Dawn had not yet come.
The sky remained gray, as if steeped in ink.
In the back mountains of the Yao Residence, six Yao Carriages were arranged in a wide arc. Light-patterns crawled along their metal edges, pulsing like slow, steady breaths.
Youqing stood at the center.
Her cloak was tugged by the mountain wind, yet her gaze was colder than the wind itself.
After finishing the final adjustments to the core of the last carriage, Lin Lie looked up.
"Xingyu, all Yao Carriages are now linked to the Guiding-Yao Formation."
Ding Yuxuan, clutching a stack of mechanical blueprints, jogged forward.
"I just added a deflection mirror! It can block Nether miasma for two breaths!"
Sang Qi yawned lazily.
"Two breaths are enough to save a life—and enough to lose one. Try not to blow yourselves up."
Li Furong immediately tugged at his sleeve.
"Sang Qi—"
Sang Qi shrugged.
"I'm stating facts."
From higher ground, Cang Yuan twirled his blade and whistled.
"So we're really doing this? Not just a drill?"
Youqing's eyes were calm, razor-sharp.
"We can't afford a drill that isn't real."
She raised the black-obsidian bracelet.
"Ye Yi's nightmare-soul technique strikes the mind first, then the soul.
If I hesitate for even an instant inside the formation, the entire force will be wiped out."
Silence fell.
Even Tu Tan grew grave.
"Alright. Then let's do it for real."
Lian Yu drew his blade, standing watch at the western ravine mouth.
Garo adjusted his beast-armor, voice deep.
"The three of us will suppress the outer formation. You focus on soul-drawing."
Si Moheng stood one step behind her.
He said nothing.
Yet his presence outweighed everyone else—like a blade already drawn.
Youqing looked to Lin Lie.
"Begin."
Lin Lie nodded and pressed the activation sigil.
—Boom.
All six Yao Carriages flared to life at once.
Light surged like an inverted galaxy. Youqing stood at the center, the black-obsidian bracelet floating above her fingertips.
"First layer—Soul Lock."
Boom.
Light-veins flooded toward her, crushing the air from her lungs.
Ding Yuxuan cried out,
"Lady Youqing's soul output is dropping too fast!"
Sang Qi's expression darkened.
"That's normal. She's simulating Ye Yi's soul suppression."
Cang Yuan suddenly spoke,
"Xingyu—Ye Yi's first strike always invades through the left heart-meridian. Simulate it."
Youqing closed her eyes and flicked her wrist.
In the next instant—
A thread of black qi burst from the bracelet, lancing straight toward her left chest!
Si Moheng's face changed; he was about to move—
"Don't!" Youqing shouted.
Cold sweat beaded on her brow as she forcibly crushed the black qi back into the bracelet.
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
Youqing exhaled shakily.
"Second layer—Nightmare Bind."
She lifted her finger.
The Yao Carriages flared brighter. The air in the practice valley warped as Nether miasma was dragged inward, forming a vortex.
Lin Lie clenched the guiding rod.
"Xingyu, this layer overlaps with Ye Yi's Nightmare-Heart Formation by eighty percent!"
Luo Ye's expression sank.
"If Dang'er were nearby, enduring this… she'd be in agony…"
Si Moheng cut him off coldly.
"Focus."
Youqing's hand trembled.
Her soul-force was being wrenched apart, torn between opposing pulls.
"Third layer… Soul Lure…!"
The bracelet's light surged violently, emitting a fine, grinding noise—like something trying to crawl out.
Lian Yu muttered,
"The Imperial Daughter's soul… is beginning to surface."
Cang Yuan said grimly,
"This is Ye Yi's specialty—the prelude to soul theft."
Sang Qi's face finally changed.
"If she pushes further, it'll damage her soul-body."
Just as they were about to intervene—
Youqing snapped her eyes open.
A glacial light burned within her blood-tinted pupils.
"Final layer—Nightmare Break!"
BOOM—!
All formation sigils blazed at once. Youqing crushed the bracelet into her palm, and the nightmare qi rebounded in an instant!
The entire practice ground trembled under the shockwave.
When the dust settled, Youqing still stood upright.
Only her fringe was plastered to her forehead with cold sweat.
Si Moheng rushed to her side at once, pressing a hand to the back of her neck to steady her wavering soul.
"Are you insane?"
Youqing gasped for breath—then curved her lips into a faint smile.
"If I don't train to the limit… when we truly face Ye Yi, we'll die."
Si Moheng gritted his teeth.
"You were a breath away from soul dispersal!"
"But it worked," Youqing replied.
She raised her hand. The black-obsidian bracelet lay quiet in her palm—no trace of its earlier frenzy.
"Ye Yi's nightmare-soul technique—I can take it.
The Demon Capital's nightmare qi—I can suppress it.
At the exchange—I won't panic."
Everyone stared at her.
In that moment, they saw the true bearing of an Imperial Daughter facing a Demon Lord.
Si Moheng slowly withdrew his hand.
Deep in his eyes flickered fear, rage—and pride.
Low and dangerous, he said,
"Qing'er… if you choose to fight, I'll follow. But if you dare let your soul scatter again—"
His voice dropped like a killing blade.
"I'll tear Ye Yi apart first, then bind you back to the Yao Residence myself."
Youqing met his gaze.
Her lips curved gently.
—She was ready.
Night deepened; dew grew heavy. The open ground behind the Yao Residence had been leveled anew. Six Yao Carriages formed a half-arc, golden patterns pulsing softly in the dark.
Youqing stood at the formation's heart. The black-obsidian bracelet hovered above her palm, breathing.
