Then, the Palace Master raised her head, a trace of sorrow on her stunning face.
Death—she was ready for it.
Her only regret was an unfulfilled wish lingering in her heart…
Just then, she caught the host’s excited shout from the live TV broadcast in the meeting room: “It’s Venerable Lin Yun!”
She snapped her head up—there, on screen, were Lin Yun and White Shark!
Seeing Lin Yun, waves of emotion rippled through her beautiful eyes.
“He… why’s he here, that stubborn mule! He… how can he possibly win…” She clenched her delicate fists, worry, heartache, and anguish etching her face.
She knew the gap between Lin Yun and the demon clan was vast!
Him coming was no different from suicide!
Outside Zhongzhou Underground City.
Lin Yun and White Shark hovered in the air.
“Demon clan filth, stop right there!”
Lin Yun’s roar thundered across half the sky.
Wang Xue and the two demon kings attacking the gate paused, turning to him.
In an instant.
Lin Yun and Wang Xue locked eyes.
Once lovers.
Now enemies.
Though Lin Yun had long known Wang Xue was the Demon Empress.
Though he’d imagined this reunion countless times.
Though he’d braced himself on the way.
When the moment hit, his heart still spasmed.
She was, after all, one of the women he’d loved most!
Her gaze had sharpened, her aura transformed, but she was still Wang Xue!
“Lin… Lin Yun…”
Seeing him, Wang Xue’s pupils shrank, a stab piercing her heart.
Her twenty-plus years of memories—especially her love with Lin Yun—were unforgettable.
That kind of love, absent in her millennia as Demon Empress.
Her greatest fear was facing him head-on.
Yet that day had come…
“Wang Xue, you killed the Hall Master, plunged this world into misery, do you know how many lives you’ve taken?” Lin Yun stared at her, his expression tangled.
Wang Xue didn’t reply.
She and Lin Yun weren’t the same kind—she, as Demon Empress, did this for her clan.
Red Flame Fire Qilin stepped forward.
“Kid, got some guts showing up here! Don’t you know you’re walking into your grave?” Red Flame Fire Qilin sneered viciously.
“My grave? Today, the ones dying will be you lot!” Lin Yun’s icy gaze fixed on him.
“Us? Heh heh, last time above Yicheng, your Holy Hall mustered all those Spirit Transformation cultivators and couldn’t touch us, now with our mighty Empress here, how do you plan to win?” Red Flame Fire Qilin let out a eerie laugh.
“Purple Lightning, let’s move, warm up by chopping this kid down quick!”
Red Flame Fire Qilin prepped to strike.
“Hold it!”
Wang Xue raised a hand, stopping him.
She looked at Lin Yun.
“Lin Yun, if you join the demon clan, I’ll guarantee you and your kin’s safety,” she said.
Hearing this, Lin Yun knew she hadn’t fully erased their past.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t offer that.
“Wang Xue, if you surrender now, cripple your cultivation, I’ll spare your life—but the demon clan must fall!” Lin Yun met her gaze.
She closed her eyes slowly.
Impossible—she, as Empress, couldn’t abandon her clan.
She couldn’t!
Then, several streaks of light descended from the sky.
Lin Yun glanced back—Great Elder, Second Elder, Fourth Elder, Bear Elder, Hong Ling, Mo Yuan, the Holy Fire Sect Leader, the Cultivation Prefecture Lord, and over two hundred Nascent Soul cultivators, Golden Core cultivators couldn’t fly, so they’d lag behind.
This lineup was humanity’s full muster!
The Palace Master and Meng Yangtian stayed in Zhongzhou Underground City—demons at the gate, opening it would spell doom.
The Great Elder approached Lin Yun.
“Lin Yun, I’ve brought every Nascent Soul and above cultivator, no eggs survive a crushed nest, the demons have pushed this far, so it’s our last stand, we’re all ready to die,” his voice boomed.
The two hundred-plus cultivators behind him bore resolute, yet somber, gazes.
They knew, even with Lin Yun at third-rank Spirit Transformation, the power gap with the demons was immense!
They were essentially cannon fodder—desperate resistance, hoping to drag some demons down.
…
At that moment, live feeds in every underground city showed the Great Elder’s arrival.
“Viewers, the demon clan’s gone all-in on Zhongzhou Underground City, if it falls, the rest will follow, we’ve no retreat! The Holy Hall Alliance has decided to deploy all forces, led by Venerable Lin Yun, for a final battle with the demons!”
“Victory means demon annihilation! Defeat means human extinction!”
“Let’s cheer for Venerable Lin Yun and the Holy Hall’s warriors—they’re humanity’s heroes!”
The host’s firm voice rang through the broadcast.
“Venerable Lin Yun, they’ve got to win!”
“It’s our last hope!”
…
Plaza crowds prayed fervently.
But savvy rogue cultivators and sidelined low-tiers felt despair.
The power gap between humans and demons was too wide!
…
At Zhongzhou Underground City’s gate.
“Well, well, quite the turnout, looks like your human Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation cultivators are mostly here, eh? Perfect, wiping you out in one go saves time,” Red Flame Fire Qilin grinned wickedly.
They’d anticipated humanity’s all-or-nothing stand when attacking Zhongzhou.
They’d prepped—demons hid in nearby mountains, ready for war.
“Empress, they’re all here, can we start? Just need your word,” Red Flame Fire Qilin turned to Wang Xue.
Eyes closed, she paused two seconds, then… nodded slowly.
A white-haired old man stepped from behind her.
The Shadow Gate Master.
“Lord Fire Qilin, I hear this Lin Yun, at first-rank Spirit Transformation, punches above his weight, I’ve just hit Void Cave realm, mind if I test him, see how tough he really is?” The Shadow Gate Master itched to fight.
Breaking into Void Cave was a leap—he couldn’t wait to flex its might!
