Late at night, a waterfall of heavenly fire suddenly lit up Shushan, and a purple-gold mushroom cloud rose above Silver Sword Peak.
Chujiu, the Jiuli divine beast, hugged her little bamboo and trembled. She had no idea where such terrifying fury had come from. All she could do was curl herself into a ball and bury her face inside, as though no one would find her that way.
The golden-haired hou lay prone on the ground, its huge eyes spinning wildly as if considering whether it ought to fulfill its duty as a house-guarding hou. Life was what it desired; home was also what it desired. But even if it sacrificed its life to guard the home, could it truly guard it? The scant wisdom in its big head immediately produced the answer: obviously not.
The koi sisters had been shaken out of bed. Watching divine fire fill half the sky outside, they clasped hands in terror and did not dare open the door. With such an overwhelming amount of divine fire spreading outside, if they so much as touched a trace of it, the best outcome would be becoming grilled fish. A slightly worse one, and they would turn to charcoal ash.
The blazing dragon steed, meanwhile, was rather excited. As a fire-aspected demon beast, it adored this sort of atmosphere. But just as it was about to rush out and revel to its heart's content, a wave of heat blasted it back. Even among fire-aspected beings, there were differences. Divine fire of this rank was not something a demon beast of its level could touch.
The long night shone bright as day, and all of Shushan was shaken. For a time, everyone was panic-stricken.
Only Empress Feng, in the peak master's pavilion, sat glumly on her bed without