Kiana Kaslana landed at Lanruo Temple. The temple was eerie and filled with an ominous atmosphere that sent chills through the air.
Her golden eyes scanned her surroundings, analyzing the residual energy signatures lingering in the temple.
She had already analyzed and recorded the energy patterns of demons and spirits from various worlds.
Now she was comparing the data with her database.
Different worlds produced variations in the same types of supernatural beings due to environmental and dimensional differences.
Outside the temple, Yan Chixia had seen a streak of light fly toward Lanruo Temple. Alarmed, he hurried back, only to find a white-haired girl who clearly wasn't human.
Instinctively, he almost shouted, "What manner of demon are you?!"
But when his eyes met her calm, golden gaze, he immediately held his tongue.
There was no demonic aura—nor any human one either. Instead, she carried the faint scent of incense.
Judging by her clothing and features, she seemed to come from the western regions.
"You are Yan Chixia," Kiana Kaslana asked coolly.
"That's right," he replied quickly, bowing respectfully. "May I ask, senior, how should I address you?"
"My name is Kiana."
"Would you like to join me in destroying the Tree Demon?" Kiana Kaslana said calmly.
Yan Chixia froze for a moment. "That Tree Demon?"
What had that Tree Demon done to provoke someone this powerful?
He could tell at once—her strength was immense.
It was pure intuition.
Even without intuition, her speed when flying moments ago was enough to prove her power.
But Yan Chixia wasn't the type to meddle recklessly.
He and the Tree Demon were currently leaving each other alone.
The woman before him—her power was unfathomable.
Her sudden arrival, inviting him to slay the Tree Demon together, seemed highly suspicious.
Just as he was about to decline, a chill crept up his spine.
"Alright. I've long despised that Tree Demon who brings calamity upon others. If senior wishes to slay it, I, Yan Chixia, will not refuse."
He quickly changed his tone and agreed.
"You're quite amusing," Kiana Kaslana said with a faint smile. She had just been testing Yan Chixia's cultivator intuition.
If he had refused, she would have simply killed him.
Clearly, Yan Chixia's instincts had saved him.
He followed Kiana Kaslana as they left Lanruo Temple, heading toward the forest where the Tree Demon resided.
Along the way, Yan Chixia secretly used talismans and magical tools to test whether Kiana Kaslana was some powerful demon or spirit.
Yet none of his artifacts reacted. Even when he deliberately dropped a Vajra Sutra near her, she picked it up without any effect.
"How strange… not human, not ghost, not god, not immortal, not demon, not devil. What in the world is she?"
Yan Chixia muttered inwardly.
He referred to her as a "thing" because he discovered she lacked the Sānhún Qīpò entirely.
Sensing Yan Chixia's arrival, an androgynous voice echoed from all directions.
"Yan Chixia? You dare come seeking death?!"
"Enough of your tricks, old hag! Today is your last day!"
"Spirit and form as one—take my sword!"
Yan Chixia summoned a flying sword from his sheath and pointed it toward the source of the voice.
The sword shot forth, splitting the air as it flew!
"Lawless fool!"
The Tree Demon Granny had fought Yan Chixia before and knew his abilities well.
Neither side held a clear advantage.
Countless tree roots burst from the ground.
Kiana Kaslana hovered silently in the air, watching the battle between the Tree Demon Granny and Yan Chixia.
The Tree Demon Granny noticed the white-haired woman soaring above. Realizing the situation, she grew alarmed.
Yan Chixia had brought help!
Her mind raced—she quickly prepared to use an escape technique, leaving a shell behind to flee underground.
"Senior! Now's the time!"
While entangled in combat, Yan Chixia felt the Tree Demon's weakening attacks and immediately realized she was about to flee.
"I am under Lord Heishan's protection—you cannot kill me!"
Hearing Yan Chixia address the white-haired woman as "senior," the Tree Demon Granny hastily invoked her patron's name.
Her strength was on par with Yan Chixia's. For someone of his skill to call this woman "senior," she must be an extraordinary being.
The Tree Demon could only hope that invoking the name of the Black Mountain Demon King would earn her mercy.
"Let's go, Yan Chixia."
Kiana Kaslana turned and flew away, as though she truly dared not act against the Tree Demon because of the Black Mountain Demon King's reputation.
"...?"
Yan Chixia stood there dumbfounded.
Wait a second!
Was she playing with him?
She didn't even make a move before flying off!
Still, he mounted his sword and followed her.
"Yan Chixia, come on! Weren't you going to kill me?"
