The underworld is a cruel place…
That is what I realized from the day I was born—under a relentless storm that sent my shell hurtling into a tree. My spine shattered on impact, breaking my back in two as the winds swept more clusters of unhatched demons across the land.
Huff… huff…
My body screamed in pain from the first impact, but I couldn't just sit there and use the tree as cover as the wind picked up.
So with everything I had, I ran. And ran. Hawks cried above me. Wolves howled as the archipelago aligned with the Azure Pit.
Knowledge flooded my mind—what I was, the laws of the Abyss, and the trials. Above the Blue Sea, there wasn't just one archipelago of floating islands, but half a dozen, all taking turns rotating above the gate to the Abyss.
Every hundred years, these six island clusters bore demonic life.
Monsters hunted the hatchlings nonstop for half a day as they fled toward the amethyst mountains to truly awaken into Dao Fiends.
Then the islands toppled over, sacrificing most who failed to reach the mountains and granting passage down the Azure Pit to those who succeeded.
Meanwhile, animals that hid entered deep hibernation in their burrows, while birds simply migrated to an upcoming cluster.
Before the archipelago flipped and drifted away from the Abyss passage—replaced by a new set of islands—the soul anchors drew in spirits.
Birds from the previous island circle migrated toward it, while animals emerged from hibernation, having sensed the wave of souls gathering in the amethyst mountains.
Within those mountains, the soul anchors birthed dark embryos formed from incomplete souls—newborn demons encased in shells.
They incubated for sixteen years inside the mountain's sacred valleys before guardian beasts were ordered to fly them out and scatter them across the island to participate in the first trial of survival once they hatched.
This was what happened to me—and I knew what would come next.
I ran toward the amethyst mountains, limping as walking became harder with my broken spine.
But I forced myself onward.
If I failed to reach the sacred valley, I would die.
Even if I couldn't make it, I needed to find somewhere survivable—because when the land flipped, I'd have to endure.
I would wait for the animals to awaken, wait through a hundred years, sixteen-year cycles passing as the archipelagos rotated, until another wave of hatchings came a century later.
Eventually, I reached the valley without suffering further injury. My sharp claws proved useful as I climbed. I found a parchment scroll, refined it, and awakened a hellflame.
I survived—even injured.
I, Aelthra Morven Suhai Vaelin Yīnluò, was unstoppable.
…Or so I thought.
One after another, stronger demons emerged from their awakenings.
Red giants wreathed in Dao flames along their claws and tails.
Insect demons bearing violet and abyssal-black fire.
Snake demons with humanoid torsos and long, powerful tails.
Others possessed unique Daos that didn't rely solely on flames.
Meanwhile, I grew more deformed. My spine bent into a hunch. Spikes burst from my shoulder blades. My claws elongated further, layered with bony plates that now formed gauntlets around my arms and curtain parts of my body.
They were even more special.
I watched with envy as demons awakened unique sub-Daos born from the Law of the Underworld Seal—the primary law of the Abyss—each tapping into individual concepts.
They obtained: earth, wind, water, and even more complex ones—plants, poison, wood—each sealed within the overarching concept of the Underworld Seal.
Separate from the rest of the five Supreme Laws.
They grew faster than those awakened to Infernal Bite, Azure Pit, Burning Hell, or Bone Key.
I had to face reality. I had deluded myself into thinking I could surpass them all in the long run just because I awakened a Supreme Law.
They could comprehend their simpler laws far faster—and though one day mine might eclipse theirs, until then, I was nothing but prey.
And so I descended. I fought. I hid.
One year became two. Two became three. At first, I didn't give up—but my disabilities became undeniable, and my threats only grew faster.
Each hunt felt like it would be my last, every encounter brushing against death.
Eventually, fear took root. My Dao failed to improve. My cultivation stagnated. Three years of paranoia became twenty. My dread deepened as I fled farther and farther from my birth region.
I couldn't survive anymore.
I ran through barren lands—until I found it.
A new region filled with juveniles.
This could be my break—
Crack!
Even among newborns, I was nothing.
Confusion set in as I encountered humanoid beings—half bull, half man. Minotaurs. They circled me with stone clubs. A barrage of swings crashed into my body.
Bones snapped. My claws barely grazed them.
I remember how my claws failed to wound them. When I used my flames, they didn't even react.
Forced into a corner, I realized I had spent my entire life running and hiding. And truthfully, I didn't know how I would have survived—if you hadn't appeared to save me.
In a chasm that smelled of molten rock, a hunchbacked woman knelt with her arms bound.
