Northern Sea of Yin State.
Dozens of Yin State cultivators fled frantically along the coast. Among them were Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Those lagging were quickly enveloped by a gray mist, followed by agonized screams.
“My wife!” Some cultivators, eyes bloodshot, tried to turn back and fight the mist, but others held them back.
“Zi State’s forces have already destroyed three cities. The more they kill, the more fierce ghosts they have at their command! The outpost is just ahead. Let’s regroup with other cultivators before seeking revenge!”
A Nascent Soul cultivator emerged from the mist. Though still human in form, his skin was ashen, and his feet had become ethereal –Half-Face-Ghost.
“You have no chance! Submit to my Cycle of Reincarnation and embrace eternal life!”
As a tide of fierce ghosts surged forward, despair washed over the cultivators’ faces.
“Fellow Daoists, I’d rather scatter my soul than become a lackey harming our kind! Those willing to die with me, let’s self-destruct our souls and perish with these evil ghosts!”
As the Yin State cultivators, known for their valor, prepared for a final stand, a thunderous crack of space splitting open resonated.
The earth trembled. The imposing ghost tide faltered. The Half-Face-Ghost Nascent Soul commander looked out to sea in shock. A black fissure suddenly split open a hundred miles offshore in the once-calm ocean.
Unlike typical Nascent Soul space rifts, this crack was filled with countless unsettling sounds and… bestial roars.
“This is… the Great Demon Sealing Formation!”
More cracks appeared, forming a vast spider web across the sky. A deep, commanding voice echoed, and a massive mountain supporting heaven and earth toppled through the rift.
The true nature of the northern sea of Yin State was finally revealed.
A State slowly rose from the depths, causing a tsunami that instantly submerged a hundred miles of Yin State’s coast. Both cultivators and evil ghosts on the shore were annihilated by the aftershock of the broken seal.
The entire cultivation world, all eleven major States, sensed this terrifying disturbance.
Near this emerging State, an “island” slowly rose. Amidst thunder and lightning, a colossal head the size of an island appeared.
Winged demon beasts emerged first, followed by layered mountain caves on the State. In the stale mix of sea brine and demonic energy, long-suppressed hatred exploded as countless demons surfaced.
“Hail, Sumeru Primal Spirit!”
The island was Sumeru Turtle’s head. As it slowly opened its eyes, the sun and moon dimmed. Its gaze, filled with millennia of resentment, shot northward towards Zi State.
“The Four Totems have manifested. My demon kin, follow me to sink Zi State and enslave humanity!”
…
“What’s that sound?”
Nan Yan, having just helped the monks of Mao State repel invaders, felt a violent tremor. She instinctively sensed her blood warming.
Soon she realized it wasn’t just her. Among the cultivators at Sorrow Mountain Buddhist Sea, those with spirit beasts found their companions uncontrollable.
This is…
Nan Yan closed her eyes to ponder. Since her demon blood awakening, inherited knowledge from the Phoenix demon clan sometimes surfaced in her mind. She quickly understood the cause of this disturbance.
“The royal bloodline’s command – all demons must obey.”
Yin Ya, the little nine-colored deer, and herself were unaffected, indicating the order came from Sumeru Turtle in the Great Demon Sealing Formation.
Sure enough, the little nine-colored deer’s ears twitched, and it suddenly spoke: “Father sent a message. He says Sumeru Turtle has broken the Demon Sealing Mountain and is about to sink Zi State.”
“…”
The little deer looked up: “Isn’t Daosheng Tian your enemy? Why aren’t you happy?”
Nan Yan had long known the demon seal would break, but she hadn’t expected Sumeru Turtle to break free before the Nine Hells calamity ended.
Frowning, she said, “I oppose Daosheng Tian because I’m human. I don’t rejoice in their conflict leading to the State’s sinking, also because I’m human.”
The little deer tilted its head curiously: “I don’t understand.”
“Your ability to grasp this already surpasses most humans.”
Nan Yan turned to see the Dragon Lord dragging her eldest brother by the foot. After silently appraising her, he asked, “Was your journey successful?”
“Father has escaped, but I don’t know where he is.”