The Tree Demon Granny sneered mockingly.
Such a grand entrance—and yet she ran away without even a fight.
...
Lanruo Temple.
"Didn't you say we were going to kill that Tree Demon? Why'd you run off the moment you heard about the Black Mountain Demon King?"
Yan Chixia's beard bristled with anger. He felt like this woman had made a fool of him.
"I already made my move," Kiana Kaslana said calmly.
Yan Chixia blinked in confusion.
Made her move?
When?!
Was she joking?
"But that Tree Demon's still alive!" he protested, frowning.
"She's almost dead. My attack struck her true body."
While Yan Chixia had been distracting the Tree Demon, Kiana Kaslana had deployed Honkai parasitic plant seeds—delivered by tiny biomimetic bird drones—directly to the Tree Demon's true body. The seeds had already taken root.
"..."
That was downright devious!
Yan Chixia's wariness increased instantly.
Now he finally understood why she had brought him along—to lure the Tree Demon out!
...
Simply eliminating the Tree Demon Granny would've been a waste.
Cultivation wasn't easy, after all.
Kiana's parasitic plant seeds could burrow into the bark of other trees, infiltrating the host's structure to absorb everything from it.
Including the Tree Demon's cultivation.
They could even take control of their hosts.
And they didn't just work on plants—they could infect other creatures and even non-living matter.
In truth, Honkai parasitic plant seeds were a variant form of her Will-derived entities.
Kiana Kaslana didn't linger in Lanruo.
The place was too dilapidated, the environment unpleasant.
Of course, in her eyes, the ancient inns of this world weren't much cleaner either.
When resting, she simply floated high in the sky. Her nanomaterial body was immune to ordinary heat and cold, unaffected by insects, snakes, or disease.
...
Meanwhile.
At the silver-white pyramid.
News of the goddess's descent had reached the imperial court, drawing official attention.
Investigators were dispatched to examine the site.
Outside the silver pyramid, the growing crowd murmured with curiosity and awe.
Leading the investigation, Officer Zuo Qianhu unsheathed the long saber on his back and struck the pyramid—but not even a scratch appeared.
"So hard!" Zuo Qianhu's face darkened.
Such an enormous metallic structure—if its material could be forged into weapons, they would all be peerless divine armaments!
Who could have possibly constructed such a massive tower—and how?
He circled the silver pyramid once. The entire surface was seamless, as though it had been molded in a single piece.
Could it truly be the work of gods and immortals?
From his investigation, the tower had initially been small, but had grown over time.
And not long ago, a divine maiden had emerged from it and flown away.
Just then, the silver pyramid opened again.
A black-haired woman in pale blue Hanfu stepped out.
"What an intriguing time period... such a peculiar otherworld," she murmured.
"Man Sui, can I come with you?"
A blonde girl grinned mischievously, about to follow her when a slender, fair hand caught her wrist.
"Songque, good pets should stay obediently by their master's side," said a white-haired, violet-eyed girl, pulling her into her arms.
"Could you two stop showing off your affection in public? You're blocking the way," Iron Maiden muttered, twitching at the corners of her mouth.
"Ladies, let's head to my place first," Elizabeth said with a polite smile before taking flight with four others, disappearing into the sky.
"We're off as well," another Honkai squad said before departing in different directions.
Before any of them had even landed, the territories of this world had already been divided.
Zuo Qianhu stood rooted in place, staring at the celestial maidens flying toward the horizons.
To him, it was as if the immortals themselves had descended to the mortal realm.
Zuo Qianhu quickly stepped forward, cupping his hands respectfully. "Honored Immortals, I am Qianhu of the Imperial Jinyiwei."
He hurried—afraid that if he delayed even a moment longer, these celestial beings would fly away too.
"Why does this man's outfit look like something from a stage play? Is that just how this world dresses?" Songque asked curiously.
Iron Maiden scanned him up and down. "Judging by the standards of an ordinary human, this one seems fairly strong."
You're calling me strange? Look at yourselves!
Zuo Qianhu couldn't help but twitch. Of all the women present, only the black-haired one in Hanfu looked remotely normal. The rest wore bizarre garments—many exposing more skin than modesty allowed.
Were these truly immortals from the heavens?
He couldn't shake the feeling they were more like a group of enchanting demonesses who would bring ruin to nations.
"Honored Immortals, by His Majesty's command, I have been sent to invite you to the palace for a royal banquet," Zuo Qianhu said respectfully.
"The Emperor, huh? I kill every one I meet. You might want to reconsider," Iron Maiden said with a cold smile.