White hair cascaded unevenly down her face as she stared at a winged silhouette of a bird-man standing on the ledge above her, a jar of blood held in one hand.
His arms were taloned, feathers running along his limbs and birdlike head. He stood nearly six feet tall. Golden-yellow talons tipped his hands and feet, adding to his height.
"You've really given me a lot of insight into this world," he said casually. "Who would've thought you could fuse parts of your soul into objects? How the first floor is in continuous expansion and rotation… how different laws truly exist out there…"
He landed beside her.
"You truly are a gem of knowledge. But there's still one thing on my mind…"
His voice lowered.
"Would you die for me?"
Yīnluò's heart froze.
It wasn't enough to humiliate her. It wasn't enough to extract knowledge. It was never enough to satisfy a demon's curiosity. Of course. Meeting a kind stranger was too good to be true.
She closed her eyes.
In the end, it all came down to strength. It didn't matter what law your Dao came from. In this world, talent, bloodlines, and comprehension were supreme.
Luxuries the weak could never afford.
Then… maybe I should just give up.
Tears welled in her eyes.
"It would be an honor to die for someone as talented as you."
It was too exhausting—running, hiding, scheming.
How could she fight in a world of talented monsters, where newly hatched demons posed a threat to her life, and prodigies mastered instantaneous movement between distant territories?
If anything, she should be glad. This child—having uncovered such a strange power—would live a long time.
And maybe carry parts of her soul within him for centuries to come.
"Please devour me and become a fearsome existence," she whispered. "Reach the bottom of the Abyss, my lord."
Yīnluò bowed her head to his feet.
The figure's shadow engulfed her.
"Shff… shff…"
She heard something shifting above her. Her body twitched instinctively. Though resigned to death, the unknown unsettled her—especially when she felt something brush against her.
She kept her head lowered beneath her brown skin cloak.
"?"
Violet feathers littered the floor before her.
Then she saw a pale knee lower to the stone.
"Raise your head."
The voice was softer than before.
She trembled, but slowly obeyed.
Before her stood a male demon with three black-and-gold eyes, their whites pitch-black. Feathers framed his cheeks and forehead. His lips were a deep black with a violet sheen.
She wanted to flee—but the wings behind him told her the truth.
This was still the same being she had asked to take her life.
And strangely… that calmed her.
The half bird-boy lifted a gentle claw to her face.
"In case this doesn't work the way I planned," he murmured, "remember—it's your fault for feeding me incorrect information about blood vitality, not my fault~"
He leaned in.
His mouth was a petal of black flesh.
He kissed her.
Their tongues met. Her eyes squeezed shut. Her lips parted slightly.
What is this…?
Her entire body shuddered.
Then he pulled her closer, his tongue rolling once more—before withdrawing.
In a lightning-fast motion—
"!!!!"
The taste of Qi flooded her mouth. Something pierced the back of her throat.
A needle pinned through soft tissue.
Her body froze.
She went limp, falling backward as she realized he had killed her—without ever parting from her lips.
Endless darkness welcomed her.
No being would happily celebrate their end.
If only I had been born with an advantage… just one…
But regret couldn't change what had already happened.
…
…
…
She drifted through nothingness—and yet everything.
Her body reformed into a ghostly construct, floating through the void for what felt like eternity. Darkness surrounded her, though muffled sounds still reached her ears.
Claws dug into her soul.
A mouth devoured parts of it.
You're taking me in…
That's good. At least I won't sit in darkness forever.
The sensation ended as suddenly as it began.
She looked at her spirit body—half of it was gone.
She closed her eyes.
If only I had a second chance…
Flesh!
A blinding light tore through the void.
"Gasp!!"
Air flooded her lungs.
"Welcome back."
She turned toward the voice.
A boy sat cross-legged nearby, looking bored. Twenty empty clay jars lay scattered beside him.
"It seems you were telling the truth," he said thoughtfully. "Blood does replenish a demon's vitality. But what you failed to mention…"
He smiled.
"…was that it can resurrect the dead—as long as half their soul structure remains~"
Thud—thump…
This was the day I met the only being who could stir my heart.
A twisted existence beyond life and death.
My lord—the demonic shaman,
Qìrén Zerath.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Yīnluò laughed through tears of joy and relief, staining her cheeks with her second chance at life.
At that moment, I knew—
This was only the beginning.
Qiren didn't seem like the type to doubt his theories. He would kill her again and again before moving on to another—but she knew that if she stayed with him, she would grow stronger.
Her back snapped.
Flames bloomed along her spine, burning through flesh as bone realigned and corrected itself.
Her Dao ignited—
At her first taste of death.