As day became night Li returned to his chambers after a long day of work. He was struggling, as a youth he had thrown himself into his martial arts training, and even though he was ashamed to admit it, he just now realized that running a city was much harder than swinging his sword.

The Lusé family was part of the Imperial Faction, they were tasked with the administration of the city of Húchéng that sat in the Great Lake of Jianghu and the region surrounding it. As the lake was connected to the various riverways and smaller lakes of Jianghu it was a vital trade center of the region and of greater China. 

Even as he was getting ready to rest Li couldn't shake his problems of his mind, there was currently great turmoil in the empire as the Righteous, Imperial and Royal factions were all fighting for a shot at the throne. The Emperor had declared that he would be choosing a successor soon and all of the factions of China had rallied behind one of the potential heirs.

The Lusé family had not yet declared their allegiance to any of the heirs, they had enough problems of their own, pirates and bandits were constantly assaulting their trade routes, and merchant groups were steadily gaining more and more power. Yet Li could not shake the feeling that something more was amiss, like somehow, a stranger, stronger force was lurking in the shadows.

Li splashed some water in his face, when suddenly, a sharp scream filled the air.

“FIRE!” seconds later screams and bells shook the air.

The uncertainty that clouded Li’s mind quickly became fear as it gripped his heart. A second later his feelings became action. He grabbed his sword from his armory and flew out of his balcony window.

The Lusé family was under attack, a fire had spread from the guards chambers into the kitchen and was now threatening the main building. 

“Guards!” Li cried out, the men that were escaping the fire quickly flocked to him

“Evacuate everyone first! We can -” Li was cut off by the sound of a man being stabbed, the clash of swords, and the unmistakable stench of blood.

“Curses” Li thought “Men, to me!” Li lunged forward towards danger, the main gate had burst open and masked attackers wearing a red headband with a flower on it surged forward.

“We are the Crimson Flower Society! And we have come to - “ The man had no time to finish his sentence before Li’s sword pierced his throat.

Lung, inner thigh, heart. Three more enemies bleed to death before they could even realize what had happened. Li had become a whirlwind of steel, his fury descending on his enemy. He had dispatched three more men before he had a moment to think.

The enemy were quickly surrounding them, most of the Lusé family's guards were spread throughout the city and dealing with their other problems in the region, at his family's estate he had 20 men at most, and the enemy was outnumbering them 2 to one. What was worse is that his men were Novice Martial Artists and the enemy had Intermediate Martial Artists in their midst.

Li quickly went into action, he needed to get rid of the higher level martial artists first to give his men a chance. A small man leapt at him from the shadows, daggers gleaming. Li stepped to the side and pierced his lung and his heart without stopping. Two more men charged at him, Li went low, piercing one of the man's knees and the other's foot, stopping them completely before slicing both their throats.

“Enough” a figure proclaimed as it stepped forth from the shadows, the figure lifted its cloak to reveal a lean well built man. “Impresive, you managed to kill ten of my men in a few seconds”

“Eleven” Li retorted. The figure heard a thud behind him as one of his men fell, a dagger had flown from Li’s hand and struck him square in the chest.

The figure roared with laughter “Good! Good!” 

“My name is - “

“I care not for the name of a man that will soon be dead” Li interrupted, a second dagger flew at his enemies head.

It was quickly parried, the man wielded a wolf-fang club, but the way it moved had Li worried. Li had quickly sensed it, his enemy was a fellow Advanced Martial Artist.

They charged at each other, the wolf-fang club shrieking in the air as it swung, Li side stepped and went for a lunge only to find it parried by the shaft of his enemy's long weapon. They traded a few more opening blows, neither finding any ground. 

Li grew nervous, he could hear his men struggling with the fight, the more time he wasted on this fight the more the danger grew.

Li lunged and the man reacted, only to realize too late that it was a feint, hopping back and then sideways, Li struck at the man's face, he reacted just in time, barely moving his head, still Li managed to graze the top of his head, just above his eye.

The man roared, leapt into the air with incredible speed, Li barely had time to react as he rolled out of the way, the spot where he had stood was reduced to rubble. 

Again Li lunged, this time the man was ready for a feint, except it didn't come, the sword flew straight into his opponent's shoulder and pierced the bone. As he tried to pull the sword away Li was shocked, the man tensed his arm and upper body and held onto the sword with only his muscles. He ripped the sword away from Li and swung his club with one arm, hitting Li square on the side. 

Li managed to react, raising his sword arm and focusing his internal energy where the blow landed, Li flew three meters from the impact, he struggled to stand as the man pulled Li’s sword from his shoulder. Li’s dominant arm was completely shattered, but when he raised his eyes the sight completely horrified him. 

Lán, his youngest son, had positioned himself behind a pillar with his sword out, the child's sword was already red with blood from his enemies. The cut Li had inflicted on his enemy head obscured their vision and Lán was using it to get close.

Li wanted to shout for his son to run away, this man was not a threat he could beat. But he was still struggling to come to his senses as the man moved towards him. Lán waited for the perfect opening, as one of the buildings collapsed from the strength of the fire, Lán rushed forward, masking the sound of his steps and moving through his enemies blind spot. Lán leapt forward, piercing his enemy in the side. 

The man struggled, but his supernatural strength somehow kept him standing, he swatted Lán's sword away and delivered a powerful punch to his lower abdomen.

Lán coughed as the blow filled with internal energy pushed through him and destroyed his inner organs, he was sent flying backwards.

“NO!” Li screamed as his son lay crumpled on the ground, he charged, pulling a dagger from beneath his cloak. The man turned to look at him but Lán’s attack had made him drop his weapon. Before he could react Li jumped on top of him, plunging his dagger deep into the man's heart with all his might. They both collapsed on the floor.

As Li struggled to get up, he saw as more figures crossed the now collapsed front gate, Chief Guard Baek rushed to his side. 

“Sir! are you alright” Li took his friends hand

“Baek my son is he?” Li looked around the battlefield “My family, where are they?”

“I don't know sir” Baek stuttered “But sir, its bad, all of our guard posts in the city are being attacked, our men are being ambushed they don't stand a chance”

“Get my son to a physician, find my family Baek” Li said as he picked up his sword from the ground.

The battle had just begun.