Four hundred li north of Qingqiu Mountain stood a solitary little hill.
An icy-blue escape light tore through the clouds and plunged onto its summit.
Zheng Bai Lian appeared atop a grayish-white boulder at the peak.
He turned to look toward the southern horizon. The dark-red radiance of the Blood River that had once blanketed the sky was nowhere to be seen.
"I finally escaped." Zheng Bai Lian's pounding heart gradually steadied.
"Living in peace for too long is no good either. My reaction when facing an enemy just now was several beats too slow!"
"Outer Realm Demons bypassed the Great Celestial Cycle Stellar Prohibition and entered Haizhou directly. Something major must have happened on the Celestial Battlefield."
"Should I find somewhere to hide for a while, or immediately report this to the Qianji Sect?" Zheng Bai Lian looked uncertain.
Reporting too late might earn him punishment, but reporting too early might get him dragged off to serve as a Combat Soldier.
Going face-to-face against Demons...
"Mm, my Hundred Illusions Sect fought the Demons with all our strength, and in the end, I alone survived."
"I am badly wounded now, so it is only reasonable that I failed to report the Demon invasion in time."
"Even if I delayed the battle, at most I'll receive a few reprimands."
Zheng Bai Lian's thoughts spun rapidly before he made up his mind. "I'll go hide in the Tianhe Water Mansion for a while. Once the Qianji Sect has settled the chaos, it won't be too late for me to show myself."
Just as he was about to use an evasion technique to leave, he felt his mana suddenly become sluggish. He could not even activate Vertical Rainbow Light.
He abruptly lowered his head, only to find that a still, blood-colored lake had