Night fell heavily, and the wind howled across the battlefield of Youzhou. The bloodshed of the recent war had yet to dissipate. Torn banners snapped in the wind, and the air reeked of iron and gunpowder. Though the three thousand Ironclad troops had held the tide of the demon horde at bay, exhaustion weighed heavily in their eyes.
Li Tianyuan stood atop a ridge, his spear still stained with blood, faint golden light flickering along its shaft. His chest rose and fell, and the raw force from the earlier battle still throbbed in his veins, a power nearly devouring reason itself.
"This…鼎力, it grows even more restless," he murmured, watching the faint glow dance in his palm like an imprint branded on his flesh.
Fu Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, cloak billowing in the wind, eyes scanning the battlefield. He crouched, brushing away dirt and rubble, and picked up a fragment of a talisman. Its residual blood glow was cold and menacing, sending chills down the spine.
"As expected," Fu Yuan said in a low voice. "This is a talisman from the Inverse Spirit Sect's sacrificial array. They refine corpses and souls, building their formations with blood. Tonight's attack wasn't merely a demon assault—it was orchestrated."
Mu Xueyin's brows knit tightly, her face cold as frost. "The Inverse Spirit Sect… they've infiltrated Youzhou? Then the civilians here… could they already have been victims in secret?"
"Not just that," Mu Changfeng said grimly. "Tonight is only the beginning. Their true purpose goes far beyond unsettling the army's morale."
Qin Yue approached, his armor battered, gaze as hard as iron. He scanned the group and let out a heavy sigh. "The remnants of the Inverse Spirit Sect remain, sowing chaos once more. Even after the court's heavy-handed eradication campaigns, some escaped. Their shadows still linger."
Li Tianyuan tightened his grip on his spear, frowning. He had often heard Fu Yuan and the Mu siblings mention the Inverse Spirit Sect, yet he had never truly understood the scope of their power—until now. Looking over the corpses and bloodstained talismans, he finally sensed it: a massive shadow looming over the land itself.
In the military camp, fires flickered and cast dancing light across the weary soldiers. The atmosphere was tense, filled with quiet murmurs of rest and recovery. Li Tianyuan could no longer suppress his curiosity. He asked, "Brother Fu, what exactly is the Inverse Spirit Sect? How can they shake the world so?"
Fu Yuan lifted his gaze, a cold glint in his eyes. "The Inverse Spirit Sect is no ordinary band of cultists. They are a highly organized faction, ancient in origin, founded with the purpose of 'reversing a nation's fate, overturning mountains and rivers.'"
He paused, voice heavy with gravity. "According to surviving records, the sect is led by four Guardians, each presiding over the East, West, South, and North. They are powerful beings—either accomplished demons or rogue cultivators—masters of sacrificial arrays. Each commands vast shadow forces in their territory."
"Above the Guardians are the Twelve Silent Envoys. Their movements are unpredictable, specializing in array rituals, curses, and blood sacrifices. Each Envoy alone is capable of annihilating a city."
Mu Changfeng's face drained of color. "Twelve Silent Envoys? Could the one controlling the demon horde in the forest tonight be one of them?"
Fu Yuan shook his head. "No. It was the deputy hall master under the Left Guardian. The Silent Envoys have yet to appear, yet they forced the three thousand Ironclad troops into such a desperate battle. Their power is unimaginable."
A tense silence fell over the camp. The crackling fire illuminated their solemn faces.
Li Tianyuan pressed his lips together. "And above the Twelve Silent Envoys?"
Fu Yuan's eyes flickered in the firelight as he spoke a single phrase:"The Inverse Spirit Sovereign."
The air seemed to freeze.
"Legend says this figure practices forbidden arts, using countless souls to empower themselves, rivaling even a nation's fate. They no longer appear in the mortal realm, moving only through shadows. Whenever the realm trembles, their presence is felt. The three great calamities of the court in the past were all linked to them."
Mu Xueyin whispered, her expression complex. "The Inverse Spirit Sovereign… truly exists?"
Qin Yue's face was as cold as iron. "Whether real or not is irrelevant. As long as the Inverse Spirit Sect survives, the Great Zhou will never know peace."
Li Tianyuan remained silent, images flashing in his mind: the black mist over the Jing'an altar, the fangs of the northern demon wolves, the blood-soaked battlefield of Youzhou… all connected to this massive, shadowy force called the Inverse Spirit Sect.
The 鼎力 in his palm trembled, as if responding to the anger boiling within. Li Tianyuan gripped his spear tightly, a newfound determination sparking in his eyes.
"If this sect truly seeks to overturn the nation's fate… then I…" he whispered, voice hard as iron. "I will stand against them!"
Fu Yuan's eyes flickered, a hint of relief crossing his expression."Good. That is the heart of a Fate Overseer."
The night deepened, and the wind swept across the northern ridges of Youzhou. Black mist churned in the darkness.
Beneath a sinister altar, dozens of cultivators in blood-red robes knelt, chanting in unison. A shadowy figure slowly emerged from the mist, formless, yet undeniably present.
"Left Guardian defeated in Youzhou?" the shadow's voice echoed, chilling as if from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds.
The robed figures trembled. "Master Guardian… thwarted by Qin Yue and Fate Overseer Li Tianyuan."
"Li Tianyuan…" the shadow murmured, savoring the name. Then a sinister laugh filled the air."鼎力… hm, no wonder even the Left Guardian failed. Better yet—if one seeks to overturn fate, first the Overseer must be cut down."
The shadow raised its hand, and twelve black talisman sigils appeared in the void, opening like eyes, cold and unyielding.
"Order—the Twelve Silent Envoys, deploy on the chosen day."
The blood-robed figures responded in unison, their voices echoing through the mist like countless vengeful spirits.
Night descended fully, and Youzhou fell into silence once more. Yet beneath this stillness, an even greater conspiracy was quietly brewing.