Yesterday's Web, Today's Showdown (Part One)

Shanyin County, rebel army camp.

Yue Luan sat quietly in his tent. By the customs of this realm, a cultivator's dwelling among mortals was called a reed shelter. It did not actually have to be made of reeds; the name merely carried that meaning. No ordinary person was permitted to enter its grounds without leave.

His tent was no different. The area within a hundred feet had been cleared, leaving it with an indescribable air of desolation.

Yue Luan paid it no mind. Seated on a bamboo mat, he slowly stroked a small vermilion sword, seemingly lost in thought.

Not far from him stood the pure-white porcelain bottle Su Che had sent.

"You look to be in fine spirits, my friend."

A voice came from inside the bottle.

There was no telling where it originated, but it carried an ineffable air of carefree ease.

"I'm merely clinging to life. How could my spirits compare to yours? I hear you're coming to the Central Land?"

"I have been considering it."

"Great Demon Bai Ze, why leave your comfortable life in the Eastern Sea to come running into this cage of the Mysterious Capital Palace?" Yue Luan's voice dripped with mockery. "Do you want to join your ancestors in Luofeng City?"

"None of the Demon Gods in Luofeng City are my ancestors. Brother Yue, your words betray an arrogance peculiar to humans. People come in a hundred varieties. Even though both the Northern Dynasties and the Southern Dynasty are human, the south calls the north barbarian captives, while the north calls the south island savages. The Ancient Demon Gods were each their own kind. Talk of shared ancestry is merely a prettier way to speak of slaves."

"And even among great demons, why would a fierce tiger consent to stand alongside a