As for the Demon Sect, under the new Saintess Jin Ping'er's leadership, it too underwent earth-shaking changes.
Under the banner of the ancient faith in the Nether Holy Mother and the Heavenly Fiend Bright King, she founded the Holy Mother Sect, with a strict structure and relatively gentle doctrines.
In the name of aiding the living and comforting the souls of the dead, the sect welcomed followers across the war-torn South, and its power rapidly expanded.
The Holy Mother Sect became a vast new force, second only to the Green Cloud Sect.
And Jin Ping'er kept the promise she had made all those years ago.
For years, the Holy Mother Sect never instigated a single dispute, maintaining a delicate peace with the righteous path.
All of the Divine Land enjoyed a period of tranquility and harmony unlike any before.
It was as though the catastrophe that had nearly destroyed the world had happened long ago.
The Far North Ice Plains lay buried beneath snow and ice all year round.
The bitter wind cut like a blade, stinging wherever it struck.
Deep in this forbidden wasteland, where few had ever set foot, lay an even stranger place.
There was no wind there, no snow, not even a sound.
Time and space seemed to have frozen completely.
This was the legendary forbidden land, the Ruins of Time.
At that moment, two figures were struggling through the silent wasteland.
The one in front was a young man dressed in black robes, his features stern.
He was Zhang Xiaofan.
The passage of several years had left little mark on his face.
Only his eyes had grown more tranquil,
as though he had seen through everything in the world.
Beside him walked a woman in white, languid and alluring.
She was the Nine-Tail Celestial