A Century of Solitude

Time flies like an arrow; a hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye.

For a century, the power dynamics of the Three Realms have been turbulent. The Immortal Clan, having suffered a loss of face due to the near theft of the Fox Clan's treasure and the fall of its second son into the Path of Ruthlessness, has intensified its suppression of the Demon Clan. Meanwhile, the Demon Clan, after a century of silence under Demon Lord Qi Yuan, has recently become active again, making frequent moves and escalating border conflicts.

Azure Mist Realm, Listening to Snow Garden.

Time has left no trace here, yet it has solidified a chilling coldness deep within. The celestial plants in the garden are still lush, but eerily quiet; even the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves is exceptionally clear. The string of colorful seashell wind chimes has long since vanished.

Nine-Che Immortal Lord, clad in a snow-white robe, sat quietly in the pavilion. A century had not etched a single mark on his face, yet his eyes were colder and more piercing than the perpetually frozen plains of the far north. His aura was restrained yet vast; his ruthless path had reached its pinnacle, his cultivation unfathomable, making him one of the pillars of the Fox Clan and even the entire Immortal Clan in deterring the Demon Clan.

He no longer easily left Tingxue Garden, spending most of his time in quiet cultivation or handling the most urgent government affairs sent to him by the clan. He acted with absolute fairness and impartiality, with extremely high efficiency, but also without any warmth. The slight human touch he once showed, even a slight frown when a fairy servant spilled a teacup, had completely vanished.

His trusted celestial attendant remained by his side, but grew increasingly silent. He watched as the celestial lord lived day after day in this exquisite cage, perfect and powerful, yet like a beautiful shell stripped of its soul.

“Immortal Lord,” a trusted immortal servant presented a secret report that day, his voice respectful and deep, “the Demon Clan has been making frequent unusual movements recently. According to our investigation, Demon Lord Qi Yuan… seems to have ended his seclusion, and his demon generals are being secretly mobilized, which may indicate a major operation.”

The name "Qi Yuan" was like a pebble thrown into an ancient well, failing to stir even the slightest ripple in Jiu Che's eyes. He took the secret report, his gaze quickly sweeping over it, his tone flat and emotionless: "Order the border to strengthen defenses. Share this message with the Heavenly Emperor and the leaders of all tribes."

"yes."

To him, it was merely a threat to be dealt with, a code name. It had no connection whatsoever to the bloody wedding a century ago, the name that had shattered his Dao heart.

At least, that's how it appears on the surface.

The Demon Palace, the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

Compared to the deathly silence of a hundred years ago, this place is now filled with demonic energy and its oppressive power is even stronger.

Qi Yuan sat high atop the Xuanjing Throne, his black and red Demon Lord robes trailing on the ground. His face remained breathtakingly beautiful, but his brows now held a deeper, more profound ferocity and coldness born of a century of solitude. His phoenix eyes flashed with a blood-red light, radiating a chilling aura.

After a century of dormancy, she forcefully suppressed the hidden injuries left by the depletion of her demonic energy, and used even more ruthless methods to consolidate the demonic forces, her cultivation even surpassing that of a century ago. But only she knew that whenever the night was still and quiet, those memories, like maggots clinging to a bone, about the Azure Mist Realm, about those eyes that ultimately turned into an icy plain, would uncontrollably surge forth.

She sent out countless shadow guards to investigate his whereabouts, but all she ever received were cold replies like, "Immortal Lord Jiu Che's cultivation is profound, and he has achieved the Path of Ruthlessness."

The Path of Ruthlessness...

Her knuckles turned white.

"Your Majesty," the Shadow Demon prostrated himself on the ground, reporting the military intelligence, which was largely the same as that in the hands of the Immortal Clan's confidant, "all parties are ready and await Your Majesty's command."

Qi Yuan snapped out of his thoughts, a flash of bloodlust in his eyes, and said in a cold voice, "Proceed according to plan. This time, I will make the Immortal Clan pay a bloody price."

She is about to start a war between immortals and demons.

It wasn't just about the expansion of the demon race; it was more like a kind of suppressed violence that had been pent up for a hundred years and had nowhere to go, and... a kind of madness that she herself didn't want to delve into, a desire to break that damned "peace".

Jiu Che, didn't you cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness, severing all emotions and love?

Then I will see what happens when the flames of war reach your Azure Mist Realm, when the people you protect are wailing in agony before you.

Can your ruthless path still remain as firm as a rock?

A storm is brewing.

The Three Realms, which have been at peace for a hundred years, are about to be dragged into the vortex of war due to the Demon Lord's renewed actions.

At the very heart of the storm, one is a celestial lord who has forgotten his past and whose heart is as cold as ice, and the other is a demon lord whose obsession runs deep and whose malevolence is rampant.

The trajectories of fate, after a century of separation, are about to intersect once again.

This time, however, it was no longer a meticulously planned scam or a gentle trap.

Instead,

They clashed with swords.