Volume Thirteen: "Goddess Yunxi's First Rain" - Supreme Purity's Divine Hand, Sweeping into the Wind of a Roaring Tiger

This was the first time since his earliest memories that Xing Yan had seen moonlight the color of blood. As the crimson moon flooded the sky, he almost seemed to smell a rank, bloody tang in the air.

Even after flying up onto the towering Crimsonwood Terrace, they seemed not yet to have reached the Demon Continent Gathering. The red-stone avenue beneath their feet billowed with white, steaming vapor, while two uneven rows of enormous stone pillars lined its sides. Shrouded in bloody moonlight, these stark, massive pillars had lost all trace of their original color. In the dim red glow, they resembled giants dripping blood from head to foot, coldly watching the travelers on the road from within the crimson shadows.

Setting foot in such a strange, uncanny realm for the first time, Xing Yan could not help feeling a flicker of fear as he surveyed the stone pillars and fiery road beneath the bloody moon. Though somewhat afraid, he glanced back the way he had come and saw blue haze and crimson clouds crowding the low-hanging sky. He remembered that he was walking above a precipice ten thousand fathoms high, with no retreat left behind him. At that thought, he steadied himself again. Turning to look at the girls following close behind, he drew a breath and strode onward once more.

As he marched ahead, however, the now-composed youth suddenly slipped and nearly fell.

What happened?

Swiftly gathering his concentration and regaining his balance, Xing Yan felt deeply puzzled. In that instant, he had seemed to lose his bearings, and a wave of dizziness had swept over him. Though he was still unsure of the exact level of his magical cultivation, he had plainly settled his mind just moments before. How could he have lost focus and stumbled