11: There is no other way to go

Outside Zhenyang Pass.

Luo Mian, clad in black armor, stood silently with his spear planted.

Behind him were the myriad lights of homes.

Before him were a million demonic beasts.

"Today is my brother's big day! If you're smart, stick your head out and let me poke a few transparent holes in you. Old Luo still needs to go back and drink!" Luo Mian raised his spear tip, light gathering but not yet unleashed, pointing directly at the demonic general opposite him.

"You mean that Meng Yun?" The leading demonic general, a demonized tiger demon, scoffed, his laughter shaking the heavens:

"Hahahaha, perhaps by now, your brother is already on the Yellow Springs Road, waiting for you to join him!"

"You're spouting nonsense!" Luo Mian's eyes narrowed, and he retorted loudly: "My brother is in the capital, right under the Emperor's nose, living worry-free day and night!"

"Mere mortals dare to call themselves Emperor? Bah! To be honest, three days after you left the capital, Meng Yun was framed and thrown into the Imperial Prison. As for now... he's probably dead!"

Seeing Luo Mian somewhat flustered, the Tiger General clapped his hands and laughed loudly.

"Damn you!" What greeted the Tiger General was Luo Mian'sThe Paper strike, fueled by towering rage.

"I don't have a mother, you bastard!"

The Tiger General also became enraged, wielding a colossal pillar-like weapon, and tangled in battle with Luo Mian.

【Luo Mian and the Tiger General battled for fifty rounds. Although the Tiger General possessed demonic beast bloodline, his realm and morale were a level below Luo Mian's. He gradually began to lose, falling into a disadvantage.】

"You stupid roe deer, how much longer are you going to watch!"

The Tiger General was pierced through the palm by Luo Mian's spear, retreating thousands of feet in disarray. His massive club plunged ten feet into the ground before he barely managed to stabilize himself.

As the Tiger General's words fell, an arrow, unseen by Luo Mian due to a red thread, cunningly shot out, aiming directly for Luo Mian's back!

Clang!

Without even turning his head, Luo Mian thrust his spear tip backward, directly meeting the arrow. His body remained motionless.

The sky seemed to tear open a corner, revealing another innate demonic general hidden by the demon seed's illusion, ready to strike at any moment!

Two innate generals!

The Roe General appeared in a human-beast hybrid state, on all fours, with a bare upper body.

"Tiger General, you're truly disappointing."

The Roe General drew his bow again.

"Enough talk, kill him, and we both will have the chance to advance further!" The Tiger General roared, his club descending like Mount Tai.

...

The Capital.

The Consort's Residence, originally prepared for Meng Yun, was now Lord Warden Li Miao's comfortable abode.

He rode on a tall horse, the Empress in her Nine-Dragon Phoenix Carriage, and the Crown Prince rode alongside.

Wu Yinyao, seated in a large red palanquin, followed the grand, joyous wedding procession as it traveled down the Heavenly Street towards the Consort's Residence.

Wu Yinyao, about to be married, showed no joy or sorrow on her face.

In that dream, which felt both real and fake, Meng Yun protected everything she held dear.

He gave her a home.

He gave her love.

He gave her life.

But in the cold reality, after giving her endless warmth, Meng Yun then discarded her like a worn-out shoe, abandoning her cruelly.

She had thought that for the rest of her life, she would live a life of solitude and detachment, like an ancient Buddha by a dim lamp.

But she never expected to hear the news that Meng Yun had become a bloodthirsty monster, and her Imperial Father intended to execute him.

Although her feelings towards Meng Yun were utterly despairing, she still decided to exchange her own life for his.

The life from that dream.

She would repay it in this life.

Meng Yun, who was originally facing immediate execution, was spared his life after she agreed to marry Li Miao and relentlessly pleaded with her Imperial Father.

But for the rest of his life, he would be confined to the Imperial Prison.

Perhaps they were never meant to meet.

With these thoughts, Wu Yinyao's heart was incomparably cold.

How she wished this life, too, was just a dream.

Yes, he didn't love, but she still did.

The sky was quietly torn open, and countless blood-red figures swarmed in, covering the heavens and earth.

"Demons, demons, they're demonic beasts!!!"

"Demonic beasts are invading, run!"

"Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!!! Protect the Empress, Crown Prince, and Princess!!!"

Not just the wedding procession, alarms blared throughout the capital. The Imperial Guards, Garrison Camp, and Imperial Prison Guards... all sprang into action.

But none of them understood the concept of demon seeds; they merely regarded the attackers as ordinary demonic beasts.

In just one encounter, they were completely routed.

As the Imperial Palace, a prime target for the demon seeds, it instantly became a scene of wailing and desolation, blood staining the sky.

Lord Warden Li Miao, at the very front of the wedding procession in his grand red robe, his face suddenly turned cold. He roared, and his figure shot out.

"What audacious scoundrel dares choose the day of this Lord's wedding..."

Clang!

A flash of blood. Li Miao hadn't even finished speaking when his head rolled directly to the ground.

"Noisy."

A demonized wolf demon licked the blood from its blade, then let out a long howl to the sky.

Innate, another innate!

"Ah! Ah!!!" The Empress's face turned pale with fright.

"Someone, protect the Emperor, protect the Emperor!!!" The Crown Prince fell off his horse, clutching his head and scurrying about, hiding everywhere.

Wu Yinyao's heart was cold. She casually picked up a sword and charged into the demonic beast tide.

It didn't matter.

She had no attachments.

Even if she died like this, so be it.

...

Zhenyang Pass.

The Tiger General and Roe General both lay before Luo Mian, their breaths shallow and faint.

"Heh heh, Luo Mian, don't think you've won just like this..." The Tiger General spat out a mouthful of blood.

"It's, it's not over yet..." The Roe General also laughed loudly.

Luo Mian's face was ashen, his armor already tattered.

But the silver spear in his hand, after tasting blood, grew stronger with each fight.

He thrust his spear fiercely towards the Tiger General.

Swoosh...

A golden spear quietly pierced through Luo Mian's chest from behind him.

Luo Mian looked down at the spear tip in his chest in disbelief.

He felt as if he understood what Martial Universe Qiankun had felt back then.

Death, is this what it feels like...?

His whole body was cold, unable to exert any strength.

Luo Mian, unable to help himself, turned his head and gazed distantly in the direction of the capital.

Brother Meng Yun, Old Luo...

In the end, I couldn't make it to drink your wedding wine.

Don't blame me.

On the Yellow Springs Road, your brother...

Will go first.

Countless crimson threads wrapped around Luo Mian's body, which refused to kneel even in death, pulsating like a heartbeat.

They were frantically devouring his life essence.

A human who had inexplicably broken through shackles and reached the innate realm, one could imagine how delicious his flesh and blood would be...

...

Meng Yun suddenly felt an endless sorrow.

Through the resonance brought by the threads, he felt that something had happened that he could not accept.

He couldn't delay any longer.

In this battle, there was no possibility of luck.

【You gripped the threads across ten thousand li, infusing them into your body. The immense energy allowed you to step into the innate realm, and you seemed to be invincible under heaven.】

【However, your physical body had not been tempered to this realm. Although you could unleash innate strength, as a price, your body was disintegrating every single second.】

"Meng Yun, what are you doing? Stop, stop!!! That's mine, mine!!!"

The long-unheard demonic voice, incredibly weak, echoed in Meng Yun's ear.

Its weakness was naturally due to expending too much energy, forcefully elevating several demonic beasts into innate demonic generals!

"I thought you were already dead."

Meng Yun took a step, appearing in the sky. With just one punch, he pulverized that Eagle General into a bloody mist.

Deader than dead.