Night Raid Terror, Netherworld's Devotion

The night was as black as ink, heavily shrouding Nuoding City. The clamor and bloodshed of the daytime Training Ground seemed to have been swallowed by darkness, leaving behind only dead silence. News of Spirit Hall's Holy Son defeating Dai Mubai in a single move and crippling Tang San's arms had spread through every corner of the academy like a winged plague. Fear, awe, suspicion... all kinds of emotions fermented in the darkness.

On the back mountain of Nuoding Academy lay a remote student dormitory area. Far from the main teaching building, it was quiet and secluded, but its facilities were also the most rudimentary. A faint yellow candlelight shone through the window of one standalone cabin.

Zhu Zhuqing sat cross-legged on the cold wooden bed, not meditating. Her eyes, like secluded pools, reflected the flickering flames beneath the wavering candlelight, yet they could not dispel the confusion and chill deep within them.

Everything that had happened at the Training Ground during the day was branded deep into her mind. Dai Mubai's disgraceful appearance as he knelt on the ground wailing, tears and snot streaming down his face, was like the sharpest ice pick, ruthlessly shattering her final illusion about the Star Luo Imperial Family and so-called fate. The fiancé she had to follow, had to rely upon in order to survive... was actually this pathetic!

And that figure like a demon god... Yang Yu... his calm gaze, his unimaginable spatial abilities, his terrifying physical strength, and that Dragon Might capable of crushing souls without a sound... all of it had completely overturned everything she knew!

His final silent question—"How about it?"—was even more like a key, prying open a crack in her frozen heart. Beneath the cold lake water, something seemed to tremble and surge.

Subconsciously, she touched the cold secret letter hidden close to her body. A secret letter from the Star Luo Imperial Family! Its wording was cold and stern, ordering her to return to Star Luo at once to accept "arrangements," take responsibility for Dai Mubai's "failure" in Nuoding City, and prepare to "cultivate feelings" with Dai Weisi at any time!

Dai Weisi! The heir to the throne, even crueler than Dai Mubai, who regarded her as nothing more than a tool and plaything! A chill that seeped into her bones seized her in an instant! Go back? Go back and face that demon? Then, like her mother, become a sacrifice beneath the crushing wheels of imperial power, withering away in despair and humiliation?

No! Never! Zhu Zhuqing's slender fingers clenched tightly, her nails digging deeply into her palms and bringing a sharp sting of pain. For the first time, flames called "unwillingness" and "resistance" blazed in her cold eyes! But those flames soon dimmed again. Resist? With what? The Star Luo Imperial Family was a colossal monster, guarded by Titled Douluo-level experts! She was only a mere two-ring Soul Grandmaster, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!

Just as she suffered amid the intertwining torment of despair and unwillingness—Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several extremely faint sounds of air being torn, almost blending into the night wind, suddenly rang out! Sharp! Deadly!

Zhu Zhuqing's pupils contracted! An intense sense of danger pierced her scalp like icy steel needles! She had no time to think; her body reacted on instinct! Her ghostlike figure sprang from the bed and drifted toward the corner like a weightless feather!

Thud! Thud! Thud! Three streaks of eerie blue light grazed her afterimage and viciously nailed themselves into the wooden bed where she had just been sitting! The hard boards were pierced as easily as tofu, leaving behind three bottomless holes! The edges of those holes were an eerie bluish-black, giving off a thick, sickly-sweet stench! Poison!

Poisoned Bone-Piercing Nails!

Cold sweat instantly soaked Zhu Zhuqing's back! Her heart pounded wildly! Had she reacted a fraction slower, three nails would have pierced her body and the poison would have killed her! Who was it?!

"Not bad reflexes. Unfortunately... this is as far as you go!" A hoarse, sinister voice came from outside the window.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The fragile wooden window and half the wall were instantly torn apart by violent Soul Power! Wood chips flew everywhere! Five ghostlike black figures darted into the room like lightning! Their entire bodies were covered in black nightclothes, leaving only pairs of cold, merciless eyes exposed! Beneath each of them glowed four bright spirit rings—two yellow and two purple! They were four Soul Ancestor experts!

