Today felt different.
Even before anyone said anything, before any announcement was made, before any elder spoke a single word, Lu Mao could feel it in the air. The guild grounds were louder than usual, yet beneath the noise there was tension—like a bowstring pulled tight but not yet released.
All disciples from every faction had been called to gather at the main grounds of the Sovereign Aerie, something that rarely happened unless the matter concerned the entire guild. Usually, factions trained separately, fought separately, and competed separately. Gathering everyone together meant only one thing.
Something big was happening in the world.
Lu Mao walked with the others from the Black Dragon faction along the stone path that curved toward the massive central grounds. Ahead of them walked Li Xian, her silver robes moving lightly in the wind as she led them forward. Behind her followed Yan Mei, Chen Yuan, Marco, and Bao Fu.
Groups of disciples from other factions were also moving toward the same destination, filling the wide stone roads with a river of robes, weapons, and murmuring voices.
"Have you heard anything?" Marco asked, stretching his arms behind his head as he walked.
Bao Fu immediately spoke, lowering his voice dramatically. "I did. I got a letter from my family yesterday."
Chen Yuan glanced at him sideways. "You get letters every week."
"Yes, but this one had bad news," Bao Fu replied, unusually serious. "Looks like the situation outside is getting grim. Many high-level cultivators were killed yesterday."
Marco frowned. "Nightmares?"
Bao Fu nodded slowly. "Yes… but not just any Nightmare."
They all looked at him now.
Bao Fu leaned in slightly as if telling a secret. "It was a Nightmare General."
Chen Yuan stopped walking for half a step. "Are you sure?"
Bao Fu nodded again. "That's what the letter said."
Lu Mao, who had been listening quietly, frowned slightly. He had heard people talk about Nightmares before, but he didn't know the hierarchy well.
"What is a Nightmare General?" he asked.
Yan Mei answered calmly without turning around. "Nightmares have a hierarchy just like cultivators do. Common people think all Nightmares are the same, but that's not true. Nightmare Generals are very strong. Each one can lead large groups of Nightmares and fight elder-level cultivators."
Lu Mao listened carefully.
Yan Mei continued, "They're not just strong individually. The dangerous part is that they can command Nightmare units and open small rifts for low-level Nightmares to enter the world."
Lu Mao's eyes narrowed slightly.
Open rifts.
That meant more Nightmares could come through one General alone.
Bao Fu sighed dramatically. "Yes, and that's not even the worst part."
Lu Mao looked at him. "What do you mean?"
Bao Fu looked around to make sure Li Xian was far enough ahead, then continued in a lower voice. "You all know about the Great Crevice at the center of the world, right?"
Everyone nodded. Even Lu Mao had heard of it—an enormous tear in the world where the strongest Nightmares emerged. Powerful guilds, clans, tribes, and sects were stationed around the edges of that region to stop Nightmare invasions before they spread across continents.
Bao Fu continued, "Normally, high-level Nightmares appear near the Crevice, fight there, and either die or retreat back. But this time… the Nightmare General didn't stay there."
Chen Yuan's expression sharpened. "Don't tell me…"
Bao Fu nodded slowly. "It infiltrated the borders of the world. It escaped."
They all stopped walking for a moment.
Lu Mao felt a chill run down his spine.
Escaped into the world?
Bao Fu continued, "And according to the letter… it might not be the only one. There might be multiple Nightmare Generals hiding across different regions right now."
Ahead of them, Li Xian slowed slightly. She had clearly heard everything.
She turned her head slightly and spoke in a calm but serious voice. "If that is true, Bao Fu, then this is very serious. Nightmare Generals can create Nightmare units. If several of them are hiding across the world, then we may face chaos in the coming years."
Bao Fu nodded respectfully. "Yes, Senior Sister Li Xian."
Li Xian stopped walking and turned to face all of them. Her silver eyes were calm, but her expression was serious.
"Listen carefully," she said. "All of you have recently stepped into the path of cultivation. Until now, the guild has been a safe place for you to train and grow. But that may change soon. If the world situation worsens, even outer disciples may be sent on missions earlier than expected."
She looked at each of them one by one.
"So work harder. Improve your skills. Improve your cultivation. Because the world outside the guild is not peaceful. And it may not remain peaceful for long."
