At the cliffside Huayue Pavilion, a beauty bathed in the cool breeze. Yu Yi was enjoying a leisurely morning.
“A-choo!”
She suddenly sneezed. ‘Someone must be saying bad things about me behind my back,’ she thought. Yu Yi felt that the person was likely Su Cheng.
Yu Yi knew that Yun Qianxue was curious about the outside world. She wanted to wander around the nearby towns, and Yu Yi couldn’t exactly restrict her personal freedom.
At the same time, Yu Yi had to stay at the Fengqing Sect to wait for Lü Qi’s return and couldn’t leave, so she arranged for Su Cheng to accompany Yun Qianxue to ensure her safety.
Both of them were quite reluctant about this. One feared being teased by the other, while the other wanted to stay by Yu Yi’s side.
However, they both worried about what would happen if they disobeyed Yu Yi and made her unhappy. So, in the end, they begrudgingly chose to travel together.
“Good morning, Senior Yu.”
Just then, a voice came from nearby. Yu Yi looked over and saw Fu Yi walking toward her.
“Good morning,” Yu Yi replied with a smile.
“Was Senior Yu’s stay last night comfortable?”
“Very much so.”
“Mhm, that is good then.”
After the brief pleasantries, Fu Yi slowly said, “Actually, the Child of the Wind God just returned.”
“Oh?” Yu Yi raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. “But you didn’t bring her here. I assume something unexpected happened?”
“Yes. The Child of the Wind God’s investigation has made new progress, and she is rushing to the next location without stopping.”
Fu Yi massaged her temples, saying with some helplessness, “I couldn’t persuade her to stay. She has already led her people out again.”
“You didn’t tell her that this Grandmaster is the one waiting for her, did you?” Yu Yi asked.
“Of course not, which is why she is unwilling to see guests of ‘unknown origin.’ She believes it would interfere with her work,” Fu Yi explained.
“Ever since our Fengqing Sect achieved a great victory over the Mosha Sect, Righteous Faction forces from all over the world have begun to frequently show us goodwill.”
“Almost every day, people come to visit, hoping to meet with the Child of the Wind God. The result is obvious—the Child of the Wind God never shows herself, and it is always the Sect Master who receives those fellow cultivators.”
Yu Yi nodded thoughtfully after hearing this. She had specifically instructed Fu Yi not to tell Lü Qi that she had come, wanting to give Lü Qi a surprise.
She hadn’t expected to be treated as a guest of unknown origin by her own disciple.
“Moreover, looking at the Child of the Wind God’s current state, even if I told her the guest was Senior Yu, she might not believe it. Instead, she would think it was a lie I made up just to get her to rest,” Fu Yi continued with a look of apology. “I am truly sorry, Senior Yu. I must ask you to wait a few more days.”
“Why must you apologize to this Grandmaster? Lü Qi is my disciple; I naturally understand her temperament.” Yu Yi gave a faint smile.
“No matter how long she stays busy, the surprise will be waiting for her.”
Hearing this, Fu Yi bowed to Yu Yi with her hands clasped and then withdrew.
The legendary Demoness was much more reasonable and easier to get along with than Fu Yi had imagined.
Yu Yi respected Lü Qi’s will and chose to wait silently rather than forcibly disturbing her. Fu Yi was happy for Lü Qi because of this.
‘When you return, you should be able to experience an unprecedented happiness, right?’
***
Yuanzhou, dark domain.
The so-called dark domain was an unprecedentedly massive underground palace hidden deep within the lands of Yuanzhou. This was the headquarters of the Demon Sect.
Four black-robed figures were walking through a dark, narrow passage. With every step forward, the candles on the walls on both sides lit up in sequence, illuminating the path ahead.
After passing through the corridor, the four arrived at an extremely vast space. The stone wall in front of them was covered in obscure and difficult-to-understand ancient script.
This writing belonged to the shadow race, a foreign tribe that had inhabited this place hundreds of years ago.
