Deep into the eastern reaches of the luscious lands that fell under the rule of the Greatest Emperor, rose a sprawling city of warm wood and painted stone.

Mucheng, the gleaming jewel of the Eastern Provinces, that acted as both the region’s capital city and as its center of economical power.

Indeed, as most of the lumber and stones, the region was mainly known for passed through the opulent capital’s enormous gates to be registered and inspected, before it was ready to be shipped towards all the other corners of the Greatest Empire.

A point of pride for the citizens of the region, who shamelessly boasted about the quality of their products and had no qualms about reminding anyone willing, or even unwilling, to listen that even the Greatest Emperor’s palace had been built, from its foundation all the way to the top of its tiled roof, with materials taken from their lands.

As one might expect from such a large and commercially influential city its sprawling streets and market squares were in a constant state of overflowing movement.

All kinds of pedestrians moved like thousands of blood cells through the capital city’s roads, bringing in with them precious oxygen, also known as money, that would feed the ever wealth-hungry city.

But even for the permanent residents of this chaotic city, this particular day seemed exceptionally tumultuous.

Various citizens were moving frantically to and fro, hanging colored flags from every roof, connecting the various buildings with sparkling ribbons covered in glitter and hanging decorated lanterns from every available free corner, all while officials in dark blue robes and heads wrapped with traditional turbans ordered them around.

A lone shadow took advantage of the chaos caused by the preparation for the approaching festivities, making its way forward through the busy streets, electing to use the almost panicking mortals to hide its presence instead of risking someone sensing it by accident by using the elevated roads constructed high above the low buildings for rushing cultivators, even if its pace consequentially slowed to a crawl.

The wrapped figure had been running back towards the capital throughout all of the previous night and a good chunk of the morning, intent on delivering the news of its successful mission back to its master as soon as possible, and had unfortunately arrived just as the hustle and bustle created by the various crews of decorators reached its peak.

The figure suppressed a sigh as it stealthily made its way ever forward, using its aura to mask its presence from any onlookers.

All things considered tho, it couldn’t really blame the workers and functionaries for being so frantic.

After all, it’s not every day that the Greatest Princess visits their city.

Everything had to be arranged perfectly. Who knew what might displease her and cost them their heads, is what they were probably thinking.

Of course, the shadow was aware that no such thing had ever happened, but rumors were often far more powerful than the truth and the mortals and low level cultivators tasked with decorating the roads of the city had no intention of discovering if the tall tales whispered by bored workers held any veracity.

But why would the daughter of the Greatest Emperor visit their city at this time?

Simple, it was her birthday, which gave the Emperor an easy excuse to throw festivities all around the empire for the gullible citizens, remind any unruly cultivator that despite his seclusion he was still alive and well, and to send his daughter to all corners of his lands to show off her might.

She was not even eighteen and already encroaching on the Worldy Realm.

The shadow shook its hooded head in suppressed wonder. What a monster had the Emperor raised, although maybe it wasn’t so surprising considering all of the resources that were at her disposal as the only heir to an empire that covered a third of the continent.

From that point of view maybe it was simply expected for her to be so abnormal, and it would’ve been a disappointment if she did any worse in her cultivation.

The shadow was taken out of its thoughts as a sudden yell pierced through the background noisiness of the busy streets.

Farther down the road a wooden scaffolding had been erected by a crew of mortal workers, who were now screaming for their life as the entire structure teetered on the verge of collapse.

One of the main wooden supports for the structure had splintered and broken near its base, sending the entire thing into a wobbling lurch.

The shadow swiftly moved forward, unseen by the gawking mortals that had stopped to look at the fearsome spectacle, laying one of its gloved hands upon the nearest of the support beams. A surge of spiritual energy entered the wood, strengthening the entire structure, and with an effort of will, it brought the scaffolding’s movement to a stop.

The workers carefully made their way down from the broken structure, thanking the heavens for their good fortune as the onlookers sighed in collective relief.

But by that point, the shadow was already long gone.

At the center of the capital stood an enormous building, rising higher than any other in the city, a thick stone wall surrounded the structure with the only entrance being a single giant door made out of spiritual metal.

Past the door, which was constantly guarded by a pair of cultivators in the Worldly Realm, was a stone path that led into a perfectly curated garden. Many flowers coming from all corners of the Greatest Empire were planted here, their arrangement had been decided by the owner of the palace itself, the Eastern Magistrate, and simply standing in the perfectly tended to backyard gave one a mysterious sense of complete calm and contentment.