What?!
Kills every emperor she meets?!
Zuo Qianhu's heart lurched.
Such words were pure treason—proof that these women were enemies of the Empire.
"This land is long overdue for a change in rulers," Iron Maiden said.
Clang!
The sharp sound of metal echoed.
With just one finger, Iron Maiden stopped the long saber that had been slashing toward her neck.
Zuo Qianhu's attack had not escaped the notice of Songque, Thelema Nutriscu, and Man Sui.
For ordinary people, such a sudden strike would have been impossible to dodge.
But to them, it was like watching slow motion.
After analyzing his weapon and combat strength, they concluded—this man couldn't even cut her skin.
"You vile temptresses! Stop your deceitful tricks!" Zuo Qianhu shouted angrily.
He had come under imperial orders to bring the goddess back.
Instead of a goddess, he'd found a group of demon women.
The surrounding soldiers unsheathed their blades at once.
"Every single time—it's the same. Can't people just use their brains for once?" Songque muttered irritably, glancing at the soldiers.
"Humans are like that," Iron Maiden said flatly. "When they gather in groups, stupidity multiplies."
Her fingers pinched the saber's blade. With a light twist—
Crack!
The steel shattered.
Zuo Qianhu's saber snapped in two.
Iron Maiden held the broken blade, casually crushing it to dust in her hand.
"W–Who... what are you?" Zuo Qianhu stammered, eyes wide.
His finely forged blade had crumbled like tofu in her grasp.
"Man Sui, I'm heading out first," Iron Maiden said.
Blue lightning coiled around her arm as she flicked the broken metal shards outward. Instantly, the surrounding soldiers collapsed in waves.
With his superior reflexes, Zuo Qianhu narrowly avoided the strike by flipping backward through the air.
He looked around at the fallen soldiers, then up at the gray-haired woman flying away—already vanishing into the distance.
These women hadn't shown the slightest respect for him or the imperial court from the very beginning.
Zuo Qianhu turned cautiously toward the three remaining women: one with white hair and violet eyes who looked like a witch, another with golden hair and blue eyes who seemed western, and the last—a serene black-haired woman in Hanfu—who most resembled his image of a true immortal.
Though he could sense no hostility or killing intent from them, he dared not lower his guard.
After all, the gray-haired woman had been the same—no malice, no warning—yet she had slaughtered men as casually as crushing ants.
"Man Sui, what do we do next? There's no mission listed," Songque said, opening her Honkai interface and finding her mission list empty.
"No mission required," Man Sui replied calmly.
She had read about this historical era in other worlds—and she herself had lived during a similar time.
Though the worlds differed and demons and spirits existed here, the course of history was strikingly similar.
Without the descent of gods, in her own world, Man Sui had once been nothing more than an ordinary human—living through a dark era of humans devouring one another.
A suffering mortal who could starve to death at any moment—or be eaten by others.
This time, the gods had given her a mission.
Man Sui understood it well.
Different gods, in similar worlds.
And now—
They were the gods.
This wasn't arrogance.
But to the ordinary humans of this world, they were indeed beings akin to deities.
Of course, being called demons didn't matter either.
Whether worshiped as gods or feared as monsters, Man Sui didn't care.
"You're with the imperial court," Man Sui said calmly. "Go back and tell your emperor—the age of mortals ruling mortals is over."
Zuo Qianhu's expression turned grim.
Her words meant one thing—the emperor's reign had ended.
"Immortals must not interfere with mortal affairs," he retorted, though even he wasn't sure whether these beings were gods or demons. But one thing was certain—they were enemies of the Empire.
"But weren't you just calling us demonesses a moment ago?" Songque asked playfully, blinking her bright eyes with a mischievous smile.
"..."
In his heart, Zuo Qianhu still believed these women were not gods.
But if they truly were female demons—that was even more terrifying.
A coven of demonesses bent on destroying the dynasty.
And an even more dreadful thought crossed his mind.
Immortals could not meddle in mortal affairs.
But demons could.
If immortals descended and disguised themselves as demons, wouldn't that allow them to do whatever they pleased?
More importantly, the empire's divine fortune—the heavenly blessings once protecting the dynasty—was vanishing.
Even he could see it. The empire was weakening.
It wouldn't be the first time something like this had happened. Legends spoke of a nine-tailed fox, a celestial immortal sent to sow chaos below, hastening the fall of a dynasty.
Could it be that the gods of heaven now sought to restore the age of divine rule over mankind?
If so—then the empire's destruction was already certain.