Chapter 9

Hebei Province, Yehun Temple, March 21, 2030 — 4:25 AM

In the oppressive darkness of the night, deep in the heart of the zombie apocalypse, the group of four young people slept in a temple that had been prepared for them. The atmosphere was dense, suffocating, heavy with ominous forewarnings. Meilin and Tiang, intertwined in a calm sleep, rested against each other. But suddenly, Tiang's wooden sword glowed with a reddish light, breaking the peace of the night.

— "Is this... really an immortal?"

murmured the Demon Queen, Xuelan Mowang, with a trembling voice.

A shiver ran down her body, a chilling intuition sweeping through her mind.

Immortals never cared about the lower worlds—they were above all that. Yet, black and red smoke poured from the wooden sword, forming a shape both magnificent and terrifying. A woman of divine beauty, her silver hair floating like a mystical mist around her, her piercing red eyes like flames consuming the soul of anyone daring to meet them. In her hand, an antique umbrella, and she was dressed in traditional fabrics from a bygone era, as though an incarnation of an ancient past.

Xuelan Mowang, the Demon Queen, infiltrated Tiang's soul. She descended into a lake of infinitely clear and transparent water, where every drop seemed a reflection of the galaxy. Before her, a cosmic door appeared, adorned with celestial jewels, a door leading to unknown realms, to a reality that defied all logic.

— "What are you really?"

she thought, worried.

Fear crept into her soul, a fear she had never known before. She, who was used to domination, feeding off the terror of others, now felt a dull, insidious anxiety. An overwhelming presence could be felt, an inconceivable pressure.

But before she could gather herself, a wave of spine-chilling terror swept over her. Memories, echoes from the past, began to tear through her mind.

Flashback

The celestial clouds were torn by the echoes of titanic battles, a sky where beings who considered themselves gods clashed. A vast army of over 50,000 celestial riders prepared for battle. Opposing them was a cosmic entity corrupted by the Great Ancients, an abomination beyond naming, ready to destroy the world's balance.

But there, in the heart of this chaos, stood a Taoist immortal, calm and detached, facing this creature. His gaze seemed to pierce through reality, and his aura radiated the impression that the entire world bent before him.

A frenzied battle broke out, a battle that shattered the Multiverse. Dimensions were torn, and the Taoist immortal faced the abomination with indescribable power. He seemed to embody the very force of the universe itself, a storm of energy that swept all in its path.

The Great Ancients, who believed they could resist, were exhausted, and more than two apostles fell under the immortal Taoist's power.

— "My brother..."

pronounced the Taoist immortal, his voice booming like thunder.

— "For your insolence toward the Celestial Army, for betraying the young sovereign, I condemn you to an eternal seal, for the next ten million years. And your masters will be condemned to fight the Monkey King across the dimensions, until the end of time."

His cold, merciless gaze paralyzed the apostle of cosmic horror. The abomination, terrified, attempted to retort.

— "You couldn't even protect Xuelan from my masters."

A moment of silence, as if the entire universe had held its breath. Then, the Taoist immortal responded sharply:

— "And you, you had to mobilize 22 of your masters to trap a newborn and a Demon Queen... Do you truly believe you can match Nirvana and the Emperor of Heaven?"

At that instant, a golden hand the size of a planet rose, enveloping the apostle. Divine power concentrated in a simple but sufficient gesture. Sacred talismans attached themselves to his body, binding his soul in a cage of pure energy, paralyzing him, forcing him to submit.

Without a word, the Taoist immortal hurled the abomination through the dimensions, sending it to a mortal world where it would be condemned to wander, defeated and broken.

Back to the Present

When Xuelan Mowang regained consciousness in the clear water lake, her mind was devastated. She, the Demon Queen, who had crossed eternity and defied cosmic forces, now found herself caught in a wave of primitive terror.

— Impossible...

Mowang thought. The mere memory of the Taoist immortal, his power, and his absolute will, froze her with fear. Tiang's power brought her back to the state of an insect. She immediately left Tiang's spiritual world and returned to the sword, utterly shaken.