Yunxihua stepped out of the banquet hall, her robe fluttering in the night wind that carried the scent of blood and destruction from the southwest.
The elders from the sects within the Devouring Star Alliance immediately followed behind her, each summoning their spiritual weapons and releasing their auras.
The dark sky trembled as dozens of high-level experts rose into the air together.
"Our destination: the Mystery Cloud Sect in the southwest!" one elder shouted, his voice carried by the wind like the toll of a war bell.
Yunxihua paused briefly in midair, gazing toward the southwest. A faint red glow—originating from the nearly shattered defensive formation of the Mystery Cloud Sect—illuminated the horizon.
"If the shadow forces truly number four hundred Nascent Souls…" Yunxihua lowered her head slightly, her eyes flashing like sparks of lightning. "Then they will not touch a single stone of that sect as long as I still breathe."
With a single stomp into empty space—
BOOM!
Yunxihua shot forward like lightning, leaving behind a trail of silver light across the darkened sky. The elders of the various sects hurried to follow, their combined auras merging like a massive storm wave.
One elder shouted, "Don't let Yunxihua reach the enemy first! If she moves without us, the shadow forces will be wiped out before we even arrive!"
Another elder laughed bitterly. "That's exactly the problem… we want to help, not become spectators!"
Their journey through the sky lasted only a few breaths.
As they neared the territory of the Mystery Cloud Sect, the sounds of explosions, the roar of cracking formations, and battle cries shook the air.
From afar, it was clearly visible:
The sect's massive gate had already been half destroyed.
The defensive formation flickered, on the verge of collapse.
Dozens of shadow forces clad in dark robes swept through the area like a wave of death.
The elders of the Mystery Cloud Sect who were still standing looked utterly desperate.
Before the dust had even settled as Yunxihua landed, a sharp cracking sound echoed from the center of the battlefield.
Surrounded by more than thirty Nascent Soul cultivators, the Sect Master of the Mystery Cloud Sect was already kneeling, his body covered in torn wounds and blood flowing endlessly. His personal protective formation had shattered; only faint remnants of flickering light remained around his body.
One of the shadow force commanders raised his sword high, the black blade gleaming with murderous soul power. "The Mystery Cloud Sect will end tonight!"
The sword came crashing down—
But before the blade could reach its target, a streak of silvery light shot between them.
CLANG!!!
The black blade was flung away as if struck by a colossal mountain. The commander was shaken, stumbling backward several steps, his feet scraping against the ground.
The Mystery Cloud Sect Master, who had nearly lost consciousness moments earlier, stared at the light with widened eyes. His body trembled.
"Y-Yunxihua…?"
Yunxihua stood before him, her back straight, her aura forming a soul shield that blocked the fatal strike at the final instant. Her gaze was cold, like snow in the depths of winter.
"Good thing I arrived in time…" she said softly, yet her words carried suppressed fury.
She looked at the severe wounds covering the sect master's body, then shifted her gaze toward the shadow forces staring back at her with full vigilance.
"If I had been even a little late…" Yunxihua clenched her fist, an aura quake spreading and shaking the ground. "The Mystery Cloud Sect Master would already be dead. And that… I will never forgive."
The alliance elders who had just landed behind her also fell silent. They realized something clearly: Yunxihua was no longer merely defending herself. She was enraged.
The shadow force commander spat onto the ground. "Good. You came alone. That makes our job easier, Yunxihua."
Yunxihua did not respond. She merely raised her slender fingers… and dozens of spiritual light blades appeared around her like stars poised to fall.
"You want the head of this sect master?" Her gaze ignited, ancient dragon aura surging like a storm. "Try taking my life first. If you can."
That night, the battlefield became a place where hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators realized… They had not come to kill. They had come to be slaughtered.
The sky above the Mystery Cloud Sect turned silent. Utterly silent. As if the entire world was holding its breath in the same instant.
The shadow forces—four hundred Nascent Souls—surrounded Yunxihua from all directions.
Their auras surged like a sea of killers, ready to devour anything before them.
One of them let out a low laugh. "With numbers like this… you're surely—"
HE DID NOT FINISH.
Because at that moment, Yunxihua stepped forward.
A SOUL WAVE EXPLODED.
The ground cracked hundreds of meters in every direction. The air split apart. Silvery light erupted from Yunxihua's body like the breath of a heavenly dragon awakened from an ancient slumber.
"Second Inheritance… Awaken."
Yunxihua's voice was not loud, yet it was enough to make every strand of her enemies' hair stand on end in terror.
In an instant, the shadow of an Ancient Primordial Dragon appeared behind her. Its eyes burned like two suns that had fallen from the heavens.
All four hundred Nascent Souls felt pressure that crushed their hearts. They tried to retreat…
Too late.
Yunxihua raised her hand. One simple motion.
Then— DESTRUCTION ERUPTED.
"—Heaven-Devouring Dragon."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Silvery and purple light exploded outward like soul magma from an ancient volcano. The wave swept across the entire battlefield in a single strike. There were no screams. No resistance. No chance to escape.
The bodies of four hundred Nascent Souls disintegrated in a single instant, shattered into soul fragments that vanished into the wind.
In the span of a few breaths, the battlefield once filled with murderous auras… became a terrifying silence.
Even the earth they had stood upon was now blackened, shattered into a massive crater dozens of meters wide.
The alliance elders stood frozen in place. It wasn't disbelief. It was fear.
"F… four hundred… gone just like that…"
The Mystery Cloud Sect Master, who had nearly died moments earlier, could only stare at Yunxihua's back as she stood alone at the center of the crater of destruction.
Yunxihua then took a calm breath, as if she had merely brushed away a few insects.
"The Soul Purification Sect… how bold of them to send trash like this."
She looked toward the east—the direction of the Soul Purification Sect's main headquarters.
Yunxihua's eyes narrowed, a flash of slaughter blazing within them.