Scene 1 – The Demon's Roar
The sky above the black palace bled red.
Clouds twisted into spirals like torn flesh, thunder rolling not from the heavens, but from the Demon Sovereign himself. His roar burst forth, tearing through the firmament, shaking the nine horizons as if the world itself recoiled in fear.
> "OLD MAN!"
His voice crashed down like a celestial hammer.
> "Hand over the Mithril Spirit Jade—
or die here with your donkey and your shabby carriage!"
The palace trembled. Towers cracked. Demonic banners ignited midair, turning to ash before they could even fall.
The red donkey froze.
Its eyes went wide, ears standing straight—not from the Sovereign's overwhelming fury, but from the silence of the man beside it.
A silence far more terrifying.
> "Ah no…" the donkey whispered, hooves trembling as it instinctively edged backward.
"He's really going to do it this time… He's actually serious…"
Jiu Xia rose slowly.
There was no rush, no tension in his movements. He straightened as one might after waking from a nap, top-knot swaying gently, monk's robes fluttering in the rising inferno wind. The massive gourd at his back clinked softly, an absurdly mundane sound amidst impending annihilation.
His half-lidded eyes opened just enough.
And in that narrow sliver of gaze—
there was no fear.
Only faint, naked disdain.
> "Fight if you want," he said lightly, voice calm as still water untouched by storm.
"But don't talk so much."
For a heartbeat—
The Demon Sovereign stared.
Then his expression twisted violently, veins bulging across his scarred face, demonic qi exploding outward like a ruptured star.
> "You dare—!"
His laughter turned manic.
> "You are wrong for looking down on me!"
"With my Domain—"
"Even the Twelve Celestial Beings of the Heavenly Realm fear my name!"
He spread his arms wide.
The sky screamed.
> "OPEN—
CRIMSON HELL-TIDE DOMAIN!"
The world shattered.
Blood-red light erupted outward in a catastrophic surge. The ground split apart as molten waves flooded the land, forming a churning ocean of lava threaded with howling, half-formed souls clawing upward in eternal agony.
Mountains melted like wax.
The air itself ignited, warping space as unbearable heat crushed downward. Gravity twisted. Sound distorted. The laws of the world bent to the Sovereign's will.
This was no illusion.
This was a true domain—
a hell forged from slaughter, blood, and dominion.
The Demon Sovereign stood at its center, armor blazing, body magnified by demonic law itself.
> "You stand in my realm now!" he roared, voice echoing endlessly through the crimson tide.
"Breathe all you want. Every inhale counts down to the second I crush your throat."
"Let's see how long you last, you insolent drunk!"
The red donkey stumbled backward, hooves sinking slightly into semi-molten ground.
> "I knew it… I knew it…"
It squeezed its eyes shut and covered its face with a hoof.
"That demon fool is courting death with every taunt, He doesn't understand—once that Old Man gets serious, there won't be enough left of him to scatter to the winds."
Jiu Xia glanced around.
At the sea of blood-fire.
At the screaming souls.
At the twisted laws pressing down upon him like a collapsing sky.
Then—
He tilted his head.
Unimpressed.
> "You call this a domain?"
He took a step forward.
The lava frozen beneath his foot.
> "Looks like a child's painting—"
He sneered faintly.
The air froze.
The Demon Sovereign's smile faltered.
And somewhere deep within the Crimson Hell-Tide Domain—
something ancient stirred.
---
Scene 2 – Asura's Fist Wrath
Jiu Xia lifted his right hand.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The moment his fingers moved, the world responded.
The tattoos coiling around his forearm stirred—no longer ink, no longer decoration, but living sigils, ancient and profound. One by one, they ignited like stars awakening in a forgotten sky. Lines of celestial fire traced themselves across his skin, forming constellations older than recorded history.
The easy smile that had lingered on his lips vanished.
In its place settled something heavy.
Grave.
Still.
Unyielding.
Even the donkey stopped breathing.
> "Drunk Asura Fist—"
"First Form: Asura's Fist Wrath."
The words were spoken quietly.
Yet they struck the world harder than any roar.
The air trembled.
Wine vapor leaked from the gourd at his back, but instead of dispersing, it ignited—curling into crimson-gold flames that wrapped around his arm like a living mantle. Space warped. Sound stretched and distorted. The oppressive heat of the Crimson Hell-Tide recoiled, as if encountering something it instinctively knew it could not consume.
Jiu Xia's aura surged.
Not violently.
Not explosively.
It unfolded.
Vast.
Ancient.
Suffocating.
It carried the weight of slaughtered battlefields, shattered realms, and fists that had ended eras. The Demon Sovereign's domain groaned under the pressure, its blood-red sky cracking with veins of black light.
Then—
BOOM.
Jiu Xia punched upward.
There was no flourish.
No stance.
No excess movement.
Just a single, honest strike.
The heavens screamed.
A colossal fiery fist—so large it eclipsed mountains—tore itself free from reality, roaring upward like an awakened god of war. Flames braided with wine vapor and karmic fire, the knuckles etched with glowing runes of annihilation.
The blood ocean split apart.
Annihilated.
The Crimson Hell-Tide Domain shattered like a divine mirror struck by fate itself. Vast sheets of domain energy fractured, splintered, and disintegrated into countless sparks that scattered across the void before fading into absolute nothingness.
The sky cleared.
The world fell silent.
