Dark clouds churned as thunder rumbled across the heavens. The vast ocean surged with towering waves, and heavy rain lashed down, carried by the fierce winds. Amidst the raging tides, countless corpses floated, a sight both shocking and gruesome.
In the distance, a grand battle unfolded between the sea and sky. An enormous demonic entity, towering ten thousand feet high, was besieged by an uncountable number of cultivators. The demon resembled a human in form but was covered in thick black fur. Clad in pitch-black armor, it wore a horned iron helmet, giving it the terrifying presence of a war god from the Demon Realm. In its grasp was a fearsome great blade, each swing capable of severing the sea and splitting the heavens with unparalleled dominance.
The bodies of fallen cultivators continuously plummeted from the sky, crashing into the murky waters below, their blood quickly swallowed by the tides.
Ten thousand miles away, at the edge of the Nine Spirits Continent, Li Xuanyu and Tang Cai stood on a cliff, watching the battle from afar. Waves crashed against the rocks, spraying their robes with seawater, yet neither seemed to care.
"What a terrifying demon…" Tang Cai muttered in shock as she turned to Li Xuanyu. "I heard that demons like this are appearing all over the world?"
A few days ago, a massive number of meteors descended from the sky, shaking the earth. Before long, the mortal realm was plunged into chaos. It had only been a few days, and already, these demonic entities from beyond the heavens posed a direct threat to the Nine Spirits Continent.
Li Xuanyu replied, "The demonic aura in the outside world is indeed overwhelming. No wonder An Xin insisted we stay behind."
Tang Cai couldn't help but ask, "Sister, do you think Li Ya will be alright? You know how he is—wherever there's chaos, he'll rush in. I'm really worried he'll end up badly injured again."
"Don't worry," Li Xuanyu said, shaking her head slightly. "He's always been blessed with great fortune. His life is much tougher than ours."
Having said that, she turned and walked away.
Tang Cai took one last glance at the distant battle on the horizon before following after Li Xuanyu. She was curious about the demon's cultivation level, but even Li Xuanyu was unable to see through it.
What they had witnessed was merely a glimpse of the greater disaster unfolding across the world.
Every continent and every sea was plagued by the demonic invasion from the Supreme Demon Realm. Each day, countless beings perished in unimaginable horror.
Darkness had begun to descend upon the mortal realm—this was a calamity that engulfed all of heaven and earth. The Supreme Demon Realm had come solely for slaughter.
—
Sacred Domain, inside a grand palace.
Seven figures were gathered in silence, all gazing at the vacant throne that once belonged to the Annihilation God Emperor. None of them spoke for a long time.
Finally, a woman broke the silence. "The master still hasn't returned… Could something have happened to him?"
At her words, the expressions of the other six darkened. The Annihilation God Emperor had disappeared for many years. They had never been particularly worried before, but now that the Supreme Demon Realm had launched a full-scale invasion, their master remained absent, offering them no guidance or command. How could they not start to worry?
"The Supreme Demon Realm has been lurking in the shadows for ages, yet now they suddenly launch such a large-scale assault on Heavenly Spirit World. It's obvious that someone is orchestrating this from behind the scenes," a middle-aged man said solemnly, taking a deep breath. "And that person is likely… that one."
He did not name names, but everyone present understood who he meant.
The Heavenly Spirit God.
The supreme ruler of this vast world.
Silence fell upon the grand hall once again. Though the weakest among them had already reached the Profound Origin Free Immortal Realm, just the mere thought of the Heavenly Spirit God filled them with dread, extinguishing any trace of resistance or ambition within them.
At that moment, the palace trembled violently, and the flames of the candles inside flickered wildly, as if they could be snuffed out at any moment.
All seven of them turned sharply toward the great doors.
"The Sacred Court of a world without the Divine Sovereign has grown even stronger, but it seems to have lost its former sharpness."
A cold, eerie voice echoed from beyond the hall. It rumbled like distant thunder, reverberating through the entire Sacred Domain, making every living being within the Sacred Court tremble.
Inside the palace, the seven individuals exchanged glances, yet none dared to speak first.
At this moment, the fate of the Sacred Court was secondary. What they truly wanted to know was the whereabouts of the Annihilation God Emperor.
None of them even considered the possibility that he had perished. In their eyes, the worst-case scenario was that he had been sealed away. To them, the Annihilation God Emperor was an eternal and indestructible existence.
If even the Sacred Court was facing an assault from the Supreme Demon Realm, then what of the other sects?
