The dangerous glint in her eyes answered him with ruthless clarity.

Yes. Absolutely yes.

For the first time since touching the Non-Existence Authority, since erasing a Demon Lord from reality itself, genuine dread crept up Wang Chen's spine. It was not the fear of death, nor the fear of heavenly punishment. It was something far worse—being dragged into a destiny he had not chosen, bound by someone else's expectations.

Every instinct he possessed screamed at him to flee.

Without hesitation, he clenched his teeth, gathered his qi, and activated One Thought Crossing to its absolute limit. Space folded violently around him as his figure blurred, already beginning to vanish.

"Stop!" Ming Yao called out, her voice carrying a commanding sweetness that could freeze the hearts of emperors and bend the wills of saints.

"Don't you even think about leaving," she continued, divine energy surging around her like ribbons of silver flame, her tone sharp with both authority and affront. "I haven't finished speaking to you."

Her aura expanded, pressing down on the heavens themselves. For someone of her status, her pride, this man's retreat felt less like caution and more like an outright insult.

But Wang Chen had no intention of staying.

The instant her pressure touched the edges of his perception, he forced time itself to stutter. The world around him lagged by a fraction of a second—more than enough. He slipped through a breach in space, his form fracturing into overlapping afterimages before disappearing entirely.

When the distortion smoothed out, the sky was empty.

Only silence remained.

Ming Yao hovered alone above the shattered plains, her breath unsteady, her cheeks flushed a vivid, unmistakable crimson. Fury flared first, sharp and instinctive, followed closely by embarrassment that she had not felt in centuries. The two emotions clashed violently within her chest.

Then, slowly, the fire cooled.

Her lips curved upward, and a low, dangerous laugh escaped her throat, echoing faintly through the clouds.

"As expected of the man I found," she murmured, eyes gleaming. "'Breedable,' indeed."

Her smile widened, no longer restrained. "I don't care who you are or where you flee. One day, I will find you."

Above Seven Rainbow City, thunder rolled ominously, as if heaven itself had flushed in response to her declaration.

---

Below, Seven Rainbow City was finally settling into uneasy calm.

The scars of battle remained etched into its walls, but the seven-colored barrier shimmered steadily under the glow of the setting sun, unbroken and resolute. Compared to the intrigue-laden domains of the Song Family, where words were sharper than blades, Seven Rainbow City was forged from iron and discipline.

The Ming Family ruled here with absolute authority.

When Patriarch Ming Tianhe spoke, even nobles lowered their heads, and when Ming Yao descended from the skies, the city itself seemed to hold its breath. Now, with the demonic siege broken and Demon Lord Arkos erased from existence, whispers spread like wildfire through the streets.

They spoke of divine intervention.

They spoke of the Ming Clan's invincibility.

And, quietly, they spoke of a mysterious cultivator who had appeared for a single moment… and changed everything.

Unaware of the storm he had ignited, Wang Chen was already far away, tearing through layers of space with only one thought echoing in his mind.

"I need to get back to the dojo," he muttered darkly. "Immediately."

Some threats, he realized too late, were far more terrifying than demons.

People spoke not in fear now, but with a strange, buoyant pride, the kind that only surfaced after surviving something that should have wiped them from existence.

"I hope the Young Miss doesn't overexert herself again," an old woman murmured as she arranged fruit at her stall, eyes full of reverence rather than worry.

"She's been fighting for days without rest," another replied, clicking her tongue, half-scolding, half-admiring.

Others laughed, voices light and unburdened, already turning the catastrophe into tomorrow's gossip. To them, the heavens had raged and quieted, and that was all that mattered. None of them knew how close reality itself had come to being rewritten above their heads.

High above the bustling streets, beyond the seven-colored wards, lay the Ming Family Estate.

It was a palace carved from jade and river-stone, its terraces descending toward a silver lake so still it mirrored the sky like polished glass. Wind chimes whispered softly beneath the eaves, but in the innermost courtyard, their sound did nothing to calm the man pacing before the ancestral hall.

His hair was white as frost, his back still straight, but the lines etched into his face spoke of decades spent bearing the weight of a city.

"Yao'er should've returned by now…" he muttered, hands clasped behind his back, steps growing shorter with every turn. "Could that fool, Lord .., have delayed her again?"

This was Patriarch Ming Tianhe, ruler of Seven Rainbow City in all but name, a man whose authority had bent generations of cultivators. And yet, at this moment, he looked like nothing more than a worried father.

The attendants standing nearby kept their heads lowered, pretending not to hear. None of them dared interrupt him.

Then the air shimmered.

Light folded inward, gentle and controlled, and a familiar presence settled into the courtyard like falling moonlight.

"Father."

Ming Tianhe spun around instantly, breath he hadn't realized he was holding finally escaping him.

"Yao'er!" he exclaimed, striding forward. "You're finally home! Do you have any idea how worried your father's been?"

Ming Yao descended lightly, her feet touching the stone without a sound. The divine detachment she wore on the battlefield softened, just a little, as she met his gaze. For a fleeting moment, guilt pricked at her heart. She hadn't meant to worry him. She truly had planned to end the battle quickly.

Things simply hadn't gone as expected.

"Father," she said after a pause, voice calm but warm, "I bring you good news."

"Good news?" Ming Tianhe leaned forward, incredulity plain on his face. After demon lords, shattered skies, and a battlefield that nearly tore itself apart, the phrase sounded almost absurd.

"You'll like it," she replied, a faint, enigmatic smile touching her lips. "I've found the man I will marry. And the one who will give you your long-awaited heir."

The patriarch froze.

"Heir?!" The word came out strangled. He coughed violently, one hand clutching his chest as if struck by a sudden tribulation. Of all outcomes, this was the one he had never prepared for.

He knew his daughter better than anyone. Her pride was iron, her standards crueler than heavenly law. For her to so much as acknowledge a man's existence was rare. For her to declare she had found someone worthy was enough to shake the foundations of the Ming ancestral hall.

After several breaths, he finally managed to steady himself. His voice came out hoarse, cautious, as though afraid the answer might vanish if spoken too loudly.

"Who," he asked slowly, "is this… fortunate man?"

The silence that followed was not brief.

For the first time since she returned, Ming Yao's expression faltered. Confidence wavered, ever so slightly, and her brows knit together.

"I…" she began, then stopped. Her lips pressed into a thin line before she continued, quieter now. "I don't know."

Ming Tianhe stared at her, certain he had misheard.

"I told him to stop," she added, irritation creeping into her tone despite herself. "But he escaped."

The patriarch blinked.

Once.

Twice.

No words came.

And that was how the legend truly began.

A divine maiden who vowed to chase a man whose power could erase fate itself.

And a man whose only thought in that exact moment, tearing through space toward home, was simple and painfully sincere:

"I need to hide. Immediately."

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