Fuxiao City, City Lord's Mansion.
A dozen six-armed, two-headed demonic creatures had taken over the entire City Lord's Mansion, reducing its once exquisite decor to ruins. But the creatures weren't satisfied; they opened their massive jaws and spewed black, searing flames, wantonly destroying the land around them.
Nearby, seven or eight guards who had narrowly escaped the creatures' clutches huddled together, helping the wounded City Lord as they desperately fled the city under the cover of night.
As they dashed through the deserted streets and alleys, what had once been a bustling city had now become a wasteland. Many others, like them, were also running through the debris, hoping to escape.
Among them, a frail woman stumbled along with her equally frail daughter in her arms, following the remnants of the city wall.
"Mother..." The little girl, perched on her mother's shoulder, peeked over her shoulder with wide, innocent eyes, constantly glancing back. "Didn't they say there were immortals in the City Lord's Mansion? Why haven't they come to drive away these monsters?"
Her mother didn't look back, clutching her daughter tightly as cold raindrops began to fall, some slipping down her collar, causing her to shiver.
"Be quiet, my dear. Don't make a sound, and don't look at them."
The girl, nestled in her mother's arms, turned around with difficulty, catching a glimpse of her mother's tightly pressed lips and determined gaze.
In her memory, her mother had always been gentle and weak. After a severe hemorrhage during childbirth, her mother's health had never fully recovered, and she had spent most of her days bedridden, leaving her father to handle all the household affairs.
Thinking of her father, the girl couldn't help but look over her mother's shoulder again. Where was he? Why hadn't he come with them?
Her last memory of her father was just before those creatures stormed into their home. He had used all his strength to shove her and her mother into a rice barrel. At that time, his smile had seemed strange, his hands trembling uncontrollably as he told her they were going to play hide and seek, and she must cover her ears and not come out, no matter what she heard.
Later... she had fallen asleep in the darkness of the rice barrel, and when she awoke, she saw Aunt Chen from the neighboring courtyard.
Aunt Chen had pulled her and her mother out of the barrel, urging them to leave quickly.
There had been a strange smell in the house, but before she could look for her father, her mother had grabbed her and hurriedly fled toward the city gates.
They encountered many people along the way, all of whom were running for their lives, heads down. The eerie silence and tense atmosphere that pervaded the city made the girl feel scared and uneasy.
Her mother had been running silently for a long time, only when they finally saw the shadow of the city gate in the distance did she relax a little.
The gate was already open, its dark maw resembling a giant beast's gaping mouth, waiting for them to approach.
"Hold on a little longer, dear," the mother said, kissing her daughter's cheek to comfort both her daughter and herself.
She was so focused on her daughter that she didn't notice the protruding tree root beneath her feet. It wasn't until her toes struck something hard, sending pain shooting up her leg, that she realized she had thrown her daughter into the air.
"Dear!" The woman's scream shattered the night's silence.
A flash of silver streaked through the sky, and in the next moment, the girl found herself cradled in a soft embrace.
Her rescuer was a young female cultivator with dimples on both cheeks. The cultivator looked down at the girl and smiled, "Are you alright, little one?"
The girl blinked and shook her head.
The cultivator handed her back to her mother, who had collapsed on the ground. Then, she smiled at the two figures who had caught up behind her, "Luckily, I caught her in time."
Su Luowei nodded, acknowledging the woman on the ground before turning to the cultivator. "We should hurry."
The cultivator, Xie Hanzhu, glanced at Wen Miaomiao's pale face, noting how she looked like she might collapse at any moment. Concerned, she suggested, "Miaomiao, you're still seriously injured. You don't need to come with us. Maybe you should stay here and escort them to safety."
Wen Miaomiao shook her head, "I'm fine. Finding Fu Guang is more important."
Seeing her resolve, Xie Hanzhu sighed and crouched beside the little girl, gently wiping away the unconscious tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes. "Don't be afraid. Just follow this path, and someone will be waiting to help you."
With that, the three women turned into beams of light and disappeared from sight.
The girl watched them leave and only turned back to her mother when they had completely vanished, her voice filled with awe. "Were they immortals, mother?"
She clutched her mother's clothes tightly, her face full of longing. "Immortals are so beautiful. When I grow up, I want to be one too."
Following the trail left by the demons, Su Luowei and the others arrived at the City Lord's Mansion, where they were immediately greeted by the sight of a disheveled Sheng Ruiming being pinned to the ground. The demonic cultivators had bound his hands and feet and torn open his clothes, and a black dagger was poised over his chest.
These demons were actually planning to carve out his heart.
Nearby, the butler of the City Lord's Mansion, whom Su Luowei had met before, stood with red-rimmed eyes, cursing the demons who held his young master.
"You bastards! Come at me if you dare, but let my young master go!"
"You're loyal," the demon standing over Sheng Ruiming sneered, his eyes shifting from Sheng Ruiming to the butler.
He sized the butler up with a contemptuous smile, "He's a cultivator, eating his heart will benefit my cultivation. You, on the other hand, are just an old man. Even if you offered yourself up, I wouldn't bother—your old bones are too tough to chew."
As the dagger began to descend toward Sheng Ruiming's chest, a cold, clear voice rang out from behind them.
"How dare you run rampant in the human world. You've got some nerve."
"The human world? Hah!" The demon turned to see three beautiful women standing behind him and laughed darkly. "Where did these little ladies come from? They're quite the lookers."
His companion's eyes gleamed with lust as he joined in, "We haven't had the pleasure of meeting such beauties since we arrived in the human world. Once we're done with this one, we'll have some fun with you."
