“Yuan watched the girl and his child die in his arms, after being refused by the emperor. I… was powerless to help. All I knew how to do was to kill, to fight, to burn. I could not heal. But even then, I had tried to let the boy grieve, let him recover. I thought it would take time, but he would move on. But… I had been wrong,” the old man said. A torrent of emotions swirled in his eyes.“He poured himself into learning more, into forbidden books, into life, death, and into immortality. The boy cultivated an immortal twin, secretly mastering Gu and demonic arts, trying to reach past the point anyone had. To reach for Ascendance. He managed to even find a lost Divine Beast and receive their blessing. If there was anyone in the world who could’ve done it, it was him.“But… at the very end, at the pinnacle… his technique failed. When the boy had attempted transcendence… the demonic half of him betrayed him. I sensed the shift and had found him and tried to kill the demon… but it was too

As we passed by through the streets, I could see the city, covered in all kinds of decorations, people wearing vibrant clothes and walking all around and being vibrant, the entire place seemed filled with life, more so than it typically did. Which said a lot, since at any moment Azure city already looked quite vibrant and teeming with life.As we got closer, I could see many other carriages that were also making their way to the palace. But part of the perks of being with one of the lords from the seven celestial peaks was that ours got entry far more easily into the castle grounds. The carriages strolled past the gates and I looked out. I’d been here once before for the Alchemy hall discussions recently, but this was the main entrance of the castle, and far more well built.Lords and nobles all entered through this place and rows of flowers adorned the pathway, beautifully paved roads leading to a smooth ride. The different buildings and people all around only added to the feeling of

A vast pool of Qi rested within him, with the most perfect control of aura I had ever seen someone have in my life.“And then at last, the newest Divinity, the matriarch of the Shie!”I saw the Shie matriarch arrive, her aura icy and chill like poison that lurked around her body. She looked the most out of place, with her rather young appearance. As she walked across the court, instead of taking her seat on the five thrones, she stood in front of the emperor, bowing her head.“Raise your head Zhuihu,” the emperor said and the matriarch looked up. “We have looked forward to this day for nearly a century.”“I am honored to have met your expectations,” the matriarch replied.The emperor nodded. “Shie Zhuihu, do you and your clan swear on your immortal soul to serve us and this empire to the best of your ability?”“I swear,” the matriarch replied.I heard a roar somewhere in the distance as the Heavens shook above me, a powerful wave of energy passing through.“Then come, and take your se

Flee watched the sky turn dark, as a foreboding sensation filled her mind. She looked at the sky, watching the moon be swallowed into darkness, followed by the world all around her. A sinking chill spread throughout the area, flowing out into everything. There was something at the edge of her senses, making her feel uneasy.Ash growled next to her, sensing something similar as well. Little wisps of flames danced around his wrists, as his eyes scanned the surroundings.“We move. Go back to Master,” Ash said, glancing down at Flee.Flee returned a nod. She followed behind Ash as they walked out through the gardens outside, the beautiful flowers now swaying in the cold wind with a haunting presence. Flee kept her eye out for anything around her.Just what had happened? She’d been eating treats and dishes made from spirit herbs happily when all of a sudden the entire atmosphere had changed. It wasn’t just her or Ash either, some other people had also noticed the change and begun moving ou

Yan Yun felt terror wash over her, as the skies turned dark. Shadowy figures moved around in droves, the terrible aura of death now spreading through the castle. Just how? How could demons be in the capital, in the emperor’s castle of all places? Just the Qi in the air alone would be damaging to them, burning away their bodies and weakening them. And yet they were here, and Yan Yun felt like she was living through a nightmare. Panic spread among the people, further increased when barriers rose on both the inner sections and the jade court hall with the emperor, cutting them out from the rest of the castle. Some cultivators rose in outrage, but most ran in panic, falling to demons as they gave chase them like a predator hunting prey. The people here had never seen a demon, never even encountered demonic beasts. To them, this was a thing of a world somewhere far away, and nothing they would ever have to worry about. A part of her looked down on them, but she knew that even those people