Lu Mao, Yan Mei, Chen Yuan, Marco, and Bao Fu all straightened slightly and answered together.
"Yes, Senior Sister."
They continued walking toward the gathering grounds.
As they walked, Lu Mao's thoughts drifted to the stories he had heard since childhood—stories about the greatest cultivator alive, the man who had fought Nightmares for centuries and united the world's cultivators under one banner.
The Immortal Emperor.
For nearly a thousand years, Nightmares and cultivators had fought without end, but for the last ten centuries, one man had stood above all others. He had fought Nightmare Kings, Nightmare Emperors, and countless Nightmare armies. He had led cultivators into war again and again, even after losing comrades, disciples, and even family members.
He never stopped fighting.
He never abandoned humanity.
He was the strongest cultivator in the world.
Children dreamed of becoming like him. Disciples compared themselves to him. Elders told stories about him.
Lu Mao admired him deeply.
He remembered a famous saying he had once heard, a saying that many disciples repeated like a proverb:
"The path of cultivation has no end, but it has a name at the peak — the Immortal Emperor."
Lu Mao had never forgotten that line.
He didn't just want to become strong.
He wanted to reach the peak.
He wanted to surpass the Immortal Emperor someday.
Because even the Immortal Emperor was not the first. The title had existed before. When one Immortal Emperor grew old or chose to enter Nirvana, another would rise to challenge and surpass him.
The title of Immortal Emperor was not a birthright.
It was earned.
And it was decided in a legendary event known as the Sovereign Convergence—a gathering of the strongest cultivators in the world, where they competed to collect the mythical Seven Crystal Shards. Whoever gathered them all gained immense power and knowledge and earned the right to challenge the current Immortal Emperor.
Only by defeating the current Immortal Emperor could someone inherit the title.
That was how Immortal Emperors were made.
Lu Mao looked ahead as they finally reached the gathering grounds.
And for a moment, he forgot everything else.
The grounds were enormous—far larger than any training arena he had seen before. The stone field stretched so wide that thousands of disciples could stand there at once. Around the edges rose tall pillars carved with ancient symbols, and above the grounds floated multiple stone platforms in the air, each one glowing faintly with formation patterns.
Elders were already seated on those floating platforms in long rows, watching the gathering disciples below.
At the very center floated a large crimson platform, larger and higher than the others. On that platform sat Madam Yan, her crimson robes flowing behind her like flames, her posture straight and commanding. She looked like a queen sitting on a throne above a battlefield.
More disciples continued to arrive from different directions. Each faction gathered behind their faction leader, forming groups across the massive grounds. Some factions had hundreds of disciples, all wearing robes marked with their symbols. Some had inner disciples with tattoos or emblems etched into their armor and weapons.
Compared to them, the Black Dragon faction looked very small.
Only five new disciples.
And Li Xian.
Standing among hundreds of factions and thousands of disciples, they felt like a small drop in a vast ocean.
But Lu Mao didn't feel discouraged.
He simply looked around, observing everyone—their weapons, their stances, their confidence, their discipline. Some stood like soldiers. Some stood like nobles. Some stood like assassins. Some radiated powerful Qi even without trying.
The world was bigger than he had imagined.
Much bigger.
Li Xian walked forward and joined the faction leaders at the front, standing with her hands clasped behind her back. The Black Dragon disciples remained behind her with the rest of the faction groups.
The floating platforms above them slowly filled with elders. Some elders were familiar, but others wore dark hoods that hid their faces. Their presence felt heavy, and even from below, Lu Mao could feel the pressure in the air around them.
These were not ordinary elders.
Something serious was happening.
The murmuring across the grounds grew louder as thousands of disciples talked among themselves, speculating about the announcement.
Then suddenly—
Madam Yan stood up from the crimson platform.
The moment she stood, the air itself seemed to tighten.
She stepped forward and her voice exploded across the gathering grounds like thunder.
"Silence."
The single word echoed across the entire arena, carried by Qi. Conversations stopped instantly. Thousands of disciples fell silent within a single breath.
Madam Yan stood tall on the crimson platform, her crimson robes moving in the wind, her eyes sharp as she looked down at the gathered disciples.
She looked like a queen addressing an army.
And Lu Mao knew—
Whatever she was about to say would change everything.