Gazing upon Liu Mei, who descended from the heavens like a celestial maiden, even the reclusive rogue, Xiaoyao Sanren, and Sun Xi felt the battle lust drain from their eyes, replaced by inner turmoil.

Only the Ancestor of the Ran Clan, whose cultivation had reached the mid-stage of Asking Dao, could barely maintain his mental fortitude. Yet, even he could not withstand her presence for long. To him, the voice of the ethereal woman was like the song of celestial beings, piercing the mind and stirring forgotten echoes of his mortal past.

“The Thousand Illusions of Emotionless Dao!” The Ran Ancestor’s face twisted in realization. A blaze of primordial spirit, burning with the essence of creation itself, erupted from within him. This was no ordinary fire, but the very confluence of his spirit and the ambient energies of the heavens. In that instant, his cultivation soared. He roared, his voice a thunderclap that shook the very fabric of existence.

Clarity returned to Sun Xi’s eyes, replaced by a chilling dread. In that fleeting moment, he had felt as though he stood before his closest kin, utterly unable to raise a hand against the woman before him.

Liu Mei, serene as ever, spoke softly as she descended, “The three of you are no match for me. Return with me to the Huan Clan, and perhaps you will find a sliver of hope.”

The Ran Ancestor, wreathed in consuming flames, stepped forward. His hands formed an ancient seal, and a palm struck out into the void. From his hand, the Ran Clan’s legendary Palm of Thunder unleashed a torrent of roars and lightning, hurtling towards Liu Mei.

A trace of pity flickered in Liu Mei’s eyes. With a delicate gesture, she brushed a strand of hair aside, her jade-like fingers extending forward. A glint of emotionless power flashed within her eyes as her fingertip met the storm of thunder. The lightning erupted, then vanished into nothingness.

“If you burn your spirit, then let it burn completely,” she murmured.

Her words acted like a spell. Behind the Ran Ancestor, Xiaoyao Sanren’s infatuation deepened, bordering on fanaticism. He was consumed by a chaotic desire, the woman before him the only reality that remained.

Without hesitation, he lunged forward, positioning himself between Liu Mei and the Ran Ancestor. The flames of his primordial spirit ignited, consuming not only his spirit but his very flesh. “And you?” Liu Mei’s gaze fell upon Sun Xi.

The emotions Sun Xi had so recently suppressed shattered under the weight of her gaze. A shudder ran through him as the same fevered madness gripped him, transforming him into a willing sacrifice. Ignoring all else, he too ignited his spirit and flesh, trading his existence for a moment of power. His fingers formed a sword, thrusting a fatal strike from behind the Ran Ancestor. “Zhao Chuanwen, Sun Xi,” the Ran Ancestor cried, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. “I grieve for both of you!”

Deaf to his lament, Xiaoyao Sanren and Sun Xi unleashed their powers in a frenzy, engaging the Ran Ancestor in a deadly dance. The earth trembled, and the sky dimmed under the onslaught of spells and explosions.

The bodies of Xiaoyao Sanren and Sun Xi rapidly dissolved, but with each fading fragment, their power surged, driving them to an even greater ferocity in their assault on the Ran Ancestor.

Liu Mei smiled faintly. She needed no allies to fight beside her, for with her presence alone, countless warriors would flock to her banner.

This was the Myriad Illusions of the Heavenly Devil Dao, where all things could be weaponized. This was why the Huan Clan Ancestor had not hesitated to grant Liu Mei a bloodline exchange, eager to witness the power it would unleash when this dark art reached the second stage.

All of Ran Yun Star shook as if gripped by an earthquake. Despair began to consume the Ran Ancestor. He ignited his own flesh, sacrificing everything to unleash his final strength. In the simultaneous immolation of his spirit and flesh, his cultivation soared to the late stage of Asking Dao.

His sudden increase in power outpaced his understanding, leaving him in a pseudo-late stage. Nevertheless, it was a terrifying transformation.

With a final roar, he began to unravel. His hands blurred, forming a powerful seal before him. A blinding golden light spiraled within his palms. In this final act, he forwent elaborate spells and instead channeled the pure, raw energy of his spirit, transforming it into golden lances that he unleashed in all directions.

By this point, only the upper halves of Xiaoyao Sanren and Sun Xi remained, the rest of their bodies consumed by the void. The madness in their eyes intensified. They chose the ultimate sacrifice: complete self-destruction.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!*

The self-immolation of Asking Dao cultivators, burning away all traces of their existence, unleashed a cataclysmic force that plunged Ran Yun Star into chaos.

The sky seemed to tear apart, and the land churned. The seas of Ran Yun Star rose in a monstrous tidal wave, crashing down upon the ravaged earth, as if the planet itself raged.

