Outside the attic, Ye Xing knelt respectfully.
The demonic aura around him was completely restrained, his hands—usually concealed within the dark energy—rested quietly on the ground, their lethal edges, feared by both cultivators and demonic practitioners alike, now cold against the floor paved with supreme-grade spirit stones, slowly eroded by the spiritual energy.
His head was lowered, and the reflection on the stone surface revealed his stern face, the demonic markings on his cheek trailing downward, vanishing into the dark green of his fitted attire.
Even the mightiest demon generals were nothing more than ants before the Demon Lord.
Recalling the turmoil in the demonic abyss, a trace of gravity flickered in Ye Xing's eyes.
A single abyss in upheaval would have been manageable—he alone could suppress it. But now, three abysses had merged, their combined power far exceeding the control of any demon general.
Thus, he had no choice but to report it to the Demon Lord.
Even if it meant being labeled a nuisance in the Demon Lord's eyes, there was no other option.
He knew the Demon Lord’s temperament well, so before coming to the Dark Twilight Pavilion, he had already prepared himself for severe injury.
Sure enough, the moment his words fell, an icy killing intent—enough to make any demonic cultivator’s hair stand on end—silently enveloped him. The surrounding demonic energy churned violently, as if echoing the impatience of the figure inside the pavilion.
The threshold of the pavilion marked a stark divide. Inside, the atmosphere remained tranquil, not even a maple leaf stirring. Outside, however, the air was thick with impending storm and rampant demonic energy.
The frenzied energy seemed poised to snuff out Ye Xing’s life in an instant.
Just then, a soft, puzzled voice drifted through the air.
"Yan Shuo… did you hear that?"
Seizing the distraction caused by Ye Xing’s arrival, Xu Wanci took a step back, freeing herself from Yan Shuo’s embrace.
She felt an inexplicable lightness, as if a weight had been lifted, her fingertips trembling faintly.
Yet, her heart still screamed at her to trust him, to draw closer.
It incessantly reminded her—she loved him.
Xu Wanci blinked slowly.
Had she only felt a slight affinity toward Yan Shuo, she might have been more inclined to believe it.
But this intensity of emotion was so abrupt, so overwhelming, that it defied her understanding of herself.
Even without her memories, she couldn’t fathom being so irrationally drawn to someone.
Besides, while emotions could deceive, what of instinct?
Her instincts told her that her relationship with Yan Shuo was far from what he claimed—perhaps even strained, or… adversarial.
And yet…
Thinking of the title she had just overheard, she exhaled softly.
Your Majesty.
Yan Shuo was likely the ruler of the demon realm.
She had suspected as much during their earlier conversation, but the confirmation still unsettled her for a moment.
The Demon Lord… Whatever his intentions, in her current state, she was powerless to resist.
Suppressing all her emotions, she looked at Yan Shuo with the same expression as before—slightly distant, yet carrying an unconscious warmth.
Fortunately, even though she still knew nothing about herself, she had an instinct for deception.
In danger, she seemed to naturally adopt the guise most suited for survival.
Yan Shuo felt the fading warmth in his arms, his eyes darkening. The demonic energy outside grew even more frenetic, only calming when Xu Wanci curiously glanced toward the door.
He shifted slightly, subtly blocking her view. "Just trivial matters. There’s no need for you to concern yourself, Wanci."
Xu Wanci retreated another two steps.
Trivial matters…?
Would anyone dare disturb the Demon Lord over something trivial?
The demonic abyss must lie beyond the palace. This might be her chance to leave, to observe the demon realm.
For now, Yan Shuo treated her with leniency. She didn’t know how long that would last, so she had to use this time to learn as much as she could.
And prepare for the worst.
She lifted her gaze, feigning confusion.
"Is the demonic abyss in turmoil… really such a small matter?"
She spoke as if to herself, but her voice was just loud enough for him to hear.
"The Demon Lord, ignoring his realm’s crisis."
"Doesn’t seem very responsible, does it?"
The smile on Yan Shuo’s lips stiffened imperceptibly. His gaze darkened as it swept over her profile, his eyes narrowing slightly.
It seemed Xu Wanci wasn’t the least bit surprised by his identity.
Had she already guessed?
Well, he had never hidden it from her.
Watching her lower her head, stealing glances at him when she thought he wouldn’t notice, a trace of genuine warmth seeped into his eyes.
Is this her true nature?
He chuckled softly. "I merely wished to spend a little more time with you, Wanci. The abyss can wait."
Xu Wanci took another exaggerated step back, widening the distance between them.
"What a way to shift blame."
"Say a few more words like that, and I’ll be the demon realm’s greatest sinner."
A shadow flickered in Yan Shuo’s eyes at her retreat, but it faded just as quickly when he heard her tone.
He closed the distance between them again, not refuting her, only smiling faintly. "My mistake."
