City G is a city that never sleeps. At one in the morning, cars stream along the roads, one after another, whizzing by, with only the occasional passerby visible on the sidewalks.
Xu Ruoping felt that maddening itch again. She scanned her surroundings and her eyes landed on a steep slope by an abandoned parking lot nearby. It was deserted and shielded by the incline; no one would spot her if she needed to relieve herself, let alone simply scratch an itch.
She hurried over, panic mounting, only to discover a dog hole about half a meter high in the shadowed part of the slope. Dozens of eerie, greenish eyes stared out from the darkness, fixing themselves on her. Xu Ruoping broke out in a cold sweat.
A ghost hand wrapped in thin, parchment-like skin slowly reached out, groping toward her inch by inch.
The hand was little more than bone, but chillingly, the bones were not white. Under the moonlight, they glowed a vivid, almost pulsing red, as if the marrow inside were still flowing.
Blood Asura!
Legends told of demons that thrived in the River of the Underworld, bloodthirsty and cruel. These were ghost cultivators of the Asura clan, who typically never left the Sea of Blood, dedicating their existence to cultivation.
The Asura clan was suppressed by the Underworld near the Sea of Blood in the Geothermal World. Ghost history recorded only two instances of Blood Asuras escaping to the human realm: during the First and Second World Wars. Back then, there were so many souls passing on that the Underworld was short-staffed, allowing a few to slip through. However, they were quickly hunted down by a coalition of cultivation families. When the matter reached the Underworld, it was said that the heads of the Nether Kingdom, who oversaw the Asuras, were all punished.
In this era of peace, let alone a Blood Asura, even a common malevolent ghost, roaming spirit, or mountain demon would hardly show its face in the mortal world for half a day before being hauled back to the Underworld by ghost runners or purged by a passing cultivator. How, with the Underworld in such disarray, had so many Blood Asuras managed to reach the surface?
Xu Ruoping had heard her Grandfather talk about them and had even seen colored illustrations, but she had never encountered a real one.
Caught off guard, she felt as if she were nailed to the spot. Her legs trembled, and her brain short-circuited, incapable of thinking or reacting in time.
In a flash, a figure swept past, scooped Xu Ruoping up by the waist, and kicked the ghost hand back with a single blow.
The hand let out an "Awoo" sound, like a car slamming on its brakes in pain. Suddenly, the hole erupted as if dozens of giant crickets had been disturbed under a rock, and the creatures swarmed out, circling Xu Ruoping and her savior.
Carried horizontally, and with the alcohol still buzzing in her head, Xu Ruoping felt a bit dizzy. She grabbed the stranger's collar blindly. The familiar scent of cologne hit her, and her heart skipped a beat. Driven by a strange impulse, even while surrounded by a dozen Blood Asuras, her first thought and action were to reach out and yank at the man’s black face mask.
The mask had clearly been put on in a hurry. With her tug, it slipped away lightly.
Revealed was the cold, handsome profile of Hu Yihui, a man whose face was forever destined for trouble.
Both were struck with absolute shock.
Hu Yihui never imagined that Xu Ruoping could be so mindless as to prioritize seeing her rescuer’s true face in the middle of such a life-or-death crisis. Goodness, her curiosity must be large enough to hold the entire Pacific Ocean!
As for Xu Ruoping, she could have suspected every one of the six billion people on Earth before she would have ever suspected Hu Yihui.
They stared at each other in surprise, as if competing to see who could stay silent longer.
But the Blood Asuras didn't care for their drama. After hovering for a moment and sensing no threat, the one that had been kicked took the initiative. It raised its massive, saw-like claws and hacked downward through the air, trying to slice Hu Yihui in two from behind.
Xu Ruoping took a deep breath, preparing to let out a scream to warn him.
But before she could get it out, Hu Yihui grabbed the Blood Asura with his free hand. His long, fair fingers, glowing and smooth under the moonlight, clamped onto the terrifying crimson bone claws with effortless grace. He hoisted the creature high above his head and hurled it at another Blood Asura that was rushing in to sneak an attack. The two creatures collided like a pair of bundled puppets and slammed into a nearby stone pillar. The pillar, thick enough for two men to wrap their arms around, was cracked by the impact. The two Blood Asuras didn't even have time to grunt; their bodies shattered on the spot, blood splattered everywhere, dead as could be.
Seconds later, their remains dissolved into a murky mist and vanished into the night sky.
Xu Ruoping’s jaw hung open, her eyes wide as a toad staring at the heavens.
Hu Yihui tossed the two Blood Asuras aside, his mind a mess. While keeping a wary eye on the restless creatures surrounding them, he lowered his head—seemingly by accident—to meet the upturned gaze of the "toad" Xu Ruoping. Her black-and-white eyes were sparkling with an intensity of disbelief that was almost restrained.
