The Martial World trembled with whispers, thin as silk threads but sharp as blades.
"They say that one of the Crown Prince Concubine belong or associated with Demon Realm."
"Not just any woman… but a man who brought a strange overwhelming presence."
"His energy frightened off a wandering specter. Lady Mu even said that she saw that man killing her people."
Some said the man was an immortal. Others, a forgotten guardian spirit.
But in the darker corners of the world—among demons and old monsters—only one name was spoken in hushed dread.
Mo Tianzun.
That name reached the ears of a man standing high above the mortal realm.
Liu Shengjie, the God of War, stood at the cliff edge of the Northern Martial Border, watching the snow fall upon the blackened battlefield below. His cloak fluttered in the stormwind, stained faintly with blood. His eyes—like hammered bronze—scanned the distant horizon.
He had crushed countless demon beasts, sealed abyssal gates, and rewritten war scrolls with victories spanning a decade. Nothing could shake him.
Until now.
He turned slowly, reading over a crumpled intelligence scroll one more time.
"…Crown Prince Longxuan. A new concubine. Connection to a strange energy source. Possibly demonic in origin."
His lips twisted faintly. "How reckless."
With a flick of his sleeve, the scroll disintegrated into ash.
"Let's see which insect dares play with demon fire in my world."
He vanished in a flash of crimson light.
———
In the Eastern Palace, Concubine Shuirou sat upon a lounge carved from rare white jade. Her soft smile betrayed nothing but amusement, and her eyes sparkled with the smug satisfaction of someone who believed they were always two steps ahead.
She had dismissed all her maids.
A rare silken robe, sleeveless and transparent at the shoulder seams, hung behind her—a trophy from her latest maneuver. The air around it shimmered faintly, like heatwaves rising from scorched stone.
She was still humming when a sharp wind blew open her window.
Then—
He appeared.
Liu Shengjie stepped into her chamber without sound, tall and straight as a spear carved from heaven's wrath. His armor was half-removed, his robes draped in cold flame.
Shuirou blinked, startled only for a moment. Then she smiled lazily, swirling her wine cup.
"Well, well. The War God himself," she said with a coy grin. "Should I kneel, or offer you a kiss?"
"Neither," Liu Shengjie said flatly. His eyes locked onto hers. "You've been busy."
"Rumors are like brushstrokes on silk, General. They change direction with a sigh." She raised her cup. "Drink with me?"
He didn't move. His gaze slid to the silk robe hanging behind her.
"…That garment," he said, voice suddenly low.
"Oh?" she tilted her head. "It belonged to someone I… met recently. A poor, mysterious boy taking my Crown Prince away from me. Long hair, pale face. Very elegant. Very quiet. But when I touched his skin…"
She laughed.
"I felt like I was burning from the inside out. A divine furnace."
Liu Shengjie's expression didn't change—but he stepped forward like a drawn blade. His hand reached toward the robe.
The moment his fingers brushed the fabric—
BOOM.
A flash of heat surged through his arm.
He froze.
The garment carried a Qi so vast, so pure and overbearing that it seared straight through his spiritual defences.
Not Yin Qi. Not spiritual Qi.
It was pure, ancient Yang, heavy like molten sun. Woven into the fibers.
His fingers trembled.
His mind reeled.
This Qi—he knew it.
Too well.
"…Mo Tianzun," Liu Shengjie muttered, breath catching.
"What?" Shuirou blinked, confused by the shift in his expression. "What did you say?"
He said nothing. His grip on the silk tightened.
So he really was back. That man. That monster.
The one who died in front of him.
The one Shengjie had betrayed.
The one Shengjie killed.
His Lord, His Master.
The one he used for his plan.
His heart slammed once, hard.
In his mind, words burned
You really came back here, huh? I'm going to find you... and kill you again if I have too... before you destroy everything I've built over the years—
"My Lord."
Shuirou stepped back slightly. "General… you're scaring me."
Liu Shengjie looked up at her then—his usual calm expression now cold as steel in winter. A dangerous light flashed across his eyes.
He forced himself to smile. "Thank you, Concubine Shuirou. You've been mosthelpful."
Then he vanished, leaving behind only a faint scorch mark in the air.
Shuirou stood frozen.
"…What… in the heavens… did I just get involved in?"
———
Outside, the wind howled.
And far away, in the snow-veiled valley of the Bai Clan, Lin Xuanji's body shivered for the briefest moment—an old instinct stirring in the back of his bones.
Something was coming.
Something he knew.
Something he should have killed long ago.