Within the Five Elements Sect...

The great battle had already raged for a full day. Blood stained the very ground crimson, and the air was thick with the smoke of war. Within the Sect, the roars of beasts, the tormented screams of the dying, and furious shouts echoed without end. The fighting was brutal on an unprecedented scale.

"Fall back! Quickly, fall back!" Below the main peak of the Five Elements Sect, the Elders from the major halls led the remaining disciples in a constant retreat up the mountain. By now, every part of the Sect had fallen, save for the main peak itself.

The several hundred disciples following them were pale-faced and wounded, their robes soaked in blood. The Primordial Beasts were Energy Bodies; they felt no pain and did not bleed. All this blood belonged either to themselves or to their fallen comrades. Of the tens of thousands of disciples, only these few hundred remained after the slaughter.

Elder Huo looked at the exhausted faces of his people, his heart aching with grief and indignation. ’The Five Elements Sect is one of the great sects of the Southern Domain! In our golden age, tens of thousands of disciples would gather in worship, a sight of heaven-shaking grandeur. Yet in a single day, we’ve been all but annihilated by these demonized Primordial Beasts!’

It was as if these Primordial Beasts were unkillable. When slain, they would dissolve into black gas that flew into the dark shroud blanketing the sky. A moment later, they would reform and rejoin the battle.

To truly destroy these Primordial Beasts, one had to incinerate the black gas along with them. Within the entire Sect, only the brothers Long Mo and Long Zhen were capable of this. Their Celestial Fire was a natural counter to the black gas. The other disciples, however, could only use ordinary Spiritual Power attacks to slow the advance of the Primordial Beast horde. Every single one of them was laying their life on the line for their Sect.

The reality, however, was cruel. Even with the disciples fighting with all their might, they couldn’t slow the horde’s assault. By now, the disciples were despondent. Even some of the Elders felt utterly exhausted in body and spirit. Facing this unkillable army that felt no pain, a sliver of despair began to creep into everyone’s heart...

"Pah!" Zi Mo spat out a mouthful of blood. "If only the Boss were here, he’d definitely burn these bastards to a crisp!" he said resentfully, glaring down at the dense black mass of the Primordial Beast horde below.

"Yeah, if only the Boss were here!" The members of the Yao Sect all found themselves missing Shen Haoran.

"But where is he? The gate to the Secret Realm was destroyed... We have no idea what happened to him." At this thought, the light in Zi Mo’s eyes dimmed.

"He’ll be fine," Shui Ruolan said in a low voice. "In fact, I hope he doesn’t come back." Her lovely face was deathly pale, and her robes were soaked through with sweat and blood, clinging to and revealing her impressive figure. A hint of her feminine charm was unintentionally exposed, but in this desperate situation, no one had the heart to notice.

"Why not? With the Boss here, we could absolutely crush these bastards!" Zi Mo said, clenching his fists.

"Can’t you see the situation we’re in?" Shui Ruolan said, her gaze downcast. "This horde of Primordial Beasts... we can’t possibly stop it. Even if Brother Shen came back, he couldn’t turn the tide alone. He would just be throwing his life away for nothing. It’s better for him to stay in the Secret Realm. At least then, he can survive this disaster!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Right now, the only way to stop this Beast Tide and save the Sect is to kill that black monster. Everything depends on Elder Qin now," Long Mo said, turning his gaze to the distant sky. Up there, a world-shaking battle was still raging.

At this, everyone turned their gaze to the battle in the sky. It was their only hope.

...

Meanwhile, Elder Mo was maintaining the Seal on the spatial gate, preventing the chaotic Energy from pouring through. At the same time, he kept his attention on the battle in the sky, his brow deeply furrowed.

BZZZZ...

All of a sudden, the shattered spatial gate began to fluctuate violently. Elder Mo instantly snapped his focus back to it, his heart pounding in alarm as he stared at the wobbling, pitch-black hole.

"What’s going on?" Elder Mo stared at the shattered gate in bewildered alarm. On high alert, he stirred the Spiritual Power in his body, which then burst forth to reinforce the Seal. ’Anything that could force its way out of that shattered space would either be a torrent of chaotic Energy or an even more powerful Primordial Beast. I absolutely cannot let it through!’

This time, however, Elder Mo had miscalculated. Even though he had reinforced the Seal, the fluctuations of the spatial gate only grew more intense. Finally, before his astonished eyes, a torrent of power burst through his Seal. A pillar of brilliant Energy shot toward the heavens, and a human figure appeared in front of the shattered gate.

"Shen Haoran!" Elder Mo cried out upon seeing the figure’s face. The one who had flown out of the spatial gate was none other than Shen Haoran!

"Elder Mo!" Shen Haoran exclaimed, equally surprised. Then, his gaze swept over the Five Elements Sect—the air thick with black gas, the ground littered with corpses—and his expression changed drastically.

"Elder Mo, what happened here?" A furious killing intent erupted from Shen Haoran’s body, instantly shattering the black gas that was surging toward him.

"There’s no time to explain! Hurry! Go help Elder Huo and the others defend the Sect!" Elder Mo said urgently. He stepped forward again to re-form the Seal that Shen Haoran had just burst through.

Seeing Elder Mo’s aged back, Shen Haoran took a deep breath and suppressed his murderous rage. With a shudder, his Vermilion Bird Wings unfurled, and he shot toward the inner Sect.

Along the way, he saw demonized Primordial Beasts gnawing on the corpses of Sect disciples. A crimson glint slowly filled Shen Haoran’s eyes. His Qilin Arm materialized, and he obliterated every Primordial Beast he saw. This was true obliteration—even the black gas was blasted into nothingness.

ROAR!

Shen Haoran’s arrival immediately drew the attention of the Primordial Beasts, causing a commotion to ripple through their ranks.

"What’s going on? The horde of Primordial Beasts seems to be getting restless," Elder Huo said with a frown, watching the agitated Beast Tide.

"Are they going to attack again?" A look of despair crossed the faces of the disciples behind him. In their current state, they would never be able to withstand another charge from the Beast Tide.

"No, wait... It looks like someone is fighting their way through them over there!" a disciple suddenly cried out. Surprised, everyone turned to look.

"It’s Brother Shen!"

"It’s the Boss!"

The members of the Yao Sect cried out, their faces alight with joy. The moment they saw that massive pair of Black Flame wings, they knew it was Shen Haoran.

Within the Beast Tide, Shen Haoran was like a rampaging Ancient Fierce Beast, crashing through their ranks. Any Primordial Beast that stood in his way was blasted into nothingness, leaving not even a ripple of Energy behind.

They watched, their hearts pounding, as Shen Haoran—wings beating behind him, Black Flame in his left hand, his right arm glowing crimson—carved a path straight through the Beast Tide. For a long time, they couldn’t calm their turbulent emotions. The Primordial Beasts that had left them so utterly helpless were, before Shen Haoran, unbelievably fragile.

[PS: A lot of people have been asking for more Chapters recently, and Xiezi is feeling the pressure. I’m a student, and my professor just assigned a huge project. I’ve been running data all day and only have time to write at night, so I’m sticking to two Chapters a day to ensure quality. If you really want four or five Chapters, sure, I could do that—I could just fill them with water. But I don’t want to disappoint you all, and I refuse to pad the word count. So please, bear with me. My professor’s assignment will be done tomorrow, and updates will return to normal then. I appreciate your understanding! Also, please toss me any recommendation tickets you have, let’s get Xiezi up the ranks! Thanks, everyone!]