The cramped rental room reeked of ambition. Lin Hao’s clawed fingers spun the golden spatial ring plucked from Li Qingshou’s corpse. Crimson light spilled from ten iron chests now crowding the floor—Spirit Sun Stones pulsed like captured stars.

  "Three thousand stones. Thirty million taels." Lin Hao’s scaled palm crushed a gem, its energy merging with his draconic veins. "Enough to buy ten assassins… or burn a dynasty."

  Kung Fu Fly’s wings hummed approval. Wolf Spider skittered across the hoard, venom glands distended with stolen potency.

  ———

  Lin Manor’s ancestral hall thrummed with rage. Patriarch Lin Hongkang’s fist obliterated a sandalwood table. "Li’s dogs mined behind our backs?!"

  Four elders exchanged grim nods. Behind them, Lin Hao leaned against vermilion pillars, milky eyes tracking their qi fluctuations.

  "A friend shared… interesting intelligence." His voice cut through the tension. "Li Qingshou’s ring held three thousand Spirit Sun Stones. Mined, not bought."

  "Impossible!" The youngest elder protested. "Our scouts monitored the mines—"

  "Your scouts sniffed decoy tunnels." Lin Hao’s laughter dripped venom. "While Li’s men hollowed the true vein. Even now, his heirs siphon the last dregs."

  Patriarch Lin’s blade erupted in violet lightning. "Mobilize the guard! Leave no Li dog breathing at dawn!"

  ———

  Moonlight bathed the caravan racing toward Li Mountain Villa. Lin Hao watched from a fire-watch tower, Ant-Man’s swarm mapping the terrain into his consciousness.

  "Fools charge to empty mines," he mused. Kung Fu Fly circled above, tracking Lin Hongkang’s furious advance. "While the true prize…"

  Wolf Spider’s mandibles clicked. Below, Ant-Man’s colony breached hidden vaults beneath the villa—mountains of uncut Spirit Sun Stones awaiting refinement.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Lin Hao’s spatial ring glowed as stolen riches vanished into its depths. "Let them fight over bones. We take the marrow."

  ———

  Dawn painted Li Manor in blood hues. Lin guards dragged weeping servants through shattered gates. Patriarch Lin stared at the picked-clean mine shafts, teeth grinding.

  "Search every tunnel! Every grain of stone—"

  "Gone, Patriarch." A captain knelt trembling. "Only… these."

  He proffered a jade hairpin—Lin Wanrong’s favorite, left deliberately in the central vault.

  Lin Hongkang’s roar shook the valley. Far downstream, Lin Hao rinsed Li heirs’ blood from his claws, the final stones secured.

  "Checkmate," he whispered. The river carried his laughter toward a waiting jasmine-scented horizon.

  The Offering

  Dawn painted the Zhao estate in pale gold. Servants exhaled relief as Lin Hao strode through the gates, his scaled boots crunching gravel. The dining hall fell silent when he entered—noblemen paused mid-bite, their whispers weaving two tales: Li Qingshou's bloody demise, and the Lin clan's midnight raid on Spirit Sun mines.

  "Double portion," Lin Hao ordered, fangs glinting as he bit into roasted pheasant. Ant-Man crawled from his sleeve, transmitting real-time surveillance from the ancestral hall where Patriarchs Lin and Zhao conspired.

  ———

  "Fifty million taels?!" Lin Hongkang's teacup shattered.

  Zhao Tianlie hid a smirk behind his beard. "The boy's appetite matches his talents."

  In the corridor outside, Zhao Rong intercepted Lin Hao. "The Patriarchs request your presence."

  "After dessert." Lin Hao licked honey-glazed fingers, Ant-Man's feed revealing every plotted word. So the old vultures want to invest.

  ———

  The ancestral hall reeked of sandalwood and desperation. Lin Hongkang clasped Lin Hao's shoulders—a viper's embrace. "Your intelligence secured the mines. Name your reward."

  Lin Hao's milky eyes narrowed. "Five million for travel expenses to Tianyan Academy."

  "Done!" The Patriarch's relief lasted precisely one breath.

  "Five million spirit stones," Lin Hao corrected, claws extending. "Or fifty million taels. Whichever clears faster."

  Zhao Tianlie choked on his tea. Lin Hongkang's jade pendant cracked under tightening fingers.

  "Consider it... an investment." Lin Hao leaned close, draconic energy rippling his robes. "Unless the Lin clan prefers its geniuses loyal to the Zhaos?"

  ———

  Moonrise found Lin Hao counting spirit stones in his chambers. Kung Fu Fly hovered above the hoard, wings casting prismatic shadows.

  "Fools buy chains with gold," he mused, crushing a stone to absorb its fire. The Zhao-Lin alliance would crumble by autumn—Ant-Man's swarm already burrowed beneath both estates' vaults.

  A jasmine-scented breeze carried Lin Wanrong's laughter from the eastern wing. Lin Hao's claws retracted. Let the Patriarchs scheme. Their kingdoms were sandcastles; his empire rose in the shadows.