The powerful pressure of their Soul Power filled the narrow room like a tangible tide! Even the air became thick and heavy! Zhu Zhuqing felt as if she had fallen into a swamp, struggling even to breathe! Her face turned deathly pale, and her eyes were filled with utter solemnity and despair! Four Soul Ancestors! Assassins sent by the Star Luo Imperial Family?! To ensure her "obedience," they had actually dispatched such a lineup?!

"Surrender and come back with us. You'll suffer less that way." The leader's voice was cold, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue. "Otherwise, we'll cripple your limbs and drag you back like a dead dog!"

There was no pointless talk! The four black-clad men attacked at once! Two blocked the door and window to cut off her escape, while the other two pounced on Zhu Zhuqing like ghosts! One formed his fingers into claws, tearing through the air with a shriek as he grabbed for Zhu Zhuqing's throat! The other held a flashing dagger, silently stabbing toward her lower abdomen like a venomous snake striking! Their angles were vicious, their coordination flawless, their killing intent overwhelming! They clearly intended to instantly cripple her ability to resist!

There was nowhere to dodge! Nowhere to retreat!

A trace of determination flashed in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes! She bit through the tip of her tongue, using the sharp pain to forcibly raise her Soul Power! Hell Spirit Cat possession! Her petite body instantly became light and explosive, her long black hair stirring without wind as sharp cat claws sprang from her fingertips! Her First Spirit Ability lit up beneath her feet! Hell Stab!

Her body became a blurred black afterimage, narrowly avoiding the claws aimed at her throat. Her cat claws flashed with netherworldly cold light as they slashed viciously toward the wrist of the black-clad man whose blade had targeted her abdomen! This was attacking the enemy to save herself!

"Hmph! Mere tricks!" The black-clad man with the dagger sneered. With a twist of his wrist, the dagger shifted like a venomous snake and precisely blocked Zhu Zhuqing's cat claws! At the same time, his other hand shot out like lightning!

Bang! A dull impact rang out! Zhu Zhuqing only felt an irresistible force slam fiercely into her chest! The Soul Power protecting her body was instantly scattered! A sweetness rose in her throat, and blood spilled uncontrollably from the corner of her lips! Her body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into the cold wall! Her internal organs seemed to shift, and intense pain swept through her entire body!

The gap was too great! She was only a two-ring Soul Grandmaster. Facing the coordinated assault of two Soul Ancestors, she was severely injured in a single exchange!

"Take her!" the lead black-clad man barked.

The other two black-clad men blocking the exits moved at once as well! Like two bolts of black lightning, they pounced toward the heavily injured Zhu Zhuqing on the ground! Cold chains wound around her limbs like venomous snakes! She was about to be captured completely!

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes were filled with despair and unwillingness! Am I... really unable to escape? Star Luo... Dai Weisi... Mother...

Just as those cold chains were about to touch Zhu Zhuqing's body!

Buzz! An indescribably profound ripple spread out like a stone cast into a tranquil lake! Time... seemed to be forcibly distorted and stretched at that very moment!

Zhu Zhuqing clearly saw the four cold chains snapping toward her like venomous snakes. Less than an inch away from her body, they suddenly became incomparably slow! As if they had fallen into the thickest amber! The icy gleam on the chains and the savage expressions on the attackers' faces all seemed as though someone had pressed a slow-motion button!

Then—Whoosh! A blurred black figure appeared before Zhu Zhuqing without warning, like lightning tearing through the night! Fast! So fast that it surpassed the limits of vision! It was as though he had been standing there all along!

It was Yang Yu!

He was still wearing that gray-white academy uniform, his face completely expressionless, as calm as an ancient well. He did not even glance at the four terrified black-clad assassins. He merely raised his right hand slightly, aimed at the four delayed chains and the two charging black-clad men, and flicked his fingers!

The motion was casual, as though brushing dust from the hem of his clothes.

Buzz! The phantom of the Dragon of Eternity and Time flashed behind him and vanished! An invisible, strange ripple carrying the aura of time's annihilation spread instantly!

"First Spirit Ability, Mark of Time!"

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Four incredibly faint sounds, like hot knives cutting through butter!

