If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

Zhou Yang pushed open the ancestral hall door.

The door hinges creaked, like an old man's groan. A thick cloud of dust rushed in, making him frown. The strange smell grew stronger; it was the smell of rotten wood, mixed with a faint trace of blood.

The ancestral hall was pitch black. Several rows of memorial tablets were placed in the center. Moonlight streamed in through the carved wooden windows, casting long and short shadows on the tablets, like a group of silent ghosts.

The Xie family ancestral hall. It guards the Xie family's most important secret.

Zhou Yang didn't move. He stood in the doorway, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. His ears were picking up the slightest sounds. Apart from the wind, there was nothing.

He stepped inside. His footsteps left clear footprints on the dusty ground. He didn't look at the memorial tablets, but walked straight to the end of the ancestral hall. There, there stood a larger memorial tablet than the ones around it.

He reached out and felt around on the base of the memorial tablet. His fingers traced a cold groove. He pressed down hard.

A slight tremor came from the ground. The wall behind him slowly slid open to the sides, revealing a dark hole.

A colder, damp wind blew out of the cave, carrying a strong earthy smell. This is it.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Yang bent down and crawled inside.

The cave was narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. The stone walls were slippery and sticky to the touch. He walked along the passage for about ten feet when the space suddenly opened up before him.

This is a fairly large stone chamber. In the center of the chamber stands a stone platform about half a person's height. The platform is entirely black, covered with incomprehensible patterns.

And in the very center of that stone platform, something lay quietly.

It was about the size of a palm, irregularly shaped, like a piece of broken iron. It was completely black, with a rough surface, and showed no unusual features.

But Zhou Yang's gaze was firmly drawn to it.

Because on the surface of that shard of iron, a faint light was slowly flowing. The light was very faint, like a firefly, and if you didn't look closely, you would almost mistake it for an illusion. It gave this lifeless piece of iron a touch of life.

This is a fragment of the dragon's spine.

It came from the same source as the one in his arms. He could feel a faint resonance emanating from it.

Zhou Yang's heart began to race. He walked step by step toward the stone platform. The closer he got, the clearer the resonance became. It was like long-lost relatives calling to each other.

Just as his hand was less than three feet away from the stone platform.

A hoarse voice came from the cave entrance.

"Things belong to my Heavenly Principle Sect."

Zhou Yang suddenly turned around.

A figure had appeared at the cave entrance sometime earlier. He wore a loose gray robe, his face covered with a black cloth, revealing only his eyes. Those eyes were devoid of emotion, like two stagnant pools of water. He simply stood there, and the temperature of the entire cave seemed to drop several degrees.

The people of the Heavenly Principle Sect. They actually came after us too.

Zhou Yang didn't speak, but slowly gripped the hilt of the knife at his waist. His eyes were equally cold.

Seeing that he remained silent, the gray-robed man continued, "Hand it over, and I'll teach you a quick death."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable air of authority.

Zhou Yang sneered. Did they think he'd die for nothing? There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Just as tensions were about to rise, another voice rang out. This voice came from the side, from a side road leading in another direction.

"Your Majesty is too kind. This item belongs to my Xie family within Yangzhou. Since you have come from afar and wish to be a guest, you should at least act like one."

As soon as he finished speaking, an elderly man dressed in a long blue robe emerged from the side passage. He had white hair, a gaunt face, and held a long sword in his hand. The sword was not yet drawn, but a sharp sword intent already permeated the air.

The Xie family makes offerings!

Zhou Yang's heart sank. Like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. He too had become one of the cicadas.

A three-way standoff.

The air in the cave seemed to freeze. Only the breathing of the three people and the faint light emanating from the fragment on the stone platform remained.

The Heavenly Principle Sect's Dharma King glanced at the Xie family's retainer out of the corner of his eye. A hint of murderous intent finally appeared in his otherwise lifeless eyes.

"court death."

Before he finished speaking, he moved.

There were no fancy moves. He simply took a step forward and thrust out with his palm.

A gray-black palm print appeared out of thin air, bringing with it a howling gale, and slammed straight towards Zhou Yang. The air distorted wherever the palm print passed. This palm strike was not only aimed at Zhou Yang, but also at the stone platform behind him.

The Dharma King intended to eliminate both of them with a single blow. He planned to kill Zhou Yang and, incidentally, destroy the stone platform so that neither of them could obtain it.

Zhou Yang's pupils contracted. If he were to take that palm strike head-on, he would only be smashed into a pulp.

Just then, the Xie family's retainer also moved.

He gave a soft hum, flicked his wrist, and the longsword clattered out of its sheath. A dazzling sword light shot out like a silver dragon. He didn't attack the Dharma King, but instead thrust it diagonally towards Zhou Yang's back.

He wanted to reap the benefits. He used the Dharma King to restrain Zhou Yang while he stabbed him in the back. Once the Dharma King killed Zhou Yang, he would also gain the advantage. Even if Zhou Yang could dodge the Dharma King, he couldn't dodge his sword.

