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

Deep within the imperial palace lies the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Inside the magnificent hall, the traces of smoke and fire had not yet completely dissipated.

The bodies of the Imperial Guards lay on the ground, their blood congealing into a dark red stain.

Zhou Yang stood in front of the dragon throne, still holding a blood-dripping knife in his hand.

Blood droplets from the blade dripped down the tip and onto the ground with a crisp sound.

Qin Shuang stood three steps behind him, her hand on the sword at her waist, scanning her surroundings warily.

Seven or eight torches in the hall were extinguished by the fire, leaving only a few swaying in the wind, casting long, thin shadows.

"It's all over," Zhou Yang said softly.

He turned to look at Qin Shuang, a tired smile on his lips.

The crown prince has been taken into custody, and the imperial guards have surrendered. It seems the storm that has swept through the capital is finally passing.

Qin Shuang nodded, about to say something, when her gaze suddenly froze.

"careful!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than a dark shadow pounced down from between the beams and pillars on the roof.

It was so fast, like a black lightning bolt.

Zhou Yang reacted quickly, rolling to the side and narrowly avoiding the attack.

The dark shadow landed on the ground with a dull thud.

It was a person wearing a gray robe, exuding a putrid stench, with no expression on his face, but his eyes were completely black, without any whites.

"Immortal Envoy Wuchen?" Qin Shuang frowned. "You're still alive."

The man raised his head, a strange smile curving his lips.

"Dead?" she laughed hoarsely. "No, I saw an opportunity."

Her voice changed; it was no longer the stiff tone from before, but carried a chilling excitement.

"The crown prince is a useless piece of trash, but I am not. God gave me the perfect vessel."

Wuchen's arm suddenly twisted and deformed, the bones made creaking sounds, and something was wriggling under the skin.

Her fingernails grew long and black, slicing through the air like claws, leaving a faint black trail.

Zhou Yang gripped the knife tightly, his brows furrowed.

This is no ordinary martial art.

This thing was beyond his comprehension.

"Your eyes are quite interesting." Wuchen tilted his head, examining Zhou Yang. "They can see the true trajectory...that's rare."

Before she could finish speaking, her figure suddenly vanished from the spot.

Zhou Yang's pupils contracted; he saw it.

Dust did not disappear; rather, it merged into the shadows.

The hall was shrouded in shadow, and the torchlight could not reach any corner.

"Left!" Qin Shuang shouted, drawing her sword and slashing at the pillar on the left.

The blade pierced deep into the wood, yet it struck nothing.

"Hahaha..." An eerie laugh echoed from all directions. "Too late."

Zhou Yang suddenly turned around and stabbed backward with his knife.

The tip of the knife touched something soft.

But the next second, the thing turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared.

Suddenly, Wuchen's true form appeared behind Qin Shuang, its black claws aimed straight for Qin Shuang's back.

"Shuang'er!" Zhou Yang roared.

He didn't care about anything else and rushed over like a cannonball.

But it was too late.

No.

Just as Wuchen's claws were about to touch Qin Shuang, time seemed to slow down.

A golden glint flashed in Zhou Yang's eyes.

He burned through his own lifespan.

In an instant, he saw all of Wuchen's movements and the path of that power flow.

No, that's not martial arts.

That's something on a higher level.

Illusion?

wrong.

A thought flashed through Zhou Yang's mind.

He suddenly understood.

This is an interplay between reality and illusion.

The power of dustlessness is to distort reality.

"break!"

Zhou Yang let out a low shout, and the knife in his hand slashed out along a specific trajectory.

There were no fancy moves, just a simple slash.

But this strike landed precisely at a critical juncture in time and space.

Wuchen's figure jolted suddenly.

Her body began to crack like shattered glass.

The surrounding environment is also distorted.

The original Hall of Supreme Harmony has been transformed into a dimly lit space.

Everywhere there were writhing chunks of flesh, and countless distorted faces hung from the ceiling, emitting painful groans.

"What...what is this?" Qin Shuang looked around in shock.

"An illusion." Zhou Yang's voice was a little hoarse. "A terrifying illusion."

But his eyes were fixed on Wuchen.

"You...you actually managed to break my 'truth'?" Wuchen's face began to crack, revealing the writhing flesh beneath.

"Real?" Zhou Yang sneered. "This is your version of reality?"

He slashed out with his sword, one strike after another.

Each strike landed precisely on a key point within the illusion.

The illusionary space is collapsing.

The chunks of flesh and faces began to dissipate.

"No! Impossible!" Wuchen cried out sharply, "The power of the Lord cannot be broken by mortals!"

Zhou Yang ignored her yelling.

He was simply focused on his knife.

The insights gained from burning through his lifespan are rapidly depleting his spirit.

But he knew he couldn't stop.

If it stops, it dies.

The last one.

A knife.

Zhou Yang's blade flashed, slicing through the entire space.

"Click—"

The sound of shattering glass rang out.

The entire illusion collapsed instantly.

They returned to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Wuchen's body was severely injured; half of his body disappeared, leaving only half of him still in human form.

She knelt on the ground, black liquid continuously flowing from her body.

"Ha...haha..." She let out a strange laugh, blood bubbles rising from her mouth. "Is it over? No...it's not over yet."

