Having bid farewell to the rugged and imposing stone village of the Wu tribe, they headed east.
Crossing precipices, passing through seas of clouds.
The hues of the world gradually shifted from somber ochre and blood red to a gentle pinkish-white.
This was Qingqiu.
The only haven of tranquility on the primordial land.
"We've arrived." Shen Qingqiu stood atop a cloud (actually, Seventeen was standing on a suspended magnetic levitation skateboard, disguised as a flying sword), looking down at the endless pink ocean.
That was the Ten-Mile Peach Blossom Forest.
The peach blossoms were dazzling, blooming wildly and unrestrainedly.
These peach blossoms were no ordinary ones; each one contained innate Yi Wood spiritual energy. A gust of wind sent petals falling like rain, forming pink rivers that meandered towards the Nine-Tailed Divine Mountain hidden deep in the clouds.
"The air quality here…" Seventeen frowned slightly, her dark silk robe, woven by Shen Qingqiu himself, fluttering in the wind.
"The pollen concentration is too high. It's a challenge for the respiratory system." As a war machine that values efficiency and cleanliness, he instinctively felt a logical aversion to this "flashy but impractical" landscape.
Too soft.
Everything here is too soft, as if it would soften one's bones.
"Seventeen, you don't understand." Shen Qingqiu reached out and caught a falling petal.
The petal transformed into a shimmering light at her fingertips, seeping into her skin and bringing a long-lost flutter.
"This is called...romance."
She turned her head, looking at the man who, even in this fairyland, still had taut muscles, ready to draw his sword at any moment, her eyes full of smiles.
"And, I always feel..."
Shen Qingqiu pressed her temples.
"Here, there are old friends I've never met."
...Qingqiu Kingdom Border · Migu Pass.
The two had just descended from the clouds, not yet having stepped onto the white jade bridge.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh— Several streaks of azure light flashed.
A dozen or so handsome men and women dressed in blue blocked their path. Fluffy fox tails trailed behind them, and though they were good-looking, the weapons in their hands gleamed coldly.
"Halt!" shouted the fox-clan youth at the head of the group.
"Qingqiu Forbidden Land, outsiders are forbidden! Especially…"
He looked at Seventeen warily, his nose twitching, revealing a look of disgust.
"Such a heavy aura of bloodlust! Are you a barbarian from the Witch Clan?!" Witches and demons are irreconcilable enemies.
Although Qingqiu was neutral, it was essentially a demon clan. They were naturally sensitive to beings like Seventeen, who exuded the scent of a sea of blood.
Seventeen looked at him coldly.
His purple eyes narrowed slightly, and his right arm, hidden in his sleeve, emitted a soft hum.
"Get out of the way."
He didn't want to waste words. In his logic, those who blocked his path were to be killed.
"Don't be rude!"
Just as tensions were about to rise,
an aged yet authoritative voice came from the depths of the peach grove.
The rain of petals parted.
An elderly man, dressed in a moon-white robe and carrying a cane, slowly stepped out.
His hair and beard were entirely white, his face kind, but his eyes seemed to hold the stars of eternity. Behind him, nine faint, snow-white fox tails appeared.
This was Bai Zhi, the Fox Emperor, the ruler of Qingqiu.
The Fox Emperor's expression was initially solemn, clearly because he sensed the powerful killing intent.
But when his gaze swept over Seventeen and finally landed on Shen Qingqiu,
his old eyes, which had seen countless vicissitudes, widened suddenly.
He stared intently at Shen Qingqiu.
He looked at her purple dress, at the faint red mole between her brows (a mark of the fragment of the Eastern Emperor Bell, and also an outward manifestation of the Chaos Green Lotus's aura).
More importantly, he looked into the depths of her soul, at that familiar fluctuation that made his own soul tremble.
That was… the aura of the beginning of chaos.
"Thump." Under the horrified gazes of all the fox guards.