One of the four stepped forward and lightly touched the characters on the stone wall in a specific order. In an instant, the interior of the wall glowed faintly, and then layers of stone began to peel away.
A “monster” sealed within subsequently woke up and appeared before the four.
The monster had no eyes or nose on its head, and it was missing an arm, looking as if it were stitched together from different human bodies.
He possessed an adult’s torso, yet one leg was robust and powerful while the other was as short and slender as a child’s.
“Hmph… my people, what matter has caused you to wake me? Have you brought eyes? Or a nose?”
The mouth attached to the monster’s head trembled constantly as he spoke, looking as if it might fall off at any moment.
He had another identity—a member of the shadow race who had once brought a great catastrophe upon the Empire of Yan.
And this person was the Holy Sovereign of the Demon Sect.
Years ago, the shadow race had committed countless evils, completely intensifying the conflict with the Empire of Yan, and were regarded as unforgivable enemies.
Even other foreign tribes, after seeing their true faces, no longer recognized them as kin.
However, the shadow race had not been completely wiped out. Instead, they continued to wreak havoc in the Empire of Yan under the identity of the “Demon Sect.”
Later, they were suppressed by the joint forces of the Imperial Family and the various sects of the Right Path, forced to retreat into this sunless underground.
Now, as long as he gathered the final eyes, nose, and one arm, the Holy Sovereign could be “reborn” and lead the Demon Sect to make a comeback.
He thought he was one step closer to seeing the light of day again, but he was met with a bucket of cold water.
“Reporting to the Holy Sovereign, the corpses of Guilong and Guisha have been discovered. They were buried in a temple, and both the map and the Buddha statue eyeballs were taken by someone,” one of the black-robed men reported in a low voice.
The Holy Sovereign fell into silence upon hearing this.
A moment later, his rage suddenly exploded.
“Who is it… WHO IS INTERFERING!!!”
The roar shook the entire underground palace.
“The fifth’s death at Among the Colorful Clouds was a destined sacrifice. But I will never turn a blind eye to the deaths of the sixth and seventh!” The Holy Sovereign was beyond furious.
Compared to the Second Seat and the left and right guardians lurking within the Right Path, the Seven Apostles were the ones who had always stayed by his side.
To him, those seven were like seven children. Every time one was lost, it was a piercing pain.
The person who had previously gone to Among the Colorful Clouds to threaten Yu Yi was the fifth among the Seven Apostles. Although he looked like an old man, he was actually only 30 years old.
Though he had endured the backlash of the Holy Sovereign’s Demonic Art, he had aged at a rate several times faster than a normal person.
Knowing his days were numbered, he had volunteered to disguise himself as a messenger to Among the Colorful Clouds to force them to hand over the Everlasting Tribulation Sword.
This plan would yield results regardless of success or failure—they would either obtain the Everlasting Tribulation Sword or intimidate Among the Colorful Clouds.
The Holy Sovereign had “known” Yu Yi in the past and was well aware that as long as they were intimidated, they would stubbornly defend Among the Colorful Clouds and guard that Everlasting Tribulation Sword. Although this made it harder to seize, he didn’t care.
His only concern was Yu Yi personally intervening in his grand plan for resurrection.
When the Demon Sect was destroyed years ago, he had fled to Among the Colorful Clouds to seek help, only to have his physical body shattered by a single palm strike from Yu Yi, leaving only a remnant soul to escape underground.
That was a painful and difficult past.
Relying on his damaged soul, he had bewitched several powerful experts of the Right Path, causing them to fall and become the Demon Sect’s Second Seat and the left and right guardians.
Then, using their power, he had cultivated the Seven Apostles, slowly repairing his soul and piecing his body together, waiting for the moment to rise again.
As long as Yu Yi was not in Yuanzhou, his plan for revenge could proceed as scheduled.
“Yu Yi… and everyone else in this world, shall endure my wrath!!!”