The sky above Xiao Nation hung heavy and dim. The rain had stopped, yet the air remained cold and damp, as if the earth itself was still breathing out the remnants of the storm.
Along the main street of Tianxu City, where the palace stood far in the distance, Hun Yao walked slowly through a crowd that felt eerily quieter than usual. His robe still smelled of blood and mud. People around him—even those watching from their windows—stared sharply at him, as if he were some sort of threat. Hun Yao simply lowered his head and kept walking.
At every corner, elite palace guards patrolled… far more than normal. They moved in formations of five or seven, wearing white robes lined with gold. The emblem of the Heavenly Palace on their chests glowed faintly under a protective Qi barrier.
Hun Yao stopped at a junction.
At the end of this street… the Xian Ni Inn should have been there.
He walked forward slowly, hesitation creeping into his steps. Shen Xue, walking beside him, narrowed her eyes. The three remaining elite guards approached as well, silent but on alert.
And then—
"…it's gone," Si Wu muttered under his breath.
Hun Yao stood before a completely different building.
It did not resemble the Xian Ni Inn at all. Its structure was simpler, like an ordinary family home. Walls painted earthen red, a roof of dark brown tiles, no signboard, no markings. No black roots. No giant eye. Nothing of the inn they once knew.
Yet… this was the same place.
"Could this be an illusion?" asked the third guard, Meng Qiu.
Shen Xue shook her head slowly. "Not a simple illusion. The aura of the earth here has changed. This… feels like a different place entirely. As if… a piece of reality has been shifted."
Hun Yao stepped forward and placed his palm against the wall of the new building.
No Qi echo. No magical resistance. Just… a wall.
But he understood.
"He didn't move the place…" Hun Yao whispered. "…he moved us."
The guards exchanged uneasy looks.
Shen Xue knelt, studying the ground beneath their feet. She drew a small circle with her finger, then blew on it with a stream of healing Qi. The circle pulsed… then cracked into thin fractures, forming a delicate web-like pattern.
"The soil here is contaminated. Not by poison or blood. This… is the residue of broken time."
Hun Yao exhaled slowly. "Then this isn't about curses or dark sects anymore. This… is much older."
"Is this Yao Ji's doing?" Meng Qiu asked.
Hun Yao stared at the building. "If she truly is the Gatekeeper of the Underworld… then this is only the beginning of what she can do."
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from an alley behind them.
They all readied themselves, but the figure who appeared was just a small boy—eight or nine years old. His clothes were torn, his eyes red from crying, yet he showed no fear.
"You… saw it disappear too, right?" the boy asked.
Hun Yao stepped closer. "What do you mean?"
"There was a strange building last night. Full of noises inside. But this morning, it was gone. But I saw something. When lightning struck… a big eye appeared on its roof. But not everyone could see it. Only… those who have nightmares."
Shen Xue crouched. "What's your name?"
"I… I'm Dha Lin."
"Dha Lin," Hun Yao said softly, "do you know anything else?"
The boy nodded. "My grandpa once told me. About a 'shadow sleeping beneath the city.' He said… it wasn't a fairy tale. There's a reason why no one builds tall buildings on this road. He said… something lies beneath that must never be disturbed."
Shen Xue looked at Hun Yao with a tightened expression.
"If even common folk know this story… then the truth runs deeper than a mere legend."
Hun Yao rose to his feet. "We need to meet the Head of State and the high advisors immediately. If we're walking on top of the Underworld Gate… then this nation is standing at the edge of disaster."
Thunder rumbled above them.
And from the direction of the palace, a magical alarm wailed.
The western sky darkened.
Clouds rolled like an enraged dragon, spewing lightning that never reached the ground. The triple-stroke siren blared—the signal for extreme danger. On the western border wall of Xiao Nation, elite guards stood in rows with spiritual spears and soul-infused arrows, staring tensely at the shadowed forest before them.
"Report! A swarm of parasites detected five li from the fortress!"
"Their numbers… thousands—no, more than a thousand!"
Orders echoed directly from the central palace.
"Deploy two squads of elite guards and mid-stage cultivator units! Do not let a single one breach our defenses!"
The normally quiet western fortress turned into a battlefield of vigilance. Defensive formations activated, spiritual lines glowing around the watchtowers. Cultivators sat cross-legged at key points, channeling energy to reinforce the parasite-repelling array.
