The mountains of the Tianhun Empire stretched endlessly beneath the afternoon sky.
Jagged cliffs cut through thick forests, and narrow paths wound between valleys where small villages clung to the slopes like stubborn weeds.
Compared to the flourishing lands around Yuelan, this region felt rougher. Poorer. Less stable.
And somewhere within these mountains stood a place that had quietly ruined countless lives.
The Iron Blood Sect.
High above the forest canopy, a sleek soul-tool airship glided through the clouds.
Its metallic hull reflected the fading sunlight as propulsion arrays hummed steadily beneath its structure. Formation circles rotated slowly along its underside, stabilizing the vessel against the mountain winds.
Inside the navigation chamber, Ju Zi studied the large projection map hovering above the control array.
Several glowing markers pulsed softly across the terrain.
Her finger moved across the projection before stopping.
"We're approaching."
Her voice was calm.
"The Iron Blood Sect lies just beyond the next ridge."
Across the chamber, Tang Ya stood near one of the viewing windows.
She hadn't spoken much since they entered Tianhun territory.
From the outside, she looked calm.
But those who knew her well could sense the tension hidden beneath that stillness.
Beyond the glass, dark mountains rolled across the horizon.
Somewhere among them was the place she had once escaped from.
Ma Xiaotao leaned casually against the wall behind her.
"So that's the place."
Tang Ya nodded.
"Yes."
The answer was quiet.
But firm.
A short distance away, Qiu'er adjusted the position of the spear resting across her back.
Her golden eyes remained fixed on the mountains below.
"Defensive structures?"
Ju Zi glanced at the map again.
"Basic perimeter formations. Several watchtowers. Roughly a hundred disciples."
Wu Feng raised an eyebrow.
"That's it?"
Ju Zi nodded.
"The Iron Blood Sect is a minor sect."
Her voice remained analytical.
"They rely more on intimidation than strength."
Xiaotao cracked her knuckles.
"Then this shouldn't take long."
Near the rear of the chamber, Xue Di stood silently with her arms folded.
Her silver hair flowed softly behind her, and the temperature around her remained several degrees colder than the rest of the room.
Beside her, Bingdi glanced out the window.
"That place looks pathetic."
Lie Yang chuckled quietly.
"Let's not underestimate them."
His tone clearly suggested the opposite.
Across the room, Lin Huang stood near the central viewing platform.
His gaze moved slowly across the mountains below.
From this altitude, the terrain looked almost peaceful.
But his Daevic Insight could already see more than ordinary eyes.
Formation lines hidden beneath stone walls.
Weak defensive arrays scattered along the ridges.
Clusters of disciples patrolling narrow paths.
Everything about the sect was visible to him long before the airship even reached the valley.
After a moment, he spoke.
"We stop here."
Ju Zi nodded immediately.
She tapped the control array.
The humming engines shifted tone as the airship gradually slowed.
Moments later, the vessel hovered silently above a distant mountain ridge.
Below them, a stone fortress complex stood nestled between steep cliffs.
Dark iron banners hung from the outer walls.
Training grounds stretched across the inner courtyards, where small groups of disciples practiced under the watch of several elders.
The Iron Blood Sect.
Unaware of what had just arrived above them.
Tang Ya stepped forward slowly.
Her eyes locked onto the distant walls.
"This is it."
No anger filled her voice.
No rage.
Only certainty.
Behind her, the others gathered quietly.
The atmosphere in the chamber changed.
Casual conversation disappeared.
In its place came a quiet, focused stillness.
Ju Zi activated a second projection.
"Multiple entry points," she said.
"Outer gate, eastern wall, and the northern watchtower."
She glanced toward Lin Huang.
"Orders?"
Lin Huang's gaze remained on the fortress below.
For a moment, he didn't answer.
Then he spoke.
"Open the ramp."
The simple instruction was enough.
Ju Zi nodded.
A mechanical rumble echoed through the airship as the boarding ramp slowly lowered.
Cold mountain wind rushed into the chamber.
Below them, the Iron Blood Sect continued its normal routine.
Disciples trained.
Guards patrolled.
Elders discussed mundane matters.
None of them had noticed the shadow hovering silently above their sect.