Father…
She said it so naturally that the light in Ao Guanghan’s cold eyes quickly dimmed. His grip tightened, causing Mu Zhanting to yelp in pain. After rolling around clutching his ankle, Mu Zhanting stood up. Sensing the atmosphere, he had a rare moment of quick thinking and chirped:
“Don’t cry, Dragon Lord. Even if you can’t have Ah Yan, you still have me. I’ll be with you till the end!”
The atmosphere instantly froze.
Animal instinct made Mu Zhanting wisely hide behind Nan Yan.
Ao Guanghan, expressionless, continued the previous topic: “During the ancient realm war, there was a State between Zi and Yin States. Powerful cultivators used forbidden techniques to sink it into the sea, reducing the land of the adjacent States by a third. If Zi State is truly sunk, Yin and Hai States will also be affected.”
Nan Yan asked, “Then—”
The Dragon Lord’s gaze cooled slightly: “You needn’t worry. Though Sumeru Turtle is strong, Zi State has Ying Zewei.”
A thousand hatreds and ten thousand prejudices couldn’t change the fact that Ying Zewei remained the world’s strongest.
Nan Yan fell silent. Ao Guanghan kicked Mu Zhanting awake and waved his hand in the air, conjuring a water mirror. It reflected the current scene at Floating Mountain.
“What you need to do is understand your opponent’s strength clearly,” Ao Guanghan said.
Nan Yan looked up and saw a figure carrying a zither walking along a mountain path.
It was Nan Yi.
…
Daosheng Tian.
Ying Zewei had been listening to the increasingly rapid dripping of rainwater from the eaves for half a day.
The evergreen bamboo, usually swaying in the wind and rain, suddenly stopped. The next moment, as if sliced by invisible zither strings, it collapsed with a thunderous crash. Amidst the chaotic swirling of bamboo leaves, Ying Zewei looked up to see his old friend approaching with a zither.
“Yi Gu.” Gray eyes reflected Nan Yi’s pale face as Ying Zewei spoke, “Using the Red Emperor’s true blood to refine your bloodline may temporarily elevate you to the Fourth Decline of the Celestial realm, but it will deplete your lifespan. Is it worth it?”
With each step Nan Yi took, the spirit stone path crumbled. Blood splattering from his zither strings was evidence of his violent entrance.
“Every day apart from Jiao Niang feels like an eternity of desolation,” Nan Yi raised his eyes, staring intently at Ying Zewei. “Do you intend to kill all lovers in the world before you’re satisfied?”
The autumn rain continued to fall softly. The world was filled only with the sound of rain and a heartbeat named anger.
Ying Zewei brushed away scattered bamboo leaves from the chessboard. “Yi Gu, you’re the last person I want to kill.”
Nan Yi found this all absurd. He laughed bitterly, “My father, my sister, my wife… all their lives calculated away by you. Now you say you don’t want to kill me?”
“…”
“Why? Has the Dao Lord’s plan for me concluded? Am I… of no more use?”
After a long silence, Ying Zewei said, “The great Dao has flaws. Only one in ten survives. The Dao Lord’s last words were that only one person from the Nan family should live. From the beginning, I hoped that person would be you.”
Absurd, laughable, detestable.
Nan Yi had known since childhood that he was the result of the Red Emperor’s compromise with humanity.
His mother, Consort Yun, had once admired the Red Emperor. After the realm war, humanity occupied many of the most spiritually rich States overseas. The Dao Lord had once promised to matchmake for the Yun family of Shen State, vowing to make her the mistress of Yin State.
But the Red Emperor still married the demon princess Dan Ying. The proud Consort Yun lost face completely. This resentment didn’t last long, as the demon empress Dan Ying died of depression after giving birth to a daughter. Years later, when the Red Emperor emerged from his grief over losing his wife, he realized that Nan Ruo had become increasingly unruly due to a lack of proper upbringing. After more than ten persuasions from the Dao Lord, he finally married the Yun family’s daughter.
Gossip made the noble-born Consort Yun increasingly gloomy. After becoming pregnant with Nan Yi, she tried to gauge the Red Emperor’s intentions, only to find that even if she bore a son, the Red Emperor still favored Nan Ruo, who resembled her more, to inherit Yin State.
Consort Yun finally understood that although the demon empress was dead, she remained the true empress. Despite Consort Yun’s control over the Red Emperor’s harem, she was ultimately just a consort.
