The underground chamber, tainted by pitch-black miasma, was swept by an aura of ancient savagery.
"Ahhhhh—!"
A roar powerful enough to stir a violent storm echoed through the space.
The colossal chi-beast looked down upon the tiny humans below with the mocking gaze of a predator eyeing prey in its jaws, murderous light flickering in its eyes.
Having only just awakened from a long slumber, the creature was still somewhat muddled—but it clearly remembered how, long ago, it had nearly been casually slaughtered by someone.
Back then, it had survived only by luck, sneaking its final consciousness into a Dark Seelie while that terrifying existence wasn't paying attention, slowly recovering over countless years.
By sheer fortune, it had escaped death.
Only recently had it finally gathered a bit of strength again.
And now—someone had dared to wake it from its sleep.
The chi-beast was furious.
It had been starving for countless years, and now it had even gone so far as to seal off the exit.
This time, it would devour every intruder to make up for its losses.
What pleased it most, however, was that among the intruders were two Primordials.
So-called Primordials were those who possessed Visions—beings qualified to ascend to the heavens and become gods.
As for the masked woman…
The chi-beast's eyes lit up slightly.
There was faint divine power within her.
If it devoured them all, its recovery would surely accelerate.
As for the final silent man, it paid him no mind at all—just extra food.
Just as the chi-beast shifted its gaze toward him—
The instant it saw that man's face, its pupils froze solid.
Before anyone could react, Shenhe spoke for the first time.
"I'll break the barrier. You leave immediately."
Yun Jin hesitated.
"But you—"
The kind-hearted girl naturally wanted everyone to escape together, but the situation clearly didn't allow it.
In fact, it wasn't even certain whether escape was possible at all.
Rosalyne said nothing.
She wasn't sure how strong Luo Li was now. According to the Tsaritsa, even gods and ancient beings had suffered erosion over time.
To be safe, she had already decided—she would forcefully break through the barrier and take Luo Li with her.
If anything happened to him, she would never forgive herself.
The three women each held different thoughts—
But suddenly, they all sensed something was wrong.
Even if the enemy intended to toy with them like a cat with mice, it should have made some threatening move by now—like it had earlier.
Yet when they looked back again—
They saw the demon god's retainer trembling violently.
The ferocity in its eyes had been replaced by sheer terror.
It stared fixedly in one direction, disbelief written across its face.
"N-No… impossible… how could this be?!"
The massive chi-beast shook like a leaf, as though seeing the deepest nightmare it had buried within its soul.
Staring at Luo Li, it retreated uncontrollably, unable to believe it was seeing him here.
What kind of cruel joke was this?
During the Archon War thousands of years ago, it had merely followed behind other demon gods, scavenging scraps.
It hadn't even known what was happening when a single sword light that swept across heaven and earth severed its body in two.
Pure misfortune.
Just the aftershock of that strike had nearly killed it.
Barely surviving, it had slept for a thousand years to recover—
And the moment it woke up…
It saw him again.
The chi-beast was so shocked it felt unable to breathe.
How "lucky" did one have to be to encounter the same nightmare twice?
Under the confused gazes of the three women, the chi-beast continued retreating until its enormous body pressed tightly against the stone wall, fear pouring from it unmistakably.
Such a massive creature behaving this way looked both absurd and surreal.
"What is going on?" Yun Jin murmured, glancing around uneasily.
Was there something even more terrifying here?
Her heart sank.
Shenhe was equally confused, her hand tightening on the red cord, ready to remove it at any moment.
Only Rosalyne seemed to realize the truth.
Following the chi-beast's gaze, she looked toward Luo Li.
As expected—
In the next moment, Luo Li stepped forward from behind.
As he passed Shenhe, he casually placed a hand over hers, gently moving it away from the red cord.
"If Cloud Retainer found out that her favored disciple was injured while I was present, she might not say anything to my face—but she'd definitely hold a grudge," he said calmly.
"So it's better if you just watch from here."
Feeling her hand seized by a strange man, Shenhe instinctively tried to resist—
Only to find her strength completely suppressed.
Then she heard his words—and froze.
She stared at him.
"You know my master?"
"If she hasn't forgotten me," Luo Li replied lightly.
He patted her hand reassuringly before letting go.
Originally, he had planned to stay out of it, letting the younger generation handle the situation as a form of training.
But this was no longer a trial.
A revived demon god's retainer meant one thing—death.
Shenhe was puzzled.
She had never heard her master mention such a person.
She knew most of the Adepti and illuminated beings, but Luo Li was someone she had never seen before.
Before she could ask further, Luo Li had already walked up to the chi-beast, calmly examining the terrified demon god's retainer.
"I didn't expect you to have escaped back then."
He looked it up and down, as if inspecting some rare specimen.
The chi-beast didn't dare utter a single word.
Its massive body curled up in the corner, trembling pitifully.
Who could possibly understand how wronged it felt?
Back then, it had followed the Sea Demon God onto land. It hadn't even had time to enjoy a single sacrifice before being cut in half, nearly dying on the spot.
After sleeping for a thousand years, it still hadn't gotten the chance to eat—
And now this man had come knocking again.
Even the Dark Seelie it possessed had been unlucky.
It found a sacrifice, got killed.
Revived—then killed again.
The chi-beast hadn't even had time to do anything truly evil.
At most, it had abducted a single human—and even that was done by the Dark Seelie, not itself.
It was miserable.
Aggrieved.
Was there anyone in the world more unlucky than it?
Luo Li felt no sympathy at all.
He simply gave it two options.
"I'll only ask once."
"Do you want to die—"
"Or do you want to live?"
The chi-beast froze.
And not just it.
Yun Jin and Shenhe were equally stunned.