Tang Ya stepped toward the open ramp.
She paused only once.
Then she looked back.
Lin Huang met her gaze.
"Finish it."
She nodded.
And without another word—
Tang Ya jumped.
The moment Tang Ya stepped off the ramp, the mountain wind howled around her.
Her figure dropped through the air like a dark streak, descending from the soul-tool airship toward the valley below. Black robes fluttered behind her, and for an instant, the disciples of the Iron Blood Sect who happened to glance upward saw only a shadow crossing the sky.
Then they heard it.
A sharp whistle.
A tearing sound.
And the next moment, Tang Ya landed directly in the center of the outer training ground.
Boom.
Cracks spread across the stone floor beneath her feet.
The disciples nearest to her staggered backward in alarm, their expressions shifting instantly from confusion to shock.
"Enemy attack!"
"Who is that?!"
"How did she get in here?!"
Tang Ya slowly straightened.
The training ground around her had gone still.
Dozens of disciples stared at the woman standing in the center of their sect with cold, unhurried eyes. Some instinctively stepped back. Others summoned martial souls in panic.
Her gaze swept across the familiar walls.
The iron banners.
The courtyards.
The disciples.
The elders rushing in from the inner halls.
So much of it felt smaller than she remembered.
When she had once looked at this place, it had seemed immovable. A crushing weight she could never oppose.
Now—
It looked fragile.
An elder in gray robes arrived first, descending from a nearby tower with a furious expression.
"Who dares—"
He stopped the moment he felt her aura.
Tang Ya did not release it fully.
She did not need to.
The pressure rolling off her body alone was enough to drain the color from his face.
"You—"
Recognition flickered in his eyes.
His expression changed.
"No… that's impossible…"
Tang Ya looked at him without warmth.
"Do you remember me?"
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
The elder's mouth opened and closed once, but before he could answer, movement filled the sky above the sect.
One figure after another descended from the hovering airship.
Ma Xiaotao landed on the western wall in a burst of crimson flame, and the entire section of iron-reinforced stone exploded outward.
Qiu'er came down like a golden spear cast from the heavens, striking the eastern watchtower and splitting it in half before the disciples stationed there even had time to scream.
Zhang Lexuan stepped into the air as if walking across moonlight itself, her domain of calm silver radiance instantly sealing off the northern escape route.
Wu Feng crashed into the southern courtyard in a wave of dragonfire, scattering disciples in every direction.
Jiang Nannan, Ye Guyi, Xu Tianzhen, Ning Tian, Ju Zi, Su Mei, and the others followed in quick succession, each taking position with practiced precision.
Then the temperature in the valley dropped.
Frost spread across stone.
Mist formed in the air.
The disciples of the Iron Blood Sect looked up just in time to see Xue Di descend in absolute silence.
Snow-white light spread beneath her feet.
The entire central square froze.
Not metaphorically.
Actually froze.
Stone darkened under layers of frost, iron railings groaned, and the breath of every disciple in the area turned into pale mist.
Beside her, Bingdi landed with a contemptuous expression.
"This place is uglier than I expected."
And behind them—
The true despair arrived.
Lie Yang descended wrapped in solar fire.Qi Luo emerged with restrained but frightening pressure.Mo Yu carried a darkness that swallowed sound itself.Di Long landed with a force that made the fortress walls shudder.
By then, the Iron Blood Sect no longer looked like a sect under attack.
It looked like prey that had just realized it was surrounded by monsters.
The alarm bells finally began ringing.
Too late.
Tang Ya took a step forward.
Blue-silver light spread from beneath her feet in an instant.
Not the weak, twisted version the sect had once mocked.
Not the fragile, incomplete power she had once possessed.
The ground split open as countless Blue Silver Emperor vines surged upward, thick as serpents, sharp as spears, and filled with overwhelming life force.
Several disciples screamed as they were bound before they could even release soul skills.
An elder leaped backward, attempting to rise into the air.
A vine shot upward, pierced through his defensive barrier, and slammed him into the side of a tower hard enough to reduce the wall to rubble.
Tang Ya's eyes remained steady.
This was no frenzy.
No blind hatred.
Her control was too precise for that.
She had not come here to vent anger.
She had come to end something.
