The bustling Azure Moon Market fell into complete silence.
Merchants lowered their heads.
Cultivators instinctively stepped aside.
No one dared to block the path of the Crown Prince.
Lucien walked forward with measured steps, his expression calm, as though the entire world belonged beneath his feet.
His crimson-gold eyes landed on the cracked black ring resting on the wooden stall.
The ring looked worthless.
Cracked.
Rusted.
Covered in dust.
Yet through the Divine Eyes of Destiny, he saw something entirely different.
Golden threads of fate surrounded it, while an ancient, slumbering soul rested deep within.
[Ancient Void Ring]
Destiny Rank: SSS
Contains: A sealed Primordial Emperor Soul.
Current Owner: None.
A faint smile appeared on Lucien's lips.
"So the system wasn't wrong."
Across from him stood a young man in plain blue robes.
His face was handsome but ordinary compared to Lucien's. However, his eyes burned with unyielding determination.
The system immediately displayed another panel.
Name: Lin Tian
Age: 18
Cultivation: Early Spirit Gathering Realm
Hero Destiny: SSS
Luck Value: 100,000
Threat Level: Extreme
Recommendation: Suppress before he reaches the Golden Core Realm.
Lucien studied him for a moment.
"Interesting... So this is the protagonist."
Lin Tian also looked at Lucien.
For some reason...
The moment their eyes met, an indescribable sense of danger surged through his heart.
He had never met this man before.
Yet every instinct screamed at him...
"Stay away from him."
The old stall owner broke the silence.
"Y-Your Imperial Highness... this old ring costs only ten Spirit Stones."
Lucien smiled faintly.
"I'll offer ten thousand."
The old man's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"T-Ten thousand?"
The surrounding crowd gasped.
Ten thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones for a piece of junk?
Even Lin Tian frowned.
"Why would the Crown Prince want this ring?"
For the first time since entering the capital...
The future had become uncertain.
Just as the old merchant reached for the ring—
Lin Tian spoke.
"I'll pay twenty thousand."
The market exploded into whispers.
Someone had dared to compete with the Crown Prince.
Had he gone mad?
Lucien looked at him, neither angry nor surprised.
Instead...
He smiled.
"Auction, then."
"One hundred thousand."
Silence.
The old merchant's knees nearly gave out.
One hundred thousand!
That amount could buy a small sect.
Lin Tian clenched his fists.
He possessed nowhere near that amount of wealth.
Even if he sold everything he owned, he couldn't gather one percent of the price.
His greatest opportunity...
Was slipping away.
Inside Lucien's mind, the system chimed.
[Hero's Luck has decreased by 3,000.]
[Villain Value +500.]
Lucien's smile widened ever so slightly.
"Interesting."
Simply disrupting the protagonist's destiny weakened his fortune.
No wonder the heavens favored those with unwavering momentum.
Break that momentum...
And even destiny could bleed.
The old merchant hurriedly wrapped the ring with trembling hands.
"Y-Your Imperial Highness... it belongs to you."
Lucien accepted it without another word.
The moment his fingers touched the ring—
A freezing voice echoed in his mind.
"Who dares disturb this Emperor's slumber?"
An overwhelming pressure flooded his consciousness.
Any ordinary cultivator would have collapsed instantly.
Lucien merely raised an eyebrow.
"So you're awake."
Before the ancient soul could react—
The Primordial Void Bloodline within Lucien erupted.
A terrifying wave of ancient authority crushed the ring from within.
The old voice suddenly trembled.
"This aura..."
"...Impossible."
"A Primordial Void Bloodline?!"
Lucien answered calmly within his mind.
"Kneel."
One word.
One command.
The ancient emperor's soul felt as though an entire universe had descended upon him.
He had once ruled countless worlds.
Yet before this bloodline...
He felt insignificant.
Slowly...
The ancient soul lowered its head.
"I greet... Your Highness."
Lucien's eyes flashed with satisfaction.
"Good."
He had expected resistance.
Instead, bloodline suppression had turned a future mentor of the protagonist into his own servant.
Far away, Lin Tian watched the Crown Prince leave with the ring.
His fists tightened until his nails drew blood.
He didn't know why.
But he had the overwhelming feeling...
That he had just lost something that should have belonged to him.
Above the capital, invisible currents of destiny collided.
One path had changed.
The future was no longer the same.
And somewhere beyond the heavens...
A pair of ancient eyes slowly opened.
"They have begun to move..."
"They are changing the script."
End of Chapter 3