The atmosphere on the Spirit Island of the Sword was suffocating. Razor-sharp winds howled around the central peak, which thrust into the sky like a polished katana blade. This was the domain of the Tenth Sequence, Ryuzaki Kenji, a place where the very air cut like a knife.
At the foot of the mountain, Tachibana Ayaka paced anxiously. Her beautiful face, usually composed in a mask of arrogance, was twisted with a mix of grievance and vindictive anticipation. She wore a deep blue furisode, the silk fluttering violently in the gale.
"Has Master Kenji not emerged from his Seikan (seclusion) yet?" she muttered, biting her lip until it nearly bled.
For days, resentment had gnawed at her insides. The image of Ryuzaki Reika—the "Flower of the High Peak"—kneeling before that three-year-old child, Haruto, burned in her mind. Ayaka had always believed that her master, Kenji, was the pinnacle of the clan's younger generation. She had tied her fate to his, believing his rise would guarantee her own power.
'Just you wait,' Ayaka thought venomously. 'When Master breaks through, he will wash away this humiliation. That child, Haruto, will learn that status isn't everything.'
BOOM!
A terrifying pillar of spiritual pressure erupted from the summit. The clouds above the island were sliced cleanly in half, revealing the azure sky. A figure descended from the heavens, stepping on the empty air as if descending invisible stairs.
It was Ryuzaki Kenji. He looked to be about fourteen, dressed in midnight-black hakama and a haori emblazoned with the Ryuzaki crest. His eyes were dark pools of profound sword-intent, and his presence was overwhelming. He had stepped into the Divine Palace Realm.
"Master Kenji!"
Ayaka threw herself forward, tears instantly welling in her eyes. She fell to her knees, grasping the hem of his hakama.
"Ayaka?" Kenji looked down, his sharp aura retracting slightly. "Why are you weeping? Who has wronged you while I was away?"
"Master... you must seek justice for me!" Ayaka sobbed, her voice trembling with practiced vulnerability. "I was only thinking of your reputation... but that Ryuzaki Reika and the new Divine Son, Haruto, they... they humiliated us!"
Kenji's expression darkened. "Haruto? The infant born three years ago? What happened?"
Ayaka poured out her twisted version of events. "Reika refused your recruitment, yet she knelt to become that child's maid! And when I defended your honor, saying your sword record was superior, that child... he insulted you! He said you weren't worthy to carry his shoes!"
She looked up, expecting to see Kenji's face flush with rage. She expected him to draw his blade and fly to the Heavenly Emperor Palace to demand a duel.
Instead, she saw his face drain of all color. His eyes, usually sharp, widened in genuine horror.
"You..." Kenji's voice shook, not with anger at Haruto, but with terrified disbelief. "You provoked Haruto?"
"Yes! He is just a child with a fancy title!" Ayaka cried out. "Master, you must—"
SNAP!
The sound was like a whip crack.
Ayaka felt a massive force collide with her face. The world spun violently, and she crashed into the gravel, tasting copper. Her cheek burned with a searing heat. She touched her face, her fingers coming away bloody, and looked up at Kenji in utter shock.
"Master?" she whispered. "You... hit me?"
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Kenji roared, his composure shattering. "Do you want to destroy my entire lineage?!"
He stepped forward and kicked her, sending her rolling across the sharp stones.
"You idiot! You absolute fool!" Kenji screamed, his chest heaving. "Do you know who Ryuzaki Haruto is? Do you think he is just a 'child'? His father is Ryuzaki Mumei—the White-Clad God King! A man who once slaughtered a path through the Immortal Realms with a single sword!"
Ayaka trembled, shrinking back. "B-but Lord Mumei is missing..."
"Missing is not dead!" Kenji bellowed. "And even without his father, Haruto has the favor of the Eighteenth Ancestor! The Ancestor threatened to start an Immortal War for him! And you... a mere follower... dared to insult him in my name?"
Kenji ran a hand through his hair, pacing frantically. If Haruto decided to pursue this, a single word to the Ancestor could strip Kenji of his Sequence title. His cultivation, his resources, his future—all gone because of this woman's vanity.
"Master, I didn't know... please forgive me!" Ayaka wailed, finally realizing the abyss she had pushed them into. She pressed her forehead into the sharp rocks, kowtowing frantically.
Kenji stopped pacing. He looked at her with cold, calculating eyes.
"Forgiveness is not mine to give," he said icily. "Get up."
Ayaka scrambled to her feet, shaking.
"Go find a bundle of Ibara (thorny brambles)," Kenji commanded. "Strip off your outer kimono. You will carry the thorns on your bare back. We are going to the Ten-no-Kura."
"The... Apology of Thorns?" Ayaka's face went white. It was an ancient, humiliating ritual of submission. To walk through the clan half-naked, bleeding from thorns, was a social death sentence. "Master, please... anything but that!"
"Do it," Kenji's hand hovered over the hilt of his sword. "Or I will cut your head off right here and take that to apologize instead."