At the center of the sect, more elders rushed out from the main hall.
Soul rings flared one after another.
A Soul Emperor.
Two Soul Sages.
Several Soul Kings.
For a minor sect, it would have been enough to terrify ordinary enemies.
For the people now standing in their courtyard—
It was irrelevant.
One of the elders pointed at Tang Ya with a twisted expression.
"So you came back alive."
He sneered.
"I should have known that little rat would come crawling back someday."
The moment the words left his mouth, the temperature in the valley fell even further.
Not because of Tang Ya.
Because of Lin Huang.
He had not moved yet.
He still stood on the lowered ramp of the airship above the sect, looking down with calm eyes. But those who knew him well could feel it immediately.
The atmosphere around him had changed.
Tang Ya did not look back.
"I'll deal with him."
Lin Huang said nothing.
That silence was permission.
The elder laughed harshly and released his martial soul, iron-red light spreading from his body as he charged forward.
He never reached her.
A single vine erupted from the earth beneath him, struck through his barrier, and sent him crashing into the courtyard. Before he could recover, a second vine wrapped around his throat and lifted him into the air.
Tang Ya walked toward him slowly.
His face turned red with fury and fear.
"You think you've won?" he choked out. "You think destroying this place will change anything?"
Tang Ya stopped in front of him.
For a brief moment, her expression shifted.
Not to rage.
To something colder.
"You were never important enough to ruin my life forever."
Then she closed her hand.
The vine tightened.
A sickening crack echoed through the courtyard.
The elder's body went limp.
Around them, the battle collapsed into a one-sided purge.
Ma Xiaotao laughed as crimson flames devoured an entire defensive formation carved into the western wall.
"Too weak!"
She drove a fist into the ground, and fire surged outward in a circular blast that sent iron fragments and shattered stone flying across the yard.
Wu Feng swept through a line of disciples like a red dragon in human form, each strike sending bodies flying.
Ye Guyi rose into the air on wings of light, golden radiance pouring from her back as beams of sunlight lanced through several hidden ambushers attempting to strike from the rooftops.
Their screams were brief.
Qiu'er did not waste words.
Every thrust of her spear was clean, direct, and decisive. Elders who once ruled this sect with fear found themselves unable to survive even one exchange against her.
Ning Tian's support amplified the entire group further, her now-evolved pagoda radiating layered enhancement light that made an already impossible battle even more hopeless for the sect.
Ju Zi did not engage recklessly. Instead, she observed, calculated, and directed precision strikes wherever resistance tried to form.
"Three to the left tower," she said flatly.
Before the words had even finished leaving her mouth, Xu Tianzhen's solar arrows arced through the air and detonated against the indicated position.
The tower vanished.
Su Mei remained near the rear, not because she was weak, but because her path was different. Even now, her spiritual cuisine and support methods helped stabilize the group's recovery and soul power consumption in subtle ways that made prolonged action effortless.
Then there were the beasts.
The entire Iron Blood Sect might have stood a theoretical chance against ordinary human enemies.
It had no answer for beings like Xue Di and Bingdi.
Xue Di raised one hand.
A curtain of frozen wind descended across the inner courtyard, instantly sealing dozens of disciples and several elders in crystal-clear ice. Some were frozen in mid-step. Others with terror still visible on their faces.
Bingdi snorted.
"So fragile."
Lie Yang stepped into one of the central halls and released a wave of scorching solar force that melted iron doors, burned away hidden poison traps, and turned an armory into a furnace in seconds.
Qi Luo moved more quietly than the others, but wherever she passed, resistance simply stopped. Her strength was not flashy. It was efficient. Terrifyingly so.
Mo Yu swallowed an entire corridor of defending disciples into a dark field of oppressive energy, and by the time it faded, no one inside remained standing.
Di Long tore through the last line of inner defense like an ancient beast unleashed from myth, each step of his heavy body turning carved stone into shattered fragments.
Within minutes, the sect's organized resistance was gone.
Not weakened.
Gone.
Smoke rose from broken towers.
Flames consumed collapsed halls.
Frozen courtyards cracked under residual pressure.
And in the middle of it all, Tang Ya walked toward the largest building in the sect—the main hall.
