The sky above the Heavenly Phoenix Empire had not changed much over the years. Azure, vast, and endless. But for Li Tianming, it no longer carried the same warmth. Not after his return.
He walked alone through the cobbled path of Eastern Glory City, each step steady, yet deliberate. The capital had grown—taller towers, bustling markets, spiritual beasts flying overhead—but to him, it all felt like a distant echo from a life he once knew.
Children ran past him laughing, chasing a kite powered by spirit essence. A merchant shouted about his dragon-horned elixirs. A beggar played a flute from the corner. Life was loud, colorful... unaware.
Unaware that the man who once ruled the entire immortal realm now walked beside them like any other wanderer.
His eyes paused at a worn-down teahouse. The same one he used to visit centuries ago in secret, dressed as a commoner just to escape the suffocating pressure of the imperial court.
With a faint, almost melancholic smile, he pushed open the door.
"Welcome—" the young waitress paused, eyes wide. Not at his face, but the aura he gave off. A gentle breeze despite no wind. A strange, ancient weight to his silence.
He nodded once. "Just tea. Nothing fancy."
She stammered and rushed off.
Li Tianming sat at the corner, watching people pass by the window. The Heavenly Phoenix Empire was supposed to be under new rule now—a weak, selfish emperor clinging to titles, not responsibility. The ministers were corrupt. The sects arrogant. Justice was for sale.
And the Immortal Emperor who once united the lands?
Buried. Forgotten. Murdered by his own.
He closed his eyes. The memory was sharp—his final banquet, the toasts, the smiles… and the blade from behind.
The tea arrived. He didn't drink it.
"Long time no see, Your Majesty," a voice whispered from behind him.
He didn't flinch.
"Yuan'er," he said without turning around.
A girl in dark robes sat opposite him. Her face was half-covered, her voice low.
"They think you're dead."
"I was."
"And now?"
"I have things to finish."
She looked down. Her hand trembled. "You shouldn't have come back. The world has changed. They've grown powerful. You—"
"They killed me once, Yuan'er. I won't give them a second chance."
Silence.
"Do you know what they did after you fell?" she asked.
He didn't answer.
"They burned the loyalists alive. Banished your mother's clan. Took your sister as a hostage. She's..."
His fingers tightened around the cup.
"I'll deal with it," he said flatly.
"Tianming—"
"No more hiding," he stood up, cloak fluttering gently. "No more running."
He left the teahouse without finishing the tea.
---
In the palace, at that same hour...
"Your Majesty, strange reports from the east," a minister knelt.
The new emperor scoffed. "Another false rumor? Let me guess—he's back from the dead again?"
The hall laughed.
But not the old man standing in the shadows.
He bowed. "I saw him."
The room fell silent.
The emperor narrowed his eyes. "You're sure?"
The old man nodded. "He walks like a ghost, but his presence... it's him. Li Tianming."
---
Back in the night, beneath the stars...
Li Tianming stood atop the old Immortal Cliff. The wind howled like it remembered him.
He reached into his robes and pulled out a broken pendant—his mother's. The only thing left from the day they betrayed him.
He clenched it.
And for the first time in centuries, his true cultivation flared.
Heaven trembled. The cliff cracked. Storm clouds gathered.
Somewhere, far away, ancient beasts stirred.
The Immortal Emperor... was no longer a memory.
He had returned.
---
[End of Chapter 3]