"Huff! Huff!"
Heavy panting echoed through the forest as a girl staggered forward. With each step, dark marks crept across her skin, spreading like a sickness she couldn't stop.
Wang Mei breathed with difficulty as she struggled to follow the trail left by the bear's body, but even that small effort already left her vision blurred and her hope faint.
'Just… a little more…' Her mind held only those words, moving purely by instinct.
Deep down, she wanted to give up on everything, but out of sheer stubbornness, she still wanted to try just a bit longer.
Unfortunately, her strength was not enough, and soon she tripped over a dried root, falling to the ground, completely out of strength.
Her spiritual energy was already like a small candle before a strong wind, about to be extinguished, and the impurities, like hungry dogs, were already beginning to gnaw at her flesh at the slightest sign of weakness.
Fallen on the ground, powerless, she thought that this would be her end.
Her eyes slowly closed, and she knew that once they did, they would never open again—at least not as herself, but as something else.
When it seemed like the end, heavy footsteps suddenly came from the forest, and a large shadow began to cover her body.
Struggling to keep her eyes from closing and to see what was approaching, her mind, no longer quite sane at that point, completely froze upon seeing something unbelievable.
It was a huge bear—the very same one that had hunted her before, the one she had watched die with her own eyes—identical in size, shape, and aura.
And, in a flash of clarity she normally should not have possessed in such a state, she realized at the last instant that there was a single difference. The crimson in the bear's eyes had completely disappeared.
Unfortunately, that was the last thing she noticed before all strength left her, her eyes rolling back as she fell unconscious.
Her weak spiritual energy, which defended her from corruption, was about to be extinguished forever.
But in her unconscious state, she still felt, in brief flashes, something seemingly picking up her body and carrying her somewhere.
Some time later, she suddenly felt a strong comfort spread throughout her entire being.
When that happened, her consciousness faded completely.
…
After an unknown amount of time since those events, Wang Mei's eyelashes finally trembled slightly.
Her eyes opened gently, and she simply stared at the ceiling, without reacting.
The ceiling was not high and seemed to be made of fabric.
She immediately understood that she must be inside some kind of tent.
Coming out of her daze, she sat up with difficulty, panting lightly.
Doing so, the girl was finally able to look around and confirm that she was indeed inside a tent.
"I'm still alive…" she reflected, staring at her trembling hands, shocked by the sensation of her living body instead of having become a spirit in the underworld, as she had believed.
Waking from her surprise, she assessed the place and realized that beneath her there was only hard ground, as if the tent was the most they could offer.
"Ugh…" She groaned softly while holding her abdomen, still feeling intense pain throughout her body.
"My body… is in a very bad state," Wang Mei murmured as she explored her body with spiritual energy.
Most of the impurities had disappeared, leaving only those her body already had before, which now seemed normal and inert, as they should be, rather than in the bizarre and ferocious state from before.
It was common for a cultivator to carry impurities in their body. After all, there were no near-perfect techniques for everyone like in the Infinite Dao Sect, and expelling impurities—especially those acquired from consuming pills and similar items—was not easy, requiring time and cultivation.
But usually, when the body became almost clean, the cultivator would soon acquire more impurities, whether by consuming more treasures or simply by unconsciously allowing them to enter and accumulate during cultivation.
After quickly analyzing her body, which was still injured due to the corrosion from the previous fierce impurities, Wang Mei sighed in relief upon realizing there were no major problems and that her chastity was still intact after waking from her faint.
Well, the second part was important; after all, the girl knew how attractive she was and how dangerous that could be in the world she was in.
Only after confirming these things could she finally calm down and reflect on her situation.
'Wait! Impurities! They're not attacking anymore!' She finally noticed the shocking fact that she was no longer defending herself from the fierce impurities.
Only then was it possible for her to have spent the little remaining spiritual energy she had without worry to analyze her condition.
'Was I taken out of the Shadowfallen Burial Domain?!' she reflected, hopeful and relieved.
But even in the face of this fortunate situation, she did not immediately go out to look for a possible savior or to discover what had happened.
At that moment, she needed to recover at least part of her energy, because if something happened afterward, she would be powerless to defend herself.
Determined, she sat properly, cross-legged, and began refining the energy present in the air.
But as soon as she began, her eyes widened, and she interrupted her cultivation in shock.
'Where are the impurities in the air?!'
In disbelief, she questioned herself, stunned.
She had never felt such pure energy in her entire life. With the quality of that energy, her cultivation speed could double if she remained in such a sacred place.
Without wasting any more time, swallowing her doubts, she quickly focused on cultivation, and in less than an hour, her dantian was once again full of energy.
Opening her eyes and taking a deep breath to calm herself, she finally composed herself and, cautiously, moved to the entrance of the tent and stepped outside.
But when she saw what awaited her outside, her eyes widened.
There, thousands of tents like hers and many cultivators spread around in large and small groups, talking among themselves, occupying the entire expanse of a huge clearing.
The sky, just like before she had fainted, was still obscured by a black and corrupt smoke, but the place they were in seemed to be protected by an invisible dome that pushed that fog away from its surroundings and shielded everyone inside from the terrible world outside.
