Donghuicheng was merely an inconspicuous small city on the border of the former Jinque Kingdom. If it weren't for the neighboring Wuse City's rise to fame in recent decades due to the Five-Color Pill, most cultivators would likely not even know such a small city existed within the Shenqi Mountain range.
The small city had little presence, and life there was leisurely and simple. The city lord who presided over it was only at the Golden Core stage, and he had now perished on the road to support Wuse City.
Also perishing were thirty-five cultivators from the city. These cultivators were not high in cultivation, mostly only at the Foundation Establishment stage. However, they had lived here for generations and understood the principle of interdependence; thus, they could not turn a blind eye to the tragic state of Wuse City.
Yet, the bloody aura of Wuse City permeated for tens of thousands of miles. Of those cultivators, only three managed to escape the massacre of Wuse City.
Little Alu's mother was one of them.
Li Shiqing had arrived at Donghuicheng from Lingcheng and personally witnessed the passing of Little Alu's mother.
She felt her throat first blocked by the bitter tea, a sense of heaviness, yet also a clarity belonging to cultivators—mortals still experienced birth, aging, sickness, and death. Cultivators, by their very nature, fought against fate; life and death were unpredictable.
"Little Alu, you don't need to think so much," Li Shiqing said softly. "Go home quickly, get a good night's sleep, and when you wake up, everything will be over."
"Yes, Little Alu, with us here, we won't let you die," Sun Ling approached from ahead, picking up the little girl. "Your brother is looking for you everywhere. Why did you come down here by the city walls?"
Her tone was slightly stiff, clearly unaccustomed to speaking so softly with children and feeling quite helpless.
Sun Ling led the little girl into the city. Just as she handed her over to a hurried-looking young man, she sensed a massive and extraordinary aura continuously approaching Donghuicheng.
Her expression changed, and she immediately said to the two before her, "Quick! You two, hurry home!"
With that, she turned and rushed towards the city walls, only to collide with Li Shiqing, who was sent flying backward as if struck by a fan!
"Shiqing!" Sun Ling stepped forward to support Li Shiqing, looking up to see a familiar face not far away. She frowned tightly, "Sun Chongyang!"
If asked what her most regrettable action was, Sun Ling would definitely say being born into the Sun family was one, being wrong about Lou Changxing's judgment of people was another, and letting Sun Chongyang go in the vast universe minor realm was the third.
When Bai Shengyi went missing, after she and Li Shiqing captured Sun Chongyang in the vast universe minor realm, they discovered he had fallen into demonic cultivation. They immediately planned to take him to report to Zhan Jiuzhou. Unexpectedly, they were knocked unconscious by Sun Chongyang on the way, and he managed to escape.
By the time she and Li Shiqing were found by Zhan Jiuzhou from the vast universe minor realm, they learned that Liu Tianyun had led demonic cultivators from the far west to break the seal and invade major sects on a large scale. Li Tingyun, the Mountain Lord of Hualing, and others had colluded with prison fiends and demonic cultivators early on.
The entire Shenqi small world seemed to have changed overnight, descending into chaos...
"Whoosh!"
An arrow whizzed through the air. Li Shiqing cut it down with her sword and turned to call out to Sun Ling.
Sun Ling snapped out of her memories and looked at Sun Chongyang, saying, "Sun Chongyang, if you turn back now, it's not too late for everything..."
"Sun Ling, shut up!" Sun Chongyang suddenly transformed into a giant celestial dragon-serpent, his deep voice cutting off Sun Ling's words.
"Shenqi Mountain caused my Sun family to decline overnight. Thousands of my Sun family members died because of Qin Si, including your father, my grandfather. How can you ask me to turn back? Instead, you, colluding with the murderer of your father, Sun Ling, are you worthy of the entire Sun family!"
Sun Ling's expression was pained, but her demeanor was resolute, "That was their own wrongdoing and the wrong path they took. What does that have to do with Shenqi Mountain and Master Qin? Why don't you mention their insatiable greed, their collusion with the Supreme Sect to calculate the destiny of the Shenqi Continent? Why don't you mention that Shenqi Mountain left the Sun family a way out, but the Sun family courted death, leading their disciples into demonic cultivation..."
"What's wrong with falling into demonic cultivation?" The celestial dragon-serpent swayed its massive tongue, and with each breath, dark red blood mist enveloped the surroundings.
That was the blood of the citizens of Wuse City.
A cruel sneer flashed in the vertical pupils of the celestial dragon-serpent. "My demon race cultivates easily, increases its cultivation rapidly, and has hope for ascension. Everyone respects and fears us. What's not to like!"
Looking at Sun Chongyang like this, Sun Ling's face gradually turned stern, "Your cultivation is achieved by devouring the blood of others. Aren't you ashamed?"
"Hahaha, foolish!" Sun Chongyang looked at Sun Ling as if she were an overly innocent child. "In the cultivation world, it's survival of the fittest. Those people were inferior to me. It's their fault for having their blood devoured by me!"
Sun Ling's face turned completely grim.
Li Shiqing recovered, holding a sword in each hand, and charged at the giant celestial dragon-serpent again, her voice cold, "Sun Ling, why waste words with him? He is stubborn and has become a complete demonic beast, devoid of all ethics and principles!"
A fierce wind blew, and a dense bloody stench permeated everywhere. Sun Chongyang struck Li Shiqing flying again. With a command, countless small black snakes climbed up the city walls from outside.
Behind him, another figure, enveloped in an inky, sinister, and dark aura, strode forward.
In an instant, he reached the outside of Donghuicheng.
Sun Chongyang, who had been looking down on Sun Ling and Li Shiqing just moments ago, instinctively tightened his serpent tail upon seeing this person and said respectfully, "Supreme Demonic Lord."
Li Tingyun of the Supreme Sect, who fell into demonic cultivation with Mahayana cultivation, performed blood sacrifices on cities and devoured the demonic power of his own kin to elevate his cultivation to the peak of Mahayana. His utterly violent and cunning style made even many demonic cultivators tremble, and he was known as the Supreme Demonic Lord.
Currently, in the demonic path, the Supreme Demonic Lord and the Crimson Lotus Demonic Lord were evenly matched. While jointly opposing righteous cultivators, they also stood in opposition and competed in secret.
Li Tingyun's eyes turned blood-red. He asked coldly, "Why hasn't this city been opened for so long? My Shu'er is hungry again."
As Li Tingyun finished speaking, the darkness around him peeled away, and a graceful, seductive, and enchanting woman appeared in his place.
Fifty years ago, outside the vast universe minor realm, Hua Yun, the Mountain Lord of Hualing, grabbed Li Tingyun's collar and detonated all the prison fiends beneath the ground of the Southern Wilderness River, intending to drag everyone to hell. However, he was tricked by Li Tingyun.
Li Tingyun, after some unknown encounter beneath the glacier, not only converted Hua Yun's residual spiritual power for his own use but also signed a master-servant contract with an ancient demonic beast sealed beneath the glacier during the ensuing chaos.
Because of this, Li Tingyun outright fell into demonic cultivation, refining demonic techniques with Hua Yun's bones and blood, successfully escaping the pursuit of Qin Si, Yue Bufan, Master Ku Lia, and others.
And this woman named "Shu'er" today was the transformed form of that demonic beast.
Shu'er said softly, "Master, may Shu'er act on her own?"