Back in the Mortal Realm, the three cultivators were engulfed in the stasis barrier.
Inside the sphere, time seemed to slow. The air stilled. Their bodies seemed to be frozen mid-reaction.
From the treeline, a faint ripple in space suggested a distant, watching presence, unseen but deliberate.
The Blood Demon halted, his expression contorting with annoyance first, then amusement.
He ran his clawed fingers along the outside of the barrier. It shimmered faintly, resisting him. Runes flickered briefly across its surface—ancient, celestial script designed to withstand high-tier Qi interference.
The Blood Demon grinned wide.
His teeth looked longer now. Sharper. Hungrier.
"Ah, this old trick."
The demon pressed his palm against the barrier and pushed.
The shield groaned, warping slightly. The air around it shimmered as dark Qi slithered around the runes, searching for weak points.
"You think this little dome will save you?" he rasped. "You think this pause will spare you from my destruction?"
He chuckled a low, guttural sound that seemed to pull heat from the air.
"This is not going to protect you for very long, little fools."
His other hand rose, and with a savage twist, a spear of congealed blood Qi formed in his grip. He plunged it into the barrier. The impact sent a shockwave through the sphere—but the light held, crackling with resistance.
"Tick tock," the Blood Demon sang softly. "Let's see how long your pretty cage can hold."
The Blood Demon crouched down, face inches from the trembling barrier.
"I'll be waiting."
He smiled.
And then he began to tear at it.
The Celestial Eclipse Realm
"Your time here is brief." The voice was not male or female. It was ageless and beyond distinction, carrying the tone of a sage who had observed thousands of generations bloom and die.
"While you are within this realm, your physical bodies remain protected by a stasis barrier in the real world. But the Blood Demon's power is overwhelming—he strikes with force drawn from pure destruction of ages. The barrier will not hold for long. When it breaks, you will be pulled back instantly. You must be ready the moment is approaching swiftly."
Yin looked upward, voice steady. "We need some answers."
The voice responded instantly.
"Then ask."
Yin's expression hardened. "What is this demonic possession technique? And how can we defeat it?"
A pause.
Then the stars above began to shimmer and shift, forming an image.
It was Shen Zhenhai—no, not him, but an early version of him, kneeling in meditation beneath a blood moon. Behind him hovered a vague, twisting shadow—red-eyed and amorphous. Slowly, the shadow seeped into Shen's form, coiling into his mouth, his eyes, his wounds. The image twisted grotesquely as Shen's aura turned black.
"Demonic possession is the merging of a soul with a bound entity from the Infernal Vein. The blood demon, long sealed, was granted access through a ritual seal and a vessel already corrupted by ambition."
"If you do not destroy Shen Zhenhai's body soon, the demon will fully consume him—spirit, mind, and meridian. He will no longer be a parasite within Shen. He will become Shen."
Han's brow furrowed. "What happens if that happens?"
"Desolation. The Ascendant Realm will face total destruction, one sect at a time. The cultivation realm's boundary will break. The desolate tide will consume all."
An oppressive silence followed.
Yin bowed her head, her mind racing. There had to be a solution.
She sat cross-legged and closed her eyes briefly.
"We need a plan," she said calmly.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "We fight and defeat this guy. That is the plan."
Yin's eyes opened sharply. "And how exactly do you intend to fight a being that adapts to your every move, resists our Qi, and controls the battlefield like it's an extension of his body?"
Kai shrugged, brushing dust off his sleeve. "We improvise, of course."
Yin scowled. "Improvisation is how people die."
Kai shrugged. "So is overthinking."
They locked eyes.
Han rubbed his temples. "Are you two really doing this now?"
Yin stood and ignored the jab. "We have less than five minutes in here. So let me do what I do best."
"Let's break it down."
She held up a hand.
"One, Shen Zhenhai's body is severely damaged. Even if possessed, he is likely operating at 65% capacity at most."
Kai gave a low whistle. "That still makes him stronger than the three of us combined."
Yin continued. "Which is why we don't fight him directly—not at first. The demon adapts to dominant patterns. If we switch rhythm constantly, disrupt his flow, he'll be forced to rely on raw power alone."
Han nodded slowly. "And power burns out eventually."
"Exactly."
Yin raised a second finger.
"Two, Kai, your Celestial Eclipse Techniques excel at manipulating energy flow and interrupting Qi resonance. You need to suppress the demon's ability to maintain his outer field."
Kai crossed his arms. "So I play interference."
"Correct."
She pointed at Han.
"Han, your Qi manifestation—especially beast domain projection—has the highest destructive burst among us. You strike when Kai isolates a weak point."
"And you?" Han asked, wary.
Yin's voice didn't waver. "I guide the flow and intercept any counterattacks. I fight with precision and not strength."
Kai scoffed under his breath.
Yin's brow twitched. "Got something to say?"
Kai leaned against a phantom structure, arms crossed. "Only that no battle plan survives first contact. You ever hear of flow instinct, Yin? It's called fighting. You can't control every breath on a battlefield."
"Do you ever think before you move?" she snapped.
"No. That's why I'm still alive."
Han blinked between them. "Are you both serious right now?"
Kai ignored him. "Why do you always think you need to carry the world on your back? You don't trust anyone else to act."
"Because acting without thought is a gamble! And I don't gamble with people's lives!"
They stood inches apart now, faces flushed.
Han cleared his throat loudly.
"You know, it's hilarious watching the tactician fall in love with the guy who doesn't even believe in tactics."
The tension broke for half a second.
Kai looked away, then muttered, "Since when do you have so much to say, man?"
Yin rolled her eyes. "Can we focus?"
A sudden ripple shook the realm.
The stars above flickered.
The disembodied voice returned, urgent this time.
"The barrier is breaking. You have mere moments before you return."
The glowing projections began to fade, first the manual, then the pendant, and lastly, the Peerless Sword.
Yin looked at the others. Her voice lowered, but it carried.
"This is going to be dangerous. But if we do this right, we can win. It'll take precision, discipline—"
Kai interrupted with a small smirk. "And a little improvisation."
Han cracked his knuckles. "I'll settle for not dying."
The final strands of light flickered.
"Brace yourselves."
Reality rippled.
Then it shattered.
The stasis barrier cracked like glass under a hammer as the blood demon pounded at the barrier without pause.
With a roar of demonic triumph, the Blood Demon drove a final claw through the top of the protective sphere. Shards of azure light scattered like starlight across the burned plateau.
Instead of lifeless corpses, the trio inside the barrier were glowing.
Their bodies radiated fresh Qi.
Their eyes were wide open.
Their techniques primed.
The Blood Demon blinked, sensing the shift in rhythm.
Yin stepped forward, her blade already in motion. Kai stood beside her, hands glowing with rotating rings of silver Qi. Han's back arched as a massive beast form took shape behind him, growling thunder into the sky.
The Blood Demon grinned.
Then he lunged.