At the main gate, the frontline commander, General Mu Feng, stood tall with his black robe and golden lightning spear. His voice boomed:
"Stand firm! This is our homeland! We are the first wall between the people and the darkness!"
The troops roared back.
And as the sun dipped toward the horizon, they appeared from the trees.
Parasites.
Thousands of multi-legged beasts with razor maws and glowing green eyes, rushing like a tide. Some flew, some crawled, all of them driven by the same instinct: devour, corrupt, consume.
"Loose the soul arrows!"
Spiritual bolts rained down from the towers, arcing beautifully before piercing the monsters. Hundreds burned, but the rest pushed forward without pain.
The guardian circle activated.
Symbolic patterns spread across the ground, forming a holy field that slowed the parasites. Guards and cultivators charged, unleashing blow after blow. Spiritual blades, flaming fists, Qi-charged spears—everything clashed violently.
The earth shook under the battle's fury.
Mid-stage cultivators unleashed their techniques.
"Heaven-Piercing Thunder Slash!"
"Eternal Frost Net—Freeze the Soul!"
Parasitic bodies fell, but the horde didn't thin.
Until… the air changed.
Cold seeped in. A pale mist drifted from the eastern forest. Trees trembled… and fell silent. The earth pulsed faintly, like the heartbeat of a massive creature. Everyone's gaze turned toward the widening darkness.
Footsteps echoed.
Slow. Heavy.
From the mist emerged a towering figure with branching horns and half-open wings. Scales of black silver covered his body, and in his hand dragged a long chain attached to a mutilated parasitic corpse.
A guard whispered in terror, "That… that isn't a normal parasite…"
A senior cultivator raised his hand, halting the attack. "Don't tell me… that's—"
The figure raised his head.
His eyes glowed blood-red.
"I… am Lao Te."
A crushing aura burst forth, shaking the earth.
Lightning tore across the sky.
"The 56th Demon King among the 127 rulers of the underworld. It is time for this land… to drown in death."
The western sky did not merely darken—it reddened, not from sunset, but from Lao Te's power. Alarm cries rang out from the watchtowers. Guards and cultivators were mobilized under direct orders from the Head of State. A thunderous command shook the base.
"The Western Fortress is under attack! All elite guards and mid-stage cultivators to the frontlines!"
Batu Jing Fortress, the first defense of the west, was surrounded by thousands of parasites swarming like a black flood. Their bodies bulged and oozed boiling green liquid that hissed upon touching the ground. Archers on the walls fired volleys of glowing arrows. Ancient defense formations ignited, forming blue barriers that trembled each time parasites smashed against them.
"Five-Gate Formation! Do not let them breach the third line!" a commander roared.
Clashes boomed. Blood splattered across stone. And then—an eerie cold swept through.
From behind a massive banyan tree, a tall man with long silver hair walked out. Curved horns grew from his head. His eyes burned crimson, and mist clung to his form.
Someone stammered, pale, "T-that's… one of the 127 Demon Kings… Lao Te… why is he here!?"
Lao Te said nothing.
He simply raised a hand. The ground convulsed. Parasitic monsters howled as their bodies twisted, mutating grotesquely. Flesh swelled, extra eyes formed, limbs warped into metallic tentacles. Their size doubled—their aura spiked violently.
Only then did Lao Te speak.
"Enjoy yourselves… I have business elsewhere."
His body vanished into black mist.
Immediately, the battlefield trembled under a new assault. The evolved parasites charged. Faster, stronger, smarter. The fortress shook with blasts and collisions.
Meanwhile, in Xiao's capital…
Hun Yao stood in front of the apothecary, surrounded by wounded and frightened citizens. Shen Xue remained at his side, her face tense yet composed. Ten elite guards formed a defensive perimeter around the building. The city no longer felt safe.
"If the western line collapses, the apothecary will be hit first," Shen Xue whispered.
Hun Yao looked up at the sky, now darkening once more. He could feel the trembling Qi in the air, as though the world itself was holding its breath.
"We'll hold the line. No matter what happens… we cannot let anyone here die."
He had barely finished speaking when heavy footsteps echoed from the narrow alley beside the apothecary. Five parasites lunged out—one of them bearing two heads and scales like steel. The elite guards reacted instantly. Hun Yao and Shen Xue charged forward as well.
Blades of energy, formations, and battle cries tore through the previously peaceful street.
Amid the chaos, one truth crystallized for Hun Yao:
This wasn't merely a war against parasites.
It was a war against demons.