The night pressed down heavy, thick with black mist. Under the shroud of darkness, the ancient city of Youzhou lay like a slumbering beast—silent, immense, and moments away from roaring into chaos.
Before the shattered temple hall, Li Tianyuan stood with his spear leveled, facing the King of Yan.He could feel it—this man was no longer the vassal lord who once guarded the northern frontier. What stood before him now was something twisted and monstrous, a body consumed by demonic power. Black miasma coiled around the king's armor, his eyes burned crimson like molten flame, searing through the night.
"The court is rotten! The people have lost faith!"The king's voice was hoarse, heavy as thunder. "Only the God of the Inverse Spirit grants us new life! And you, mere scholar, dare stand against my cause?"
Li Tianyuan's spear trembled, its tip bursting into gold light.
"You call this 'new life'? You've sold your soul to darkness! Even if I'm just a scholar—" his voice rang like tempered steel, "—I will not let you drag this world into ruin!"
The King of Yan roared. A black halberd materialized in his hands, its killing aura thick enough to suffocate the air.He strode forward; the ground split beneath his feet. The fog surged like a living sea, twisting into countless ghostly forms that screamed as they lunged toward Li Tianyuan.
Li met the onslaught head-on. The power of the golden cauldron surged within him, radiant and fierce. His spear swept in a blazing arc, tearing through the shadows.
"Kill!"
Gold light ripped the mist apart—yet every shade he pierced reformed again, bound to the king's fury.
Boom!Their powers clashed, a blast that shattered stone pillars and sent shockwaves rolling through the temple.
Li Tianyuan staggered back, blood rising in his throat, but his eyes only grew sharper.
The noise drew attention. Soon, waves of armored soldiers—men twisted by the same corruption—flooded the temple grounds. The air thickened with the stench of decay.
Mu Changfeng roared and charged, sword flashing like lightning, cutting down red-eyed foes.Mu Xueyin wove her sigils in the air, forming barriers of pale light.Fu Yuan unfurled burning talismans that sealed the spreading miasma.
But for every foe they felled, two more took its place. The entire city seemed swallowed by death.
Li Tianyuan's chest tightened. He knew this battle was no longer about a single duel—it was the test of whether the three thousand of the Northern Guard could hold the frontier at all.If their morale broke, Youzhou would fall.
The king's halberd swept wide, black energy swallowing Li whole. Ghosts clawed from the fog, trying to tear him apart.
"Tianyuan!"
Mu Xueyin's cry echoed through the din—but Fu Yuan held her back.
"No. He must break through on his own," Fu said, eyes hard as stone. "This battle… will decide who he truly is."
Within the darkness, Li's form flickered faintly.The golden power churned inside him, threatening to rip him apart. His knees buckled. For a heartbeat, despair nearly took him—until memories surged before his eyes: the streets of Jing'an, the faces of the people, Mu Xueyin's gaze, the weight of the imperial edict that named him Protector of the Nation's Fate.
"No," he whispered, teeth clenched. "I will not fall here!"
Boom!A surge of gold erupted from his body, bursting through the mist like sunrise breaking the night.He raised his spear high.
"Break!"
The thrust split heaven and earth. The temple blazed with golden light, ghostly wails echoing as the darkness shattered.
The King of Yan recoiled, eyes wide. His halberd met the strike—Crash! Sparks flew. The king was hurled backward, the ground beneath him cracking like glass.
"Impossible!" he snarled. "How can a mortal wield such power?"
Li's breath came ragged, his body bleeding, but his gaze burned like fire.
"Because mortals have something you never will—the will to protect all living souls!"
His voice carried through the battlefield.Some corrupted soldiers froze mid-strike, eyes flickering, their minds flickering back to themselves for a brief, human moment.
The army was wavering.
The King of Yan howled.
"Inverse Spirit above, grant me endless might!"
Black energy erupted. A vast shadow—neither god nor man—rose behind him, its outline vast enough to blot the moon. The temple crumbled into ruin.
Fu Yuan's face drained of color.
"He's invoking the blood altar—sacrificing himself to become a demon general!"
"Tianyuan, fall back!" Mu Xueyin shouted.
But Li Tianyuan stood unmoved, spear raised, golden light gathering once more.
"If I retreat, the people die. This battle ends only when I do!"
Gold clashed with black once more. The sky itself seemed to tremble. The city of Youzhou quaked under their fury.
Far in the distance, Qin Yue and his three thousand ironclad riders thundered toward the city. Seeing the chaos, he bellowed:
"Form up! Aid Li Tianyuan!"
War drums thundered. The iron cavalry surged forward.And the Night Battle of Youzhou began in full, a storm of steel, blood, and divine fire.
Above them all, in the torn black clouds, the ancient shadow slowly opened its eyes—watching.
Li Tianyuan gripped his spear tighter. In his heart burned only one vow:
No matter the cost… this disaster ends here