I. The Rise of the Black Wind
At the peak of Ten Thousand Cold Cliffs, black clouds twisted and churned, and the wind howled like blades slicing through fractured rocks. This place was once an ancient battlefield where tens of thousands perished, sealed away with secrets never written in the annals of history. After a thousand years of imprisonment, the mountain still stood tall—a forgotten scar in the memory of the Celestial Realm.
Amid the pitch-black mist stood a solitary figure, cloaked in deep violet robes. Lightning flickered, casting his pale greenish face into brief relief—eyes crimson as blood, as deep and hollow as a bottomless abyss. Behind him, a pair of wings made of blackened qi unfolded—not wings for flight, but for confinement, two cursed blades radiating with sinister power.
Demon-Winged Daoist—a name that once shook the heavens—had returned.
He lowered his head slightly, placing his right hand on a cracked obsidian stone slab. A stream of dark qi surged forth, echoing like the mournful wails of imprisoned souls. His eyes half-closed, he listened intently.
From afar, he sensed a pulse—not of a living heart, but of a Residual Soul just sealed. A psychic aftershock rippled through space and time—the very moment when the Trio of Heroes awakened the ancient spirit vein. It stirred him from a slumber that had lasted a millennium.
Demon-Winged Daoist chuckled softly—a twisted, half-mad laugh, unclear if joyful or mocking.
In a hoarse, rusted voice, he whispered:
"The spirit veins awaken… the Residual Souls rise…You thought you had sealed it all away?For a thousand years, I have not forgotten the humiliation of exile…Even when burned in the Holy Fire… imprisoned in the Maze of Illusions…I endured."
The wind howled. Black clouds swirled around him, as if paying homage. From deep within the mountain, a surge of black qi burst forth, forming countless ethereal figures kneeling before him—the forsaken souls of the Hidden Yin Sect.
The return of the Demon-Winged Daoist had begun.
II. The Hidden Yin Sect: A Rebel Doctrine in the Shadows
In the depths of Ten Thousand Cold Cliffs, where spiritual energy is scattered and demonic forces gather, a name that righteous sects avoid in whispers takes root in silence—The Hidden Yin Sect.
Formed thousands of years ago by exiled immortals, cultivators, and aberrant beings branded "traitors" by the Celestial Realm, they were bound not by faith, but by hatred, the thirst for freedom, and the fury of suppression.
"You call it evil; I call it real.You call it law; I call it chains."— The first teaching of the Hidden Yin Sect.
The sect opposes the Heavenly Laws, a cosmic order established by the Celestial Realm to maintain dominion. Their beliefs include:
Emotions like rage, lust, hatred, obsession, and inferiority are essential truths of all beings and must be freed, not buried as "Residual Souls."
True strength lies in those unafraid to confront their own darkness.
At the helm is Demon-Winged Daoist, once one of the Celestial Realm's Three Heavenly Exalted, cast out for practicing the forbidden Ten-Winged Demon Art, a technique fueled by resentment and malice.
Beneath him are:
The Twelve Hidden Offspring, elite warriors named by number, from First to Twelfth:
First: Greed
Third: Hatred
Fifth: Ignorance
Ninth: Inferiority
Twelfth: Bloodlust
Each wields a secret art reflecting a facet of inner torment, capable of amplifying an enemy's suppressed emotions until they are defeated by their own psyche.
Rather than expanding openly, the sect:
Infiltrates major sects and clans, including righteous, demonic, and even the Memory Clan.
Marks sleepers as "Hidden Butterflies" — cursed agents with blood-seals who can awaken as suicide warriors at any time.
Collects ancient Residual Souls to nourish a Demonic Womb, preparing for an upheaval known as the Heaven-Sundering Chaos.
"This world doesn't need salvation—it needs to be burned to ash, and reborn from the cinders."— Demon-Winged Daoist
III. Demon-Winged Daoist: The Forgotten Past
No one knows his true name. In ancient Celestial texts, he was once called "He Who Listens to Souls"—a genius surpassing even the immortals, gifted with the rare ability to perceive and interpret Residual Souls, the shadows of people's hearts.
He rejected traditional cultivation. Instead of seeking high realms, he explored the raw nature of good and evil, repressed emotions, and soul-scarring memories—what the heavens dismissed as "Impurities" or "Demonic Relics."
"I never wanted to be a god.I only wanted to understand…why even gods weep."
