Night fell on the Red Mist Star, and Aldrian with his troops had already built their accommodation for the night inside the fortress. The fortress was located on top of a hill, surrounded by barren land that stretched to the horizon.

Normally, anyone who wanted to attack this place would be spotted by the sentries, which meant the devils would have time to prepare for defense. This made attacking the fortress extremely difficult, since the terrain provided a natural advantage and the troops inside could prepare accordingly.

The only way for opponents to strike this fortress was from space. However, that was also difficult, because they would most likely be spotted by the cultivators who patrolled the area above.

But once again, all of that applied only when conditions were normal. At this time, the devils did not have cultivators patrolling space. The fortress itself seemed abandoned in haste, and the battle the troops expected never happened. The devils simply abandoned this strategic fortress without fighting.

Aldrian, at this moment, stood on one of the fortress towers, looking at the night sky. He had already created his domain in this fortress, which caused the sky to slowly cleanse itself from the thick negative energy. The night sky was still darker than normal because of the mist and clouds, but it was getting better as time passed.

Aldrian looked at the crescent moon in the sky that still shone with a red hue in the midst of the clouds. While he kept his eyes on the sky, a woman suddenly approached him from behind and hugged him.

Knowing who it was, Aldrian simply smiled. Baek Jimin inhaled his scent for a moment before she commented,

"What a refreshing feeling. This is what I need the most right now."

Aldrian placed his hand on Baek Jimin's hands that were wrapped around him and gently pulled her so she stood beside him. He quickly gave her a kiss on the head before he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Good work for today, dear. I saw that you are getting stronger, and you even unleashed some techniques that I saw for the first time. I'm really proud of you," Aldrian said.

Baek Jimin smiled and leaned her head against his chest.

"Well, thanks to Ancestor's help that gave me my transformation, my comprehension of the Heavenly Demon's Flower Scripture is getting much deeper, and I could unleash some techniques from the scripture that I initially did not comprehended. I just lucky."

"That was not luck," Aldrian said. "You could already comprehend the Heavenly Demon's Flower scriptures, so it was only a matter of time before you comprehended its entire content. The creator of the Heavenly Demon's Flower Scripture only helped you shorten the process."

"Still, the help from Ancestor is something I appreciate. Why do you seem to belittle her kindness to me?" she asked with a pouted face as she turned to look at him.

Aldrian smiled and looked into her eyes. "I'm not belittling her. What I said is simply the truth. You could comprehend the entire scripture if given enough time. That is your fate, since you already comprehended the scripture."

Baek Jimin's pout faded, and she finally showed a smile again as she leaned her head against his chest once more.

"My fate, huh? I suddenly remember how much I hated my fate for allowing me to comprehend the Heavenly Demon's Flower Scripture. I felt lonely and different, and my life turned for the worst," she said as she rubbed her head against his chest.

"But to think the fate I hated back then actually brought me to you and made me who I am today. I think the heavens finally gave me a huge fortune after everything I have gone through."

Aldrian stroked her head, kissed her once more, and hugged her tighter. They remained silent for the next few seconds, savoring each other's touch and company.

"By the way, I wonder why the devils abandoned this fortress? To think they simply gave up such a strategic place. Did they really abandon it, or are they planning something?" Baek Jimin asked.

"From the signs we found, they seemed to leave in a coordinated manner. They destroyed anything we could use, but there are no traps anywhere," she added.

"I don't know. But whether they escaped or are planning something, they will not get this place back. That is the good thing, since our work becomes much easier," Aldrian answered.

Baek Jimin nodded as she looked at the sky again. As they continued enjoying their time together, unknown to them, in an underground place quite far from the fortress, hundreds of thousands of devil troops were gathered. They filled a wide underground hall.

The only light in the area came from the torches held by many of them. All of them were already wearing their armor, prepared for battle.

The strongest among them was someone at low pseudo immortal stage. He was the commander of the devil troops here. He was a middle-aged man with short black hair and a slashed scar across his lips. He stood with his eyes closed as if waiting for something. His troops said nothing, and all of them waited for their leader with tense expressions.

After a few minutes, a silhouette suddenly appeared beside the leader and formed into the shape of a man in a black robe.

"It's time. We haven't seen any suspicious movement from the fortress, at least from afar. We cannot approach it because we fear alerting the enemies," the black-robed man said.

The leader opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I see," he said, then looked at his troops. "Then let's move. We will give them a surprise. Remember our objective is to dwindle their numbers. We have to kill as many as possible. If we can kill their leader, then all the better, but I am not expecting too much. From what I know, their leader is someone at the peak pseudo immortal stage in disguise."

"Is that clear?"

"Yes, my lord!" his troops replied in unison, which made the leader nod. They then began moving through the underground passage. Most of them were devils who had comprehended the earth laws, allowing them to control the earth easily. At first, they moved quickly toward the fortress, moving through the ground as if they were moles.

However, as they drew closer, their speed gradually decreased and their movements became more careful. They opened the path with caution, making sure not to alert the troops inside the fortress.

This plan was made by the leader after he received the report that the town near the fortress region had fallen. The last communication he received stated that the invaders had reached the nearest town from their position, and based on the pattern, he knew the next target would be his fortress.

He had already heard that the invaders were extremely strong, and fighting them head-on would be useless, so he decided to use another approach.

A surprise attack.

They would abandon the fortress and make the enemy believe it had been deserted as part of a tactical retreat. He assumed the invaders would surely use the fortress as a place to rest. Even though he did not know whether they would continue their journey without staying long or remain there for the night, he still decided to use this strategy.

If they did stay the night in the fortress, that would be their chance to strike.

They gathered in the underground area far from the fortress to avoid the enemy's detection. This was to prevent the invaders from sensing them if they hid directly beneath the fortress. The leader knew that someone at the pseudo immortal stage could detect disturbances underground if they checked.

Even if they dug deep beneath the earth, there was still a chance that a pseudo immortal cultivator could sense them. It was safer to move quietly from a distant location than to risk alerting a strong enemy.

The only way to evade the senses of a pseudo immortal stage cultivator was to let them relax and believe nothing would happen in the fortress. That was the only chance to catch them off guard. This was why the devils waited for hours until night before making their move. The leader believed the invaders would lower their guard, and that would be the moment they could strike.

They would keep moving carefully until they reached the fortress ground and attack from within in a surprise assault. Although the pseudo immortal cultivator would eventually notice the attack, by then they would already be inside the fortress, creating chaos and killing many of the enemies.

After moving underground for an hour, they finally arrived beneath the hill. From there, they slowly moved upward toward the fortress ground.

Their movement was slow and careful, to the point that they did not create any disturbance in the surrounding soil. There was not even the slightest tremor that could be sensed. The thousands of troops split into many paths, planning to emerge on the surface in multiple locations.

As they carefully moved upward toward the fortress, Aldrian was still enjoying his time with Baek Jimin. At this moment, they were already sitting at the edge of the tower, with Baek Jimin's head resting on his shoulder.

Their hands intertwined as they talked happily with each other.

However, Aldrian suddenly fell silent before a small smile appeared on his face.

'I see, so this is their plan,' he thought.

Baek Jimin noticed the change in Aldrian's expression and became confused.

"My dear, is there something wrong?" she asked.

Aldrian continued smiling as he answered her.

"Well, it looks like we have moles trying to destroy our peaceful night."