On Tai Cang Continent, the great sects were also experiencing their tribulations. The Tai Xuan Sect, after nine thousand years without the protection of the Dao Sword Master, had once again been dragged into the battlefield to defend against this catastrophe.
Spring passed, autumn arrived, and three hundred years flew by in the blink of an eye.
The mortal world had entered a strange state—demons ran rampant, the line between humans and ghosts blurred, and all living beings existed in constant fear.
In the Tai Cang Continent, within the North Sea Mountain Range, Xuanmiao Zhenren sat before a pill furnace in his courtyard, gazing at the overcast sky with furrowed brows. He turned his head toward the Mountain God perched on the eaves and asked, "Mountain God, is there truly no one in this world capable of expelling the Supreme Demon Realm?"
Three hundred years had passed, and by now, the name of the Supreme Demon Realm was known across the world. Everyone understood that the demonic entities ravaging the mortal realm hailed from this realm. The Immortal Dynasty had fallen, the Sacred Court had been slaughtered, and the entire world was now shrouded beneath the shadow of the Supreme Demon Realm, thick with despair and without hope.
Though Xuanmiao Zhenren had secluded himself in the North Sea Mountain Range, he occasionally encountered wandering cultivators and demons, allowing him to stay informed about worldly affairs. Now, even the Tai Cang Continent was being overrun by the minions of the Supreme Demon Realm. The powerful demons that descended upon the mortal realm had recruited many subordinates, capable of breeding and cultivating more demonic entities. This rapid expansion had allowed the Supreme Demon Realm's influence to spread across the world.
"There are people who can fight them; otherwise, the mortal realm would have long since been wiped out." Sitting on the eaves, Gu An responded absentmindedly while carving a thin bamboo strip with a small blade.
Despite the invasion of the Supreme Demon Realm, the mortal world had given birth to many heroes. At that very moment, numerous great cultivators were gathering to launch an assault on the main city established by the Supreme Demon Realm in the mortal realm. This forced the Supreme Demon Realm to divert its forces for defense.
Gu An could see that the Supreme Demon Realm was merely a chess piece. The Heavenly Spirit God sought to use its power to force out the Dao Fruit of Heaven and Earth. This suggested that the Heavenly Spirit God was incapable of personally annihilating all living beings.
Somewhere in the unseen forces of fate, something was restraining the Heavenly Spirit God. This made Gu An even more curious about the Heavenly Court behind the Heavenly Spirit God.
What kind of order ruled the Heavenly Court? What hierarchy of power governed it?
Hearing Gu An's response, the worry in Xuanmiao Zhenren's eyes lessened.
Having cultivated in the mountains for over nine thousand years, he had gained his own insights.
He had once felt great compassion for the suffering of others, but as time passed, he realized he could not change anything. Suffering never disappeared—there would always be those who endured it, whether he could see them or not.
—
A deep, resonant dragon's roar echoed across heaven and earth. Xuanmiao Zhenren lifted his gaze and saw a dragon's tail emerge from the dark clouds in the distance, writhing like a mountain range in motion. It was a magnificent sight.
Though the dragon's scales were emerald green, it radiated a golden brilliance.
Xuanmiao Zhenren curiously asked, "Is this creature a god or a demon?"
Ever since the Supreme Demon Realm descended upon the world, divine beasts had occasionally emerged across the heavens. He had seen dragons before, but this dragon's tail felt different—it carried an indescribable divine presence.
Gu An, still wearing his mask, looked up and said calmly, "Neither god nor demon. It is merely a lingering soul."
That was no true dragon, but rather someone's Dharma manifestation.
Even Gu An was somewhat intrigued.
Could the Long Clan truly have such a heaven-defying prodigy?
This individual was neither Long Xin nor Long Mie.
Gu An's gaze shifted into the distance, locking onto the Third Medicine Valley of the Tai Xuan Sect.
Within Long Jun's domain, Long Qing's cultivation in the Heavenly Dragon Reincarnation Divine Aspect had advanced once more. He had condensed twelve Dharma manifestations, one of which was entwined by a golden dragon, its aura towering to the heavens.
"A lingering soul?" Xuanmiao Zhenren grew even more curious, his eyes fixed on the dragon's tail.
At that moment, it wasn't just him—across the entire continent, countless beings were gazing at the dragon's tail. The common folk mistook it for a divine dragon descending to rid the world of demons. One by one, they knelt and kowtowed, crying out prayers and pleas for salvation.
Within Long Jun's domain, everything appeared identical to the cliffs surrounding the Third Medicine Valley, yet they were actually within an entirely separate space.
Long Qing opened his eyes and turned his head toward the sky. He was momentarily stunned.