“We’ve only ever heard about it, but never witnessed it ourselves.”

“Who has seen it with their own eyes? Anyone who did is dead,” Gavin Porter said.

What’s more, that was a life-for-life move.

The original meaning of a life-for-life move was to trade one’s life for a strike—it would burn up the spirit and soul. Even for a Celestial Immortal of the Heavenly Abode, the toll was enormous; they would never use it lightly.

The last time it appeared was twenty-five years ago.

That day, Mount Taiyin collapsed, the Immortal Capital was utterly destroyed, and three thousand spirit platforms crashed down, most sinking into the bottomless sea.

Some say that on the peak of Mount Taiyin that day, at the spot closest to the Immortal Capital, a golden shadow of the royal lotus once shone down.

After that, the demon Logan Barrett was nailed into the northern region of Canglang.

From then on, there was no more Immortal Capital.

With the Immortal Capital fallen, chaos naturally swept the mortal world, and disasters ran rampant.

Only those places where sects gathered and immortal temples and divine statues stood in abundance could barely maintain a semblance of peace.

From that day on, the hundred immortal sects changed their collective name to “Tianshu.”

***

“Sect Master?” a young disciple asked hesitantly, “Then why has the natal royal lotus appeared again? Didn’t the Celestial Immortal of the Heavenly Abode already… perish?”

“After all, the northern region of Canglang is still under his control, so there must be some lingering spirit and soul. As for why the natal royal lotus suddenly appeared—” Gavin Porter’s words abruptly halted. “Could it be—”

Could it be that the demon is really still alive?

Not only alive, but even planning to leave this place, which is why the remnant move was triggered?

“Twenty-five years. Under the Heavenly Lock, he’s been imprisoned for a full twenty-five years. I thought even if that demon was alive, he’d be hanging on by his last breath, barely surviving.”

Who isn’t?

Almost everyone in the hundred immortal sects thought the same.

They didn’t expect a fierce battle, so most brought only young disciples, leaving the rest to guard their own sects, always on alert against the evil spirits of Zhaoye City.

Looking at it now, they’d been careless.

“In my opinion, we should summon more people,” someone suggested.

“Isn’t that a bit too much, being so heavily prepared?”

“No, that’s Logan Barrett, the one who could massacre the Immortal Capital.”

***

While the hundred immortal sects were discussing important matters, Logan Barrett, the one who could massacre the Immortal Capital, was getting lost.

The man with the giant sword had only appeared for a brief moment.

When he disappeared, that enormous golden royal lotus suddenly wrapped around Logan Barrett and yanked him downward.

At that moment, Logan Barrett thought: This is bad, my cover’s blown.

Falling into the water in front of everyone—this demon act was over.

Just as he finished mocking himself, he heard his subordinates screaming even more miserably.

Logan Barrett: “……”

Logan Barrett: “?”

The expected plunge into water never happened.

The icy pool seemed illusory; he didn’t touch a single drop, yet kept plummeting at high speed.

Cold wind howled past him, and his subordinates’ cries never ceased.

He vaguely heard someone shouting, “What the hell is this place?”

Another, even fainter voice said, “There are thirty-three levels down in the northern region of Canglang, corresponding to the Taiyin White Tower above.”

Someone else said, “At the very bottom, something is hidden.”

***

When he landed, Logan Barrett felt the places chained around his body get yanked hard.

His chest, waist, wrists, and ankles all throbbed with sharp pain, so intense he lost all sense. He couldn’t even tell how he landed, or whether he looked pathetic.

Luckily, as his senses gradually returned, he realized he was standing.

The golden royal lotus that had wrapped him was probably gone, since he could no longer smell that sword aura tinged with wind and snow.

While easing the pain, he thought how strange it was.

Which of the nobles in Que City hadn’t been pampered since birth? They were so precious that even a minor injury would send the whole household into a frenzy, fussing over them with ointments and salves.

He’d lived that way for years, convinced he couldn’t stand pain.

Yet just now, the pain had been heart-rending, and he hadn’t made a sound, swallowing all his reactions—just because those few subordinates were there.

I must owe you all a lot from my past life.

Logan Barrett thought to himself.

So, when those subordinates stumbled to the ground, they saw their city lord slowly open his eyes, sweep his gaze over them, and let out a cold laugh.

Everyone: “……”

They were about to ask, “City Lord, where have we been dragged to?”

But hearing that cold laugh, they swallowed their words.

“City Lord, you… why are you laughing?” The quick-tongued one couldn’t hold back and asked cautiously.

He’d practiced poison arts since he was fourteen, and hadn’t grown much since, making him look thin and small among his peers.

From a distance it was fine, but now, only a few steps apart, Logan Barrett seemed especially tall, so he had to tilt his face up to speak.

He waited anxiously for a moment, until Logan Barrett raised his hand, long fingers flicking at his own wrist, hooking something invisible, and said coolly, “Me? I’m laughing at how noisy these chains are, clanking and rattling—too loud.”

“……”

What a question to ask.

The subordinate’s upturned face didn’t dare relax, but he wished he could get rid of his own mouth.

Logan Barrett flicked the chain aside with his fingers and tossed out, “Lead the way.”