"You—" Xie Hanzhu, who had never been insulted in such a way, furrowed her brow, ready to strike. But Su Luowei was quicker, forming a hand seal as the sky suddenly darkened, and a great, scorching flame appeared out of nowhere, engulfing the demons that had been sneaking up behind them, incinerating them instantly.
Sensing the aura of a cultivator emanating from her, the leading demon's face turned pale. "Great Ascension cultivator!" He turned to flee, but before he could even attempt to dodge, the searing flames had already wrapped around him.
As the demons perished, Sheng Ruiming stared in shock for a moment before scrambling to his feet and bowing deeply to the three women. "Thank you, seniors, for your timely rescue."
After completing his bow, he stood up and recognized two of the women as familiar faces. Searching his memory, he hesitantly asked, "Are the two of you from Qingxu Sect?"
Xie Hanzhu nodded, "Yes, we met many years ago. It's been... nearly two hundred years now, hasn't it?"
Back then, rumors of a white fox's wedding had spread through Fuxiao City. The three of them had decided to investigate and had met Sheng Ruiming, who was also a cultivator.
At that time, Sheng Ruiming had already reached the Golden Core stage, but nearly two hundred years had passed, and he had only just reached the late stage of Golden Core.
Compared to him, Su Luowei and the others had progressed at a remarkable pace.
Xie Hanzhu had already formed her Nascent Soul many years ago, and Wen Miaomiao had had her own fortuitous encounters in the demon realm, making her a Lesser Ascension cultivator.
The highest cultivation level belonged to Su Luowei, who, after her ordeal in the demon realm with Meng Shuying, had ascended to the Great Ascension stage.
Meng Shuying...
Thinking of her dao companion, Su Luowei's heart tightened. It had been seven or eight days since she had been transported to Ten Directions Abode, and there was still no sign of Meng Shuying.
She hadn't wanted to leave, preferring to stay at Ten Directions Abode and wait for Meng Shuying. But Wen Miaomiao had warned that if the demon hordes continued to ravage the mortal world unchecked, it would surely fall.
Faced with the choice between her dao companion and the fate of countless lives, Su Luowei, though anxious, knew what she had to do.
Still...
On the island that day, Meng Shuying had told her to go first, promising to follow shortly after.
Why hasn't Meng Shuying arrived after all these days? Could she have encountered some kind of accident?
Su Luowei had a vague sense that something might be wrong, but she instinctively chose to trust Meng Shuying.
Since she promised she would come, she definitely won't break her word.
"Yes, two hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye," Sheng Ruiming said with a bitter smile. "I would have liked to host the three of you properly here in Fuxiao City, but given the current state of the city, you've seen for yourselves that it's simply impossible..."
Under the ravages of the demon clan, the entire city had turned into ruins. It wouldn't be long before Fuxiao City completely vanished from the world.
Faced with such devastation, Su Luowei and the others didn't know how to comfort him. Xie Hanzhu patted Sheng Ruiming on the shoulder and said, "Stay strong, your father is still waiting for you outside the city."
However, Sheng Ruiming shook his head and replied softly, "I'm afraid... I will disappoint my father."
He cast a long glance toward the outskirts of the city, then suddenly gritted his teeth and knelt before Su Luowei. "I have a presumptuous request!"
Su Luowei looked at this former "senior brother" in name and flicked her finger, stopping him from completing the kneeling gesture.
Sheng Ruiming's knees were suspended in mid-air, unable to touch the ground, yet he still stubbornly kept his head bowed in respect. "I know it's a bold request... but please, senior, lend a hand and save the East Pole Sect!"
"What's happened to the East Pole Sect?"
"Fu Guang and his forces are already on their way there!"
The current five major forces in the cultivation world are East Pole, Danyang, Penglai, Kunlun, and Qingxu. Since Meng Shuying caused chaos in Danyang Alliance over a hundred years ago, Danyang has been gradually weakening.
The appearance of the demon clan dealt Danyang Alliance a fatal blow.
Before arriving in Fuxiao City, Wen Miaomiao and Xie Hanzhu had already visited Danyang. Wen Miaomiao had fought Fu Guang there, but she was severely injured and had to retreat to Ten Directions Abode.
No one expected that the demon clan's next target would be the East Pole Sect.
Su Luowei and Wen Miaomiao exchanged a glance, both seeing the worry in each other's eyes.
The East Pole Sect was located in a unique position; mortals and lower-level cultivators could only leave the island by boat. If the East Pole Sect were truly to be overrun by the demon army, the mortals on the island would find it difficult to escape. Moreover, Su Luowei's parents were still on East Pole Island, so she could not stand by and do nothing.
Wen Miaomiao's thoughts went even deeper. There were five paths from the demon realm to the human realm. With the sealing formation in Danyang broken, Fu Guang could have chosen to go to the nearer Qingxu Sect, yet he turned toward the East Pole Sect instead—there must be a reason.
On the isolated island deep within the Endless Sea, a light rain was falling.
Meng Shuying sat cross-legged at the center of the teleportation array, her hands forming seals as she carefully absorbed the spiritual energy, bit by bit.
Deep within her spiritual sea, the small Nascent Soul sat upright, meticulously controlling the spiritual energy within her body, compressing it into liquid form and guiding it back into her spiritual sea.
One drop... two drops... three drops—the whole process was difficult and tedious, but Meng Shuying was fully immersed in it.
Only when her spiritual energy was finally exhausted did she slowly open her eyes and exhale gently.
"Senior Sister... wait for me a little longer. I'll come find you very soon."