In a vast, endless forest of dark green, beasts and birds fled in every direction. The frantic beating of wings and the cracking of earth beneath cloven hooves created a cacophony that sent chills down the spine.
It was a disturbing sight, as though the end of the world had arrived. From the canopy above came terrified screeches and howls, and the air was thick with the acrid scent of scorched earth and an eerie, sweet metallic tang.
Amid the chaos, a wave of crimson light suddenly shot toward the sky, staining half the heavens in red.
A bloodcurdling howl reverberated through the woods, followed by the deafening crash of some massive creature collapsing.
The entire ground trembled violently, and leaves and branches rained down like green snow.
"Something's gone wrong! Report to Master immediately, and bring our brothers here to assist—hurry!"
A man, dressed in a white-and-blue robe, his black hair tied into a high ponytail, fell to his knees. His face was pale as paper, and his long sword was plunged deep into the ground, the only thing keeping his faltering body upright. His gaze was fixed on the enormous, lifeless form of the demon beast ahead.
There was determination in his eyes, but blood kept pouring uncontrollably from his lips.
One hand still pressed on his sword, he fumbled with the other at the storage pouch at his waist. Fingers trembling, strength almost drained, he finally managed to pull out two pills and swallowed them dry.
A faint glimmer returned to his eyes. Drawing a ragged breath and forcing down the metallic taste of blood rising in his chest, he glared at the disciples behind him and shouted hoarsely: "Go! Now!"
"Senior Brother, we can't just leave you here!"
one of the younger disciples cried, eyes red with tears. The others chimed in desperately.
"Yes, we can't abandon you!"
"If we die, we die together!"
"If we leave, what about you, Senior Brother?!"
Xie He — their Senior Brother — grit his teeth, forcing the effects of the high-grade Strength and Hemostatic pills to circulate through his body.
At last, his trembling hands steadied, and he slowly rose to his feet, his back straight, his gaze sharp.
He locked his eyes on the demon's chest, where a dark purple-black "gate" was beginning to form. His tone was icy cold.
"Go. Report to Master. I can hold this for another hour. Not much, but enough."
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and fixed his stare on that forming gate, its sinister energy already beginning to seep through. The disciples behind him also noticed it.
From within that gate, countless malevolent, cold auras seemed ready to burst forth, threatening to drag the whole world into a hell of beasts, heretics, and ghosts.
Fear and grief twisted their hearts, but in the end they dared not delay. Crying, they shouted: "Senior Brother! We'll be back as fast as we can!!!"
Their tears fell onto the hilts of their swords as they turned and flew off, riding their swords into the sky, the wind howling around them.
When their figures finally disappeared into the horizon, Xie He's stern expression grew even tighter.
Every muscle in his body was tensed, every inch of his bones ready to react. He felt a suffocating pressure — a cold, deathly aura was descending.
"Who are you?!" he growled, and for the first time, unease flickered in his eyes.
Before him stood a man clad in black robes, his black hair loose and disheveled.
His face was bloodless, his eyes like pools of absolute darkness. Those eyes — black to the point of being pure void — stared at him silently, and his lips curled into a chillingly strange smile, like some ghost that had crawled up from the depths of the netherworld.
A chill gripped Xie He's heart. He couldn't sense this man's cultivation at all — which meant he was at least two levels higher.
With such a gap, he had no chance of winning.
The man ignored his question. He only raised his hand, tracing strange symbols in the air, chanting in a low, rasping voice: "Grievous souls, return to the array. Serve me."
A sinister glow faintly lit up the ground, then faded into nothing.
Meanwhile, the disciples sped through the skies back to the sect. On the way, one took out Xie He's transmission talisman and sent a message to the elders.
At the sect gates, elders and disciples were already waiting.
"What happened?!" the Third Elder shouted.
"In the secret realm — an unknown heretic cultivator summoned the Yin Serpent that had been sealed for five centuries.
