The Great Formation!

The Eastern World.

A secluded valley lay shrouded in mist.

A slender figure stood motionless among jagged rocks, a faint red halo surrounding her.

She stood in strange contrast to the lush ancient trees and murmuring stream around her.

Liu Ruyan wore the magnificent Phoenix Feather Robe. Its gold-and-crimson feathers looked lifelike, radiating a sacred, searing heat, as though real flames danced within them.

In her hand was a crimson Phoenix-Patterned Longsword.

At that moment, she was nothing like her usual aloof self.

An innate nobility and authority graced her face. Whenever her eyes moved, a Phoenix Projection seemed to flash through them, while an immense, piercing aura radiated from her.

She raised her head slightly toward the vast emerald formation outlined against the sky and parted her lips.

"The Hidden Dragon Assembly has ended. The matters here are settled for now.

"I must return to seclusion and refine the true blood within me. I leave the rest to you."

As her words faded, the immense aura that had made it hard to breathe receded like a tide.

The noble light burning in her eyes vanished, and the authority in her expression melted away.

In its place returned her familiar coolness, tinged with reserve and resolve.

In a single breath, she seemed like another person.

"Phew..."

Liu Ruyan exhaled softly. She felt the searing, boundless power deep within her sink back into stillness.

She glanced down at the crimson sword gripped in her hand. A faint warmth came from its hilt, as though in response.

Then she looked toward the depths of the valley.

There stood an unassuming gray-green stone marker, weathered and carved with four words: Cang Yue's Tomb.

Liu Ruyan stopped before it and fell silent for a moment.

"Cang Yue,"

"I killed Fire Lizard of the Fire