Su Xiuer shuddered and abruptly looked up, only to find no one there.
"Who's there?!" she asked in a trembling voice, her gaze sweeping her surroundings.
"Take a guess."
Su Xiuer froze. The voice seemed to pour in from every direction, yet also seemed to echo deep within her heart. It left no trace she could follow, eerie and unfathomable.
"Y-you... who exactly are you?"
Her voice trembled, edged with sobs. She searched her surroundings again and again, but saw only darkness.
"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is-do you want to drive those Demon Sect disciples out of Profound Li?"
Su Xiuer faltered, then fierce hatred flooded her eyes.
"Yes! I wish every last one of them would die!"
She clenched her teeth, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Since the outsiders invaded, her sect was gone, her master was gone, and everything she had once known had turned to ashes.
How could she not want to? But how could she possibly do it?
The voice seemed to see through her thoughts. With a soft chuckle, it asked, "Do you want to know where they came from?"
Su Xiuer jerked her head up, staring fixedly into the darkness.
"You know?"
"Perhaps." The voice spoke unhurriedly, explaining at a leisurely pace. "Those invaders came from a terrifying greater realm beyond your imagination. What you've seen is merely a single lineage belonging to one of its three great powers."
Su Xiuer felt her vision go black.
A branch lineage-of just one of three great powers? A single lineage had nearly shattered the Southern Li Continent?
Her lips parted, but she could not utter a word.
"Despairing already?" The voice teased her with a hint of mockery. "You ought to count yourself lucky."
"Lucky?!"
"Indeed. Lucky that the branch