The place where decisions had once been made.
The place where cruelty had worn the face of authority.
Several surviving elders stood in front of it, their expressions pale and desperate.
One of them, older than the rest, took a step forward.
"You…"
He stared at Tang Ya as if seeing a ghost.
"You were supposed to die."
Tang Ya stopped a few paces away.
"No."
Her blue-silver vines coiled behind her like a living forest.
"You were supposed to learn what it means to fear consequences."
The old man's face twisted.
"You think one person can destroy the foundation of a sect?"
Before Tang Ya could answer, a calm voice came from behind.
"One person?"
Lin Huang finally stepped down from the airship.
He walked into the ruined courtyard without hurry, his robes untouched by smoke or blood. His expression remained as composed as if he were merely taking a stroll through the clan gardens.
The old man instinctively turned to him.
And froze.
Because in that instant, he understood something.
Tang Ya was not the greatest terror standing here today.
Lin Huang looked around the ruined sect once, then back at the old man.
"You misunderstand."
His tone was even.
"She didn't come alone."
The old man's barrier shattered a heartbeat later—not from a visible strike, but from pressure alone. His knees buckled. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth as the sheer force of Lin Huang's presence crushed the last of his resistance.
Tang Ya walked past him.
Her vines surged.
The remaining elders were bound, slammed to the ground, and stripped of all ability to move.
She stood before the doors of the main hall.
Looked at them for a long moment.
Then raised one hand.
The entire building split apart as blue-silver roots erupted from beneath it.
Wood shattered.
Stone cracked.
Iron supports twisted and tore free as the hall collapsed into itself under the overwhelming force of life-aspect destruction.
A deep rumble rolled through the valley.
Dust rose.
And when it cleared—
The main hall of the Iron Blood Sect was gone.
Tang Ya stood before the ruins, breathing slowly.
The mountain wind passed through the broken courtyards and scattered ash across the cracked ground.
No one spoke.
For the first time since the attack began, silence settled over the valley.
The Iron Blood Sect still existed in name for a few final seconds.
Then one of the remaining banners, half-burned and frozen at the edge, snapped from its pole and fell into the rubble.
Tang Ya watched it drop.
Her voice, when it came, was soft.
"It's over."
But the way she said it carried more than victory.
It carried mourning.
Release.
And the quiet exhaustion of finally putting down something heavy she had carried for far too long.
Smoke drifted slowly across the valley.
What had once been the central grounds of the Iron Blood Sect was now little more than shattered stone, frozen courtyards, and burning debris. The sect's towers lay broken, their banners torn or buried beneath rubble.
The battle had ended almost as quickly as it had begun.
No organized resistance remained.
Several disciples had fled into the mountains, abandoning weapons and robes in their panic. Others knelt bound by Tang Ya's Blue Silver Emperor vines, unable to move as the aftermath of the battle settled around them.
Yet none of that held Tang Ya's attention.
She stood before the ruins of the sect's main hall, staring quietly at the collapsed structure.
A faint mountain wind passed through the valley, stirring loose ash and fragments of shattered stone.
Behind her, the others remained silent.
For once, even Ma Xiaotao had nothing to say.
Because everyone could feel something changing.
Not outside.
Inside Tang Ya.
For a long moment, she simply stood there.
Her breathing was steady.
Her posture relaxed.
And slowly—very slowly—the tension that had followed her for years began to disappear.
This place had once represented something terrifying.
A prison.
A nightmare she had escaped from but never truly left behind.
The Iron Blood Sect had lived in her mind long after she had fled it.
A lingering shadow.
A wound that never fully closed.
But now—
She looked at the ruins again.
And for the first time, she realized something strange.
It no longer mattered.
Not the hatred.
Not the fear.
Not the past.
All of it suddenly felt… distant.
Tang Ya exhaled slowly.
The sound was almost inaudible.
Yet the moment her breath left her body, something inside her shifted.
The heavy knot that had existed in her heart for years quietly unraveled.
The inner demon she had carried—anger, resentment, the weight of unfinished revenge—collapsed like dust scattered by the wind.
Behind her, Lin Huang noticed it immediately.
His gaze sharpened slightly.
Tang Ya took another breath.
