The emerald prison hummed with latent power, its glow unwavering despite Yinâs threats. Ning Yue stood motionless, her jade-green eyes reflecting neither fear nor angerâonly the calm certainty of the World Tree itself.
Yin studied her reaction, his abyssal eyes glinting with amusement. When she still refused to speak, he chuckled and leaned back against the barrier.
"I wonder," he mused, "how your precious Big Brother Yun would feel... knowing his beloved younger sister didnât even protect his women for him."
A flicker passed through Ning Yueâs eyesâso brief it might have been imaginedâbut her expression remained unchanged.
Nian Shi, sensing an opportunity to unsettle her further, smirked.
"Oh, I have many ways to deal with Yun Lintianâs women," he said casually, as if discussing the weather. "Even trapped here, my influence stretches across time. Take Long Qingxuan, for example..."
Long Yi, who had been silently observing from the edge of the battlefield, stiffened at the mention of the Dragon Princess.
Nian Shiâs smile widened.
"I put her in a timeline where time flows differently. A million years of suffering, her memories slowly being rewritten... By now, she probably doesnât even remember Yun Lintianâs face."
"You bastardâ!"
Long Yiâs roar echoed through the abyss, his draconic aura flaring violently. Golden scales erupted across his skin as primal fury overtook him. He lunged forwardâ
Only to crash against an invisible barrier. The World Treeâs roots coiled gently around him, restraining his rage without harming him.
Ning Yue didnât even glance his way.
Nian Shi laughed. "Pathetic. Even your own allies are useless here."
Yin joined in, his laughter colder, more calculated. "Really, little sapling. Are you just going to stand there and let us torment your brotherâs loved ones?"
Finally, Ning Yue moved.
She lifted her gaze to meet theirs, and when she spoke, her voice carried the weight of inevitability.
"Everyone has their own destiny to fulfill."
The words hung in the air, simple yet profound.
Yinâs smirk faltered slightly. Nian Shiâs silver eyes narrowed.
What Ning Yue implied was clearâ
Yun Lintianâs women were not mere bystanders in this cosmic game. They had their own roles to play, their own fates to meet. Whether they lived or died... it was all part of a greater design.
And she would not interfere.
Yin was the first to recover, his amusement returning tenfold.
"Oh ho? So youâre willing to sacrifice them?" He clapped slowly. "How cold. I thought you cared about your Big Brother Yunâs happiness."
Ning Yueâs response was calm. "I care about his destiny."
A subtle distinctionâbut a critical one.
Nian Shi, however, wasnât convinced. "Empty words. If his women die, his heart will break. And without his heart... his destiny means nothing."
Ning Yue didnât argue.
She simply raised her handâ
And the emerald barrier intensified further, its glow so bright it forced both Nian Shi and Yin to flinch.
What neither of them realized was thisâ
Ning Yueâs words were not indifference.
They were faith.
Faith that Yun Lintianâs women were stronger than they appeared.
Faith that they, too, could defy fate.
And most importantly...
Faith that Yun Lintian himself would transcend his grief, should the worst come to pass.
Because true strength was not the absence of painâ
But the will to rise despite it.
"Hehehe."
Yinâs laughter faded, replaced by a cold, calculating stare.
"Fine," he murmured. "If you wonât bend... then letâs see how Yun Lintian reacts when his world starts crumbling."
With that, he closed his eyesâ
And a ripple of darkness spread from his form, seeping through the cracks in the World Treeâs prison.
A single wisp of his power, escaping into the wider universe.
Carrying a command.
A death sentence.
For Yun Lintianâs loved ones.
***
**
*
The Divine Realm stretched endlessly before themâa vast expanse of swirling galaxies and glittering stars, where cosmic winds carried whispers of ancient power. Yun Qianxue stood at the forefront, her long white hair cascading like a waterfall of snow, her ice-blue eyes scanning the horizon with cold precision.
Beside her, the three elders of the Misty Cloud Sect maintained their vigilance.
Yun Qingrou, the Third Elder, cradled a delicate jade vial in her hands, her wood-element energy pulsing gently like the heartbeat of a forest. "The creatures of chaos have retreated, but their presence still lingers in the void," she murmured, her voice as soft as rustling leaves.
Yun Ruanyu, the First Elder and chief strategist, plucked an invisible string in the air, sending a ripple of musical energy through space. "Theyâre regrouping. This isnât over."
Yun Lingwei, the Fifth Elder, traced intricate runes in the air with her fingertips, reinforcing the defensive formations around them. "I will make sure that they canât breach the formation again this time."
Yun Qianxue stared at the endless space in front of her as her mind drifted toward Yun Lintian, whom she hadnât seen for a while.
"Hmm?" Yun Qianxue suddenly felt something.
The others were the same. They raised their heads to look at the space ahead.
Buzzâ
Suddenly, the space before them rippled.
At first, it was subtleâa faint distortion in the starlight, like heat haze over desert sands.
Thenâ
It darkened.
A shadow deeper than the void itself congealed, twisting and writhing until it took the shape of a humanoid figure. No features, no discernible formâjust an abyss given sentience.
Yun Qianxueâs ice-blue eyes narrowed.
"Be careful."
Her instinct screamed at her that the creature in front of them was extremely dangerous. It was even more stronger than the General Class creature of chaos.
The three elders reacted without hesitation, falling into formationâQingrou at the rear, Ruanyu at the flank, Lingwei reinforcing their barriers.
"Keke..."
The shadow laughed.
A soundless, hollow mirth that vibrated through their bones.
Thenâ
It struck.
Yun Qianxue moved first.
Her palms thrust forward, and chaos energy eruptedâa storm of destructive force that could unravel the laws of reality itself.
BOOM!
The attack slammed into the shadow, tearing through its form like a blade through paper.
But the shadow simply reformed, untouched.
CLANG!
Yun Ruanyuâs fingers danced across her guqin, sending razor-sharp soundwaves slicing toward the enemy. The musical blades carved through the shadowâs body, yet it continued advancing, unfazed.
Yun Lingweiâs formations activatedâlayers of golden runes materializing in the air, attempting to bind the shadow in place. But the moment the runes touched it, they corroded, dissolving into nothingness.
Yun Qingrouâs healing energy surged outward, reinforcing her allies. But even her power couldnât counteract the sheer wrongness emanating from the shadow.
Unfortunately... this was no ordinary foe.
This was a fragment of Yinâs will.
An existence that rivaled the Creator.