A cold wind swept through the darkness.Ye Tian opened his eyes and found himself standing in a land that reeked of death.
The ground was blackened, cracked, and soaked in blood so old it had turned rust-brown. The air hung heavy with a metallic stench, and under a crimson-red moon that loomed far too close, the world looked like a painting drawn with despair and war.
He blinked slowly, adjusting to the eerie silence."This… where am I?"His voice echoed faintly across the dead plain.
Before him stretched a sea of corpses — soldiers, beasts, even cultivators wearing ancient armor. Some were impaled on shattered spears, others half-buried in the dirt, eyes still open as if unwilling to rest.
Ye Tian exhaled softly. "A battlefield…" He crouched and touched the ground. The soil crumbled like ash between his fingers."As a modern man, this is the first time I've seen one in person. But this—" he looked around, lips curling faintly, "—this is far beyond any battlefield I've imagined."
He walked forward, the faint crunch of bones under his boots echoing. A broken sword lay beside a fallen warrior. Ye Tian picked it up, examining its dull edge.With a flick, he slashed the air, sending the congealed blood flying off its surface.
"Quite the mysterious place," he murmured, spinning the blade once before resting it on his shoulder. "No sign of life… but no presence of death either. Strange. Even as the Nightlord, I can feel no souls here. Only silence."
He frowned slightly, his violet eyes glimmering under the blood moon."This might not even be real."He smirked. "Well, only one way to find out."
With a subtle step, his body flickered — Shadow Step — the terrain blurring as he crossed hundreds of meters in an instant. But before he could take his next move, the ground rumbled.
A deep, guttural tremor.
Cracks split open across the soil, black mist rising from below. The tremors grew sharper until the earth itself began to collapse.Ye Tian's expression tightened. "Oh no—"
He dashed backward, barely avoiding the collapsing terrain. From the gap burst forth a monstrous creature — a worm, as thick as a house and longer than a temple tower, its flesh glistening in the crimson light.
He landed atop a shattered boulder, sword drawn. "A worm? No…" His eyes narrowed as he took in the creature's scale. "That's no ordinary beast."
The creature's maw opened, revealing rows of serrated fangs. The ground quivered under its screech.
He laughed softly. "A sandworm, huh? Just like the ones in those old tales." His grin widened. "Well, a newbie monster's as good a start as any."
He dashed forward, shadows rippling under his feet.The sandworm lunged, and Ye Tian twisted aside, the wind of its charge ripping the corpses behind him into dust. He countered with a sweeping strike, his sword coated in faint violet light."Shadow Sever!"
The slash carved a deep wound into the worm's side, black ichor splattering across the battlefield. But the creature didn't fall. It roared, the sound shaking the air, and smashed its tail down. Ye Tian raised his palm, conjuring a wave of spiritual darkness that caught the impact — the earth beneath him cracking from the strain.
"Persistent one." His smirk returned. "Fine, let's go a few rounds."
He stepped back, his shadow stretching unnaturally behind him — dozens of copies forming from it, each mimicking his movements."Phantom Division: Night Mirage."
The worm lashed at the illusions, tearing through them one by one, only for Ye Tian to appear behind its head. His sword gleamed with violet energy."Nightfall Slash!"
The blade sliced down in a vertical arc, splitting through half its carapace. The worm shrieked, slamming itself against the ground. A shockwave of dust erupted outward. Ye Tian leapt aside, breathing steadily as the air burned with spirit energy.
Minutes stretched into half an hour.Ye Tian fought relentlessly — blades flashing, shadows swirling, and darkness bending at his command. The battlefield around him became a blur of motion and sound — an endless dance of destruction under the red moon.
Finally, with one last thrust, he drove his sword straight into the creature's skull. The worm convulsed, letting out a final screech before collapsing into the ground, its body dissolving into mist.
Ye Tian exhaled, his breath visible in the chilling air."Haa… haa… quite the tough opponent." He dragged a hand through his hair, pushing back loose strands, his smirk returning despite the exhaustion.
A faint chime echoed.
ERR4R DETEC9ED ! ERR4R DETEC9ED !The host has entered — Tianyin Battlegrounds.
He blinked. "…What?""Tianyin Battlegrounds? But those were… thousands of years ago."
THE TIANYIN BATTLEGROUNDS - The Tianyin Battlegrounds — a place where endless wars between the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions once raged.It was called the Battle God's Era, when the entire Tianyin Continent existed as one. After millennia of slaughter, it split into two — Ximen Continent and Ruyu Continent, with Ximen holding the greater lands.
Countless god-level cultivators and immortals rose and fell in those times.Even the founder of the Ye Clan fought upon these very plains, earning his title through blood and military merit.It is said that one-third of all cultivators perished in that war-torn age… and that the land itself remembers.
Ye Tian looked around slowly. "So… that's where I am."He chuckled under his breath. "Well then… who cares?"A grin curved his lips. "A good fight's all a man needs."
He turned, shadows gathering around his body once again, and launched himself toward the next rumble echoing from the distance.
The ground erupted as another worm surfaced — its fangs gnashing, eyes burning with demonic light.Ye Tian spun his sword, darkness flowing along the blade like liquid night."Let's make this worth it."
The sky bled crimson, the red moon flaring brighter.Dust and spirit energy whirled into storms as he engaged the beast, every clash sending thunderous echoes across the empty world.
After another fierce exchange, the worm's head burst apart in a wave of dark energy.
System : Demonic Spirit Worm – Level 1 defeated.
Ye Tian paused, breathing hard. "Level one?"He looked at the dissolving remains, deadpan. "I fought that thing for half an hour… and it's only level one?"
He let out a short laugh, brushing his hair back. "Quite a demotivating thing to hear after all that effort."His violet gaze sharpened. "Well, whatever. We grow, don't we?"
The blood moon pulsed again.The earth beneath him began to split.
He looked down, eyes gleaming. "Another one?"
The fissure opened directly under his feet. He leapt up just as the ground caved in — and from the depths rose an even greater monster, its mouth gaping wide like a canyon, an abyss filled with teeth ready to devour him whole.
For a heartbeat, time slowed.The crimson moonlight reflected in his eyes; his black-silver hair fluttered with the rising dust.
Ye Tian smiled. "Now that's more like it."
And as the monstrous maw surged upward to swallow him whole — the blood-red light blazed, and the battlefield trembled once more.