And the world seemed to grow quieter.
Not because the wind had stopped.
But because her mind had.
For years, her cultivation had moved forward through determination alone. She had grown stronger, trained harder, pushed herself forward step by step.
But a part of her had always remained locked.
An invisible wall.
A mental barrier formed by unresolved hatred.
Now—
That wall shattered.
Tang Ya's eyes slowly closed.
The moment she did, the surrounding spiritual energy shifted.
At first it was subtle.
Barely noticeable.
Then the ground beneath her feet began to glow.
Blue-silver light spread outward across the broken courtyard as the vines of the Blue Silver Emperor reacted instinctively.
But this time the vines did not move with aggression.
They moved with life.
Roots slipped gently through cracks in the stone.
Small sprouts emerged between fragments of broken rock.
The ruined ground itself began to respond.
Zhang Lexuan was the first to speak.
"…Her aura."
Qiu'er's golden eyes narrowed slightly.
"She's breaking through."
The others quickly realized what was happening.
This wasn't a normal soul power increase.
It was deeper.
More subtle.
A change within the spiritual realm of the mind.
Tang Ya's consciousness expanded outward quietly, touching the surrounding environment like ripples spreading across a lake.
The sensation was strange.
Calm.
Natural.
The broken land beneath the sect's ruins seemed to breathe with her presence.
Vines spread across the battlefield—not to bind or attack, but simply to grow.
Green life emerged through gray stone.
Several captured disciples stared in stunned disbelief as tiny shoots began pushing through the courtyard floor.
The Blue Silver Emperor martial soul had always carried strong life affinity.
But this…
This was different.
This was control over intent.
Understanding.
Harmony.
Tang Ya opened her eyes again.
And the world looked different.
She could feel the flow of spiritual energy around her.
The life inside every vine.
The subtle pulse of the earth beneath the mountain.
Even the faint currents of wind moving through the valley.
For a moment, everything felt clear.
Perfectly clear.
Lin Huang watched silently.
Then he spoke.
"Spiritual Domain."
The words were quiet, but everyone nearby heard them.
Xu Tianzhen blinked.
"Wait… already?"
Ning Tian adjusted her glasses, clearly surprised.
"Achieving a Spiritual Domain requires extremely stable mental cultivation."
Xue Di nodded slightly from where she stood.
"Her mind was freed."
That single sentence explained everything.
For years, Tang Ya had carried a burden.
An unresolved knot of hatred and guilt.
Destroying the Iron Blood Sect had not only removed her enemy.
It had removed the final chain holding her mind down.
The moment that chain disappeared—
Her understanding of herself, her martial soul, and her path as a cultivator had deepened instantly.
That realization had triggered an epiphany.
And from that epiphany came the birth of her Spiritual Domain.
The vines surrounding the battlefield slowly retreated as Tang Ya regained control of the expanding spiritual field.
The sprouts pushing through stone stopped growing.
The energy around her stabilized.
But the change remained.
Even without releasing her aura, her presence now carried a quiet authority.
A calm center.
Ma Xiaotao let out a low whistle.
"Well."
She crossed her arms.
"That was fast."
Wu Feng nodded.
"Breaking through right after revenge."
She glanced at the ruins of the sect.
"Poetic."
Tang Ya turned slowly.
Her eyes were clearer than they had been in years.
The sharp edge of obsession was gone.
In its place remained quiet resolve.
She looked at Lin Huang.
"…Thank you."
Lin Huang shook his head slightly.
"You did it yourself."
Tang Ya lowered her gaze briefly.
Then she looked back at the ruined sect one last time.
The wind swept across the broken valley.
Ash scattered across the ground.
The Iron Blood Sect was gone.
Not defeated.
Erased.
And the past it represented had finally been buried beneath its own ruins.
Tang Ya turned away from the destruction.
"I'm ready."
Her voice was calm.
Not triumphant.
Just certain.
Behind her, Ju Zi glanced toward the distant mountains.
"We should move."
She paused briefly before adding,
"There are still people in the area."
Lin Huang nodded once.
"Return to the airship."
The group began moving back toward the landing area near the mountain ridge.
Behind them, the valley slowly returned to silence.
