A name surfaced simultaneously in both of their minds.

Phoenix and Dragon Dojo.

The air in the grand hall grew heavy.

Very heavy.

One of the dharma protectors muttered through clenched teeth, his voice thick with disdain.

"That good-for-nothing girl actually dared to go to that dojo again… after I warned her so many times. How dare she."

Patriarch Fang felt a surge of blood rush to his throat. His vision darkened for a split second, fury so intense it nearly made him spit blood on the spot.

At the head of the hall, Young Master Yun's expression cooled completely. The lazy smile vanished, replaced by a chilling stillness. A trace of sinister light flickered at the corner of his eyes.

That girl was his key.

His lifeline.

The one variable that could allow him to survive the coming calamity.

There was no universe in which she was allowed to slip through his fingers.

He let out a cold snort and uttered a single word, heavy with finality.

"Let's go."

In an instant, terrifying auras erupted. The three figures shot upward like bolts of divine lightning, their departure blasting a massive hole through the ceiling as fragments of jade and stone rained down.

The banquet ended in utter chaos.

Patriarch Fang sucked in a deep breath, forcing his boiling rage down as he hurried after them, his thoughts seething.

"Damn that master of the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo…"

"Did he really think that killing a worthless Bai trash meant he could cover the entire city with one palm?"

"Today, if I don't make him pay, I won't be worthy of my father's name."

…

Inside the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo, Wang Chen lay reclined on his chair, one leg casually draped over the armrest, appearing relaxed to the extreme.

But his eyes were cold.

"Hmmm… the demons really didn't waste time."

His voice carried a trace of weariness as he reviewed the feedback transmitted back through Doomclock. Nearly every mortal lingering around the dojo's perimeter had already been turned into demon puppets.

Almost all of them.

Naturally, Wang Chen had not allowed such filth to fester near his territory.

One by one, he had erased them—cleanly, efficiently—extracting every fragment of memory and intelligence before doing so.

And that was precisely why his expression was now so grave.

Just moments ago, he had received a particularly unpleasant piece of information.

"Revival of the Original Demons…"

Wang Chen exhaled slowly, fingers tapping against the chair.

"Tsk. Who would've thought things would escalate this fast."

The calm before the storm was over.

The Seven Cloud Converged World did not originally belong to humanity.

It belonged to the Demon Race.

Not the Abyssal Demons—but the true Demon Race.

Long before cultivators walked the land, before humanity even arrived, the Seven Cloud Converged World had been ruled by the Original Demons. Seven Lords. Seven clouds. Each lord governed a continent-sized cloud, their authority absolute, their bloodlines ancient beyond measure.

Then time passed.

Humanity spread like wildfire.

Cultivators rose.

And the demons declined.

What followed was not an instant collapse, but a slow, grinding erosion. Territory by territory, generation by generation, the Demon Race was pushed back—until now.

Of the seven continents, four had already fallen back into demon hands.

If this trend continued, the fall of the Azure Dragon Continent was not a possibility—it was an inevitability.

And if Azure Dragon fell, humanity would be left with only two remaining continents.

Two.

Wang Chen's thoughts raced like lightning, rapidly reconstructing the larger picture. Compared to his earlier assumptions, the reality was far worse. This was not a localized disaster—it was a systematic reclaiming of the world.

His peaceful days were numbered.

Yet one question gnawed at him relentlessly.

Why was humanity allowing this?

Why were the true powers—those capable of turning the tide—standing by as if the fate of mortals was irrelevant?

The answer was already evident.

From the Soaring Dragon Continent's reaction to the Azure Dragon calamity, it was clear they had no intention of fighting. No reinforcements. No counteroffensive. Only evacuation.

They took the talented.

They abandoned the rest.

Cold. Efficient. Ruthless.

Just then, another Doomclock pulse rang out in Wang Chen's consciousness, fresh intel flooding his mind.

"Hm."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"So Seven Rainbow City actually held."

The image formed clearly.

"The demon army was repelled… and the Three-Eyed Lord Ark was seriously injured."

Wang Chen leaned back slowly, fingers tapping against the armrest.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The board was moving faster than expected—and some of the pieces were already bleeding.

The moment Wang Chen processed the news, he was so stunned he nearly jumped out of his seat.

Only two imperial cities had managed to survive the demonic incursion so far.

One was his own—largely because the demons had not yet bothered to attack it.

The other was Seven Rainbow City.

And according to the latest intel, the demon army had already been on the verge of laying siege to it.

Yet the result was unmistakable.

The demon army was defeated.

"What a nice surprise."

Wang Chen's eyes lit up, a rare flicker of genuine interest flashing through them. If this information was accurate, then the situation wasn't as hopeless as he had feared.

Which meant one thing.

He might have more time to laze around and proactively—cough—prepare.

He was still digesting that pleasant thought when his expression abruptly stiffened.

Four terrifying auras surged toward the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo like meteorites tearing through the sky. One of them was painfully familiar. Another felt sharp and oppressive. The remaining one… he couldn't place at all.

Wang Chen frowned slightly.

"The Fang Family Patriarch?"

His brows knit together. "What does he want now?"

Before he could even stand up, a thunderous voice exploded through the air, smashing against the dojo like a physical blow.

"Master of Phoenix and Dragon—come out and accept death!"

The calm shattered instantly.

The air trembled.

And Wang Chen's lazy expression slowly faded, replaced by something far colder.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.