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Twenty years ago, the previous emperor was suddenly taken ill, resulting in civil war. The eight princes of that time rallied their respective factions in a bid for the coveted dragon throne. Of the eight, the Seventh Prince, Prince Langya, Xiao Ruofeng, was known throughout the court for his intelligence and martial prowess. He was originally the best candidate for crown prince, but he had no desire for the throne. Instead, he spent most of his time roaming the lands, mingling amongst those of the martial world; year round, he wasn’t to be found inside Revelation. During the War of Eight Princes, he chose not to vie for the throne, instead choosing to support his elder sibling of the same mother, the Third Prince, Xiao Ruojin. At the same , he brought along his close friends from his time roaming the martial world. All were famous young heroes, including names like Lei Mengsha of the Lei Clan, and Li Xinyue of the Sword Tomb.

The night the previous emperor died, the various factions raced towards the Hall of Serenity with their forces in tow. That was because the first person who could get his hands on the edict of succession within would become the next ruler of the lands. Amongst the princes, the Third Prince, Xiao Ruojin’s forces were clearly at a disadvantage. With a mere three hundred strong army, his Tiger Corps were practically out of the running in this race. Yet they still made a legend for themselves that day.

Like how the Successor of the Sword Tomb, Li Xinyue, in her robes of white and sword in hand, tore open a road to the hall itself.

Then there was Lei Mengsha of the Lei Clan. With just a punch of his fists, he destroyed the head of the Fourth Prince even with the distance of ten men between them.

There was the teenager, not even at the age of fifteen yet, who stopped over ten expert warriors with just a long spear in hand.

Then there was a staff wielding, long haired man. One man, one staff, guarding the entire western side of the capital. With just that staff, he stopped eighteen expert warriors who tried to break into the city that day. It was said that when his staff swung, his strikes knew no bounds, his strength knew no ends, and his person knew no limits.

As for Prince Langya, he himself was an expert warrior. Though the various princes all invited their own expert warriors from the martial world, he still managed to hold them all back with sheer force of will, finally managing to escort Xiao Ruojin all the way to the Hall of Serenity. Bloodied and barely able to stand, no one dared to approach them. Only the two brothers, Xiao Ruofeng and Xiao Ruojin stood before the Hall of Serenity, awaiting the edict of succession.

The Head Eunuch of the Inner Palace of that time, along with the then Grand Eunuch of Incense, Seals, Records and Sword came out together bearing the edict of succession. None of the surviving princes, even the two who held the advantage at that moment, dared to act rashly. That was because, even with martial artists like the Successor of Sword Tomb or the Lei Clan’s expert, the might of the Five Grand Eunuchs wasn’t one to be taken lightly.

Everyone present had their eyes glued to the five eunuchs, especially the other princes who had clearly lost in military prowess to the Third Prince. Their last hope now laid in the name written on that edict scroll. With the legitimacy granted by that scroll, and with the aid of the Five Grand Eunuchs, even they might have had a chance at the throne.

However, the Five Grand Eunuchs merely stood there holding the scroll, refusing to speak for the longest of times.

At long last, it was Prince Langya who broke this stalemate by stepping forth and grabbing the edict of succession. After looking at it, he, before the eyes of everyone present, tore the scroll into shreds and called out in a clarion voice, “As per this prince’s reading, His Majesty commands that the throne be succeeded by the Third Prince, Xiao Ruojin!”

“The throne will be succeeded by Xiao Ruojin!”

Under the watchful eyes of those present, what Prince Langya did just now was nothing short of sacrilege. Yet, strangely, the Five Grand Eunuchs stayed silent. It was only when Xiao Ruofeng shouted for the third time that they actually knelt of their own accord. Upon seeing that, the other princes all threw down their weapons and knelt as well. It was then that all the troops in the palace all knelt down and bellowed, “Long live His Majesty.”

The next day, the Third Prince, Xiao Ruojin, ascended to the throne while Prince Langya, Xiao Ruofeng, was recognised for his pivotal contribution with the title of “The Grand Protector of Beili” and given command of the three armies. Of the expert warriors who protected Xiao Ruojin that day, only Lei Mengsha accepted an official post, becoming one of the eight pillars of the kingdom. The rest returned to obscurity, neither accepting an official post, nor entering the army, instead becoming the Four Guardians of Revelation. Under the assumed title of Blue Dragon, Red Phoenix, White Tiger and Black Tortoise, they protected the imperial capital.

Later on, there were those who posited that the edict did, in fact, have a name written on it. However, it wasn’t that of the Third Prince’s, instead it was the name of the Seventh Prince, Xiao Ruofeng. However, the prince chose to destroy the scroll. Seeing as the new emperor willingly gave up the throne, the Five Grand Eunuchs naturally had nothing to say either. While most theories agreed on that point, there was no agreement to be had as to why he did so.

Some said that Xiao Ruofeng loved the freedom of the martial world, and didn’t want to be cooped up in Revelation. However, as the later years would prove otherwise, Xiao Ruofeng never stepped out of Revelation during his next four years of service as Grand Protector of Beili. The one time he did so four years later was only to rush to the battlefield. Till the day he died, he never once stepped back into the martial world. Thus there were those who said that the reason why Xiao Ruofeng did so was because of a certain event during their childhood years.
According to them, Xiao Ruofeng was once severely taken ill, almost to the point of death. Back then, their imperial mother wasn’t a favored wife, so those within the palace mostly ignored them, even the imperial physician. Despite his position as a prince, Xiao Ruojin knelt before the imperial physician who was most likely there just to go through the motions, forcing him to exert his all and save Xiao Ruofeng. However, there was no way to ever find out the truth, as Prince Langya never said a word about this even till death.

At that time, Lei Hanyi was merely eleven years old. Because Lei Mengsha went against their ancestral teachings to never join the army, and because Lei Hanyi had never officially joined the Lei Clan, she took her mother’s maiden name of Li and trained in the ways of the Sword Tomb. Later on, she came under the tutelage of Snow Moon City’s Citymaster, Li Changsheng, becoming the Citymaster’s second disciple. Li Hanyi trained in the sword till she was fourteen, never stepping into Revelation at all. It was only when her little brother was born that she went against her parents’ wishes and visited Revelation.

She then stayed in the city for five years till she was nineteen, at which point she left Revelation with a sword in hand. Along with Baili Dongjun, Sikong Changfeng, the trio roamed the martial world. Back then, she wore a face shawl and wielded Rainfall. Her elegant swordplay earned her the name of “The Traceless Rainfall Under A Willow”. That year, the demonic cult embarked on their eastward invasion. As one of the orthodox faction’s disciples, Li Hanyi destroyed the swords of eight demonic sect elders just by herself.

From that day on, she became known as a Sword Immortal. However, no one in the martial world knew that she was the daughter of Lei Mengsha and Li Xinyue. Even she grew to slowly forget that fact. It was only four years ago that Li Hanyi returned to Revelation.

That year was recorded in the history books as the year that the “Langya Rebellion” took place. During that incident alone, dozens of court officials were stripped of their titles, and over ten generals were stripped of their ranks. The Four Guardians of Revelation disbanded that day as well.

The Li Hanyi who stepped into Revelation that fateful day bore the third of the Ten Famous Swords, Armored Glacier. Back then, her one sword almost made its way into the throat of the son of heaven.