But as they walked away from the ruins of the Iron Blood Sect—
None of them noticed two distant figures standing along a narrow mountain path far beyond the battlefield.
A woman and a boy.
They had witnessed the destruction from afar.
And their lives were about to change forever.
The wind had grown colder by the time the group began returning toward the mountain ridge where the soul-tool airship waited.
Smoke still rose from the valley behind them, thin gray threads twisting upward into the fading sky. From a distance, the ruins of the Iron Blood Sect were barely recognizable as a sect at all.
Broken towers.
Collapsed courtyards.
Frozen ground where Xue Di's power had passed.
Scorched stone where Ma Xiaotao's flames had swept through.
Within less than an hour, a sect that had existed for decades had vanished from the mountain.
Yet the group walking away from it did not look particularly affected.
For them, it had simply been a task that needed to be completed.
Tang Ya walked near the front, her expression calmer than it had been in years.
The spiritual transformation she had experienced moments earlier had not faded. If anything, the quiet clarity in her eyes had grown stronger.
Behind her, the others followed without hurry.
Ju Zi was already reviewing several small arrays projected above a jade device in her hand, quietly recalculating their travel route. Ning Tian and Zhang Lexuan spoke softly about the changes in Tang Ya's aura. Xiaotao and Wu Feng were still arguing about which of them had destroyed more structures.
The atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed.
Until Lin Huang slowed.
The change was subtle.
But those who knew him noticed immediately.
His gaze had shifted.
Not toward the ruined sect behind them.
Toward the mountain road ahead.
A narrow dirt path wound through the forested slope several hundred meters away. At first glance, it appeared empty.
But Lin Huang's Daevic Insight had already noticed them long before they came into view.
Two figures.
One adult.
One child.
He did not stop walking.
But his attention remained fixed on that distant road.
Behind him, Qiu'er noticed the slight change in his posture.
"What is it?"
Lin Huang did not answer immediately.
Instead, he continued walking until the group reached the ridge where the airship's landing platform had been established.
The sleek vessel hovered a short distance above the ground, its engines humming quietly as stabilization arrays kept it suspended.
At the same time—
Two figures appeared from the tree line along the road below.
A woman.
And a boy.
They had clearly been watching from a distance.
The woman looked thin and pale, her steps slightly unsteady as she approached the clearing. Her clothes were simple, travel-worn, and carried signs of long use. Yet despite her frail appearance, her posture remained straight.
The boy beside her was perhaps ten or eleven years old.
His clothing was just as simple, but his eyes moved constantly, alert and cautious as he studied the unfamiliar group ahead.
They stopped several dozen meters away.
The woman's gaze moved slowly across the gathering of cultivators.
Even without understanding cultivation levels, she could feel the pressure in the air.
The frozen ground.
The lingering heat.
The strange stillness that surrounded these people.
Her eyes eventually settled on the airship hovering behind them.
Recognition flashed briefly across her face.
Not recognition of the vessel itself—
But of the emblem engraved into its hull.
The crest of the Lin Clan.
She hesitated only a moment before stepping forward.
The boy followed closely beside her.
Several members of the group turned their attention toward them.
Ma Xiaotao tilted her head slightly.
"Visitors?"
Wu Feng crossed her arms.
"They've been watching us for a while."
The woman stopped at a respectful distance before lowering her head slightly.
"Forgive us for approaching."
Her voice was soft, but steady.
"We did not intend to intrude."
Lin Huang stepped forward.
His expression remained calm, unreadable.
"You're not intruding."
The woman lifted her head again, studying him carefully.
She could not sense his cultivation level.
Which made him more frightening than anyone else present.
Yet strangely—
He did not feel hostile.
She took another step forward and bowed lightly.
"My name is Huo Yun'er."
Her hand rested gently on the boy's shoulder.
"This is my son."
The boy glanced up briefly, then lowered his gaze again.
"Huo Yuhao."
His voice was quiet but clear.
The moment the name was spoken, something flickered briefly in Lin Huang's perception.
His Daevic Insight activated almost instinctively.
Not violently.
Not aggressively.
Simply… observing.
The world seemed to shift slightly as his perception deepened.
He saw more than ordinary eyes could.
Not just soul power.
Not just martial soul potential.
