On Longjue Ridge.
Autumn winds howled, and metal qi drifted.
The towering, precipitous ridge slowly breathed gray light in and out. A few rock sheep could occasionally be seen leaping between sheer cliffs, licking the layers of brine that seeped out.
Atop the highest peak, a tall, silver-gray figure was faintly visible: a serpent-headed emperor clad in a dark-silver Robe of Law, wearing a battered crown of metal.
He sat down, gazing in bewilderment at the six longswords before him and a head whose eyes were tightly shut.
"Shang?"
He spoke again, making the surrounding ridges tremble. Vast gray light surged upward, and countless blades of metal crisscrossed the world, cleaving through it. Peak after peak split and collapsed, shaking without cease.
Yet the bewilderment in the evil creature's eyes soon faded, replaced by instinctive greed. He lifted the head and opened his basin-wide mouth, about to swallow it.
Someone pressed down on his hand.
It was a being clad in dark armor patterned with thunder, twice a man's height, with a qilin's head and a human body, majestic as a god. A long mace hung at his waist. Terrifying lightning of tribulation punishment gathered and erupted in his hand, yet could not break through the gray light.
The evil creature paused, seemingly trying to recognize the newcomer, then slowly uttered a name:
"[Heavenly Guard]?"
"Wrong."
The Ink Qilin seemed to laugh as he said:
"The one you speak of is my ancestor, an immortal attendant of the Thunder Ancestor-a Great Sage in heaven!"
The newcomer was Hualei, the current leader of the Ink Qilin lineage.
The evil creature paid no heed to his words. With a furious roar, he broke free in an instant and unleashed countless terrifying metal blades. Even someone at purple mansion peak would have met