"I was the one seeking a moment’s respite, neglecting the abyss."
"It has nothing to do with you."
Xu Wanci detected the indifference in his voice, the lack of anger.
So, he didn’t mind her audacity—as long as she maintained the pretense of closeness.
With that in mind, she quickly stepped forward, a bright smile curving her lips.
"Aren’t we going to the abyss?"
"Let’s go."
Hearing the word "we," Yan Shuo swallowed his refusal.
He turned, walking beside her.
"The abyss is dangerous during an upheaval."
Xu Wanci gave him a look that said you’re going back on your word now?
"Didn’t you say you wanted to stay with me longer?"
Yan Shuo sighed, reaching out to tousle her hair. "Fine. We’ll go together."
Three abysses meant nothing to him, anyway.
High above, Xiao Yuyan watched the scene unfold, the world around him fading until only two figures remained in his sight—one bright, one dark.
Xu Wanci and Yan Shuo…
Even their simplest interactions, their slightest closeness, made the threads of heavenly power at his fingertips gather and scatter uncontrollably.
He still didn’t understand the emotions churning within him, but the blue hues in the surrounding chaos grew ever more pronounced.
Just then, Xu Wanci stepped out of the Dark Twilight Pavilion.
Gazing at the crimson-stained sky, a sorrow she didn’t even recognize flickered in her eyes as she murmured,
"The blue sky should be even more beautiful."
A drop of water fell into her heart, slowly diluting the ink-like darkness that had lingered there before.
Amidst the lifeless silence and boundless void of chaos, a breeze seemed to stir, spreading vast swathes of blue like spilled paint.
Xiao Yuyan gazed into those quiet, sorrowful eyes and felt a faint ache rise in his chest.
It was so light, almost imperceptible, yet it was the first time he became acutely aware of the existence of his own heart.
In the demon realm, Xu Wanci had barely finished speaking when she sensed the restless surge of demonic energy beside her.
Though it lasted only a moment, it was enough to put her on guard:
Yan Shuo did not like it when she mentioned the color blue.
But blue… wasn’t it just a color?
A color she liked.
Or was it…
A color that meant something else?
A flicker of confusion passed through Xu Wanci’s eyes, but she suppressed it almost instantly. Instead, she turned her gaze to the endless crimson road ahead and changed the subject with feigned curiosity:
"Is the Demon Abyss far from here? How long will it take us to get there?"
Yan Shuo’s grip around her wrist tightened slightly, more insistent than before. His voice was low and measured:
"Close your eyes. We’re almost there."
Xu Wanci felt the warmth of his touch and detected the faint impatience in his tone.
She blinked, as if puzzled, but offered no resistance. Obediently, she shut her eyes.
Seeing her compliance, the darkness in Yan Shuo’s gaze gradually receded. With a flick of demonic energy, the two of them vanished—only to reappear beside the turbulent Demon Abyss.
At the abyss, all demonic cultivators had already retreated. Only the swirling void in the sky remained, along with seven demon generals stationed hundreds of meters away, poised for battle.
Three bottomless chasms, capable of devouring everything, twisted and intertwined in midair. The surrounding demonic energy had been sucked into the abyss, turning so dense it was nearly solid.
Where the abysses merged, a terrifying shadow slowly took form. Once it broke free, everything around it would be annihilated.
Xu Wanci faced the abyss, feeling its overwhelming power, yet strangely, she wasn’t afraid. Almost instinctively, she began searching for the shadow’s weakness—as if she had faced far greater dangers before and still found a way to survive.
Yan Shuo paid no attention to the abyss. Instead, his dark, ink-like eyes lingered on Xu Wanci’s focused, fearless expression, a rare hint of amusement crossing his features.
He shielded her from the abyss’s aura with his demonic energy and gently brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek, his voice soft:
"Aren’t you afraid?"
Xu Wanci’s heart stirred with an emotion both foreign and familiar:
What’s the use of fear?
When survival demands everything you have, fear is the first thing you must discard.
The thought startled her—was this her past self speaking?
She quickly composed herself, keeping her eyes fixed ahead.
"It’s fine."
Through the abyss, she caught sight of a distant city, small yet impossible to ignore.
Had its inhabitants managed to evacuate in time?
As the shadow grew clearer, a pang of urgency struck her:
If that thing emerges, what will happen to the city?
She recalled Yan Shuo’s indifference when hearing reports earlier—his utter lack of concern.
Wasn’t he the Demon Lord? Why did he seem so detached from the destruction his realm faced?
Xu Wanci turned slightly, studying the man beside her, his gaze tender yet chillingly detached. Her heart sank.
In that moment, she realized with absolute clarity: she could never love Yan Shuo.
What would he do if he stopped loving her—or if she ceased to amuse him? Would he cast her aside as carelessly as he dismissed the city today?
