I sat cross-legged in the Scripture Pavilion's most restricted section, surrounded by ancient scrolls and texts so old they threatened to crumble at my touch. After days of searching, I'd finally found what I was looking for: the complete history of the masked woman.
The scroll in my hands detailed events from five thousand years ago. Each character felt like a punch to my gut as I read:
"The Masked Demon appeared without warning, her beauty as devastating as her power. Within seven days, she destroyed the entire Eastern Phoenix Sect—ten thousand disciples slaughtered by her hand alone."
My hands trembled as I continued reading.
"On the eighth day, she massacred the Western Tiger Sect. On the ninth, the Southern Dragon Sect fell. By the fifteenth day, the Northern Turtle Sect was no more. The Four Great Celestial Sects, guardians of our world for millennia, were extinguished like candles in a storm."
