Chapter 4: Secrets and Shadows
After returning from the Immortal King's Palace, the Fen Mansion was filled with tense energy. Fen Huang, the Patriarch of the Fen Family, immediately convened a council with the elders. They began preparations to fortify their forces, determined to face the looming threat of devil invasion. The once-quiet halls of the Fen Mansion buzzed with the urgent voices of strategy and resolve.
Meanwhile, rumors of the prophecy and the devil invasion spread like wildfire throughout the Immortal Realm. Cultivators and spirit beasts alike began readying themselves for the uncertain future—strengthening their formations, forging alliances, and polishing long-forgotten martial techniques.
In the midst of all this, Fen Hao felt a restless determination growing inside him.
"I cannot remain weak," he thought. "If I want to protect… if I want to stand tall… I must grow stronger."
Without waiting for anyone's permission, Fen Hao made his way to the Fen Family's grand library—a place where knowledge as old as the Immortal Realm itself was carefully guarded. The towering bookshelves stretched upward, holding countless volumes bound in jade and gold. Here, one could find answers to almost any question… if they were willing to search long enough.
On the first floor, Fen Hao found books chronicling the history of the Immortal Realm. Though the information was sparse and fragmented, he devoured every word.
"The Immortal Academy…" he read aloud, eyes brightening.It was an academy established by the first Immortal King and supported by the three great families. Every fifty years, the academy opened its doors to children of normal families and to mortal realm cultivators chosen for their talent. Even though an invisible wall separated the Immortal and Mortal Realms, portals allowed travel between them—bridging those worlds, if only briefly. For a mortal cultivator to enter the Immortal Realm was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the chance to breathe in purer qi, to learn powerful martial techniques, and to defy the heavens themselves.
Fen Hao read on, tracing the path of history across ancient wars and broken alliances.
In this world, martial techniques were divided into three broad levels: Mortal, Immortal, and Divine. Each level was further split into lower, middle, and upper grades. There were also techniques from the Demon Realm—powerful, dangerous arts that corrupted the soul and turned cultivators into demons. The memories of the Demon-Immortal War a million years ago still haunted the records of this world—its horrors and betrayals etched in blood.
"Once, there were five realms," Fen Hao murmured as he read. "The Mortal, Immortal, Divine, Demon, and Devil Realms… all coexisting in peace."
But that peace had shattered when the Devil Realm rose in blood and fury. The devils had been terrifying—creatures of overwhelming power and ferocity. Even with the Divine, Immortal, and Demon Realms united against them, victory had come at an unimaginable cost. The devils had been sealed away… but the Divine Realm was lost to time, and the Demon Realm turned on the Immortal Realm in another cataclysmic war.
"Now only the Mortal and Immortal Realms remain," Fen Hao realized. "But if the devils return…"
He frowned, questions swirling in his mind.
"If the devils were so strong… how strong are they really? Who were the ones who sealed an entire realm? And are the demons truly gone?"
He read deeper, searching for the truth. In one old volume, he found a passage that chilled him.
"The devils cultivate as humans do—absorbing qi, mastering martial arts. They live hidden among mortals and immortals until they awaken their bloodline. When that happens, a strange mark appears on their faces—colored from black to red, blue, yellow, silver, and gold. A gold-marked devil is of the royal bloodline—at the moment of awakening, their strength equals that of a cultivator in the Deity Transformation Realm."
Fen Hao's breath caught in his throat.
"If I ever see a gold-marked devil…""…I must run."
The sun had begun to sink, its last rays painting the library's windows in molten gold. Fen Hao finally closed the book, his mind ablaze with newfound knowledge and questions yet to be answered. He rose to his feet and stepped into the cool evening air outside.
At the library door, a Fen Family servant was waiting.
"Young Master," he said with a bow, "your father is looking for you."
Fen Hao nodded, his expression calm. But within him, the embers of purpose had been lit—quiet, but fierce.
But even as the whole Immortal Realm braced for the coming devil invasion, somewhere far away from the bustling cities and worried families, a shadowy meeting took place in the hidden hall of the Black Society.
A young man sat in the head seat of the meeting hall—a face known to few, but feared by those who did. He was the same man who had once set the blood trap for Chu Linyue.
He leaned back in his chair, a faint smile playing at his lips.
"They're spouting nonsense again," he said lazily. "That much… old man talk. What gate destroyed, what prophecy…" He chuckled darkly. "If that gate opens, we can finally go back to our home."
As he spoke, his form shifted. His appearance melted away like mist, revealing a woman with hair as black as the endless night sky, her eyes once the color of a calm blue sky—now turning red like fresh blood. On the left side of her face, a silver-colored devil mark gleamed ominously.
The world prepared for the invasion, unaware that the devils themselves were already among them—hiding in plain sight.
End of Chapter 4.