For someone like him, even a version of herself without memories wouldn’t dare to fall. How much less the woman she truly was?
Yan Shuo noticed the shift in her mood and arched a brow.
"What’s wrong?"
Xu Wanci didn’t hide her unease. Frowning at the abyss, she let her voice carry just the right note of tension:
"That shadow—it’s coming out."
From the depths of the abyss, three draconic heads emerged.
Yan Shuo didn’t turn. Instead, he chuckled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Every abyss harbors a demon. They coexist, yet restrain one another. This time, the demons from three abysses chose to merge."
The three-headed demonic dragon had freed most of its body. The abyssal energy around it had thickened into black rain.
Yan Shuo pressed a dark, feather-like stone into Xu Wanci’s palm, his tone casual:
"Wait here for me. This won’t take long."
Before she could respond, he vanished.
The stone in her hand shielded her from the abyssal energy, rendering her invisible to all.
As she stood there, a piece of withered bone landed near her feet—within it, a black demon crystal, already cracked.
Xu Wanci looked up.
At the heart of the chaos, Yan Shuo had already destroyed one of the dragon’s heads. The remaining two thrashed wildly, their massive tails cracking the city’s protective barriers in the distance.
Yan Shuo stood unfazed. With a mere flick of his hand, his demonic energy tore a gaping wound into the dragon’s hide, revealing another crystal.
One more strike—and it shattered.
Xu Wanci’s fingers twitched.
Yan Shuo was even stronger than she’d imagined.
From now on, she would need to tread even more carefully around him.
The dragon, now down to its last head, raged uncontrollably, its remaining crystal hidden deep within its body.
Yan Shuo narrowed his eyes.
So it sacrificed the other two to protect the core?
He struck again, but the dragon’s overwhelming energy made pinpointing the crystal’s location nearly impossible—even for him.
A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he waved his hand, drawing the demonic energy from the dragon’s body like a winding stream, absorbing and assimilating it into himself.
If demonic crystals were hard to find, then he wouldn’t bother searching anymore.
He would simply drain the beast dry of its demonic energy, leaving it no path to survival.
The demonic dragon seemed to sense the impending danger, thrashing violently as waves of dark energy surged outward. The protective barrier around the distant city was already riddled with cracks, its resistance crumbling.
Xu Wanci watched the scene unfold, her fingers tightening around the featherstone in her hand.
She couldn’t bear to see the city destroyed—nor did she want to stand idly by, waiting for rescue.
She refused to be the one left helpless, relying on others to save her.
That wasn’t who she was.
She was strong enough. Her cultivation was powerful enough to wound the demonic dragon, even if it took everything she had—even if she only had one strike.
She should—
A faint glow flickered to life in the depths of her consciousness.
In that instant, her sensitivity to demonic energy sharpened. She could see every wisp of dark energy clinging to the dragon’s body, still thick and abundant. Meanwhile, Yan Shuo stood like a swirling vortex, the sheer force of his presence sending a tremor through her just from a glance.
She exhaled slowly.
It would take Yan Shuo another half a cup of tea’s time to fully drain the beast.
Fast, but not fast enough.
Xu Wanci flexed her fingers.
If only she could manipulate the demonic energy around the dragon…
She tested the idea, reaching out with her will—but the energy remained unresponsive.
Then a strange thought struck her:
If it were spiritual energy, she could control it effortlessly.
Her gaze traced the dragon’s form, and in that moment, she noticed something different—a faint anomaly in the demonic energy at the ninth inch of its tail.
Subtle, but unmistakable.
Xu Wanci tightened her grip on the featherstone. If she targeted the tail and used the stone’s power, she had a sixty percent chance.
The Nine Heavens Sword materialized silently in her hand.
As the dragon’s tail lashed toward her, she moved as if she had practiced this a thousand times. Sword in hand, she became a streak of light cutting through the darkness, striking true.
Her speed was blinding. By the time the demonic generals realized what was happening, she had already pierced through the dragon’s tail, sword and body as one.
A soft chime echoed—
The sound of a demonic crystal hitting the ground. Quiet, yet deafening to all who heard it.
Xu Wanci stood a short distance away, her face pale from the exhaustion of drained spiritual energy. Half her robes were stained black with the dragon’s blood, the dark hue mingling with crimson in a sight both breathtaking and terrifying.
A single drop of the demonic dragon’s blood slid down the Nine Heavens Sword, clinging to the tip before falling—landing atop the last remaining crystal.
Behind her, the dragon’s body disintegrated into wisps of dark energy, scattering into the void.
In the distance, the city stood unharmed.
Xu Wanci blinked slowly, feeling the emptiness in her dantian.
At last, she understood what she truly wanted—what she loved most.
Power.
The kind of power that could command her own fate and save herself.