Her voice suddenly became solemn and eerie.

"The seal... has begun to loosen slightly."

She raised her head, and a kind of fanaticism appeared in her dark eyes.

"The Lord... will come soon."

Zhou Yang and Qin Shuang's hearts sank at the same time.

"What seal?" Zhou Yang asked sternly.

Wuchen did not answer.

She just laughed even more wildly.

"Do you think killing me will stop it? Impossible... No one can stop the will of the Lord!"

She suddenly straightened up.

"With my primordial spirit as the guide, I will pave the way for the Lord!"

"Oh no!" Zhou Yang's expression changed drastically. "She's trying to self-destruct!"

He grabbed Qin Shuang and desperately backed away.

But it was too late.

Wuchen's body swelled up, like a black balloon.

Countless black energies erupted from her body and soared into the sky.

boom--!

The entire Hall of Supreme Harmony was shaking.

The roof of the palace was blown off, and countless bricks and tiles fell down.

Zhou Yang and Qin Shuang were thrown away by the huge shockwave.

Zhou Yang held Qin Shuang tightly, shielding her with his body.

They crashed into the pillars of the main hall with a dull thud.

Zhou Yang coughed up a mouthful of blood.

But his eyes remained fixed on the sky.

Above the palace, the towering black mist coalesced into a massive vortex.

At the center of the vortex, space began to distort.

A crack appeared.

The crack wasn't large; it was like a scar that tore through the sky.

But through the crack, they saw something.

Something that cannot be described in words.

It was pure darkness.

No, it's not darkness.

It is a being that is deeper and more terrifying than darkness.

Countless twisted tentacles wriggled behind the crack, emitting a silent roar.

Zhou Yang felt a chill run through his body.

It was a fear stemming from an instinct for survival.

It's like an ant gazing at the starry sky, only to see an approaching meteorite.

"What is that..." Qin Shuang's voice trembled.

Zhou Yang did not answer.

He tried to say something, but no sound came out of his throat.

The crack is widening.

Even if it's just a little bit.

The feeling of the world behind me became clearer.

On the dragon throne, the emperor, who had been silent all along, finally reacted.

He fell off the dragon throne and collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide open and his mouth agape, but he couldn't make a sound.

I've completely lost my voice.

Fear had driven him to lose all reason.

The crack suddenly stopped expanding.

It is beginning to heal slowly.

But that feeling, that terrifying aura from another world, remained.

After the crack disappeared, the black mist also dissipated.

The sky returned to calm.

But everyone knows it.

Some things have changed forever.

Zhou Yang slowly released Qin Shuang and stood up.

He was in pain all over, but his eyes were unusually bright.

"What was that just now?" Qin Shuang steadied herself against the pillar, her face as pale as paper.

"A... terrible start." Zhou Yang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Wu Chen is right, this is just the beginning."

He looked up at the sky.

Although I can't see it anymore, the feeling is still there.

It's as if something is quietly observing them from the other side of the world.

"The Lord... has descended?" Qin Shuang repeated Wu Chen's words, "What do they want to do?"

Zhou Yang shook his head.

"I don't know. But one thing is for sure, it won't be a good thing."

He walked to the spot where Wuchen had disappeared, bent down, and picked something up.

It was a black fragment, emanating an ominous aura.

The fragments were engraved with mysterious patterns, like some kind of symbol.

"This is..." Qin Shuang leaned closer.

"The symbol of the Heavenly Principle Sect." Zhou Yang's expression was serious. "But it's older than any symbol I've ever seen before."

He put the fragments into his pocket.

"This matter cannot be known by too many people."

Why?

"Panic." Zhou Yang looked at the emperor, who was slumped on the ground. "If the world knew that something like that was watching us... the world would be in chaos."

Qin Shuang fell silent.

She remembered what she had seen through the crack, and her body trembled again.

That is indeed something that cannot be fought against by human power.

"What should we do now?"

"Deal with things here." Zhou Yang's voice regained its calm as he reinforced all the seals and barriers. "We must stop that thing from truly descending."

He looked at Qin Shuang, his eyes showing some weariness, but even more so a resolute determination.

"Shuang'er, this might be more dangerous than I thought. Are you scared?"

Qin Shuang looked into his eyes and shook her head.

"Don't be afraid."

Why?

"Because you're here."

Zhou Yang paused for a moment, then smiled.

The smile was subtle, but genuine.

"good."

He turned around and looked at the night sky outside the main hall.

The weather in the capital has indeed changed.

It is no longer just a realm of power struggles and intrigues.

Instead, it was shrouded in a more terrifying shadow.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from afar.

The Imperial Guards arrived upon hearing the news.

But Zhou Yang knew that what they were about to see was a completely different world.

Wuchen's dying blow not only tore the sky apart, but also shattered a certain balance.

The old order is collapsing.

But a new threat is emerging.

"Let's go," Zhou Yang said to Qin Shuang. "There's still a lot to do."

They walked out of the damaged hall side by side.

The moonlight shone on them, casting long shadows.

Something seemed to be quietly wriggling in their shadows.

Like a prophecy that has already come to pass, it is unfolding silently.