Wilderness. Demon Sect.
“This time, with the combined strength of eight sects, the Demon Sect is finished!”
“They’ve done enough evil. It’s long overdue!”
Dark clouds loomed overhead, thunder rolled like an angry beast. Disciples of Thunder Sect had surrounded the Demon Sect’s mountain gate from every side—tight as a drum.
The winds howled. A storm was brewing.
“Demon Sect’s crimes are countless. Today, we eight sects join forces to crush them!” The Thunder Sect’s Master stood on the lightning warship, thunder crackling behind him. A sea of cultivators from his sect flanked his back.
Boom!
Bolts of lightning rained down, smashing into the Demon Sect’s defensive formation.
The mountain trembled. The heavens roared.
“Master, give it half a day—this formation will shatter for sure!” someone said.
“Heard their Saintess, Elizabeth Blake, is breathtaking. Perfect for a furnace.”
“Destroy the Demon Sect! Take the Saintess!”
“Destroy the Demon Sect! Take the Saintess!”
The Thunder Sect’s disciples roared, bloodthirst in their eyes.
...
Forbidden grounds. Howling Abyss.
Everything here was black—land, trees, rocks. Strange black mist hovered in the air, cold and twitching.
Oooooh—
A strange wailing echoed. It drilled into the soul.
“Saintess, are you sure the old ancestor really lives in the Howling Abyss? I’ve heard even Reincarnation Realm cultivators have lost their lives inside—no one ever returns!”
The girl at the front, face pale, beauty like ice and snow, was none other than Elizabeth Blake, Saintess of the Demon Sect.
She clenched her jaw. “The eight sects joined forces. This is our last shot.”
In her hand, a black iron token. One word carved on it—“Cross.”
Then, without hesitation, she stepped into the Abyss.
The light disappeared instantly. Gravity pressed in like a tidal wave. Her bones screamed.
It was like walking straight into hell.
Elizabeth gritted her teeth and pressed forward.
The deeper they walked, the thicker the grey poison mist became.
So did the wailing—it coiled around their ears like it had a will.
They'd been walking for a while when one guard dared to speak, “It’s just mist and creepy sounds, nothing we can’t handle—”
Swish.
Something flashed past. Elizabeth whipped around.
One guard—gone.
“Ahhh!”
A bone-deep scream erupted. Cold. Piercing.
Everyone’s spiritual energy surged as they whirled around in panic.
Shadows danced in the mist. The scream cut off—replaced by low, sinister laughter.
“Jie jie jie...”
Something was in here.
One after another, the guards vanished. Sweat soaked Elizabeth’s brow. Fear crept in. She couldn’t even see the enemy, much less fight it.
Suddenly, something dark burst out of the fog.
Clang!Elizabeth Blake raised her sword—only for it to shatter in an instant.
A jolt rocked her wrist. Blood trickled down her palm, landing on the iron token.
The moment bought her clarity. That black shadow? Turned out to be a tentacle—pitch black, slithering, alive.
The tentacle shot back into the miasma. In a blink, all the ghostly shapes vanished.
The twisted laughter echoing through the haze cut off suddenly.
The Howling Abyss sank into dead silence.
Elizabeth staggered back a few steps, her stunning face lined with despair.
Then, out of the gray miasma, a massive dark shape started to take form…
—
Deep within the Howling Abyss.
No one would’ve imagined that past the deadly fog, in the place folks called a death zone, lay a paradise cut off from the world.
Spiritual energy drifted lazily. Sunset light painted the skies gold. Phoenix-like birds soared overhead. Beasts roamed the land, playful and free.
At the center of this peace, a man dressed in white lounged on a wooden recliner, eyes half closed, at ease.
This man—Edwin Cross.
Ten thousand years ago, he’d crossed over to this world.
With a system guiding his hand, he built sects, raised disciples, grew his influence.
But then one day, he vanished from the continent—choosing to disappear into the depths of the so-called death zone. He’d stayed hidden in the Howling Abyss ever since.
Right then, a small golden bird landed before him.
“Master, there’s a girl outside. She’s got a token with your aura.”
Edwin opened his eyes.
“A token with my aura?”
It came back to him. During his travels, he had a habit—leaving a token with each group he helped form. A mark of his presence.
Never thought, after ten thousand years, someone would come looking with one still in hand.
“Ding! Host meets upgrade requirements. System advancing… Phase Two initiated.”
“New Quest: Resolve the crisis facing the Demonic Sect. Reward: Advance to Spirit Origin Realm, Fifth Layer.”
A way to regain his strength!
Edwin sat bolt upright.
He’d been holed up here all these years because his cultivation was sealed—reduced to a flat-out mortal.
But now, the chance was here—and he wasn’t going to miss it.
His gaze shifted to the golden bird perched in a nearby tree.
“Solarus, go fetch her.”
“As you command, Master!”
Solarus darted from the sanctuary like a flash.
Moments later, the tiny bird began to glow like a sun. Aura blazing, its body grew with the wind—stretching thousands of miles wide in just breaths.
With a sweep of its wings, a storm of raw power whipped through the Howling Abyss.
Elizabeth had already resigned herself to death—when a beam of light warmed her face.
The miasma thinned. Shadows retreated.
She opened her eyes—only to see a divine golden bird towering in the sky, staring right at her.“Sacred beast… Helios!”
