The howls of demonic hounds tore through the night sky. From the window, Chu Yang saw over a dozen mutilated bodies strewn across the street below, their blood glistening black under the streetlights. Survivors screamed and fled blindly—ordinary humans couldn't see these monsters!
"Illusion barrier!" Su Yuyan swiftly formed hand seals, enveloping them in a faint blue glow. "Hellhounds track prey by spiritual energy. This can mask us temporarily—"
Before she could finish, one hound abruptly snapped its head up, burning green eyes locking onto their window.
"RUN!" Chu Yang yanked Su Yuyan toward the door just as the beast leaped, its claws shredding reinforced glass like paper.
The two cultivators from the alliance reacted instantly. The scarred man barked, "Formation!" Back-to-back with the short-haired woman, he raised a bronze mirror that erupted in blinding golden light, forming a barrier. The hound crashed into it with a pained shriek.
"This way!" Chu Yang kicked open the stairwell door—only to freeze. A second hound was charging up the stairs, its rancid breath washing over them.
Su Yuyan flicked three ice shards: "Frost Spikes!" They struck the beast's eyes and throat, exploding into freezing mist. The hound staggered back, buying them seconds.
The elevator? A metallic snap echoed—a third hound was climbing the shaft's cables.
"Roof!" Chu Yang pivoted, dragging Su Yuyan upward. Behind them, golden light clashed with dark energy as the alliance duo fought the first hound, the floor trembling under their battle.
The rooftop access was locked. Chu Yang channeled qi into his leg and kicked—the lock shattered. Cold wind whipped their faces as they spilled onto the open roof.
"What are those things?!" Chu Yang gasped.
"Low-tier denizens of the demon realm." Su Yuyan checked her remaining talismans. "Even the weakest equals a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. Three are beyond us."
A crash below—the scarred man was pinned against a wall, his right arm drenched in blood, while the woman desperately held off two hounds. Civilians fled, only to be torn apart by invisible claws.
"We can't leave them," Chu Yang clenched his fists.
"Be rational! We'd die too!" Yet Su Yuyan didn't move either.
Chu Yang suddenly pulled out his laptop: "Give me thirty seconds!"
"A computer? Are you—"
"They track qi, right?" His fingers flew across the keyboard. "If I simulate a stronger energy signature..."
A waveform generator flared to life. He maxed out his phone's output—and an artificial qi pulse erupted from its antenna!
All three hounds whirled toward the signal, snarling eagerly.
"It worked!" Chu Yang set the phone to auto-shutdown in five minutes. "Now we toss it and—"
A black mass slammed into him from the side—a fourth hound had flanked them! The laptop shattered as Chu Yang was hurled across the roof.
"CHU YANG!" Su Yuyan's hands blurred: "Frost Nova!"
A glacial explosion encased the hound in ice. Chu Yang staggered up, ribs screaming—likely cracked.
"Alive?" Su Yuyan positioned herself in front of him.
"Barely." He forced qi to numb the pain. "New plan—no phone, we fight."
The hound shattered its icy prison, flames flaring brighter. It coiled to pounce—when a golden beam speared it from behind!
"Heaven and Earth, lend me thy might!"
The scarred man and woman burst onto the roof. Both were bloodied but unbowed.
"The Su Clan's heir?" The man—Zhao Tiezhu—eyed Su Yuyan. "Why here?"
"Later!" She pointed as the hound rose. "Three more below!"
"Worse." The woman, Lin Xue, paled. "We saw seven... this district is..."
Screams confirmed it. Chu Yang's qi detector screamed—the entire area was drowning in demonic energy!
"Comms are jammed." Zhao Tiezhu wiped blood from his brow. "Someone must break through for reinforcements!"
The hound attacked. Zhao's mirror shield flared; Lin's sword drew gale-edged arcs; Su Yuyan launched icy volleys. Chu Yang, weakest, harried it with qi grenades.
They drove the beast to the roof's edge. Zhao bit his thumb, painting a blood sigil on his mirror: "PURGE!"
Golden light annihilated the hound—but more howls answered. Five scaled the building's sides!
"Go!" Zhao shoved Lin toward the opposite edge. "You're fastest—use Wind Sprint Talisman! Warn headquarters!"
"Captain—!"
"That's an order!"
Tearfully, Lin slapped a talisman on her leg and leaped, gliding like a leaf to a distant rooftop.
Three against five now. Chu Yang's qi was nearly depleted; Su Yuyan panted heavily; only Zhao stood firm.
"Kid, you're from Taixu Sect?" Zhao suddenly asked.
Chu Yang startled: "How—"
"Your qi signature's unique." Zhao watched the hounds. "Three centuries ago, the alliance failed Taixu during its massacre. Seems history repeats."
The hounds abruptly halted, all turning west. Then—they fled, leaping off the roof!
"A recall," Su Yuyan whispered. "Something bigger summons them..."
West District – Abandoned Chemical Plant
The closer they got, the thicker the miasma. Two kilometers out, a vortex of black clouds churned above the plant, lanced by crimson lightning.
"The ritual's core," Su Yuyan pointed.
Zhao Tiezhu stopped them at a crossroads. Five dark-robed figures were etching bloody runes around unconscious civilians.
"Outer-circle cultists," Zhao growled. "Expanding the array's range."
"We stop them," Chu Yang counted. "Five versus three."
"No. You two proceed." Zhao drew talismans. "I'll hold them. Remember—the array has three qi nodes. Sever all to collapse it."
Without waiting, he charged, mirror blazing: "FACE THE ALLIANCE, VERMIN!"
Chu Yang and Su Yuyan sprinted past the battle.
Plant Interior – Qi Node
Chu Yang's reinforced qi grenade stunned the guards. Inside the control room, a black crystal pulsed, draining ley-line energy.
"Found you." He slapped a Array-Breaking Talisman on it—but the cracks healed!
"Not enough..." Desperate, he recalled the Taixu Jade's forbidden technique: converting life force into qi.
Agony scorched his veins—but his dantian surged, breaking through to mid-stage Qi Refining!
"SHATTER!" The third talisman obliterated the crystal. The tower trembled; the blood orb above winked out.
But the cost left him paralyzed. A robed figure loomed in the doorway—corpse-pale fingers reaching.
"Taixu's little insect. The Jade. Now."
Ice blades scythed past Chu Yang's ear, forcing the cultist back. Su Yuyan stood there, panting.
"Two down," she rasped, hauling him up. "One left—together."
Central Chamber
The final node hummed under Zhao Wuji's gaze. Behind him, seven corpses formed a heptagram—its center swirling with a gigantic green eye.
"Welcome, mice." Zhao Wuji's bloodsword glowed. "Just in time for the main event."