But something subtler.
Threads.
Invisible currents woven into the boy's existence.
A powerful convergence of destiny.
Even among countless cultivators Lin Huang had encountered, this level of fate concentration was extremely rare.
Yet his expression did not change.
He did not reveal what he had seen.
Instead, he simply asked,
"Where are you going?"
Huo Yun'er hesitated briefly before answering.
"Away from the Star Luo Empire."
She did not explain further.
But the exhaustion in her voice said enough.
Lin Huang studied her for a moment.
Despite her fragile condition, her mind was clear.
Her awareness sharp.
She had recognized the Lin Clan emblem on the airship.
And she had chosen to approach.
Not many people would have the courage to do that after witnessing the destruction of an entire sect from afar.
Huo Yun'er spoke again.
"I have heard of the Lin Clan."
Her gaze shifted briefly toward the airship.
"And of the territory you have built in Yuelan."
Her voice remained respectful.
"They say it is a place where people can live peacefully."
She paused.
Then asked directly,
"If it would not trouble you… would the Lin Clan allow us to travel with you?"
Silence followed.
Several members of the group glanced toward Lin Huang.
The decision was his.
Lin Huang's gaze moved to the boy.
Huo Yuhao stood quietly beside his mother, though the tension in his posture was obvious.
He had watched everything from the mountains.
The destruction of the Iron Blood Sect.
The overwhelming strength of these cultivators.
Yet despite that, he did not hide behind his mother.
He stood beside her.
Protecting her.
Lin Huang spoke again.
"Do you want to cultivate?"
Yuhao blinked slightly at the sudden question.
But he answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
His voice was firm.
Lin Huang studied him for another moment.
Then nodded once.
"Then you can come."
Huo Yun'er's shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Thank you."
Lin Huang looked at the boy again.
"If you are willing…"
He paused briefly.
"I can teach you some things."
Yuhao's eyes widened slightly.
Lin Huang continued calmly.
"Not as master and disciple."
His tone remained casual.
"Just as friends."
The boy stared at him for a moment, clearly surprised by the wording.
Then he nodded.
"…I would like that."
Behind them, Ju Zi had already begun adjusting the airship's navigation array.
The ramp slowly lowered.
For the first time since approaching the clearing, Huo Yun'er and Yuhao looked directly at the vessel.
Up close, it looked even more unbelievable.
Metal plating reinforced with glowing formations.
Engines humming softly beneath the hull.
The size of the craft alone dwarfed anything they had ever seen before.
Yuhao stopped walking for a moment.
"…It flies?"
Ma Xiaotao laughed.
"Of course it flies."
Wu Feng smirked.
"You'll get used to it."
Huo Yun'er placed a gentle hand on her son's shoulder.
"Come."
They followed the others toward the ramp.
For the first time since fleeing the Star Luo Empire—
Their path forward no longer felt uncertain.
The boarding ramp rose slowly behind them with a deep mechanical hum.
From the outside, the soul-tool airship already looked impressive.From the inside, it was even more overwhelming.
Soft white formation lights ran along the walls, illuminating a spacious interior reinforced with layered metal plates and complex runic structures. Navigation arrays floated above the central control platform, projecting glowing maps of the surrounding mountain ranges.
To someone who had grown up around advanced soul tools, the vessel looked efficient.
To someone like Huo Yuhao—
It looked unbelievable.
The boy stepped onto the deck and immediately stopped.
His eyes moved slowly across the chamber.
The humming engines.
The glowing formations.
The massive navigation array rotating quietly above the center console.
"…It's really flying."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
Behind him, Huo Yun'er looked just as surprised, though she tried to hide it better.
Even she had never seen anything like this before.
Ju Zi glanced back from the control array and gave a faint smile.
"First time on an airship?"
Yuhao nodded without hesitation.
"Yes."
Ma Xiaotao leaned casually against the side wall, clearly amused.
"You'll get used to it."
Wu Feng snorted.
"Or you'll throw up the first time we accelerate."
Yuhao blinked.
"…Accelerate?"
Ju Zi ignored the comment and returned her attention to the navigation array.
Formation lines shifted across the projected map as she recalculated their route.
A moment later she looked over her shoulder.