Further in stood the public offices of the city, where the officials working under the Magistrate took care of all public matters related to the governing of the region. Even further in started the palace proper, with the barracks of the Magistrate’s personal guard standing just beside the entrance.

There were only five of them but if anyone were to be foolish enough to try and storm the Magistrate’s palace they would be more than enough to slaughter all opposition. They were one and all cultivators of the Ethereal Realm.

The shadow didn’t even try to hide its presence from the powerful cultivators since it would’ve been completely pointless, not that it needed to, after all, they knew of its existence and had similarly pledged their lives to the Magistrate’s service.

The cloaked figure finally set foot into the Magistrate’s residence, swiftly moving toward his office where it already knew the man spent most of his time.

The cloaked cultivator ran up endless flights of stairs with nary a sound, not meeting anyone in its path until it reached its destination.

The shadow kneeled in front of the finely carved wooden entrance to its master’s office, admiring the details on the painted dragons curling over the door.

“Enter.” A voice boomed from inside the room.

The cloaked figure swiftly slid the carved door open before entering the room and closing the door silently behind it.

The inside of the room looked as bare as it always did to the shadow, the only furniture being a wooden desk placed in its center with a plush chair sitting behind it and a handful of shelves filled to the brim with various scrolls. It was kept fastidiously clean, not even a speck of dust could be found in this room.

The only thing out of the ordinary that could be found here was a large window that let one have a magnificent view of the palace’s gardens. A view that the Magistrate was currently admiring.

“Yi.” The Magistrate said without turning around. “I presume your mission was a success?”

Yi was not the shadow’s name, as it had given it up alongside the rest of its identity, but it was a moniker granted to it by the Magistrate.

“Yes, my lord.” An indistinct voice came from beneath the hood, unable to be recognized as either male or female, just like the speaker’s figure. “The heretic Shen Xue and his men have destroyed another village and should now be on their way towards another one towards the west.”

The Magistrate hummed in acknowledgment. “Good good, that should keep General Shen Zhen Shi busy for a while.” The Magistrate coldly discussed the loss of an entire village full of people as if it were of no consequence.

The Eastern General Shen Zhen Shi, the Eastern Magistrate’s counterpart, loyal to the Emperor and the empire’s people, was a virtuous man who was focused on the protection of the weak.

He had been appointed by the Emperor exactly because of his loyalty, which should’ve kept the Magistrate’s machination mostly in check, but it was that same loyalty that ultimately made him so simple to keep away.

A giant spiritual beast was spotted lurking near a settlement? The General would hunt it down until it was dead. A group of Demonic Cultivators started to slaughter innocent citizens? He would charge like a rabid dog and tear them to pieces. Shen Zhen Shi’s endless love for the empire and its citizens had made him strong, but this same passion ensured he would always act himself when he sensed a threat existed.

Which left the Magistrate free to sink his roots into the shadows of the empire unchecked.

“Anything else to report?” Asked the Magistrate as he contemplated his next move.

Yi nodded. “A crew of workers near the southern gate almost had a major accident while hanging decorations in the streets, fortunately, I was able to prevent any injuries with nobody noticing my presence.” The cloaked figure raised its head slightly. “Their handler was nowhere to be seen.”

Only then did the Magistrate turn around. Long grey hair reached the middle of his back, some of it collected into a bun held by a golden pin on the back of his head and a well trimmed mustache adorned his tin lips. His face and body were thin and pale and his height was only slightly above average, giving him the appearance of a scholar, but the cold flames burning in his icy blue orbs dispelled any doubt that this man was anything but a high level cultivator and one of the pillars of the empire.

The might of the Magistrate’s Ascendant Realm presence briefly pressed against Yi, but the shadow didn’t even let out a faint whine.

“Bring me their name.” He said coldly.

The shadow bowed deeply before departing from the room, leaving the Magistrate alone once again.

The elderly man unhurriedly made his way towards his desk, sitting down on his comfortable plush chair as he contemplated his next moves and what kind of punishment he would inflict on the thoughtless public officer.

It would not be long now. Just a few more years until the Magistrate’s name would resound across all of the Empire. No, the entire continent.

He would engrave the name Shen Kai Jin into the world itself.