Lin Lie fine-tuned the core, fingers flying over metal gears. Ding Yuxuan tapped light-vein stones with a small hammer, sharpening their guiding sigils.
Half-leaning against a carriage, Cang Yuan observed the flow of light.
"Xingyu, are you sure about training tonight? You've been doing this for nights in a row."
Youqing did not answer. She only closed her eyes.
—In an instant.
All Yao Carriages ignited.
Like six sleeping beasts awakening, light spilled from gold patterns into the ground's formation lines.
"Raise the formation," Youqing commanded.
The bracelet spun. Soul-lines snapped taut. Six golden beams shot out and linked to the carriages.
Boom—!
The air convulsed.
A storm exploded at the field's edge—like Ye Yi's demonic qi crashing in.
Luo Ye reflexively stepped back, his chest tightening.
The pressure felt far too much like Ye Yi.
Yet Youqing did not budge. Her hair whipped upward as the force struck.
Sang Qi's pupils shrank.
"She's creating battlefield pressure… simulating Ye Yi's soul-oppression."
Li Yan stood rigid, shield clenched.
"She's doing this so she won't panic in the real fight."
Lin Lie ground his teeth.
"Not just for herself—she knows if she falters for even a second, everything collapses."
Light surged from the carriages; stones leapt from the ground.
Youqing stood firm at the center, robes snapping, bracelet spinning wildly as she crushed the formation down by sheer will.
She murmured,
"Ye Yi… wait for me. I'll end you with my own hands."
Light slammed into her, stretching her shadow long across the ground.
Outside the field, Si Moheng watched, his hand slowly curling into a fist.
—He knew.
This was practice for a suicidal strike.
And also practice…
for how to come back alive.
[Demon Capital • Abyssfall]
Night in the Demon Capital ruins was always damp and cold.
Ling Dang wrapped herself in Ling Shuo's coat, sitting on a broken stone platform, sipping black greystone soup in tiny gulps—grimacing with every swallow.
Ye Yi returned from the Soul Well and caught sight of her rabbit-scrunched face.
"Torturing yourself again?"
Ling Dang sniffed.
"…I'm really hungry…"
Ye Yi arched a mocking brow.
"If you're hungry, eat. Stop acting."
She protested softly,
"I-I'm not acting… it's just… it tastes really awful…"
Ye Yi ignored her and turned away.
After two steps, he stopped.
Ling Dang was tugging the coat tighter, shrinking herself until she was little more than a bundle.
She was truly afraid.
Afraid of the dark, the cold, and him.
Yet as long as he was there, she wasn't quite so afraid.
Ye Yi's expression darkened slightly.
With a flick of his sleeve, a packet of dried meat dropped onto her lap.
Ling Dang jumped.
"Th-this is…?"
"Eat."
"But… this is… you stole—"
Ye Yi's gaze went icy.
She instantly shrank back.
"I'll eat! I'll eat…"
Ye Yi sat across from her, watching as she nibbled the jerky like a starving little beast, hands trembling.
Annoyed, he looked away.
"Idiot."
Ling Dang whispered,
"Thank you…"
Ye Yi choked on the words.
Something poked at his chest again, sharp and unwanted.
That night, after Ling Dang finally ate her fill, she lay on the freezing stone couch.
Ye Yi sat by the Soul Well, eyes closed, regulating his breath.
Then Ling Dang's lashes fluttered; her breathing grew uneven—
She fell into a dream.
In the dream, she stood amid firelight.
Luo Ye walked toward her from the glow, warmth in his eyes.
He reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Dang'er, good girl. I'm here to take you home."
Tears burst free as she threw herself into his arms.
"Brother Luo… I'm so scared… so cold… I… I miss you so much…"
Luo Ye held her tight.
"I know. I'm here. I won't let go again."
The fire blazed, driving all her darkness away.
"Brother Luo… take me home… please…"
"Alright. I'll take you home."
—The dream shattered.
Ling Dang gasped awake, tears streaming.
Ye Yi had been meditating, but her crying pierced his ears like needles.
He opened his eyes.
She curled on the stone couch, crying softly.
"Brother Luo… Dang'er… really misses you…"
Ye Yi's fingers tightened slowly.
That smoldering ache in his chest flared—sudden and sharp in the cold mist of Abyssfall.
—She called him again.
He stood and walked to the couch.
Ling Dang sobbed, clutching Ling Shuo's sleeve like a last lifeline.
Ye Yi looked down at her—
crying like a small animal, like a child searching for light in the dark.
Without knowing why, he reached out and pulled the coat tighter around her.
His fingers brushed her tear-warm cheek.
He recoiled as if burned.
…And yet something inside him felt violently gouged.
Ye Yi spoke low, brittle with cold.
"Why cry… he can't save you."
Ling Dang cried harder.
Ye Yi frowned, then seized her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"Sleep."
Her lashes trembled. She murmured again,
"…Brother Luo…"
Ye Yi's hand froze.
He realized then—
That name, Brother Luo, irritated him more than any curse.
And hurt him more.
"Say it again—"
His eyes narrowed, voice low enough to swallow her whole.
"I'll make sure you… never say it again."
He flung his sleeve and strode away, black qi whipping the dust from the ground.
The hall doors slammed shut.
For the first time—
He hated that her dreams held someone else.
Ling Dang hugged the coat and slowly curled back into the corner, hands trembling.
She didn't know what she'd done wrong.
Didn't know why he was angry.
Didn't know why saying Brother Luo made him look as if he would overturn the entire Demon Capital.
She lifted her head toward the sealed doors.
Her chest tightened; her heartbeat scattered into chaos.
And somewhere beyond the closed hall—
A storm was gathering.