“Stop resisting. Give me your primordial spirit, or this forbidden denizen of the underworld will destroy Taixu Temple and drown all living things in Xuzhou Prefecture! Release your mind, fuse with me, and I will grant you great power to help you slay demons!”0

A voice kept whispering into Huayang’s heart, seducing her. At first she thought it was an inner demon, but the voice claimed to be the sect’s founding ancestor, Celestial Maiden Ziyun herself.0

Still, no matter who it claimed to be, Huayang refused to lose herself. She had risen young, gifted and famous in the Dao; she carried her sect’s hopes on her shoulders. She absolutely could not sink into oblivion.0

Yet with each defeat by Su Shunqing, her spirit withered a little more. Her resolve began to wobble, and she faltered.0

A smear of cinnabar appeared between her brows; her fair face took on a sacred cast, mortal traces fading while...0