The headquarters of the Demon Sovereign Order lay in a region where the heavens themselves seemed stained by demonic energy.
The mountains were black — not merely dark, but black as though they had burned for countless years and never again been touched by sunlight. Jagged peaks stretched toward the horizon, their slopes barren and lifeless. Above them, the sky ran crimson, heavy clouds covering the heavens from end to end, swirling slowly beneath the pressure of the demonic energy that filled the region. Crimson lightning crawled through the clouds now and then, lighting the mountains for an instant before the dark swallowed it again.
At the center of this forbidden land stood an enormous black palace, its walls covered in ancient demonic inscriptions. Two enormous statues flanked the entrance, their shapes resembling beasts whose names had long since vanished from history.
Deep inside, in a vast hall beneath towering black pillars, three figures sat below a raised platform.
Upon it sat a white-haired old man in robes of solid black. He appeared ordinary enough at rest. But the moment his eyes opened, the demonic energy filling the hall seemed to tremble.
Demon Sovereign Yan Wutian. Peak Tribulation Transcendence.
Below him sat the three sect leaders — Mo Tianhe of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Sect on the left, Xue Wuhen of the Blood Moon Demon Sect at the center, Gui Mingxuan of the Netherworld Demon Sect on the right. All three Middle-Stage Tribulation Transcendence.
For a long time, none of them spoke.
Then Yan Wutian opened his mouth. "Do the Seven Great Sects know that we know?"
Mo Tianhe's expression stayed calm. "We cannot be certain. They know we were involved."
"That is not what I asked." Yan Wutian's voice stayed level. "Do they know that we know the location of the Sage ruins?"
Gui Mingxuan shook his head slowly. "Probably not. Their movements suggest they suspect someone else knows — but there's no indication they've realized we possess the same information."
Mo Tianhe gave a quiet laugh. "Then our greatest advantage remains intact."
"For now," Xue Wuhen said.
Silence returned.
Yan Wutian looked toward Mo Tianhe. "The pouch."
Mo Tianhe's expression sobered. "We have confirmed its contents." No one spoke. The three sect leaders exchanged glances before he continued, at Yan Wutian's nod. "The information inside concerns an ancient Sage's secret realm. A path to Sagehood."
The hall went completely silent. Even the faint stir of demonic energy outside seemed to still.
For thousands of years, no Sage had appeared on the Eastern Azure Continent. The inheritance beyond Tribulation Transcendence had been severed. Countless ancient records spoke of Sagehood, but none held a complete path, and generation after generation of Tribulation Transcendence cultivators had searched for the missing inheritance without success.
Now, a path existed.
Yan Wutian's expression did not change, but the fingers resting on his throne tightened slightly. "So the information was genuine."
"Yes," Mo Tianhe said.
Xue Wuhen's gaze went cold. "And the Seven Great Sects know?"
"They possess the pouch," Mo Tianhe said. "They know."
Gui Mingxuan lowered his eyes. "Then their movements in Myriad Beast City are no coincidence. They're preparing for the ruins."
"Of course," Xue Wuhen said, and smiled faintly. "They finally found what they were fighting over."
"They didn't find it," Mo Tianhe said. "They were given it. The rumor."
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"Yes."
For a moment nobody spoke. Then Gui Mingxuan said quietly, "The rumor that the pouch contained a path to Sagehood."
Mo Tianhe nodded. "We spread it. The Seven Great Sects fought over it, and the war weakened them." His smile faded as he went on. "We couldn't obtain the pouch ourselves, so we made them fight for it instead — seven great sects, countless cultivators, years of conflict. And when it ended, they were weaker."
"Exactly as planned," Gui Mingxuan said.
Yan Wutian finally spoke. "The war was never about destroying the Seven Great Sects." His eyes swept across the hall. "It was about weakening them enough that they could no longer stand together."
Nobody answered. They all understood.
Xue Wuhen's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Myriad Craft's losses looked deeper than the fighting alone should have produced."
Gui Mingxuan tilted his head. "You doubt it?"
"I don't doubt the city fell. I doubt how neatly it fell." Xue Wuhen's smile thinned. "Too few of their strongest among the dead. Too many of the young and unremarkable."
Mo Tianhe was quiet a moment. "Grief doesn't count rank before it counts bodies."
"No," Xue Wuhen agreed. "But someone did."
No one answered him, and after a moment he let it drop. Whatever it meant, it changed nothing about what came next.
