Meeting little Yuanen Yehui was more than just a pleasant interlude; it was a confirmation of his deductions. As he held the chubby-cheeked girl, her complaints about being "locked away" confirmed that her mother, Ye Hui, had been under heavy surveillance. The Yuanen Patriarch, Zhentian, had only recently lowered his guard.
It was a fatal mistake.
The Return of the Second Aunt
Zhangting's certainty regarding the timing of the disaster came from a single, overlooked detail in the tapestry of fate. In the original timeline, Yuanen Yehui's Second Aunt was the first victim, slaughtered by the demon legion upon her return from her travels.
Zhangting had already received intelligence through the Spirit Pagoda's network: the Second Aunt was delayed. She wouldn't arrive until tonight. Her absence at the banquet table, sitting next to her husband (the Second Uncle), was the final confirmation. The "Demon Gate" wouldn't just open; it would open exactly when she crossed into the family territory.
The Breakthrough and the Flight
As the banquet concluded and the shadows of the mountains lengthened, the Spirit Pagoda leadership, including Qian Gu Dongfeng, retreated into private chambers for the real negotiations. Zhangting, however, vanished into the gloom.
He didn't need a guide. He moved with the predatory grace of a soul master who had already memorized the terrain. He reached his pre-selected high point—a sparsely vegetated ridge that offered a perfect, unobstructed line of fire for his heavy artillery.
The Observation
Taking out a Monocular Soul-Guided Telescope, Zhangting dialed the focus.
In the lens, he saw a tender scene: Ye Hui tucking the exhausted Yuanen Yehui into bed. The mother's gaze was full of overflowing love—the last spark of humanity before the storm.
Suddenly, Ye Hui's body convulsed. Her head snapped back, her wine-red eyes widening in a terrifying, glazed stare. She realized it instantly—the "breakthrough" she had suppressed for so long was no longer a choice. The Rank 90 threshold was shattering.
"Oh no!" she gasped.
In a blur of desperate speed, she fled the room and the family compound, running deep into the desolate mountains. She knew that if she stayed, the energy of her breakthrough would tear her family apart.
Setting the Stage
From his vantage point, Zhangting watched the silhouette of the fleeing Soul Douluo. He didn't move to stop her. Instead, he reached into his storage ring and began unboxing the Ninth-Rank Fixed-load Soul Tool Cannon Shells.
Step 1: Calibrate the trajectory to the peak where Ye Hui's aura is peaking.
Step 2: Activate the Spirit Tool Radar to alert the nearby Spirit Pagoda branches.
Step 3: Wait for the spatial rift.
The air around the mountains began to hum. The sky didn't just darken; it seemed to bruise, turning a sickly purple as the boundaries between the Douluo Continent and the Demon Dimension began to fray.
"The guests are almost here," Zhangting whispered to the cold wind, his hand resting on the firing mechanism of a weapon that could erase a mountain. "Let's see if the Demon Monarch Wu Jie likes the taste of human technology."
1,000-Word Detail Expansion: The Mechanics of the Demon Gate
The Demon Gate is not a traditional portal; it is a Planar Parasite. When a soul master with a specific "Evil" or "Demonic" attribute reaches the Title Douluo stage, the sheer volume of soul power creates a temporary bridge.
The Singularity: As Ye Hui reaches Rank 90, her soul power becomes a beacon.
The Breach: The Demon Dimension, sensing a high-level energy source, "hooks" into the bridge.
The Invasion: The Demon Monarch Wu Jie uses this bridge to bypass the planetary defenses of the Douluo Continent.
Zhangting's plan relies on the "Vibration" metal he gathered earlier. By firing the Ninth-Rank shells at the moment of the breach, he intends to use the explosion's shockwave to collapse the spatial bridge, trapping half the demon army in the void while vaporizing the other half on the mountaintop.
Next Chapter: The Blood-Red Moon — The Battle of the Demon Gate.
Expert Guide: Ye Hui is currently a victim of her own power, trying to protect her family by running away. If Zhangting fires his cannons, he might kill her along with the demons. Should he try to save her for the sake of little Yuanen Yehui, or is she a "necessary sacrifice" to ensure the total destruction of the demon legion?