The path to the Ten-no-Kura (Heavenly Emperor Palace) was long.
For Ayaka, it was a walk through hell. She wore only a thin white under-robe, stained red where the bundle of sharp brambles dug into her skin. Every step drove the thorns deeper. Tears streamed down her swollen face, mixing with the blood from her split lip.
Behind her walked Ryuzaki Kenji, his head lowered, his expression grim.
The spectacle drew the attention of every disciple they passed.
"Is that... the Tenth Sequence?" "Kami above, look at Tachibana Ayaka! She is performing the Thorn-Bearing Apology!" "Did they offend the Divine Son?" "The Sword-Master has surrendered without drawing his blade..."
The whispers were like poison arrows, piercing Ayaka's pride more painfully than the thorns. She wanted to faint, to die, but Kenji's oppressive aura forced her to keep walking.
Inside the Ten-no-Kura, the atmosphere was tranquil.
The palace was a masterpiece of Heian-era architecture, floating amidst clouds that smelled of sweet incense. Ryuzaki Haruto sat on a tatami mat made of woven Spirit Grass, looking bored.
Opposite him, Ryuzaki Reika knelt gracefully, performing the tea ceremony (Cha-no-yu). Her movements were fluid and precise. She used a bamboo ladle to pour water—condensed from thousand-year-old morning dew—into a bowl containing leaves from an Enlightened Tea Tree.
"Your Highness," Reika said softly, placing the jade-green tea before him. "Please."
Haruto took a sip, savoring the rush of spiritual energy. "Grandpa Kenshin really knows how to hoard the good stuff," he mused. "But it's a bit quiet today. I was hoping for some excitement."
"Excitement?" Reika tilted her head.
"You know, a challenge," Haruto grinned. "Your little encounter at the arena. The cliché says the arrogant young master should come storming in to avenge his insulted follower right about now."
Reika smiled faintly. "Lord Kenji is proud, but he is not a fool. He knows the gap between you and him."
"That's boring," Haruto sighed.
Just then, a servant's voice rang from the entrance. "Your Highness! The Tenth Sequence, Ryuzaki Kenji, requests an audience!"
Haruto's eyes lit up. He sat up straighter. " finally! Reika, stand back. Let's see how strong the 'Indestructible Sword Body' really is."
The massive cedar doors groaned open.
Haruto prepared himself for a blast of sword-intent or a shouted challenge. Instead, he blinked in confusion.
Ryuzaki Kenji walked in, but his posture was not aggressive. He looked... terrified. And behind him stumbled a woman, bloody and weeping, carrying a bundle of thorns on her back.
"Cousin Haruto," Kenji bowed deeply—a perfect ninety-degree angle. "This is the first time we meet. I apologize for the unsightly appearance."
"This is..." Haruto pointed at Ayaka, who had collapsed onto the floor, trembling.
"My follower, Ayaka, was blind and foolish," Kenji said, his voice strained. "She offended you and Lady Reika. I have punished her, and brought her here to perform the Apology of Thorns to show my sincerity."
Ayaka dragged herself forward. She didn't dare look up. "This lowly servant... begs for the Divine Son's forgiveness... and Reika-sama's mercy."
Haruto looked at the bleeding woman, then at the nervous "Sword Master." He felt a wave of disappointment.
'So much for the face-slapping scene,' Haruto thought. 'He folded instantly.'
"Is that all?" Haruto asked nonchalantly, leaning back.
Kenji flinched at the indifference. He gritted his teeth. He knew words were cheap. He needed to pay a blood price to ensure Haruto didn't hold a grudge.
"Cousin," Kenji said, reaching into his sleeve. "Words are wind. To express my apology, I offer this."
He produced a token. It was made of an unknown, ancient metal that swirled with chaotic energy. The moment it appeared, the spiritual pressure in the room spiked.
"This is the Amatsu Supreme Token," Kenji explained, his heart aching at the loss. "I found two in an ancient ruin. It is one of the keys to the legendary Secret Treasury of Supreme Amatsu."
"Supreme Treasure!" Reika gasped, her composure slipping.
In the cultivation world, above Saints were the Supreme Beings. A treasury left by such an entity would contain wealth that could buy entire empires.
[Ding!]
The mechanical voice of the System chimed in Haruto's mind.
[System Event Triggered.] [New Sign-In Location Refreshed: The Amatsu Supreme Treasury.]
Haruto's eyes narrowed. 'The System adapts to events? Interesting.'
He looked at Kenji. The boy was sweating, clearly terrified that Haruto would reject the gift and continue the feud.
"Well," Haruto smiled, the golden Ki of his Kongo-Seitai flaring gently. He reached out, the token floating from Kenji's hand to his. "Since Cousin Kenji is so polite, it would be rude of me to refuse."
Kenji let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Thank you, Cousin," Kenji said. As he looked at Haruto, he felt the vast, ocean-like depth of the toddler's power. It was suffocating. 'The rumors were true,' Kenji thought, shivering. 'He is a monster in human skin. I must never oppose him.'