At his peak, he was hailed as the Heavenly General of Creation, invited by Sage Sovereign Chi Yuan and the Great Elders to teach the Tao. Some whispered he could redeem a demon with but a strand of divine thought.
But… that light was extinguished.
He delved too deeply into forbidden soulwork. Once, to save a young immortal afflicted by Demonic Heartfire, he unlocked the boy's sealed soul—shattering it, yet giving rise to a new form of consciousness.
The Celestial Court judged this an unforgivable breach—tampering with divinity, violating soul sanctity.
He was stripped of his rank, sealed of his powers, and exiled to the accursed Ten Thousand Cold Cliffs.
"All I ever wanted was to save a soul…But to save one soul, I had to forsake all 'goodness.'"
He once loved a celestial maiden—one of the Twelve Heavenly Fairies of Starlit Palace. Her eyes were gentle as moonlight; her music made flowers bloom.
No one dares speak her name now.
But legends say:
She was the first to defend him in the Celestial Tribunal.
And yet… she was the one who sealed his divine sense and escorted him to exile under a moonless sky.
Some believe she was Bai Yun, or perhaps Bai Yun's twin—or even an incarnation linked to Diep Van So.
"I once believed in love.But she believed in law… more than she believed in me."
He never spoke her name again. But whenever the Celestial Realm was mentioned, his eyes darkened—not from betrayal, but from the ruin of trust.
IV. The Order is Given — Calamity Begins
As the sky above the Cold Cliffs turned blood-red, Demon-Winged Daoist stood amidst rising demonic qi. He raised his hand, and a small bell hovered in the air, tolling a deep, haunting note—the first summoning call of the Hidden Yin Sect in a millennium.
From the shadows emerged First Offspring: Tzu La Hong—a crimson-robed beauty with eyes like jewels and lips like blood, the same woman who once sowed chaos during the Starfall Rebellion.
In a voice cold as death, Ma Duc spoke:
"Tzu La Hong, you will lead.Go to the border of the Memory Clan.Sow false Residual Souls. Stir the spirit veins.Let them become nourishment for our grand design."
She smiled faintly:
"It's been a long time since I killed with bare hands…"
Ma Duc unfurled a soul-map stained with ancient blood—The Soul Cartograph of the Old Realm. His finger pointed to seven intersections of spiritual veins:
"Residual Souls, if guided and nourished,will surpass mere hatred.Once they evolve, they will Awaken—becoming Soul Entities,immortal spirits needing no flesh,bound to no heavenly law."
This process had long been forbidden. A high-level Soul Entity could invade minds, devour memories, and reshape inner reality—wielding a distorted godhood.
"Once we have seven…I will do what the Celestials dared not."
He held up a violet talisman, casting an ancient pattern—the Seven Gates of Forgotten Consciousness—once used to imprison the ancient Emotion Lords: Desire, Love, Hatred, Lust, Fear, Rage, and Grief.
"The Seven Gates sealed away the Celestial Realm's own darkness.I will reopen them—and show the world the true face of 'Heavenly Order.'"
He laughed skyward. Thunder rolled. The black crows cried out and burst into blood mist mid-air.
Demon-Winged Daoist sought not revenge alone.
He would dismantle the Celestial Realm, rewrite the soul's laws,
and give life and death to those long forsaken.
V. A Glimpse Toward the Righteous Path
Amid the suffocating fog of the Cold Cliffs, Demon-Winged Daoist stood in silence. His silver hair flowed like the tears of time, his gray robe fluttering in the icy wind.
Far to the north, a faint light glimmered—the lingering aura where Lang Xiao, Diep Van So, and Little An had just sealed an S-ranked Residual Soul. The psychic tremors still echoed.
He tilted his head slightly, his eyes deep and unreadable—not furious, but like a fathomless abyss.
"They are still so young…Naïve, believing light is the only salvation.They do not yet understand…that even darkness deserves to be heard."
The heavens fell silent.
Then, the sky trembled.
A low rumble.
From the pitch-black clouds, the first drop of blood fell to the cold earth.
Blood rain—a celestial omen long buried in forbidden scripture—returned after a thousand years of silence.
Each drop cracked the land, withering moss, making the stones weep. Spirit-beasts fled, voiceless, in terror of the coming doom.
"The Age of Chaos begins…" he whispered."...and this is only the invitation."
Far away, Lang Xiao stared at the sky, a chill gripped his chest. He did not know why his heart skipped—as if someone had whispered…from within a nightmare.
The chapter ends in crimson rain,where both light and shadow know:In this war to come—no one stands untouched.