The lands of Great Tang.
Chang'an.
Chang'an had changed enormously from just a few months earlier.
Ever since the court lifted its restrictions, switching to the Incense-and-Fire Path was no longer a business monopolized by the Demon Suppression Office.
So long as someone came from an unblemished background and was loyal to the Great Tang Imperial House, even a butcher from the streets could register with the Demon Suppression Office.
And so, martial artists brimming with blood and vitality could now be seen everywhere on Chang'an's streets.
A butcher chopped down with his cleaver, making the chopping block tremble faintly, with the telltale resonance of the Bone-Chiming Realm sounding from his bones.
A peddler carrying a shoulder pole strode as swiftly as the wind, his breathing deep and steady.
A closer look revealed something startling.
A Spirit Imprint was circling beneath his feet.
He was actually a martial artist who had entered the Four Hall-Entering Realms!
At a corner of the long street, a crowd had gathered outside a tea stall.
A burly, bare-chested man stood with one foot on a bench, spittle flying as he spoke.
"You have no idea! That day, yellow sand filled the sky, and the demon stood a full hundred feet tall!"
The man slapped his thigh, his eyes widening.
"At that moment when a thousand pounds hung by a single thread, Her Highness the Grand Princess appeared out of thin air!"
The commoners and martial artists gathered below held their breath.
"Then what? Hurry up and tell us, Wang Mazi!"
The man called Wang Mazi snorted, planting both hands on his hips.
"What kind of divine being do you think Her Highness is? She manifested a form with three heads and six arms, a blue face and fearsome fangs, standing a thousand feet tall!"