The gigantic sword still stood in the heavens like a divine pillar hammered into reality itself, its blade shimmering with a cold, world-splitting brilliance. The golden motes drifting around it seemed almost alive, circling reverently as if paying homage to a god that had revealed itself for a single fleeting moment.

For the first time since the chaos began, silence blanketed the lake.

A heavy, profound silence.

No one dared to breathe too loudly.

Wang Chen inhaled deeply, his heartbeat slowly returning to normal. His disciples steadied themselves, trying to process everything they had just witnessed. Even Zhao Yunfei, usually timid and uncertain, seemed momentarily lost in the ethereal glow reflecting off the sword's edge.

But the peace didn't extend to everyone.

Song Po stood like a shattered husk, his complexion deathly white. His eyes stared blankly into the distance, unfocused, as if his soul had quietly slipped out of his body and gone wandering. The massive display of sword dao, the death of a Deity Transformation demon, the terrifying figures appearing one after another—it was too much for a Golden Core ant like him to endure.

Meanwhile, Wind and Thunder Lord's gaze kept flicking toward Wang Chen, retreating, returning, retreating again. He looked like a man standing on a frozen lake, aware that one wrong step might crack the world beneath him. His legs trembled with the desire to flee, but his instincts kept him rooted in place.

Leaving without permission felt equivalent to suicide.

As he silently wrestled with himself, a sudden pulse of fiery red light burst from his storage ring.

His breath caught.

The Wind and Thunder City token…

A single-use, high-priority alert talisman. Something that would only activate when the city itself faced something beyond mortal capacity to resist. The glow was frantic, violent—like a distress cry tearing open the sky.

Could it be…

Demons attacking the city?

The thought stabbed his mind, and he immediately pushed it away. Impossible. He had monitored the demon army for days; they were nowhere near Wind and Thunder City. Their first target was supposed to be the Imperial City under the Song Family. By all logic, Wind and Thunder City should have been last on the list of cities to fall.

Unless…

His expression went from pale to corpse-grey.

Unless they noticed my absence…

He felt his chest tighten until breathing hurt. If the demons had detected his most talented disciples leaving the sect, if they had traced their movements back to the city…

Then this wasn't just an attack.

This was extermination.

The Wind and Thunder Lord's hands trembled violently.

Without me…

Without a Nascent Soul expert in the city…

Wind and Thunder City… might be finished.

The red glow intensified, its warning practically screaming into his bones.

His pupils shrank.

If he didn't return now, every woman, child, elder, and cultivator under his protection would die.

But turning his back to the Master of Phoenix and Dragon Dojo when that sword was still hanging above like divine judgment?

That was a different kind of death entirely.

Wind and Thunder Lord felt cold sweat drip down his spine.

He was trapped between two dooms.

And time was running out.

Some might what could a single person could even do? Although he was only a single person, a Nascent Soul cultivator represented more than ninety percent of a city's total fighting strength. A lone cultivator at that realm could turn the tide of a battlefield. The more Wind and Thunder Lord considered this, the more his anxiety clawed at him.

No…

I cannot waste even a breath.

His jaw tightened. He turned toward Wang Chen and bowed deeply, voice trembling with urgency.

"Senior, forgive me for being desperate, but this junior's city is being attacked by demons. If I don't get there in time, I'm afraid it might be too late."

He didn't wait for Wang Chen's reply—not because of disrespect, but because every heartbeat felt like another corpse falling in his city. Golden light erupted around him, wrapping his form, and without a backward glance he shot into the distance like a blazing comet.

The clouds parted in his wake.

Wang Chen, who had been enjoying the rare peace after the endless chaos, stiffened. His brows knit tightly.

"Demon attack?"

That phrase alone made his bloodstream run cold. He muttered under his breath, his tone tinged with disbelief.

"The demon attack is still months away. How can it be so fast?"

For him, the attack itself wasn't surprising—only its unnatural timing. The demons should not have had the time, nor the proximity, to strike Wind and Thunder City yet. It made no sense.

He wanted to stop the city lord, ask questions, demand a clearer explanation—but the desperation in the man's eyes had been too raw, too real. Even Wang Chen wasn't heartless enough to block someone racing to save their home.

So he let him go.

The golden streak vanished beyond the clouds, leaving only faint ripples in the air as if the heavens themselves mourned what awaited that city.

Wang Chen slowly exhaled and turned his gaze away—

When suddenly, a familiar ripple of sound chimed through his consciousness.

A crisp mechanical tone echoed directly in his mind:

Anomaly successfully analyzed.

[Ding! Ancient creature of fate detected. Click to see attributes.]

Wang Chen's expression froze.

His eyes widened ever so slightly.

Creature of fate…?

Now what the hell is this supposed to mean?

A faint chill crawled down his spine as the implications sank in. The timing. The blindfolded girl. The twisted surge of fortune. The unnatural karmic pull. And now the system itself acknowledging some "ancient creature" in their midst.

His heart thumped once.

Looks like the real storm wasn't the demon…

But something standing right behind him.

...

Although the distance between Imperial City and Soul City was vast—a gulf so wide ordinary mortals would need a lifetime to cross—the Wind and Thunder Lord tore through it like a maddened streak of lightning. His figure flickered through the clouds as he burned multiple secret techniques one after another, his body trembling under the strain. He even ignited a sliver of his soul essence, forcing comprehension of wind–thunder dialogues to push his movement speed beyond its limits.

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