Snowflakes fell silently upon the pine-covered mountainside, where the wind whispered secrets between the trees. ZhaoLongxuan and his group—Ling Xi, Jiang Fenglie, the Liu Twins, Shuiyun, and Huayin—had only just emerged from the veil of the Spirit Realm. Though weary, they pressed forward, led by Ling Xi's yin-yang qi that pulsed faintly like a thread guiding them through fate's tangled web.
The land below was a vast open valley coated in morning frost. Yet, something in the air shifted—a tremor in the flow of spiritual energy, like a silent scream rippling beneath the earth.
Zhenhai suddenly raised his hand. "Stop."
"What is it?" Fenglan asked, unsheathing his sword.
Jiang Fenglie frowned, his senses sharp. "The ground. It's not natural."
The earth quaked.
A deep thunder rolled in the distance—not from the sky, but from the ground itself. Cracks split the frozen soil beneath their boots. Ling Xi staggered, clutching her head. "They're here..."
The air twisted. Shadows surged over the horizon.
Then they saw it.
From the south, a swarm of black banners emerged over the ridge. An army—no, a legion of warriors marched in perfect synchrony, their armor shimmering with demonic qi. Crimson eyes glowed beneath their helmets. Horns and scales marked many of them as no longer human.
Leading them was a towering general in silver and red armor, his spear casting a long shadow across the snow.
Liu Shengjie.
"Found you," he murmured.
Longxuan stepped forward, unsheathing Lingxu. His qi flared, blue flames dancing across the snow. "Shengjie! You dare come here?"
"The world doesn't belong to old gods," Shengjie replied calmly. "Especially not those who crawl out from the grave."
Without warning, the army surged forward like a black tide.
"Formation!" Zhenhai barked.
The Liu Twins moved in tandem, swords slicing through the first wave with silver arcs. Jiang Fenglie unleashed a barrage of lightning talismans that exploded with blinding force. Shuiyun summoned a tidal surge from the air itself, crashing into a group of beast-headed soldiers, while Huayin shimmered through the air in his fox form, slicing through shadowy figures with glowing claws.
Ling Xi stepped forward, her eyes shining like twin stars of yin and yang. She lifted her palm, and a lotus of dark and light energy exploded in the center of the battlefield, disintegrating dozens of soldiers instantly.
Yet still they came.
The earth cracked beneath their boots. Snow turned to steam. Trees snapped and exploded under the pressure.
Longxuan moved like a flame, cutting through the waves of enemies with Lingxu, blue trails of fire sweeping in every direction. Beside him, Ling Xi conjured walls of yin force to shield the wounded.
Suddenly, a shout—Zhenhai was knocked back by a demon general wielding twin scythes. Fenglan caught his brother, coughing blood, and retaliated in a rage, slicing off the creature's head.
Jiang Fenglie faced a ten-armed demon wielding thunder and bone. Sparks lit the field as he screamed an incantation, blasting the fiend into shards with a desperate seal.
And then—a flash of light.
Liu Shengjie appeared in the center of the chaos, stepping between the fire and the blood like a ghost of war. Every strike aimed at him vanished. Every spell deflected with a flick of his hand.
"Enough," he whispered.
With one swing of his divine spear, the ground erupted. The entire battlefield shook.
Everyone was thrown back.
Longxuan landed hard, skidding across the ice. He barely rolled to his knees when a blur of silver descended.
Liu Shengjie appeared before him, his eyes glowing with divine malice.
The spear twisted, its edge pressed close against Longxuan's neck.
Everyone froze.
Blood dripped onto the snow. The tip of the blade had nicked skin.
Longxuan did not flinch. "Do it, then. Kill me."
Liu Shengjie smiled faintly. "No. Not yet. I want Mo Tianzun to see it. I want him to crawl back to me so I can kill you both in front of each other, a good end for a lovely couple right?"
Behind him, his army stood in silence. The world itself seemed to hold its breath.
Far away, in the Forbidden Island of Spirit Beasts
Mo Tianzun sat cross-legged in the center of the island, his eyes closed, his body wrapped in silence and power. His hair had returned to its full white glory, glowing under the sacred moonlight. The magical beasts stood in a distant ring around him, wary yet reverent.
And yet—something had changed.
His eyes opened.
From the darkness of the jungle, a serpentine hiss slithered through the air. A massive black shape slithered across the stone near him.
He smiled faintly.
"It's time to eat, my friend," Mo Tianzun murmured to the enormous shadow that pulsed with ancient power.