The once high and mighty Fox Emperor suddenly collapsed to his knees, kneeling before Shen Qingqiu.
Tears streamed down his face.
"Aunt...Aunt?" The Fox Emperor's voice trembled, filled with a longing and awe that spanned countless millennia.
"You...you've finally returned?"
The entire hall fell silent.
Even the wind stopped.
Shen Qingqiu: "...?"
Seventeen: "...?"
Shen Qingqiu was somewhat bewildered.
Although she knew her identity in this desolate land was somewhat special (possibly the reincarnation of some ancient powerful being), wasn't this generation a bit too great?
The Fox Emperor called her Aunt? Then wouldn't she be of the same generation as Pangu, the creator of the world?
"Old man, you've mistaken me for someone else."
Shen Qingqiu tried to help him up.
"My name is Shen Qingqiu, from...a very far place."
"No, there's no mistake!" The Fox Emperor raised his head, his eyes filled with fervor.
"This aura, this wavelength of soul...you are the Azure Lotus that sheltered our ancestors in the chaos...!"
Although Shen Qingqiu had no memory of it,
the Fox Emperor's filial piety was undeniable.
He insisted on personally leading the way, welcoming the two into Qingqiu's most prestigious **"Cave of Rebirth"**.
Seventeen followed behind, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.
He watched the old man fussing over his wife, calling her "Auntie" at every turn, and his jealousy flared up again.
No matter how old you are, no matter if you're a fox or a tiger.
Stay away from her.
...Qingqiu, outside the Cave of Rebirth.
This was where the peach blossoms were in full bloom.
The stone table was laden with precious spiritual fruits and thousand-year-old **"Drunken Dream Wine"**.
Shen Qingqiu was "catching up" with the Fox Emperor (actually, it was just small talk to learn about the situation in the primordial world).
Seventeen, like a gatekeeper, stood ten paces away, clutching his unsheathed **[Slaying Evil]** sword, trimming the outstretched peach branches with murderous intent.
Just then.
The sky suddenly scorched.
The once pinkish-white sky transformed without warning into a blinding golden hue.
The moisture in the air evaporated instantly.
The delicate peach blossoms withered, curled, and burned at a visible speed.
"Gah—!!!" A sharp, arrogant cry echoed through the heavens.
Everyone looked up.
Nine golden fire dragons, pulling an extravagantly luxurious sun chariot, crushed the clouds, descending upon Qingqiu with waves of heat.
Standing atop the chariot was a young man clad in golden feathered robes and wearing a sun-shaped crown.
He was extremely handsome, yet his brows exuded an unparalleled arrogance. He was surrounded by solar fire powerful enough to incinerate mountains and boil seas.
The Demon Prince—Lu Ya, the Three-Legged Golden Crow.
"Old man Bai Zhi!"
Lu Ya stood on a cloud, looking down at the Fox Emperor.
"The deadline Father gave you has arrived!"
"Today, if you do not agree to marry your granddaughter to the Heavenly Court as my concubine…"
"I will burn down your ten-mile peach grove! I will leave Qingqiu barren!"
This was a forced marriage.
It was also the Demon Court's final ultimatum to Qingqiu, a neutral power.
The Fox Emperor trembled with rage.
"Lu Ya! You have gone too far! Although Qingqiu does not contend, we will never sell our daughters for personal gain!"
"You don't know what's good for you!"
Lu Ya sneered.
He spun the Sun Wheel Mirror in his hand.
Whoosh— A golden stream of true solar fire cascaded down like a waterfall, heading straight for the most beautiful peach grove.
The firelight illuminated Shen Qingqiu's face.
She still held the cup of peach blossom wine that the Fox Emperor had just offered her. The wine in the glass boiled from the intense heat.
"Seventeen." Shen Qingqiu put down her glass.
Her voice was soft, yet colder than the raging flames.
"This bird is too noisy."
"And…"
She glanced at the burning peach blossoms around them.