Feeling the weight of her gaze, Hu Yihui immediately looked away. Keeping one arm firmly wrapped around her, he waved his other hand, and several tornadoes whipped up from the ground. The remaining dozen or so posturing Blood Asuras were swept into the half-meter-high hole without exception, just like a seasoned shepherd effortlessly guiding his flock back into the pen.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye. Xu Ruoping’s scream, long in the making, hadn't even left her throat; she had to swallow it back, choking herself quite uncomfortably.
With nothing left to do, Hu Yihui finally looked at her again. He strangely read a hint of cautious doubt in her eyes and, for a moment, his brain stalled. He stammered, "That, that, I am, I am..."
"You’re a member of a cultivation sect!" Xu Ruoping exclaimed, suddenly excited. "My god, I had eyes but failed to recognize a titan! I didn't even know there was such a high-level master in our department! Oh, um, could you put me down first?"
Since the reforms, various cultivation sects had sprung up like bamboo shoots after the rain. However, the true, authentic orthodox sects could be counted on two hands.
Many were just fronts—scam organizations that used the guise of cultivation to commit fraud, theft, and worse. Freelance cultivators like Xu Ruoping didn't even belong to a properly recognized sect.
Given Hu Yihui's spectacular performance, she assumed he must be the head disciple of a prestigious orthodox sect. As for the possibility of him being a demonic cultivator, Xu Ruoping conveniently ignored it.
Hu Yihui stood there, stunned. Hearing her exclamation, he realized he had still been holding her tightly, unwilling to let go. He hurriedly loosened his grip and gently set her down.
Xu Ruoping, lost in the joy of discovering she knew a powerful cultivator, failed to notice that the other party was so nervous he was stuttering.
Hu Yihui was amazed to find that the facade of the playboy and heir he had maintained in front of her had shattered completely the moment she pulled off his mask. Hundreds of years of waiting, countless days and nights of watching from afar, and endless missed connections had all settled into this single moment. He felt a sudden sense of having finally earned their union across lifetimes—Princess Daiyue had returned.
How could Xu Ruoping, with her blunt personality, know the earth-shattering changes happening in Hu Yihui's heart? She asked excitedly, "Are you a disciple of the Dachan Religion?"
The founder of the Dachan Religion was Master Ziwei, Feng Xingteng. They focused on Qigong, taking emptiness as their foundation and the cultivation of character as their core. Their scriptures—the *Laozi*, the *Zhuangzi*, and the *Classic of the Beginning*—represented the highest path of void. They sought to deliver sentient beings to the state of total emptiness and profound enlightenment, stealing the true mechanism of heaven and earth to enter a chaotic state where the self and others, right and wrong, ceased to exist. They cultivated both character and vitality.
The Dachan Religion advocated for the dual cultivation of life and nature, refining Yin and Yang through stages from "refining essence into Qi" to "refining Qi into spirit" and "refining spirit into void." It was a highly organized and widely spread sect, a true, orthodox school of cultivation.
Seeing no reaction from him, Xu Ruoping glanced askance at Hu Yihui’s wrists and muttered to herself, "Right, you don't have the black-gold patterned bracers. You can't be a Dachan disciple. Could it be... could you be a descendant of the Xianyun Sect?"
The founder of the Xianyun Sect was Hermit Xianyun, Wu Hongwen. It was one of the three true schools of talismans (the Celestial Masters, the Shangqing, and the Lingbao sects). They specialized in the Five Thunder Method, believing it could command ghosts and gods, summon rain, and avert disaster. Their theory was based on the harmony between heaven and man and the unity of the internal and external.
Xu Ruoping pondered for a moment, then shook her head, dismissing the idea.
As one of the three talisman schools, the Xianyun Sect would surely require spiritual talismans to drive away demons. Yet, she had just watched Hu Yihui dispose of a pile of Blood Asuras cleanly and decisively without using a single charm.
Xu Ruoping blinked and pressed on, undeterred. "Oh, I know, you must be a direct disciple of the Minlian Red Sect."
The founder of the Minlian Red Sect was Lord Doumu, Mo Qiyan. They specialized in the "Art of the Cinnabar Cauldron," focusing on refining the internal elixir, emphasizing the cultivation of essence, Qi, and spirit to achieve immortality.
However, the Minlian Red Sect had strict rules: direct disciples were forbidden from marrying and had to keep their hair long and live in a monastery.
Xu Ruoping looked at Hu Yihui’s neatly trimmed dark hair, then thought back to how he had acted in the department over the past few years, and dismissed this idea as well.
With the three major orthodox sects ruled out, Xu Ruoping remained unsatisfied. She continued to ramble, listing over a dozen other sects—the South Min, North Min, Zhonggong, East Min, West Min, Qingmu, Liuxiao, and so on—only to refute each one herself.
Throughout the process, Xu Ruoping was the only one performing, acting out a one-woman show while Hu Yihui didn't say a single word.
Seeing that he remained unresponsive for so long, she finally realized, belatedly, that her questioning might have been too abrupt. Perhaps the reason Hu Yihui wore a mask to save her was due to some strict code of his grand sect. With that, she finally shut her mouth, looking quite understanding and tactful.