The sound of a zither rang out. It felt like a song, but also a lament. It felt like longing, but also a story.

Zi Yan was playing the zither atop a mountain peak, with Long Chen and Yue Xiaoqian standing beside her. The world had already started to brighten. This seemingly endless night would soon pass. And when the first glimmer of sunlight illuminated this world, it would mean that the new era was well and truly here.

Thus, the three of them had no choice but to part ways once more.

Long Chen and Zi Yan had already grasped their future paths. They needed to search for their own opportunities. As for Yue Xiaoqian, although she didn’t see her path as clearly as the other two, she had to return to the original devil race. Although the original devil race was well-hidden and it wasn’t likely that they would be disturbed, she still wanted to be safe.

They were parting not long after finally finding each other again. Zi Yan’s beautiful fingers lightly danced over the zither strings, playing music that brought the three of them into a wonderland where they could forget all their trouble for a while. It was music that reached the heart and soul.

However, this wonderland was ultimately not real. When the song ended, the three of them had to face reality once more.

Long Chen left Jing Jing to Yue Xiaoqian. Jing Jing had also grasped a bit of law power by now. Although she wasn’t as strong as Huo Linger, even if she encountered someone like Zhu Qi, she would be able to fight with her ice laws. Long Chen felt more at ease with the two of them traveling together.

He knew that the Huayun Trading Company had already started working. Their secret transportation formations were probably active already. When the time came, Jing Jing could go to Ye Zhiqiu through these transportation formations. Then she would truly change her fate.

Jing Jing was unable to unleash her full potential by Long Chen’s side. Only with Ye Zhiqiu could she grow stronger, and at the same time, her presence would also benefit Ye Zhiqiu. Long Chen had Jing Jing take all the ice crystals as well. These ice crystals had absorbed a bit of law power during their time in the primal chaos space, and they were very useful to her.

Jing Jing and Yue Xiaoqian left. But when Jing Jing looked back at him, and Long Chen saw the look in her eyes, his heart broke. She had always been with him since leaving the Sapphire Water Pool. He was the one person she truly trusted. She was clearly reluctant to leave. Her eyes were full of tears.

Once the two of them vanished, Long Chen sniffed and rubbed his nose, forcing down the tears.

“Long Chen...” Zi Yan took Long Chen’s hand. She softly said, “The great era is coming. That means that another major tribulation is befalling this world. But the lines of fate are obscured, and the chains of order are in chaos. The ten thousand races are facing death, but they don’t even know it. This tribulation will definitely be a cruel test for us. The heavens are now divided into three. The nine heavens and ten lands were originally already in a difficult position, but now a third faction has appeared. We must seize as much power as we can, otherwise... we won’t be able to face this upcoming tribulation!”

Long Chen pulled Zi Yan’s still-frail body into his arms. Her scent filled his nose. Zi Yan held on tightly.

Both of them wanted to stay together. But what if that was what they wanted? The very heavens were about to collapse. A world-encompassing calamity was coming. If they did not seize this chance to grow stronger, they would ultimately be turned to dust.

Only power could protect them. They had no time to waste.

Zi Yan also left. She said he was going to search for the land of heavenly music with the Heavenly Devil Zither. This was where the Heavenly Devil Zither had first achieved spirituality!

During the primal chaos war, heaven and earth were shattered, and that land was also destroyed. Now that the world had transformed, as the chaos was gradually set to order, the Heavenly Devil Zither sensed that the land had reappeared. This was a tremendous chance for it.

Long Chen was worried that the Zither Sect would be competing with them over this location, but Zi Yan said that after the last battle, the Zither Sect’s sinister Heavenly Devil Zither was badly damaged. It would have to not just fix, but entirely rebuild its body. Once it did that, it would truly walk the path of a devil. It would no longer be able to hear the music of the heavens, so there was no need to worry.

Once Zi Yan and Yue Xiaoqian left, all Long Chen had was their faint scents. After a long moment, Long Chen took a deep breath and waved his hand. Evilmoon appeared on his back.

“Ugh, so sappy. I’m going to die from secondhand embarrassment!”

Evilmoon finally couldn’t help mocking him. It had long since wanted to start killing, but Long Chen was busy saying goodbye to his wives.

Of course, Long Chen couldn’t be bothered to reply. No matter how strong Evilmoon grew, it remained an item-spirit. It couldn’t experience the human race’s emotions.

With that, Long Chen vanished into the void.

...

The night was fading. The world gradually grew brighter. Although the darkness was not fully gone yet, countless forces were slowly awakening from their hibernation.

At the same time, there were also many forces whose slumber would be eternal. They had been devoured by the mutated lifeforms birthed by the night, and they would never appear again in the world.

These mutated lifeforms were incredibly powerful. They were more than strong enough to destroy a sect all on their own. However, some of the more powerful sects actually launched counterattacks, hunting them down instead. They then extracted priceless resourcez from the mutated lifeforms, such as their essence blood, crystal core, runes.

Some people refined supreme medicinal pills. Some created strange talismans with that essence blood. Some of them created new divine abilities from the runes.

Ever since ancient times, opportunity always lied in danger. Some people lost their lives, while some people obtained heaven-defying opportunities.

The chaotic laws slowly calmed down and sunlight returned to this world. It still wasn’t the time to make their breakthroughs, yet countless experts were already starting to explore the new world. And once they did, they were shocked to find just how much things had changed. Mountains had become valleys; vast seas had become mulberry fields.

Some danger areas had vanished, but some other areas that used to be safe were now covered by a strange fog that reeked of death.

Some blessed lands had become gates to hell. No one knew what existed beyond those gates. All they knew was that death qi swirled around them.

Some people tried to check with their maps, only to find that the world seemed to have somewhat expanded a thousandfold. Everyone was different.

This world might not even be the old world. Perhaps that was the meaning behind the so-called "new era." Everything was given a new start, in every sense.

But while ordinary people investigated the new world with reverence and curiosity, Forerunners were like predators striking before dawn. They wreaked havoc upon this new world before it even had time to fully unfold.

...

A massive hand slammed down on Dragon Praise City. But there was a massive formation protecting the city, and this formation was filled with flowing stars.

BOOM!

Dust exploded out of the surrounding land. The ground shattered. But the starry barrier remained intact.

“Impossible!”

A man standing outside the city stared in shock. He was a Divine Sovereign Forerunner. He had gained control of the new era’s law power and condensed a heaven-earth law manifestation, but he was still unable to break through this city's defenses. He found it hard to believe.

Tens of thousands of experts inside the city were forming hand seals. Starlight enveloped them. They were all pale, and some of them collapsed from that attack.

“I don’t believe it. How many attacks can you ants possibly block?!” the man roared, and summoning the power of his heaven-earth law manifestation, he unleashed another palm.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

After three consecutive blows, the barrier began to shudder. The experts inside spat out blood, and the stars on the barrier dimmed.

“Die!”

The giant palm raised once more. The experts in the city despaired.

Just then, a blood-colored saber streaked through the air, and the attacker's head flew into the sky.