(North Region- Unknown Location)
Xu Lu hissed in pain as yet another sharp branch tore into her lower ankle. Blood and bits of flesh splattered on the ground beneath her feet as she ran desperately.
She looked like a fucking mess.
Her once spotless white robes were tattered and covered in a mixture of dirt and blood.
There were open wounds across her body, and she was sure that her hair probably resembled a bird's nest.
Swish!
Xu Lu tilted her head to the side and narrowly avoided yet another spike that was shot in her direction from the monsters chasing her.
(Nearly there… keep going… keep going…)
The hoarse inhuman voice whispered in her mind as she could feel the corners of her vision slowly begin to darken.
She was weak.
She needed some rest.
The time spent inside the tight cell in the underground prison complex had taken its toll and she was still feeling some aftereffects.
Xu Lu kept running and finally saw what appeared to be a translucent patch of air shimmering slightly in the distance.
She did not know where she found the strength but somehow a burst of energy filled her body, and she sped up towards the strange object.
The former saintess did not know if this was trap but at this point… she had no other choice.
Xu Lu closed her eyes as she plunged into the shimmering air and then her body fell through what felt like an underwater river.
She could feel herself being violently pulled in a certain direction and could do little more than stiffen her body and try to keep herself upright.
The pull was too strong to resist.
The amulet hanging around her neck glowed slightly and then began to heat up. Xu Lu gasped in pain as the metal burned her flesh.
Where was she being taken?
What could possibly be on the other side?
Suddenly the pulling force abruptly ended, and Xu Lu felt her body fly through the air. She opened her eyes and let out a small scream as she found herself falling off a cliff.
"Fuck! Fuck this…" Xu Lu cursed in terror as she desperately fumbled around her waist and tried to unsheathe her longsword.
The ground was getting closer and closer with every passing second and she could make out tiny ant-like humanoid figures congregating near the bottom of the cliff.
This was definitely a trap!
.
.
.
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(Secret Headquarters Of The Crimson Demon Sect)
(Azure Snake Peak)
"It has already been many years…" a hunched back man whispered sympathetically to the beautiful woman standing silently in the centre of the group.
She stood there quietly with an aura that captivated all who looked at her. Her very presence alone was enough to get their undivided attention.
She possessed a cold beauty that was untouchable like a blossoming rose surrounded by terrible thorns.
Dark raven coloured hair fell down her shoulders and her eyes held a mixture of both melancholy and fierce resolve as if she had experienced a lifetime of suffering and pain.
"We must choose another successor… Guo Rui is the greatest of the younger generation and he is more than willing to take up the mantle," another man added in a serious tone.
"Oh please," a pretty woman holding a fan across her mouth laughed mockingly as she pointed a knife at the man.
"You think we don't know about the deal that you struck with Elder Guo? Guo Rui is nothing more than an insolent whelp not fit to lick my feet…"
"Actually… I could use another boy toy… maybe he is good for something…"
"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HIM WITCH!" the man growled darkly as he walked up the woman who stared back at him with no fear in her eyes.
A thick sense of tension filled air as the man pulled two curved blades out of his storage ring while the woman waved her fan and dark red runes appeared on the edges of her weapon.
It seemed that a fight breaking out would be inevitable until a calm voice said two simple words.
"Stop it."
An immense pressure fell down on the group of demon cultivators standing around the beautiful woman.
Everyone fell to their knees and the ground beneath their feet cracked. The pressure was so immense that some cultivators even spat out blood.
It was a grim reminder of the gap that existed between themselves and the woman who stood quietly with no change of emotion on her face.
Yang Xia.
The leader of the Crimson Demon Sect.
The woman who had already touched the edges of the god stage and was close to ascension. She was the one who was the heart and soul of the sect.
"Another successor has already been chosen," Yang Xia spoke quietly with the barest hint of sorrow in her voice.
She knew what that meant.
It meant that her son was dead.
Another would have taken his place.
The cold faced woman ignored the shocked gasps that filled the clearing and absentmindedly touched the silver pendant hanging from her neck.
A scarlet eye had been carved into the bottom of the pendant and would occasionally blink as if it somehow possessed intelligence.
"She is coming now," Yang Xia calmly whispered as she raised up her right hand and pointed upwards at the sky.
The cultivators still kneeling on the ground exchanged confused glances and then looked in the direction where their leader's finger was pointing.
Was that a woman falling from the sky?
Wait… what?!
Yang Xia snapped her fingers and the figure that was about to crash headfirst on the ground stopped moving mere inches away from the dirt.
This person was the successor?
Xu Lu blinked twice and looked around her surroundings.
One moment she was reaching for her sword just before she landed and the next, she was hovering slightly above the ground.
Clearly someone had intervened and looked like the person responsible was the cold faced woman in scarlet robes looking at her with a contemplative expression on her face.
"Thank you," Xu Lu politely spoke as she clasped her hands together.
"That is the least I could do for the successor to our clan," the mysterious woman spoke as she stepped forward and lightly touched the top of Xu Lu's head.
The former saintess of the Holy Sword Sect could not stop her actions. In fact, her body completely froze up as the woman touched her.
It was like she was an insect facing down a great and terrible enemy far beyond her comprehension.
This woman… she was incredibly dangerous.
Yang Xia's mouth tilted downwards into a frown and Xu Lu could sense that her saviour was not in a good mood.
"You are all dismissed," Yang Xia coldly spoke to her fellow sect members who were greatly confused about this unexpected turn of events.
Their sect master who had spent the last several decades refusing to even consider a new successor had now declared a random woman wearing a mask to be the one.
What was going on?
Who was this woman?
Yang Xia narrowed her eyes, and the demon cultivators got her unspoken warning. They immediately fled the scene back to the main halls of the clan to spread the news.
The cold faced woman waited until all of the cultivators had disappeared into the distance before she turned to look at the person chosen by the amulet.
"Tell me…" Yang Xia's voice dropped to a low whisper as she leaned in closer.
"Why would a righteous cultivator seek us out?"
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