"Hey, you! You're finally awake," a serious voice appeared beside her, making Wang Mei quickly turn around.
There, she saw a young boy with blue hair and blue eyes, his arms crossed, who looked no more than ten years old, greeting her with a certain boredom.
Wang Mei was very surprised to see who it was.
"Holy Son of the Azure Moon Sect!" She did not call him by name, but by his identity.
"Hmm… that's me. But that identity doesn't mean much when we're in a situation like this, so just call me Kong Huang." He shook his head and sighed, his gaze drifting absentmindedly toward the sky.
Wang Mei observed him with some strangeness.
"Alright. But tell me, where are we?" She nodded and did not comment much on the fact that a holy son was in such a heaven-abandoned place.
Even though she was also a holy daughter, their situations were completely different, but that was not the most important thing at the moment.
He cast a sidelong, uninterested glance at her and then began to walk, waving his hand for her to follow.
Wang Mei quickly followed him, not showing any disrespect just because he looked like a child. In fact, she was the youngest there, since Kong Huang was more than twice her age, already past two thousand years.
Despite his age, he had frozen his appearance at ten—though she had no idea why.
After walking silently for some time toward the center of the camp, Wang Mei felt a bit awkward about speaking. Fortunately, Kong Huang finally took the initiative.
"We're still in the Shadowfallen Burial Domain, more specifically in the outermost part, if that's what you want to ask. We should still be a good distance from the center of the small world, where the Shadowfallen Burial Mountain is," he explained calmly, his deep blue eyes half-lidded as he yawned lightly.
"It seems just as I imagined… so, what kind of place is this?" Wang Mei nodded with a bitter sigh, not surprised, since seeing the sky outside already made it clear she had not left the small world.
"This?" The boy shook his head and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I only know that this place of refuge and purity was created by the shadows," he said in a low, heavy voice, casting a complex look in the direction they were heading.
"Shadows?" Wang Mei repeated, uncertain.
"Yes, shadows. That's what they call themselves. You were saved by one of them, a huge black bear, remember? That wasn't a Shadow Beast, but a shadow. Although by name it doesn't sound very different, it is."
"The first is born when a creature falls after being consumed by the impurities of this domain. As for the second, I can't sense any of that filth, dirt, and corruption that Shadow Beasts exude, so I'm certain they're not the same type of being…"
He explained, recalling with a slight shiver that being which seemed pure, yet at the same time unnatural, like a living, solid shadow.
Wang Mei quickly recalled her previous encounters with those beings that had saved her twice, and now, thinking calmly, everything really matched Kong Huang's description.
After remaining silent for a moment, she looked at him.
"So, in the end, what are these shadows?" she asked, her brows furrowed in doubt.
But the boy shook his head, his mouth twitching slightly.
"Don't ask me so much. I don't know much more than you. Soon you'll see their leader and you can draw your own conclusions."
He ended the topic and couldn't help muttering to himself, "Why so many questions? I'd like to know too."
Sighing when he saw the girl's still-confused face, he sighed again and changed the subject.
"Anyway, I don't know what they are. I only know that they save cultivators in need and bring them here if they follow them, or if they simply find them at death's door, like in your case."
"But staying here isn't completely free. There are rules. If someone still has a functional storage ring, they must hand it over to the shadows with all the treasures inside."
"And after entering the camp, it's no longer permitted to leave without a just cause. If these rules are violated, they don't hesitate to kill. At least that's what I learned from everyone here."
He explained with a shrug, while Wang Mei listened attentively, confused and cautious, trying to deduce what those shadows intended to do.
Soon, the two passed by several people, who only cast surprised or respectful looks in their direction, until they finally arrived at their destination: an enormous tent at the center of the camp.
Wang Mei was slightly startled when she saw two human-shaped shadows standing motionless at the entrance of the large tent.
If she hadn't known better, she would have thought they were shadow beasts, which still sent chills down her spine just thinking about it.
But the auras they exuded were not inferior to hers in the slightest, and she did not dare look too much so as not to provoke them.
Kong Huang quickly took the initiative and stepped forward, bowed, and clasped his fists in front of his body respectfully.
"I, Kong Huang, wish to report that the Holy Daughter of the Ancient Plume Sect has awakened. Therefore, I have brought her to meet your esteemed leader," he spoke firmly and humbly, without a trace of arrogance.
Wang Mei swallowed hard and also greeted them respectfully.
The shadows observed them for a moment in a bizarre manner, since their eyes were completely black and it was impossible to tell where they were looking.
Fortunately, to their relief, the shadows stepped aside and pulled open the edges of the tent's entrance, revealing the interior and tacitly allowing the two to enter.
As soon as they offered their thanks, both stepped inside.
Wang Mei raised her eyes, curious, and immediately found herself facing a completely empty tent—save for a single object at its center.
There stood a majestic black throne, exuding an aura of horror and majesty.
Upon it sat a being of shadows, humanoid in form, similar to those at the entrance.
But its aura was far more majestic than that of the two they had seen before, sending chills down both of them.
The being stared at them without moving, its cheek resting on its fist, in complete silence.