"It ruined my scenery."
Seventeen had been standing there.
The instant he heard the word "noisy."
He moved.
No words were wasted.
No warning.
He simply took a step.
The ground beneath his feet cracked.
He transformed into a black streak of light, soaring into the sky against the rain of fire.
He hated light.
Especially this… the arrogant sunlight that seemed to think it could illuminate everything.
"Where did this rogue cultivator come from? Seeking death!" Lu Ya saw someone dare to ram his carriage, a hint of contempt flashing in his eyes.
He pointed a finger, and an even thicker bolt of true fire shot towards Seventeen.
But the next second… Lu Ya's pupils contracted sharply.
Because the black figure didn't dodge.
He directly... shattered the true fire.
Seventeen's black silk robe fluttered in the fire (it was woven by Shen Qingqiu using innate cloud silkworm silk, impervious to water and fire).
He rushed to the chariot.
His right hand, which had been hidden in his sleeve, finally emerged.
[Slaying Evil - Initial Release.] Clang—!
A blade of light, as black as ink yet dazzling with starlight, exploded in the sky above Qingqiu.
That strike was devoid of any frills.
Only extreme speed and extreme sharpness.
It sliced through light.
It sliced through heat.
It sliced through the nine fire dragons pulling the chariot.
Splat!
The nine dragon heads fell simultaneously.
Blood turned into a rain of fire.
The sun chariot, a symbol of the demon court's majesty, was neatly cleaved in two. Lu Ya, in a disheveled state, transformed into a golden streak and fled, barely dodging the fatal blow.
But half of the sun-shaped crown atop his head was severed.
A few golden feathers drifted down from the air.
Seventeen hovered in mid-air.
He held a sword in one hand, the tip pointing to the ground.
Behind him was the "sun" he had severed.
He looked down at the terrified Lu Ya, his purple eyes deathly still.
"Get lost."
"If you dare make another sound..."
"I'll pluck all your feathers and turn you into...roasted chicken." Lu Ya clutched his broken crown, his face deathly pale.
He sensed it.
That man possessed a murderous aura more terrifying than the Witch Clan's, a physical body more domineering than the Demon Clan's.
That was the true...aura of a Chaos God.
"You...you just wait!" Lu Ya uttered a harsh threat, then transformed into a rainbow of light and fled without looking back towards the Thirty-Three Heavens.
...
Qingqiu, Peach Blossom Grove.
The true fire was extinguished.
Although part of it was burned, most of the peach grove was preserved because Seventeen acted so quickly.
Seventeen sheathed his sword.
He fell from the sky, landing right in front of Shen Qingqiu.
A few peach petals fell on his shoulder, on his ink-black hair.
Adding a touch of eerie gentleness to this demon god who had just severed the sun.
"It's done." Seventeen looked at Shen Qingqiu with a self-satisfied expression.
"That bird, its plumage is too mixed, it's not pretty."
Shen Qingqiu smiled.
She reached out and brushed the petals from his shoulder.
"Well done."
"But next time remember..."
She pointed to the dragon blood on the ground.
"Don't splatter blood on the flowers, it's hard to wash off." The Fox Emperor and the fox clan beside him were already dumbfounded.
One strike... severed the carriage of the Demon Court's Crown Prince?
Is this still human? This is practically an ancient ferocious beast reborn!
"Aunt...Aunt." The Fox Emperor swallowed hard, looking at the man who ignored him but obeyed Shen Qingqiu without question.
"Who...who is this person?"
Shen Qingqiu took Seventeen's arm and rested her head on his shoulder.
Amidst the rain of blossoms, her smile was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Him."
"He is my...protector." Stepping onto Qingqiu, slaying the Golden Crow.
On this day, a dream unfolded in the ten-mile peach blossom forest.
The legend of the "Red-Clad Aunt" and the "Black-Clad Demon God," beginning in Qingqiu, spread throughout the entire primordial world.