“Yueyin, where exactly are we supposed to find this Sword Master?” Wu Tian’s voice carried a note of unease as he surveyed the land before them. “He should be in Lan Tzi Village,” Yueyin replied, her brows furrowing. “But… why is it so empty here?” Wu Tian’s gaze swept across the silent streets. place abandoned long ago. Like a ghost village.” They had reached Lan Tzi just before dusk. Yet what greeted them was not the warmth of hearths or the chatter of villagers, but a suffocating silence. The air itself seemed heavy, as though the village had been drained of life. Lan Tzi was no longer a home—it was a graveyard of memories. Doors hung ajar, creaking faintly in the evening wind. Windows stared blankly, their shutters broken. Dust coated the pathways, and weeds clawed through cracks in the stone. The faint smell of mildew and rot lingered, mingling with the metallic tang of twilight air. Yueyin’s voice trembled. “I’ve been secluded in the Forbidden Forest for so long… I didn

"I have lived through this before! I will not abandon this place, Qing Feng!" Yueyin’s voice trembled, yet carried a defiant edge. Qing Feng’s brows furrowed, his eyes narrowing as though he were trying to pierce through the fog of Yueyin’s words. "What do you mean you’ve experienced this already?" His tone was sharp, tinged with suspicion. Yueyin drew a long breath, her gaze drifting toward the dusky horizon where the last rays of sunlight bled into the sky. "I arrived at Lan Tzi Village once before, just as twilight was falling. When I stepped into its boundaries, the village was nothing but a graveyard of silence. Not a single soul stirred. It was as though the place had been abandoned for centuries." Qing Feng’s eyes widened. "You came here at dusk?" "Yes," Yueyin replied firmly. "But it was nothing like what we see now—no bustling villagers, no laughter echoing from courtyards, no smoke curling from chimneys. It was a hollow shell, a place stripped of life. Tell me, Qing F

“Wu Tian!” Yueyin hissed urgently, her voice sharp with warning. But the young man had already stepped out of the abandoned house, his figure cutting through the dim light of the cursed village. Reluctantly, Yueyin followed, her heart pounding. She feared what rashness might cost him. At once, Lady Lin’s guards moved to block Wu Tian’s path. Their blades glinted faintly under the pale moon, their stance rigid. “Stand down,” Lady Lin commanded, her voice calm yet carrying authority. “Let him approach.” Wu Tian’s eyes narrowed as he studied the woman before him. She was striking—her warrior’s attire clung to her form, radiating strength and elegance. He had never seen her before, yet she seemed to know him. “Welcome, Wu Tian,” Lady Lin said with a faint smile. Wu Tian’s voice was wary. “I don’t know you. Are you truly from the Lin family of Hu Nan?” “Yes,” she replied without hesitation. Wu Tian frowned. “We’ve never met, yet you know my name, my face. Who are you?” “My

At dawn, the village of Lan Tzi stirred once more with life. The streets filled with chatter, footsteps, and the clatter of market stalls, as though the suffocating black fog of the previous night had never existed. The villagers moved about with eerie normalcy, their faces calm, their voices bright, as if the horrors of the darkness had been erased from memory. “Come, Wu Tian! We must see Qing Feng and finish the relic blade. Time is slipping away!” Yueyin urged, her hand gripping Wu Tian’s wrist tightly. Wu Tian stumbled, still heavy with fatigue. “Wait, Yueyin… my body feels weak.” His voice cracked with exhaustion. But Yueyin did not relent. To her, the relic sword was more than a weapon—it was Wu Tian’s destiny, the key to his survival and his rise as a cultivator. “You’ll thank me later, Wu Tian. I won’t let you end up like your father, Wu Jian!” Her tone was sharp, almost desperate, as she pulled him forward. Wu Tian nearly collapsed, his legs trembling. He wasn’t lying—

“HAHAHA…” The laughter tore through the void like jagged steel scraping against stone—deep, guttural, and drenched in menace. It reverberated across the bleak expanse of the shadow realm, a place where light itself seemed strangled, where the air reeked faintly of iron and decay. The echo rolled endlessly, bouncing off unseen walls of darkness, until it felt as though the very ground beneath their feet pulsed with the sound. “Who dares trespass into my dominion? You walk willingly into death!” The voice thundered again, heavy as collapsing mountains, each syllable dripping with contempt. Yueyin froze. Her posture stiffened, her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes widened with a recognition that chilled her companions. Wu Tian and Lin Xia exchanged uneasy glances, sensing the sudden shift in her aura. “Mao Xiang!” Yueyin’s voice cracked with disbelief and fury. “You haven’t changed at all! I thought you perished—burned away in the battle when the fairy cultivators clashed