Mo Tianhe spoke again. "There is one matter that must be acknowledged. Our original attempt failed. It was our people who found the cave."
His voice slowed as he explained. Years ago, cultivators of the Heaven-Devouring Demon Sect had traced unusual energy within Myriad Beast Valley — not ordinary spiritual energy, but Sage Qi — back to a hidden cave. Inside, they found the corpse of an ancient cultivator, thousands of years dead, Sage Qi still lingering in the bones. Beside the corpse lay the storage pouch.
"Our cultivators had barely entered the cave when a Myriad Craft Sect cultivator appeared," Mo Tianhe said. "He found the corpse and the pouch at nearly the same moment we did. The two sides fought. Our people had the numbers. He was alone, and realized he couldn't escape while protecting both — so he took the pouch and fled. We recovered the corpse."
Xue Wuhen's eyes narrowed. "The Sage's bones."
"Yes. The skeleton still carried lingering Sage Qi even after thousands of years. That alone confirmed the nature of the ruins."
Gui Mingxuan nodded slowly. "But the pouch escaped."
"The cultivator was already wounded," Mo Tianhe said. "He fled through the valley and eventually encountered a mortal." He paused at the flicker in Yan Wutian's eyes. "Yes — a mortal. He gave the mortal the pouch. Our cultivators pursued them both, but the mortal used escape talismans and vanished into the valley. We searched. We searched again. We never found him — not his name, not where he came from, nothing. We knew only that he was a mortal carrying the pouch."
"Eventually," Mo Tianhe continued, "we learned the mortal had returned the pouch to the Myriad Craft Sect itself. We sent spies in to search for him." He paused. "They never returned."
The hall fell silent.
"How many?" Xue Wuhen asked.
"We don't know."
"Then forget them. They were expendable."
Yan Wutian's gaze stayed distant. "The mortal is no longer important."
"Perhaps," Gui Mingxuan said. "But the pouch is. And now the Seven Great Sects possess it."
Yan Wutian's gaze shifted. "And the Flood Dragon? Myriad Beast Valley?"
Gui Mingxuan inclined his head. "It cooperates, Sovereign."
Nothing more passed between them on the matter. Yan Wutian didn't ask for details, and Gui Mingxuan didn't offer any.
"The Beast Tide forces the Seven Great Sects to divide their attention," Xue Wuhen said. "Protecting their disciples, protecting Myriad Beast City, controlling the beasts, managing the retreat. While they're occupied —"
"We enter the ruins," Gui Mingxuan finished.
Yan Wutian closed his eyes slowly. "The Beast Tide was never meant to be random. It was arranged."
The hall went quiet again. After several breaths, Yan Wutian asked, "The spies?"
"Some were discovered," Mo Tianhe said. "Some remain hidden. They're still gathering information. The Seven Great Sects have increased their forces around Myriad Beast City — we know. They're preparing to enter the secret realm — we know that too."
Gui Mingxuan's eyes went cold. "But they still don't know that we possess the same information about the Sage ruins."
"That is our greatest advantage," Yan Wutian said. Mo Tianhe nodded. "They know the location. They know the pouch is genuine. They know the ruins hold a path to Sagehood. But they believe they're the only ones who know the whole truth."
Xue Wuhen's smile faded. "Let them keep believing it."
Yan Wutian rose from his throne. The moment he stood, the hall went still around him, and the demonic energy outside surged — the crimson clouds above the palace churning harder. He looked down at the three sect leaders.
"The Seven Great Sects are preparing. The Flood Dragon is preparing. Our people are already inside Myriad Beast City. And the Beast Tide has begun." His voice stayed level. "There is no reason to change the plan."
Mo Tianhe stood. "Understood."
Xue Wuhen followed. "Understood."
Gui Mingxuan lowered his head. "Understood."
Yan Wutian turned toward the enormous doors of the hall, then stopped.
"Sagehood." He spoke the word quietly. For thousands of years it had remained nothing more than a legend, a realm beyond the reach of every living cultivator on the continent. Now the door had appeared again, and every ancient monster who knew of its existence would eventually come searching.
His eyes went cold. "This time, we will not be the ones left outside."
The enormous doors opened. Crimson light poured into the hall, throwing the black pillars into long, sharp shadow. Beyond the palace, dark clouds still covered the heavens, thunder rolling somewhere far off across the barren peaks. Beneath them, the Demon Sovereign Order began to move — patient, unhurried, certain now that the door they had waited centuries for had finally opened, and that this time, they meant to walk through it first.
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