The four incomparably tough refined-steel chains, infused with the Soul Power of Soul Ancestors, silently snapped apart inch by inch the moment they touched that invisible ripple, as though they had decayed over countless centuries! They turned to powder and scattered in the wind!

The two black-clad men at the front remained frozen in their lunging poses, their bodies seeming to have been paused in midair! Their faces were still locked in savage expressions, along with a trace of disbelief and terror! The next moment, countless fine black cracks, like crazing on porcelain, eerily appeared across their exposed skin! The cracks spread and deepened at lightning speed!

"Ugh... ah..." Their throats produced hoarse sounds like broken bellows, and their eyes instantly lost focus! Their bodies collapsed like sand sculptures that had lost their support! When they hit the ground, they shattered directly into countless tiny black particles, like something weathered for a thousand years! There was no blood, no scream—only silent annihilation!

Instant kill! Two Soul Ancestors! Not even scraps remained!

Silence! Deathly silence!

The remaining two black-clad men, including their leader, froze where they stood as if immobilized by a spell! Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as they stared at the two piles of black particles giving off an aura of decay, then at the Black-Clad Boy standing calmly before Zhu Zhuqing as if he had merely stepped on two ants. An indescribable terror from the deepest depths of their souls swallowed them completely like an icy tide!

What kind of power is this?! Time?! Annihilation?! This... this isn't human at all! He's a devil!

"Retreat!" The leader finally awoke from his extreme terror and let out a shriek that had gone off-key! Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and fled desperately through the broken window! The other black-clad man was so frightened that his soul nearly scattered, and he hurried after him! What mission? What orders? Before such terrifying power, survival came first!

Yet just as they moved!

Yang Yu's calm, unruffled eyes, as though they contained a river of time, swept casually over them.

Buzz! An invisible domain that controlled time instantly covered an area ten meters wide!

"Void Nether!"

The two black-clad men fleeing for their lives suddenly stiffened! It was as though they had fallen into incomparably sticky glue! Their speed abruptly slowed to a crawl! Their faces were filled with extreme terror and despair!

Yang Yu did not look at them again. He slowly turned around, his gaze settling on Zhu Zhuqing, who was curled up in the corner, blood at the corner of her mouth, her face white as paper, her eyes filled with utter shock and confusion.

"Do you want to live?" Yang Yu's voice was calm and flat, yet it carried a force that pierced the soul. "Or do you want to die?"

Zhu Zhuqing's delicate body shuddered! She looked into Yang Yu's deep, starry eyes, then at the two piles of black dust symbolizing annihilation on the floor, then at the two desperate figures at the window, as though trapped in amber... The crushing domination at the daytime Training Ground, the coldness of the Star Luo secret letter, this divine intervention in her moment of despair, and this unimaginable power like that of a god or demon...

Countless images intertwined and collided in her mind! It was as though a boulder weighing ten thousand pounds had crashed into the frozen lake of her heart, raising monstrous waves! Fear? Yes! Shock? Beyond measure! But more than anything, a flame called "hope" suddenly ignited amid the ashes of despair!

The Star Luo Imperial Family? Dai Weisi? Dai Mubai? What did they amount to before this absolute power?!

She struggled, using every ounce of her strength to brace herself against the cold wall and rise with difficulty. The intense pain in her chest made her groan, but she gritted her teeth and straightened her back. Those eyes, once cold and hopeless, now burned like netherworldly fire as they stared fixedly at Yang Yu!

She did not answer the childish question of whether she wanted to live or die. She took a deep breath. The cold, blood-scented air pierced her lungs, yet it made her even clearer-headed.

Then, beneath Yang Yu's calm gaze, before the despairing eyes of the two remaining black-clad men, amid the wreckage filling the room—

Zhu Zhuqing, the girl as proud, aloof, and cold as an iceberg, slowly and painfully dropped to one knee!

Her posture was not proper, and she even trembled slightly from her injuries, but there was a determination in it that left no room for retreat!

She raised her head. Her cold eyes met Yang Yu's, and though her voice was hoarse with pain, it was exceptionally clear and firm, like an oath:

"Zhu Zhuqing... is willing to follow His Highness the Holy Son!" "Netherworld... swears loyalty unto death!"

