Mais wasn't even born then. Second Prince Leon was just a little boy. However, First Prince Lameon was already an adult. He won the Star Path Tournament at only 18 years old. Mais believed that there would never be a younger champion than his older brother Leon. Leon was only 19 at the Star Path Tournament finals, but his older brother had won the tournament at 18.
Mais was not told much about Lameon growing up. Lameon broke the Emperor's heart.
Years passed after Lameon became champion. He had surpassed his former self. He was on his way to reaching a new level. At that time, he was rising with great ambition. There was nothing left for him to achieve in life. The country was peaceful, and his growth slowed due to a lack of goals. He had always moved forward with determination and ambition. Lameon knew this and decided to risk everything. The path of cultivation was more important to him than anything else.
He stood up to his father, who never paid him any attention, never spoke words of love to him, and rarely saw him. He wanted to overthrow that big figure; he wanted to end it all.
He failed.
It was an old story.
The man standing on the balcony of the Imperial Palace had been cleansed of the mistakes of his youth. He had grown old and experienced. He had tried again, and this time he had succeeded. His long hair, which he had cut off during his exile, had grown back. Tied with a string, it waved in the wind. Not even the slightest expression moved on his face. His height ranged from 175 to 180 centimeters. His lips were straight, his nose was thin, and his eyes were dull. He wore the red imperial robe. It would be a lie to say that he didn't miss it during his years away.
The three brothers did not look much alike. Mais was a composite figure who resembled his father but also inherited similar traits from his mother. Leon looked like his mother's side of the family. Lameon looked like the first empress, who had died many years ago.
The three of them didn't look much alike, and other people didn't look like them at all.
"My Emperor, the execution is about to begin. Would you like to watch the first eunuch's execution?"
The 1st eunuch's execution... Lameon especially wanted him to live. He had specifically told them not to kill him in that battle. Yet now, he was going to kill him. Had his orders for him to live only been for a few months?
The man who called after him was not from his country. He was a young pirate. The pirates had sent him to participate in the Star Path Tournament. Lagos was with the pirates now, of course, but they weren't going to feed him forever. If he wasn't good enough, he would lose, and the pirates didn't expect him to win the tournament.
The First Prince's rebellion had changed the Star Path Tournament on the planet 3rd Ferua considerably. Under normal circumstances, someone wearing a pirate bandanna over both eyes would not be allowed to participate in the next tournament. But the rules were changing. It will change.
"I'll watch. You go," said Lameon. His voice was hoarse, intense, frightening, and dominant. As soon as the blind pirate heard him, she felt as if someone were stepping on her soul. It was as if someone were shaking the palace. The world was changing. She knew it. Lameon glanced at her, crushing her like an insect under his authority.
She had met Lameon a few times before the rebellion. She knew he hadn't exuded such an aura before. Did he become powerful as soon as he took the throne?
No, he had only paved the way.
Emperor Laofeng was even worse. She had caught only one glimpse of him before he died, and it had done nothing more than make her vomit blood.
"Yes, sir," said the blind pirate. As if she couldn't bear to stay any longer, she walked to the golden door and left without looking back.
The First Prince—no, more accurately, Emperor Lameon—looked thoughtful. For a while, he just watched his surroundings from his balcony. Nothing seemed to have changed, yet much had changed in the capital compared to years past. The long flower garden where he had once smelled daisies was gone. The gentle, beautiful girl he had seen there—the woman he had married—no longer smelled of daisies. Now, only the smell of blood lingered. He could no longer hear laughter on the horizon. He wasn't sure if all this had changed after he became emperor or after he was exiled.
An hour later, the emperor came downstairs without waiting for anyone. He moved quickly, and the servants did not notice him. His cultivation was beyond the imagination of his generation. And generations to come. Soon, he arrived at the dungeon. The smell of the rat carcasses made him grimace. Even in exile, he had never been treated so poorly as a top cultivator. This kind of treatment still bothered him, but it didn't stop him. Most of the soldiers standing guard were former pirates. His old friends had lent them to him until he could get the empire in order.
Lameon was not happy about this. These men had come to spy on him, not to protect him. In any case, Leon had no claim to the throne because he was barren, and Mais was probably dead. Although Lameon was disturbed by Mais' death, he knew that the palace elders now had no choice but to support him.
Why had the pirates helped Lameon? Because they had an agreement. They could not take over the Empire directly. The Empire was too powerful for that. But Lameon could help them. He offered them a third of the treasure. It was a good offer.
Unfortunately, if Mais was dead, he had teleported his body away before he died. If pirates found his body, they could escape immediately. Then, Lameon would be deprived of the treasure he needed to rule the empire. He would also find it difficult to defend his throne. It wouldn't be surprising if a ridiculous heir suddenly appeared.
So, he had Leon castrated. As horrible as it seemed, it was a much better option than killing his younger brother.
"This is complete nonsense. He may be incompetent, but my brother is not garbage. I won't believe he's dead until I see his corpse," said Lameon. It made no sense for Mais to die. Especially with those healing pills. Couldn't the treasure have kept him alive?
Lameon walked up the stairs. The stairs beneath him stretched tens of meters long. They were easy to walk on. The Emperor's cloak slid down the stairs behind him. His authoritarian aura trembled all around him, announcing his presence before he arrived.
The palace wasn't actually trembling. This palace, built by the founding empress, could not be shaken by someone of Lameon's level. However, his domineering aura caused waves in the air. This made it seem as if everything was trembling, though no one felt a tremor.
Lameon knew that most of the servants were dead. On the day of the rebellion, their collaborators had opened the palace gates. A fierce battle raged inside, and many servants died alongside the collaborators. There were new hires, but work was still slow. When the eunuchs died, the entire palace operation collapsed.
Still, none of this mattered. Leon was very quiet these days anyway, as he was forbidden to leave the palace. Vera, Lameon's first wife, was not as demanding as before. She was extremely quiet and read the situation at court. The palace officials and elders were even worse. They were completely focused on their work. Officials who didn't want to catch Lameon's eye didn't spend much time in the palace until they had the elders' protection. The elders were divided into two groups: those who supported Lameon and those who were neutral. As much as Lameon was Emperor, it was unclear whether Mais was dead or not. If Mais was alive, many experts would rather support him than the exiled prince. Pirates occupied the palace, and while enough elders remained to keep them in line, many experts had secretly delved deep into the third Ferua in search of the third prince. Therefore, the palace was much less populated than before, and, for the time being, palace maintenance was not a problem.
Lameon knew this, but the prince, though of noble blood, could not dominate the throne with the immense power like his father had.