After Yu Zhao made the rounds of every courtyard where the seniors lived, Ancestor Sui Bian could no longer force a smile; had she not been his own junior, his eyes would have gone green with jealousy.

His earlier scheming had been entirely unnecessary. Whether from long solitude or something else, those old fellows treated Yu Zhao like a beloved granddaughter at first sight; they stuffed her arms full of good things faster than she could refuse. Worse, every one of them wore the look of wanting to sit her down for a heart-to-heart while shooing him out. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and invoked the names of the other old fellows to keep them in check; a single outing had almost cost him his Yu Zhao.

Back to business at last, he schooled his features and asked: “Yu Zhao, you have now paid your respects to the elders. What are your plans?”

Yu Zhao answered in earnest: “Ancestor, I intend to go into closed-door cultivation for a period.”

He said: “Tell me your thinking in detail.”

She nodded and said: “I must take part in the Great Thousand Alliance selection. Before that, I have to raise the strength of this body as quickly as possible and, without fail, switch back to my original body before the selection begins. So during this period I must trouble you to keep an eye on outside affairs, and also to look after Elder Qun Fang’s side for me.”

She had mapped out the next steps last night. The sky-stones were almost fully prepared, but she still had not found the cultivation world’s coordinates; all hope could only be placed on Dao Lord Tai Wei of the Great Thousand World. She would therefore remain in Four Seas City to recuperate and store up her strength, and meet the Great Thousand Alliance selection in her best state.

Having spent so much time with Yu Zhao, Ancestor Sui Bian knew that once she resolved on a course, she would not change. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly before saying: “Very well, I understand. If you intend to give it your all, I cannot drag you down. Leave what is outside to me.”

Yu Zhao bowed deeply and said: “Thank you for making it possible, Ancestor.”

He waved his hand and said with a sigh that was half-mock, half-sincere: “Go on, go on. Ancestor is old and lacks the drive you young people have. The future is your world.”

Yu Zhao smiled faintly, returned to her room, closed the door, and began a new round of closed-door cultivation.

…

In the cultivation world, at Chaozong Gorge, the uproar that had followed the dragon’s cry had long since subsided, and the gorge had returned to its former quiet. On this day, however, that long silence shattered. Dozens of Divine Transformation cultivators formed an encirclement, standing in the air with spiritual power surging around them; masses of force gathered into gale-whipping vortices.

A black figure stood at the center of the ravine. Cloaked in an enormous black robe, the man’s frame was spare; his face hid in shadow, revealing only a pair of slightly deranged eyes. Daoist Master Qing Yan smiled coldly and said: “Your clones have all been destroyed. Let us see how you escape this time.”

Under the siege of so many, the black-robed man, Lei Nuo, still stared straight at Qing Yan with gloomy eyes; a hoarse voice rasped from under his hood: “Qing Yan, do you truly think you can catch me? Laughable.”

Qing Yan spoke evenly: “I know you come from another world. Do not forget that this is the cultivation world. The power you can exert here is only late-stage Divine Transformation, while we have four at late-stage Divine Transformation. Four against one. Do you still think you can win?”

At that, a feral gleam erupted in Lei Nuo’s eyes; he snarled: “If you know my identity and yet dare raise a hand against me, are you not afraid of bringing annihilation down upon the cultivation world?”

Sect Master Ji Yuan was already losing patience; he jabbed a finger and said: “Enough with the chatter. Stop wasting breath on that old bastard. He has ruined so many of our spirit veins that killing him wouldn’t be enough to vent our anger.”

To capture Lei Nuo, the entire cultivation world—sect ancestors on down to wandering rogue cultivators—had mobilized. Even so, he had repeatedly slipped the net, until very recently, when they destroyed his final clone and finally pinned him at Chaozong Gorge.

“Wait a little longer. It is not yet time,” Daoist Master Qing Yan said. Years had mellowed his temper—at least toward his own people. Faced with Lei Nuo, however, his expression was ice. He continued: “If you had any way to contact your original world, you would not be skulking about like a stray dog.”

A muscle tightened in Lei Nuo’s jaw, yet he forced out a harsh laugh and said: “If you do not believe me, then strike. On the day the cultivation world perishes, everyone will curse you with the vilest words. You are the sinner of the cultivation world. You will be the one who kills them all.”

His words dredged up memories Daoist Master Qing Yan did not wish to recall. A bleak, desolate world flashed across his mind; his body trembled once, and the color drained from his face.

Lei Nuo threw back his head and cackled: “You are afraid. You are afraid!”

The Grand Elder’s eyes flickered with worry; in her understanding, such words should never have swayed Qing Yan. The sect masters and elders of the other sects also looked at Qing Yan in puzzlement. Qing Yan gave the Grand Elder a slight shake of the head to indicate that he was fine. When his gaze returned to Lei Nuo, it was keen as a blade and he said: “Tell us your identity and why you came to the cultivation world.”

Lei Nuo snapped his sleeve and said with scorn: “A swarm of ants is not worthy to know who I am.”

With that, his form plunged downward. A formless barrier covered Chaozong Gorge, severing spiritual power and divine sense alike; no one had ever been able to break it. Until this day. Before all eyes, Lei Nuo’s figure flashed like lightning, pierced the spiritual barrier, and dove into the depths of the gorge.

Shock rippled across every face.

Sect Master Ji Yuan suddenly remembered what Yu Zhao had told him—that ten to one, the being slumbering beneath Chaozong Gorge was a Bixi of the Azure Dragon bloodline. His expression shifted dramatically and he shouted: “Not good. He is after the Bixi!”

In an instant, everyone grasped Lei Nuo’s intent: he meant to draw the Bixi’s spiritual power for his own use and throw off their encirclement once more.

“Stop him!”

“Quickly!”

Figures vanished where they stood and reappeared inside the gorge. They had not even begun to search when a clarion dragon’s roar boomed from below, sweeping across the ravine in a heartbeat. Though their cultivation was deep, the spiritual power within them heaved against their control; their ears rang, and within their Seas of Consciousness, waves rose like rivers being upended.

“A d-dragon’s cry. A dragon’s cry!”

A thousand li away at Spirit Mountain, the White Peacock, Bai Ling, snapped his eyes open, face alight with surprise. In the very next heartbeat his expression turned dark. He did not understand the dragon’s speech, but he could feel the emotions riding within it: anger, violence, panic. It brimmed with every kind of negative fury.

This was not a voice a Dragon Clan being ought to give.

Who was it!