"Course ready."
Her gaze moved toward Lin Huang.
"Back to Yuelan?"
Several people in the room instinctively assumed the same thing.
After all, their task here was finished.
The Iron Blood Sect was gone.
Tang Ya stood near the observation window, watching the distant valley slowly fade beneath the drifting clouds.
For the first time in years, the shadow she had carried inside her heart had disappeared.
The mountain wind scattered the last traces of smoke across the ruined sect below.
She did not look back.
Behind her, the group waited.
Lin Huang stood near the center of the chamber.
For a moment, he didn't answer Ju Zi's question.
Instead, his gaze moved briefly toward the far side of the room.
Huo Yun'er sat quietly beside one of the reinforced benches, clearly exhausted after the long journey she and Yuhao had endured.
The boy stood near the observation window.
His eyes were fixed on the landscape far below.
Even now, Yuhao kept glancing nervously between the ground and the glowing formation arrays surrounding the cabin.
Despite his calm behavior earlier, the boy was still clearly overwhelmed.
Lin Huang observed him quietly.
His Daevic Insight had not deactivated.
Even now, the strange threads of destiny surrounding Yuhao were visible within his perception.
Subtle currents.
Interwoven lines of possibility.
A powerful convergence that the world itself seemed to be pushing forward.
For a brief moment, Lin Huang's thoughts drifted.
Fragments of memory—old, incomplete memories from another life—surfaced faintly within his mind.
Stories.
Concepts.
Pieces of a world that was not this one.
And among those fragments was a term he had once heard before.
Child of Destiny.
A person favored by fate itself.
Someone whose path naturally drew opportunity, power, and change toward them.
Lin Huang watched Yuhao for another moment.
Then a faint thought crossed his mind.
So this is how it feels.
It seems… we've found the world's chosen protagonist.
The thought carried no jealousy.
No hostility.
Only quiet curiosity.
After all, Lin Huang had never believed that destiny alone determined the future.
If anything—
He had spent most of this life proving the opposite.
Yuhao turned suddenly, noticing Lin Huang looking in his direction.
For a moment their eyes met.
Yuhao instinctively straightened.
Lin Huang simply nodded once.
The boy relaxed slightly.
Then Lin Huang turned back toward Ju Zi.
"Not yet."
Ju Zi tilted her head slightly.
"Then where?"
Lin Huang answered calmly.
"Shrek."
The room fell silent for a moment.
Even Xiaotao stopped leaning against the wall.
"…Shrek?"
Her expression slowly shifted into a grin.
"I was wondering when we'd go back."
Zhang Lexuan's gaze softened slightly.
"It's been almost two years."
Ning Tian nodded thoughtfully.
"And we never properly reported our progress."
Wu Feng stretched her arms.
"I'm curious how they'll react."
Ju Zi tapped the control array again.
The map shifted as new coordinates appeared.
"Course updated."
She glanced toward the forward view window.
"Shrek Academy."
Tang Ya remained silent for a moment before speaking quietly.
"That sounds good."
For her, Shrek was no longer the place she had once fled to in desperation.
Now it would be a place she could return to freely.
With her past finally behind her.
Ju Zi activated the propulsion arrays.
Outside the airship, several rotating formation rings began glowing brighter.
The engines deepened in tone as energy surged through the vessel's core.
Yuhao grabbed the edge of the viewing platform instinctively.
"What's happening?"
Ma Xiaotao laughed.
"Take a look."
The mountains beneath them suddenly dropped away.
The airship surged forward like a streak of light cutting through the sky.
Wind roared across the hull as the vessel accelerated toward the distant horizon.
Far below, the valley containing the ruins of the Iron Blood Sect disappeared beneath drifting clouds.
Ahead of them lay the heart of the continent.
And somewhere beyond the distant mountains—
Shrek Academy.
For nearly two years, the group that had once left its gates had traveled across the continent, grown stronger, and changed the fate of countless people.
Now they were finally returning.
But the people coming back were no longer the same ones who had once left.
And among them—
A quiet boy from the Star Luo Empire stood near the observation window, staring wide-eyed at the world unfolding beneath the flying ship.
Unaware that his own destiny had already begun shifting the moment he stepped aboard.