In the dark throne room, Sima Yi shows a video of Liu Che, Wei Zifu, and other Han pilots, alongside strategist Zhuge Liang, declaring rebellion under the White Lotus Flag. They denounce Qin Zheng as bewitched and vow to retake Huaxia. Sima Yi reports the Han army in Chengdu has defected, the Han governor is dead, prisoners are armed, and there's fighting over the Red Cliff Dam. Sima Yi urges Qin Zheng to pilot the Yellow Dragon, but he hesitates, unwilling to risk himself before the planned strike on the Heavenly Court.

Zetian exploits this hesitation, threatening Qin Zheng with her scythe and demanding to pilot the Yellow Dragon herself. Reminding him she still needs him alive to reach Shimin, she persuades him to entrust her with the mission. Qin Zheng even gives Di Renjie his armor as co-pilot. Qieluo and Yang Jian are dispatched to the Han frontier in the White Tiger.

Zetian and Di Renjie reach the Yellow Dragon on Mount Ziwei. Di Renjie laments the civil war and questions Zetian's tolerance of executions. They board and launch southward toward Chengdu. Mid-flight, Zetian senses two Prince-class signatures—the Azure Dragon and the Whale Bird—approaching. Lacking Qin Zheng's instant metal-shaping skill, she laboriously sculpts a crude Ascended Form subunit from the Yellow Dragon, attempting to disguise her identity with a Qin Zheng impersonation.

Battle erupts. Zetian trades ideological barbs with the Azure Dragon's pilots, defending the revolution's flaws as growing pains versus the old order's worse atrocities. The Azure Dragon eventually sees through her ruse. The Whale Bird strikes her down; the Azure Dragon tears off a wing and carries her skyward, planning to drop her on Zhuge Liang's command. Zetian impales her sword through both units to lock them together.

Disconnecting from the battle link, Zetian carves wings into her armor, leaves a set for Di Renjie, and leaps from the subunit's mouth. She crawls onto the Azure Dragon, cuts into its cockpit, and threatens Liu Che's human body. Zhuge Liang orders compliance, but Liu Che refuses and disconnects, sending the Azure Dragon plunging. Wei Zifu desperately keeps it aloft manually until she falters. Zetian cuts her way out and flies free, but Di Renjie never made it out of the subunit. Both Chrysalises crash into the mountains with their co-pilots—Di Renjie and Wei Zifu—still inside.