Senior Brother Xie and the disciples wounded it grievously, but…"
Their voices shook. "The heretic sacrificed the beast to open the Gate of Earthfire… Senior Brother Xie said he could only hold for an hour at most…"
Silence. Heavy and stifling.
The Grand Elder quickly organized the group, ordering spirit weapons, pills, and talismans prepared, and sent word to all allied sect elders to join them at the Autumn Maple Secret Realm.
Earthfire — a forbidden domain established a thousand years ago by dozens of Void Ascendants, nine Transcendents, and four Heavenly Gang masters, to seal the most wicked demons and fallen cultivators. If Earthfire's barrier broke, the mortal world would become a living hell.
Whoever could shake Earthfire now was likely at Heavenly Gang level — or even higher.
Deep in seclusion, Han Ling's eyes snapped open.
He was a rare genius of unmatched talent, who had stunned the Dao world with his Heavenly Gang cultivation a century ago.
He received the flying message talisman. On it glowed a single line:
"Xie He and disciples in danger within the secret realm. Earthfire's gate about to break. Xie He critical. Hurry."
Han Ling's gaze turned razor-sharp. Throwing on his robes, he strode out to the square. The pressure of his presence sent low-ranked disciples to their knees.
"Master Han!" they cried.
"Depart," he commanded in a voice like thunder, stepping onto the flying ship.
"Senior Brother Xie may not hold much longer," the Second Elder said anxiously.
The Grand Elder added, "Someone is forcibly breaking Earthfire from within, and a sealed heretic is missing."
Han Ling spoke low: "I know who it is. Have all sects been informed?"
"They have."
"Weapons and pills ready?"
"Ready."
Han Ling's eyes swept over the disciples. "This battle will be hard. Protect each other."
The disciples raised their swords as one and shouted: "For the sect! For the world! Fight to the end!"
The flying ship howled through the clouds, countless sword lights streaking after it like lightning, rolling thunderous killing intent bearing down on the gate of Earthfire.
Within the sect's ancestral hall, low-level disciples kept vigil before the name plaques.
Bai Qingyuan — Xie He's junior sister — knelt with red-rimmed eyes, palms pressed in prayer.
Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound like shattering glass rang out.
Her head shot up. On the plaque rack, Xie He's name plaque, next to their master's, split open, wisps of smoke curling out. In just a few breaths, it crumbled to ashes.
Bai Qingyuan froze, reaching out with trembling fingers to touch the scorching ashes.
"No!! Senior Brother Xie!! You can't!!"
She collapsed before the rack, tears streaming uncontrollably.
"Senior Brother Xie…"
Around her, other disciples couldn't help but weep
aloud.
Every disciple erected a name plaque upon initiation, to reflect the state of their life force. When it shattered to ash — it meant they had fallen.
The ancestral hall echoed with cries of grief.
In the secret realm, the man in black slowly stood before the purple-black gate, his voice a whisper of cold steel: "One hour… was enough."
His chilling smile cut through the darkness.
Bai Qingyuan's anguished sobs tore through the quiet of the hall. Brothers and sisters knelt by the plaques, eyes red, tears streaming, hearts breaking like shattered stone.
Someone choked out, "Senior Brother Xie… for us… for the sect…" before the words caught in their throat.
Far beyond, at the edge of the Autumn Maple Secret Realm, clouds roiled and wind howled. The once-lush forest was now scorched and ruined, the air thick with blood and ash.
The Earthfire gate still shimmered with its eerie purple-black light, as if mocking all resistance.
Han Ling stood at the prow of the flying ship, gaze like a blade, fixed on the barrier as it cracked open. His robes snapped in the storm, his presence growing ever sharper.
He spoke under his breath, as if to his fallen disciple — and to the entire world:
"Xie… your life, I will avenge. And this world — I will not let it fall into the abyss."
With that, he raised his sleeve, and the ship tore through the sky.
Countless sword lights followed, thundering across the heavens, a final brilliant light against the endless dark.