Demon Generals hung frozen in mid-air, their weapons slipping from numb fingers, eyes bulging in raw disbelief.
> "H-His Majesty's Domain…" "It—it collapsed?!"
One of them trembled uncontrollably.
> "That domain buried countless Nirvana-realm warriors alive…" "How can it be broken—by a single punch?!"
The Demon Sovereign staggered backward.
His pupils shrank to pinpoints.
> "Impossible…" "Impossible!"
His voice cracked.
> "That Domain has devoured sects, crushed heavens, killed immortals—!" "How—how can it fall to one fist?!"
Residual winds howled across the ruined battlefield.
Jiu Xia's hair fluttered wildly, his top-knot finally loosening as strands of silver spilled free. The sigils on his arms continued to glow, writhing like ancient dragons slowly returning to slumber after feeding.
He exhaled.
A small puff of wine vapor escaped his lips, drifting lazily before dispersing.
Then he chuckled.
Softly.
> "Mm…"
"Your so-called Domain? Dull. Utterly pathetic. I almost fell asleep inside it."
The words landed like a death sentence.
The heavens did not answer.
They dared not.
---
Scene 3 – Sura's Repentance Palm
Jiu Xia rolled his shoulders once.
The simple motion caused the air to fracture.
The gourd at his back clinked softly, the sound small—almost gentle—yet it echoed unnaturally far, rippling across the broken heavens like the toll of a funeral bell.
> "Drunk Asura Fist—"
"Seventh Form: Sura's Repentance Palm."
The moment the name was spoken, the world bowed.
His aura rose again—but this time, it was different.
No eruption.
Only descent—like heaven lowering its judgment.
Like an ancient god stirring beneath the earth after eons of slumber, his presence pressed down upon reality itself. The sky dimmed as if the sun dared not witness what was coming. Mountains creaked and groaned, their foundations shuddering under an invisible weight. Even time seemed to slow, each heartbeat stretched thin with dread.
The Demon Sovereign staggered backward.
His legs gave way.
For the first time since ascending the throne of Ironhorn Abyss, he felt it—
true fear.
Cold sweat poured down his temples. His domain was gone. His pride lay in ruins. Before him stood not a cultivator… but judgment itself.
> "W-wait!" he screamed, voice cracking, dignity shattered. "I surrender! I surrender!" "Take the Mithril Spirit Jade—take my treasury—take everything!" "Just—just spare me!"
His words dissolved into sobs.
Jiu Xia looked down at him.
There was no hatred in his gaze.
No anger.
Only something far more terrifying—
indifference.
> "Too late," he said softly.
The words sealed fate.
He raised his palm to the heavens.
Above, space tore open.
A colossal hand of fire and karmic light manifested—vast beyond scale, spanning the sky itself. Its surface was etched with ancient runes of repentance, judgment, and annihilation. Flames curled like scripture, and within its glow echoed the distant cries of fallen realms long erased by this very strike.
It descended.
The Demon Sovereign screamed—once.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A blinding white radiance erupted swallowing the world.
The Demon Palace disintegrated into dust before the shockwave even reached it. The blood ocean evaporated instantly, reduced to vapor.Mountains were crushed flat. The land itself caved inward, unable to bear the weight of absolution delivered by that palm.
When the light faded—
There was nothing.
No screams.
No demons.
Only silence.
At the center of the devastation lay a colossal palm-shaped crater—so deep and vast it could bury a mountain range within its shadow. The edges still glowed faintly, heat radiating like the breath of a dying star.
Jiu Xia stood at its rim.
He glanced down.
Unimpressed.
> "Boring," he muttered.
The gourd swayed once in the wind.
---
Scene 4 – Wine and Wanderers
Far away, behind a half-melted boulder, the red donkey cautiously peeked out.
Its fur was singed. Its face smeared with soot. One ear twitched as it surveyed the devastation.
> "You flattened another realm again!" it wailed. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get passage permits after this?!"
Jiu Xia yawned, stretching lazily as if he'd merely finished a nap.
> "Permits are illusions too."
The donkey stomped a hoof.
> "Illusions, my hoof! You're banned from twelve kingdoms already!" "TWELVE!"
Jiu Xia chuckled, lifting his gourd and taking a long, unhurried drink. The flames reflected in his eyes dimmed, replaced by calm, lazy indifference—like someone watching clouds drift by while the world burned.
For a brief moment, the godlike presence faded.
What remained was a wandering man beneath the sky.
> "White-haired devil…" he murmured quietly. "Where are you now?"
His voice carried a rare softness.
> "Only you ever made me fight for real."
The donkey blinked.
> "You mean that lunatic again?" "I thought he died centuries ago."
Jiu Xia smiled faintly, eyes glinting like starlight behind the haze of wine.
"Dead?" He laughed
> "He's not dead," he said. "Someone that stubborn doesn't die."
He turned his gaze toward the endless horizon.
> "He's just… waiting."
Without another word, he stepped back into the massive carriage. The red donkey sighed—long-suffering, resigned—and began to pull.
The wooden signboard of The Unfettered Cloud swayed gently as the wheels creaked forward.
Then—
Without warning—
A portal of swirling starlight bloomed ahead, vast and silent, its depths reflecting countless worlds.
The carriage entered.
And vanished.
The ruined realm was left behind, empty and still.
Only the echo of distant laughter lingered, drifting across the wasteland like a half-forgotten dream.
> "The heavens are dull…"
"Perhaps the next cup will be better."
---