“That year, while pregnant, my mother attended a symposium in Zi State. Upon returning, she argued with Father. He accidentally injured her, causing my premature birth. I was born blind in both eyes. Father felt immense guilt and for years turned a blind eye to my mother’s efforts to install Yun family influence in Yin State.” Nan Yi’s sightless eyes turned towards the direction of Daosheng Tian’s Mingquan Hall. “Tell me, did my mother make any agreement with the Dao Lord back then?”
“The first to break through and ascend couldn’t be anyone outside of Daosheng Tian.”
Ying Zewei stood up. With half a step, their surroundings shifted, and suddenly both he and Nan Yi appeared in Mingquan Hall.
“There’s nothing that can’t be said now.” Ying Zewei lit three incense sticks and placed them on the bronze tripod before the Dao Lord’s statue. His gaze was indifferent as he spoke, “Consort Yun wanted Nan Ruo dead, while the Dao Lord wanted that Red Emperor demon heart. That year, they jointly deceived the Red Emperor. The Dao Lord set up a formation for Ruo Niang’s demon heart… You know what happened after that.”
Blood seeped from Nan Yi’s fingers as he gripped the zither strings. “When did you become involved in the Dao Lord’s plan?”
“The Dao Lord didn’t inform me of this until he knew his lifespan was nearly over.” Just as Ying Zewei himself had never intended to let Ji Yang and Mo Xingzhen know of his bloody deeds.
“You must find it strange why I’m not like Shao Cang, fighting to the death for justice and righteousness.” A chilling smile appeared on his lips. “You surely haven’t seen the Dao Lord, my master, once the strongest in the cultivation world, kneeling before me, begging me to scatter his soul out of fear of death.”
…What?
“He said he took the wrong first step on the path of cultivation, killing his wife and children for longevity, fighting countless battles in the cultivation world just to avoid meeting them in the underworld after death.”
“He feared retribution from his wife and daughter after death, so he thought of ruling the Nine Hells.”
“Isn’t it laughable? The revered founder of the Dao, in the end, said he was wrong.”
The morbid smile widened on his lips. Ying Zewei summoned the sword he had used for self-punishment in Mingquan Hall over countless years. The sharp tip scraped across the bluestone floor, making a grating sound. The white sword marks wound past the incense table, dragging to the foot of the Dao Lord’s statue.
“I couldn’t allow him to be wrong. Look at this stone statue. I’ve resculpted it many times… Too tall, I’d cut off his head. Too short, I’d replace the bones. It always ends up as I want it to be.”
All seven strings of Nan Yi’s zither were now blood-red. With a resounding twang, the void around them shattered.
“You… madman!”
Nan Yi’s zither had only twice in his life turned into a killing blade. Once in Linglong Capital, where he lost Jiao Niang, and now in Daosheng Tian, where he lost his family.
The melodious strings created a zither realm. Everything around Ying Zewei was sliced by invisible blades. The zither strings constricted within three feet of him but were halted by a chaotic energy flow, unable to advance further.
“Unable to let go of emotions, the Fourth Decline is your limit,” Ying Zewei said calmly. “Even with a one in ten thousand chance of mutual destruction, I can still be endlessly reborn. You’re merely seeking death.”
Nan Yi’s fingers didn’t stop playing as he asked, “If only one person from the Nan family is to survive if I die, will you keep your promise and spare Ah Yan’s life?”
Ying Zewei replied, “That’s why I said from the beginning, I hoped the survivor would be you. Otherwise, I’d have to break my promise.”
“Ha… Well done, Daosheng Tian Sect Master!”
Anger was useless, pleading was useless. All that remained was killing.
The zither strings stirred wind and clouds; its melody made heaven and earth weep.
In distant Mao State, Nan Yan was practically pressed against the water mirror, intently watching the situation in Daosheng Tian.
Everything was crumbling. Spatial fragments whirled into a storm. Amidst the ruins, only the Dao Lord’s colossal statue remained standing. Beneath it, one side’s strings were broken and sound collapsed, while the other remained unscathed.
“Uncle!”
Just as Nan Yan thought Nan Yi was about to be killed, the entire scene suddenly shook. Ying Zewei slowly sheathed his sword and looked up towards the southeast sky where demon clouds were rapidly approaching. An ancient, primordial voice rang out.
“Zi State, the Demon Kingdom has come to claim its vengeance!”