What a clever scheme.

Zhou Yang was now attacked from both sides. A violent palm strike came from the front, and a deadly sword aura from behind. There was no way to avoid it.

His expression remained unchanged, but his eyes became incredibly sharp. The corners of his mouth even turned up slightly.

Right now.

He silently recited it in his heart.

combustion.

Lifespan: ten days!

A chilling emptiness instantly gripped his heart, as if a portion of his life force had been drained away. But the next moment, a vast amount of profound and mysterious techniques, like a flood bursting its banks, rushed into his mind.

Deduction, analysis, and comprehension.

Countless pieces of knowledge about "force" and "potential" flowed through his mind. He understood instantly. Direct confrontation was something only a fool would do.

He grasped a key to success.

Pneumatic traction.

This is not some profound martial art, but rather a technique for channeling energy. It's a clever method of utilizing the opponent's strength and turning it into one's own.

On the left, the Dharma King's palm strike was as violent as a dragon, carrying the momentum to destroy everything. On the right, the sword energy offered by the Xie family was as sharp as a needle, fast, accurate, and ruthless.

The two forces haven't collided yet. But the area where they meet forms a strange force field vortex.

There, there is a momentary balance, a gap of a fraction of a breath.

That's it.

Zhou Yang moved.

His body seemed boneless, lunging forward at an incredible angle. He didn't try to defend against any of the attacks.

He took the initiative to meet the force of the palm strike.

A hint of disdain flashed in the Dharma King's eyes. "Looking for death?"

The sword energy offered by the Xie family also changed direction, chasing after Zhou Yang's back.

Just as the palm strike was about to touch Zhou Yang's body, his body suddenly sank downwards. The violent palm wind grazed his scalp and slammed hard into the stone wall behind him.

Boom!

The entire cave shook violently. Countless pebbles fell down.

Using the force of the palm strike, Zhou Yang's body was like a leaf caught in a whirlwind, drifting sideways. He ended up drifting right into the path of the sword energy enshrined by the Xie family.

Xie Gongfeng knew he was in trouble, but it was too late to sheathe his sword.

In that split second, Zhou Yang extended two fingers. He lightly touched the air beside the sword energy, not directly confronting it, but making a gentle stroke with his fingertips.

This stroke stirred up a faint vortex.

Air traction!

The sharp sword energy was slightly deflected by his effortless force, grazing his waist as it whistled past.

With the help of these two forces pushing and pulling, Zhou Yang's body, like a ghost, slanted across the stone platform.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment.

His eyes were fixed on the faintly glowing fragment in the center of the stone platform.

His hand was steadily extended.

There was not the slightest tremor.

The moment my fingertips touched the fragment, a bone-chilling coldness surged from them. It felt as if I had touched a piece of ancient ice.

But he did not hesitate; he closed his five fingers and gripped the fragment tightly in his palm.

I got it!

Just as he grabbed the fragment...

A sudden change has occurred!

The dragon spine fragment in his arms, which had been quiet all along, suddenly became hot. As if it had been activated, the scorching heat seeped through his clothes.

Immediately afterwards, the fragment he had just grasped in his right hand also began to vibrate violently.

hum-

A tremendous suction force was generated between the two fragments. A blinding white light burst forth from the point where the two fragments touched!

The light was so intense that it instantly illuminated the entire cave! The Dharma King and the Xie family's retainers both instinctively closed their eyes.

Zhou Yang felt as if his palm was about to be torn apart. The two fragments in his hand were frantically attracting and merging with each other.

"Not good!" the Dharma King roared in alarm and anger.

"Boom!"

The entire cave began to shake violently. It was more than ten times the commotion caused by his palm strike earlier! Huge rocks rained down from above.

The ground cracked open with deep, bottomless fissures.

The stone platform shattered amidst the violent tremors!

The two attacks that Zhou Yang had just dodged—the palm strike and the sword energy—finally lost their target and collided violently.

boom!!!

An even more deafening explosion erupted. A violent shockwave swept outwards in all directions!

The Dharma King and the Xie family's retainers were both forced to retreat by the shockwave, each using their internal energy to resist it.

Zhou Yang, who was at the epicenter of the explosion, had nowhere to hide.

But he couldn't care less. All his energy was focused on fighting the terrifying power of the two fragments merging in his hands.

The intense light enveloped him completely. He felt as if he were being torn apart, or as if he were being melted.

Just as his consciousness was about to fade, the ground beneath his feet suddenly gave way.

The ground beneath his feet collapsed under the impact of the energy!

Zhou Yang felt his body lighten, and he was holding the two fragments that were almost fused together as he plummeted rapidly into the endless abyss of darkness.

Above, there was the deafening roar of a cave collapsing.

Below, there was an unfathomable darkness.

The wind whistled in his ears. The fragment in his hand shone brighter and brighter, eventually forming a huge ball of light that enveloped him and himself.

He lost control of his body and simply let himself fall.

In the darkness, all he could feel was the burning heat in his palms and a blank mind.