As her words fell, the entire room once again sank into dead silence! Only the two black-clad men outside, slowed by Time Stasis, made hoarse, despairing whimpers from their throats like dying beasts.

Yang Yu looked at Zhu Zhuqing kneeling before him, and there was no surprise in his eyes. He slowly reached out—not to help her up, but to gently rest his hand atop her soft, cold black hair.

It felt cool beneath his palm, like the finest silk.

"Remember what you said today." Yang Yu's voice remained calm, but it carried the majesty of one who held fate in his grasp. "From this moment on, your life is mine."

His gaze passed over Zhu Zhuqing's pale but stubborn face. "As for that slight crack in your Martial Soul Origin... and that so-called shackle of a marriage contract..."

The corner of Yang Yu's lips curled into an expression of complete control.

"Neither is a problem."

Zhu Zhuqing's delicate body shook violently! A crack in her Martial Soul Origin?! This was her greatest secret! Even the Star Luo Imperial Family did not know! He... he had seen through it at a glance?! And the marriage contract... could he truly solve it?!

Overwhelming shock and indescribable hope instantly engulfed her! She nodded forcefully, and for the first time, a light called "faith" ignited in her cold eyes!

Just then, "Your Highness." A seductive voice sounded outside the broken window, tinged with laughter.

Yue Guan appeared on the windowsill like a ghost. Ignoring the two black-clad men frozen in time like lambs awaiting slaughter, he respectfully bowed to Yang Yu. "The 'gift' you ordered has been delivered to Star Luo City. That little brat Dai Weisi will spend the rest of his life lying in bed, drooling as he stares at the stars. The old emperor of Star Luo was so enraged that he vomited blood on the spot, but he couldn't find a single clue. He can only swallow his broken teeth and blood."

Yue Guan's voice was not loud, but every word entered Zhu Zhuqing's ears clearly.

Dai Weisi... was crippled?! He would be bedridden for the rest of his life?! The Star Luo Imperial Family was enraged yet helpless?!

Boom! This news struck Zhu Zhuqing's heart like a final thunderbolt! She abruptly raised her head and looked at Yang Yu, her cold eyes filled with boundless shock and... a trace of fervor she herself had not yet noticed!

It was him! It had to be him! For... me?!

The enormous impact left her mind blank! The nightmare that was the Star Luo Imperial Family's heir, the iceberg pressing atop her head, had just been... casually... crushed by the person before her?!

"Mm." Yang Yu merely responded faintly, as though he had handled nothing more than a trivial matter. He withdrew the hand resting atop Zhu Zhuqing's head and swept his gaze over the two delayed black-clad men outside, whose eyes contained nothing but endless terror.

"Clean it up." Yang Yu's voice did not contain the slightest ripple.

"Yes." Yue Guan's smile widened, like a blooming, sinister chrysanthemum. With a casual flick, he sent out two tiny golden glimmers.

Pfft! Pfft! Two soft sounds. The two Soul Ancestor assassins, trapped in Time Stasis and utterly unable to resist, instantly gained a tiny bloody hole between their brows. The light faded from their eyes at once, and they fell like two rotten logs, lifeless.

As though sweeping away trash, Yue Guan waved his hand. Several golden petals drifted down, instantly breaking down and annihilating the corpses and bloodstains on the floor. Together with the two piles of black dust, they vanished without a trace, as though they had never existed.

Only Yang Yu, Zhu Zhuqing kneeling on the ground, and the faint lingering ripples of Soul Power and scent of blood remained in the room.

Yang Yu lowered his head and looked at Zhu Zhuqing, who still knelt on one knee and gazed at him with complicated eyes.

"Get up." Yang Yu's voice carried an unquestionable command. "Starting tomorrow, train with Rongrong."

"Yes... Master." Zhu Zhuqing's voice trembled almost imperceptibly as she rose with difficulty. Looking at Yang Yu's calm profile, she felt for the first time that the cold Star Luo Imperial Family seemed... not quite so terrifying anymore. And the unknown path ahead, following this mysterious master... perhaps... was not entirely darkness.

Outside, the night remained deep. But deep within the frozen lake of Zhu Zhuqing's heart, through the crack forcibly carved into it... a faint glimmer of light seemed to shine in.