Western Great Jin, on the outskirts of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
The air reeked of blood and rot, so thick it was suffocating. A viscous layer of black mist shrouded the area year-round, limiting visibility to less than a hundred zhang. It was as though this place had been gouged out of the deepest hell, deathly still and oppressive. Only the occasional, piercing howl of a strange beast broke the heart-chilling silence. Yet today, this cursed land had become uncharacteristically boisterous.
Before the Heavenly Demon Sect's gates, decorations abounded, with blood-red lanterns bearing eerie crimson lotus patterns hanging everywhere. The music of strings and pipes mingled with the Demon Cultivators' coarse laughter, lending the sinister place an especially grotesque air. Today was the concubine-taking ceremony of the demonic path's foremost figure-Patriarch Hu Qinglei, Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
A streak of azure light, like a blade tearing through a curtain of blood, pierced the outer black mist without resistance and hovered above a dark, barren mountain ten li from the gates.
The light faded, revealing Han Li's face, unnaturally grim as he fought to suppress his fury. He did not deliberately unleash his pressure, but the terrifying aura of his deity transformation early stage cultivation was like a volcano about to erupt, forming a visible vortex of destruction on the summit. The surrounding trees snapped inch by inch and crumbled to dust, with him at their center. Even the hard rocks creaked, as though space itself could not endure the rage on the verge of exploding.
"A concubine-taking ceremony... Zi Ling..."
Han Li's voice was hoarse, like two rusted iron plates scraping together. He closed his eyes, and his spiritual sense surged outward like a raging tide, instantly penetrating layers of black mist and restrictions to lock onto