not your deeds. The state of his territories is the result of his efforts during the civil war, and that’s something he’s partially at fault for. If not for his strength, I would be quite skeptical of your choice to keep him.”

Liu Jin frowns. It was due to the Death Fashioning Scripture, his uncles, his Father, and General He Bin that the Empire became a mess. However, it’s undeniable that General Nie Dan played a part in those events as well. Uncomfortable as it is to think about it, his good deeds do not take away all that he did at the behest of the Black Dragon.

“I looked at He Bin’s territories next.” Somehow, the Duke manages to sound angrier than when talking about Murong Bang. His Qi makes a sharp crack that has everyone in the palace flinching. “The nobility of the Storm Dragon Empire used to stand for something. The glory of the Empire and its people was the sign of our pride. However, that snake turned them into a pampered lot. The old families are dead or withered. What remains are little more than fools full of empty pride. I dread to imagine how much worse they'd be without your influence."

Liu Jin raises an eyebrow.

“This city, your city, is the youngest in the Empire, yet I could feel its impact. You have forced the nobility around you, and by making them compete for your attention, they begin to reclaim their strength. The people resting in your shadow grow stronger and sleep without fear. It’s nowhere near the might of the Empire in its glory days, yet I cannot deny that your influence is a positive one on this cursed land. It would be foolish of me to try to snuff this out. Make no mistake, I do not fully approve of you, but I am willing to show you a measure of trust.”

“That is acceptable.”

“Acceptable?”

Liu Jin sighs.

"Must we pretend there was ever any other outcome to this conversation?" He asks the Duke. "I am the Emperor of the Storm Dragon Empire, and we are in the middle of a war. From the beginning, this was the only choice."

Liu Jin points to the boundary.

"If you say you disapprove of me, you will be forced to kill me, but you lack the power to do that. You are also not craven enough to act against your country in the middle of a war. You would have to remove yourself and wait, but that would mean abandoning your people. You'd never do that. You are a man of the Storm Dragon Empire, which means I am your Emperor. Your ego has been satisfied. Now, come with me to the palace and help me save this country. That is the only path suitable for you."

The Duke stares at him in silence for several seconds before snorting.

“Arrogant. Far too arrogant,” the Duke says, shaking his head. “However, you begin to grow into it...Your Majesty.”

~~~