The veins of spiritual power that flowed beneath the planet’s surface shattered under the strain, unleashing a network of explosions that tore through the world. Still consumed by their madness, Sun Xi and Xiaoyao Sanren passed into oblivion. The Ran Ancestor, clinging to life only by virtue of his immense cultivation, stood amidst the maelstrom of energy. His bloodied eyes locked onto Liu Mei, whose expression remained unnervingly serene. He howled, “You vile wretch! Why must you drag innocents into this conflict, why must you destroy Ran Yun Star!”

Liu Mei smiled gently. “Did I ever raise a hand against you? Your struggles are your own; what do they have to do with me…?”

The Ran Ancestor threw back his head and laughed, a desolate sound filled with despair. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked down at the ravaged land. Ran Yun Star, once a paradise, was now a wasteland. He knew that if he detonated himself, hoping to wound his enemy, Ran Yun Star would be forever reduced to a lifeless rock.

“This… this is my home…” he rasped, his voice filled with sorrow. He gazed at Liu Mei, uttering each word like a hammer blow. “I, Ran Xuefeng, curse you with my dying breath! May you find no rest in death! And know this: I am not the one who killed Huan Dong, another man named Xu Mu did!”
He spoke the words, his right hand rising to strike his brow with brutal force. A crack echoed, and his burning spirit, the very essence of his being, shattered. The destruction rippled outwards, consuming his flesh. Before the impassive gaze of Liu Mei, he slowly dissolved, becoming dust that settled upon the land.

“Born upon Ran Yun, dead upon Ran Yun. My last act, as Ran Xuefeng, is to protect this star with all my might! And you, Xu Mu, you craven wretch, I curse you! May you be consumed by this Huan Mei!”

Liu Mei’s eyes flickered with a chilling indifference, as if nothing in this world could stir her soul. She lowered her gaze to the earth, and with a step, descended towards it.

“The Ran, Qi, and Sun families… they must be extinguished. It is the Master’s will, and I am but an instrument. And Xu Mu… he is unfamiliar.” Liu Mei murmured, her voice like the rustling of leaves in a winter wind. As she strode, her brow furrowed, and her spiritual sense unfurled, settling upon the southern reaches of Ran Yun.

“Another fragment… this Xu cultivator proves intriguing. It seems likely that the Ran Ancestor, and the Zhao as well, harbor their own hidden shards.” A fleeting smile touched Liu Mei’s lips. This sliver of a soul was well-concealed. Had its existence not been betrayed by the death throes of the original, she would have overlooked it, for such things were inconsequential unless specifically sought.

Far to the south of Ran Yun, nestled within a humble dwelling in a bustling city, sat a young man in the lotus position. His face was etched with bitterness. He was none other than Sun Xi.

Four years past, when the trio realized the magnitude of their folly, they had each frantically sought to create a spirit fragment. Lacking any specialized art, the resulting fragments were weak, incapable of participating in battle. Still, they represented a chance at survival.

The Ran Ancestor had secretly crafted his fragment over centuries, honing it until it could brave the starscape. Two years ago, it had departed with his kin. The reclusive Zhao, however, was plagued by a flaw in his technique, rendering his soul incapable of division. Yet, he possessed another, undisclosed, safeguard.

Sun Xi, though successful in creating his own fragment, had only achieved a Core Formation cultivation level. It was insufficient to escape the planet’s embrace. The request he had been about to make of Wang Lin concerned this very fragment, but his courage failed him.

The stakes were too high. Had Xu Mu realized that each of them possessed a hidden escape, and that he had been lured into this conspiracy to deflect suspicion, no amount of Immortal Jade would have sufficed. He might well have turned on them in his fury.

With an ethereal shift, Liu Mei arrived at Ran Yun’s southern edge. But as she was about to enter the city, she abruptly tilted her head skyward, a strange, unfamiliar light kindling in her eyes.

“This presence…”

A silver streak blazed across the void, reaching the outer fringes of Ran Yun. Wang Lin, seated upon his Star Compass, had come. He had accepted the Ran Ancestor’s Immortal Jade, and felt bound to fulfill his side of the bargain, lest he be considered dishonorable.

His expression had been placid, but upon seeing the formidable array that now encircled Ran Yun, his eyes narrowed. He rose from the Star Compass, his gaze piercing. “This array… it was not here when I left!” Wang Lin possessed a profound understanding of such artifices. Though he could not dismantle it swiftly, he could pass through unharmed.

After a moment’s consideration, the Star Compass beneath him flashed with silver light, plunging into the array. It pierced the barrier and shot towards Ran Yun below.

Within the planet, Liu Mei’s head snapped upwards. The strange light in her eyes intensified, and a crease appeared between her brows. “This presence… it is… familiar…”