"What if I refuse?" Chu Yang asked.
"This Five Elements City is under the jurisdiction of our Yin-Yang Sect. Killing its city lord is equivalent to challenging us," Sect Master Wu said with a faint smile. She wasn’t in a rush, calmly waiting for Chu Yang’s response.
Chu Yang fell silent for a moment. He knew this was blatant coercion. At the root of it, he was simply too weak.
"I don’t get it," Chu Yang looked up at Sect Master Wu. "Your Yin-Yang Sect is one of the four top-tier sects in the Western Region. Why would you want someone like me to become your Holy Son?"
"Let me correct you on one thing," Sect Master Wu replied. "I'm not making you the Holy Son, I'm giving you a chance to compete for the title. Second, you're not just anyone. In the Yin-Yang aura surrounding you, I sensed the most supreme primordial energy."
Chu Yang stayed quiet for a while, then gave a bitter smile. "Do I even have a choice?"
"No," Sect Master Wu shook her head.
The Pure Moon God Domain sat at the border of the Western Region, just a hair’s breadth from the center of the Eastern Continent.
The domain took its name from the Pure Moon Altar.
According to legend, at the dawn of the era, heaven and earth were still in chaos.
Impure and pure energies were indistinguishable, and the sky and earth were practically the same color.
Then, the world gave birth to an altar.
This altar had the power to purify all things. With its help, the impure and pure energies were finally separated.
Eventually, the altar settled at the axis of the world, merging with heaven and earth itself.
Around the altar, after millions of years, a sect called the Myriad Beasts Sect was established.
From that moment on, the Western Region finally stabilized.
The three Imperial Lineages of the Western Region were:
The four Supreme Sects were:
Xu Zimo and Ren Pingsheng traveled nonstop for nearly five days before arriving at Hundred Beasts City.
This city was governed by the Myriad Beasts Sect. From any direction, east, south, west, or north, one could see different types of beast statues.
There were furious lions, chest-thumping gorillas, soaring mystical birds, and coiled dragons roaring beside tigers.
The city’s design was a marvel of craftsmanship and creativity.
Upon entering, Xu Zimo and Ren Pingsheng noticed that most of the residents were either disciples of the Myriad Beasts Sect or their relatives.
As such, the streets were full of beastfolk.
These beastfolk had human bodies but beast-like features, some with lion heads, some with elephant trunks, others with massive wings sprouting from their backs.
In this city, the most popular women fell into two categories: Those with folded cat ears, and dancers with rabbit tails.
"Feels like we’ve walked into the animal kingdom. So lively," Ren Pingsheng laughed as he looked around.
"You know," Xu Zimo said with a smile, "in the eyes of beastfolk, their bloodline is noble, and we pure-blood humans are considered inferior."
"Short-sighted," Ren Pingsheng replied. "Whatever the case, our bloodline is pure. Theirs is mixed. Otherwise, why would they build their sect near the edge of the Pure Moon God Domain?"
"Enough of that, let’s find an inn for the night. Tomorrow, we head straight to the Pure Moon God Domain," Xu Zimo said with a smile.
Just as they were about to look for lodging, a group approached from ahead.
There were four people in total: two old men who looked like guards standing on either side.
In the middle were two youths.
One held a folding fan and wore white robes. His face was strikingly handsome, so much so that anyone seeing him couldn’t help but admire, “What a refined young lord.”
The other youth was tall and brawny, with golden hair that curled naturally and fell messily down his back. He resembled a Golden-Furred Lion King.
But when Xu Zimo looked at the white-robed, fan-wielding "young lord," he froze.
In his ears, it was as if he once again heard the wind by Willow River that year, the breeze on his face, and the tearful cries of a girl begging him not to leave.
She had pleaded with him to stay and live a simple life with her.
But he had walked away, leaving only his back behind.
He left with his sword, exuding the unstoppable momentum of the God Meridian Realm, vast as the ocean, shrouding tens of thousands of miles like fog.
That day, the setting sun dyed half the sky in golden light, and two shadows stretched long behind them.
He had chosen the path of no return.
He said he would defeat Chu Yang.
He would carry the Heaven’s Will.
He would become the Grand Emperor.
He would soar beyond the sky to see a broader world.
He would not let love and relationships hold him back.
He had been resolute and determined. Even as the girl squatted on the ground, crying with her arms wrapped around her head, he hadn’t looked back once.
Xu Zimo didn’t dare utter corny lines like “I’d recognize you even if you turned to ashes.”
But now, regardless of any disguise or even if she dressed as a man, he recognized her at a glance.
Because that girl had a pair of uniquely spirited eyes, eyes that sparkled with something no makeup could hide.
Just one glance, and he knew it was her.
As he watched her walk quietly past him, Xu Zimo felt like he had fallen into a massive trap.
The two old men at her sides radiated terrifying power, Xu Zimo could tell immediately: both were Imperial Meridian Realm cultivators.
Their appearances were striking too, one looked like a laughing Maitreya Buddha, always smiling, with a radiant face.
The other looked perpetually miserable and bitter, as if his whole face was contorted into the character for 'awkward' (囧).
They were Daoist Sorrow and Daoist Joy. Xu Zimo had heard of them even in his past life, top-tier experts of the Imperial Meridian Realm.
This girl travels with two seasoned Imperial Meridian experts at her side?
In that moment, Xu Zimo felt like everything he had once believed in was a joke.
That "village girl from a small mountain village"? That "ordinary life together"?
An uncontrollable rage exploded in his mind. All the love and guilt he had buried for so long now turned into roaring fire.
Xu Zimo admitted, he hadn’t been the final boss in his past life.
He was just a stepping stone on Chu Yang's path to greatness, not even worthy of being his true rival in the end.
Reborn in this life, Xu Zimo swore to become the true final boss, a demon lord who made the world tremble.
But even so, he still wanted to protect the family he had failed, the few loyal friends he had once had…
And the girl he could never forget.