In a green forest atop a massive mountain, the sky suddenly split, and a roaring lightning struck—the Lightning of Ordeal.
Zalauria stood beneath it, her fists clenched with determination.
She said firmly to herself: "Come at me!"
The lightning struck her, but this time she did not scream; she accepted the pain silently and with strength.
After a few moments, the Dao ended, and the sky calmed.
At that moment, Master Bao arrived running, smiling happily:
"What happened? I saw the Lightning of Ordeal! Did you surpass it, Zalauria?"
Zalauria bowed humbly: "Yes, I did, and it's all thanks to you."
Master Bao smiled proudly: "No need to thank me. But how did you achieve balance between Yin and Yang? I haven't even trained you on that yet!"
Zalauria smiled confidently: "I wanted to surprise you. Actually, I trained in secret."
Master Bao said: "Three months have passed, and reaching the third stage has never been done before. You are truly different!"
Zalauria responded proudly: "I know. No one can surpass me! I am not like the insects."
Master Bao laughed: "You've changed indeed, but your style hasn't."
Zalauria smiled as she looked toward the horizon where the sun was setting:
"The sunset here is so beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before."
---
The next morning, Zalauria woke up early and began a new training, this time not on calmness or peace, but to test her strength.
She drew her sword and said: "Fortunately, my sword was nearby, and I grabbed it just in time."
She charged toward the forest, descending the mountain.
The wind called: "Oh wind, can you help me?"
The wind accepted her request, lifting Zalauria high into the sky. She screamed with joy as she soared.
From above, she saw a girl with a small child surrounded by two demons.
Zalauria said confidently: "Time for lunch!" and dashed toward them, landing in front of the demons with full force.
---
In a distant place, a girl sat on a tree branch, singing softly and beautifully. Then she suddenly stopped.
She thought: "It seems that girl is going to become very strong. Will my siblings really be able to face her?"
The girl descended to the ground. It turned out to be Seraphinia, watching Zalauria from afar.
She whispered to the trees: "I know you can hear me. Please don't tell Zalauria that I was watching her."
The wind responded angrily, as if warning Seraphinia not to come closer.
Seraphinia smiled mockingly: "How amusing! You don't know who you're speaking to. But it doesn't matter, I will leave now."
Slowly, she began to vanish from head to toe.
---
On the other side, Zalauria stood before the two demons.
The first, with twelve horns and eight black wings, had gray skin and calm, beautiful human-like features.
The second was ugly, with only seven horns, looking like an evil ghost.
The first demon said: "Who are you? It doesn't matter. Can you step aside?"
Zalauria replied coldly: "Step aside from what?"
The second demon said: "We want the humans behind you."
Zalauria stepped back slightly and said: "You mean these ones?"
The first said: "Yes, stop playing the hero."
Zalauria laughed: "You misunderstood me. They don't matter to me. Take them if you want; I just wanted to test my strength."
The first demon was surprised, then asked: "Are you a demon?"
She replied embarrassed: "Actually, I am the Lady of the Underworld and Mistress of Demons."
The first said in astonishment: "That is very obvious."
The second said: "Wait, you say you're the Mistress of Demons?"
The first opened his mouth in shock: "M… Mistress of Demons?"
Zalauria said confidently: "Yes, yes!"
The two demons immediately knelt respectfully: "Forgive us, Mistress. We didn't know that the Lady of Demons herself would enter the human world."
Zalauria said: "No need to apologize. You had no knowledge of it."
The first demon said: "Let me introduce myself. I am Florehill, and this is my servant, Zahir."
Zalauria said in surprise: "So you have twelve horns! That makes you one of the oldest demons. How old are you? 12,000 years? Are you one of the Ancestors? And those black wings! You must be of great status in the Underworld, right?"
Florehill replied: "You are right. I am one of the Ten Ancestors, specifically the Eighth Ancestor, and I am 12,000 years old."
Zalauria's eyes widened: "The Ancestors are the strongest beings in the Underworld and Hell. They have been here since the beginning of Hell, and they are the most dangerous and highest in authority after the Mistress of Demons. What are you doing in the human world?"
Florehill said: "I came out of curiosity. I wanted to learn more about the human world."
Zalauria said: "I see. So, Eighth Ancestor, do you want to fight me?"
Florehill smiled: "It would be an honor, Mistress."
They both drew their swords, bowed slightly to each other, and began the battle.
Zalauria was stronger, fiercer, and more aggressive.
Florehill had difficulty blocking her strikes but did not give up.
He moved skillfully, jumping flexibly to the right and left as he approached her.
Multiple clones of him appeared, spinning around Zalauria, and time seemed to slow down dramatically for her.
Zalauria lost her senses of sight and hearing, and even her ability to speak vanished, as if she had fainted.
Florehill took the opportunity to attack, but she dodged, only slightly scratching her cheek.
Florehill was astonished, and Zahir was amazed at her ability to dodge despite losing her senses.
He launched another attack, but she evaded and cut Florehill's robe with a swift strike.
Florehill asked: "How are you doing that?"
Zalauria smiled: "This is the least I expect from the Mistress of Demons."
Florehill decided to increase the difficulty. The ground beneath her disappeared, and the surrounding darkness became pitch black.
Florehill said: "How will you handle the darkness, Mistress?"
Zalauria focused deeply. Despite the tension, she realized that darkness was also a part of nature.
Florehill struck powerfully toward her head, but she dodged every attack effortlessly, like a perfectly thrown stone.
Florehill could not understand how she could attack and dodge without her senses, so he increased the challenge.
Millions of swords appeared around her, flying at supersonic speed, but she dodged them all and counterattacked, scratching his cheek again.
Everything returned to normal, and Zalauria regained her senses.
Zalauria said: "Well done, Florehill. You were very strong."
Florehill smiled: "Thank you. May I ask, how were you able to attack and dodge with such precision without hearing, sight, or sensation? And you were far from nature, weren't you?"
Zalauria said: "Nature has always helped me, but when I entered the darkness, I didn't know what to do and got nervous. Then I realized that darkness is also part of nature, and it helped me as well."
Florehill said: "I understand."
She asked: "By the way, what type of Dao do you have? It's very powerful."
He answered: "The Dao of Illusion and Dreams."
She said: "Very powerful! I wish I had it! (She started thinking and smiled) I have an offer for you. Would you like to join me on my journey?"
To be continued…