Spit!

Yue Qingshuang ripped off his mask and spat violently onto the snow. Instead of saliva, thick dark blood splattered across the white peak.

His chest heaved, lungs burning from the brutal escape. He couldn't believe he, a mighty Immortal Sovereign, had been reduced to this sorry state.

"Fucking Monster..." he hissed, wiping blood from his lips. "I'll make you regret this one day."

He stood atop a jagged snowy mountain, cold winds howling around him. This hidden universe had once been his safe haven. He had helped many powerful figures here over the centuries. Time to call in those old favors.

"Time to collect some debts," he muttered, taking a step forward.

But before his foot could fully land, his entire body froze. An overwhelming, cold chill crawled down his spine, the unmistakable feeling of being stared at by death itself.

HIIIIISSSSSSS~~~

The sky darkened. Yue Qingshuang slowly tilted his head upward, dread pooling in his feets.

Two enormous golden eyes, each the size of an ocean, stared down at him. A colossal serpent, its dark green scales glistening like ancient jade, was coiled around the entire mountain range.

Its body was already thicker than the peaks themselves.

"Fuck your mother!" Yue Qingshuang growled, eyes blazing with fury. "I'm not that weak yet, you oversized worm!"

He stomped the ground fiercely.

BOOM!

His body exploded upward in size, growing rapidly until he towered over the mountains like a living titan.

Golden-green energy flared around him.

The serpent accepted the challenge. Its massive tail whipped sideways with terrifying speed.

CRAAAAASH!!!

An entire mountain range was obliterated in one strike. The serpent began swelling at an alarming rate, its body expanding with terrifying speed. Its head alone now dwarfed Yue Qingshuang's giant form.

"...What the hell?!" Yue Qingshuang's eyes bulged in disbelief.

Down below, chaos erupted across the planet.

In the grand cities nestled between the snowy peaks, people screamed in terror as the ground shook violently.

"Run! The Heavenly Serpent has awakened!"

"Gods save us! It's growing bigger!"

"Mama-!!"

Buildings collapsed as the serpent's expanding coils crushed entire districts. Thousands were smashed into paste beneath its scales. Warriors tried flying away in panic, only to be swallowed by the creature's rising aura.

Yue Qingshuang roared and threw a devastating punch, his fist wrapped in destructive law energy. "Die, you worm!"

BOOOOOOM!!!

The punch landed squarely on the serpent's head, creating a shockwave that flattened forests for hundreds of miles. But the serpent barely flinched. It had already grown so massive that its body now wrapped around the entire planet like a living belt.

Yue Qingshuang's attack felt like a mosquito bite.

"Impossible!" he cursed, retreating frantically. "This... thing is cheating!"

The serpent hissed in amusement, its body continuing to expand at horrifying speed. Its head pierced through the atmosphere, rising into space.

In mere moments, it had outgrown the planet entirely.

Yue Qingshuang flew backward, face twisted in rage and fear. "You think you can swallow me?! Come then!"

He unleashed a barrage of green energy blades, each capable of slicing continents, but they bounced harmlessly off the serpent's scales.

Below, the planet was dying.

Cities that had stood for millennia were reduced to rubble.

Desperate screams echoed into the void as the serpent's body crushed the world like a toy.

"Save us!"

"It's the end of days!"

"Motherf-!"

The serpent opened its jaws, a void large enough to swallow stars. It lunged forward, engulfing not just the planet, but an entire nearby star system in one bite.

Yue Qingshuang's face turned deathly pale. "No… No, you can't-!"

He turned and fled at full speed, tearing through space. But the serpent kept growing. Its body swelled across galaxies, cosmic structures crumbling like sandcastles against its scales.

Countless inhabited worlds were wiped out instantly, civilizations that had never even known of the Netherworld were erased in seconds.

Finally, in a moment of insane hunger, the serpent twisted and tried to devour its own tail.

CRACK... RUMBLE...

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Its body swelled beyond limit and exploded in a cataclysmic blast of dark energy.

The explosion tore the entire universe apart at the seams.

Stars collapsed, laws shattered, and reality itself began to disintegrate.

Yue Qingshuang screamed as the collapsing universe violently rejected him, spitting him out like a foreign object.

WHOOOOSH!

He was hurled through a collapsing spatial tear, bloodied and broken, into the cold void between universes.

The hidden universe he had sought refuge in... no longer existed.

_______

Xianthera!

Back on Earth, within the sealed universe known as Infinity, or the Wuxia Dynasty as some called it, lay the hidden lands of Xianthera. This was where Wang Xiao had first stepped beyond mortal life, the true birthplace of his legend.

In the eastern reaches of Xianthera, the alpine mountains stood bathed in crisp, eternal morning light. The sun stood frozen high in the sky, locked in place by Wang Xiao's supreme will. This region was famous for its breathtaking cherry blossom variants, trees native only to this realm.

Yet their colors defied ordinary spring: some bloomed with fiery maple-red leaves, others shed luminous lavender petals that glowed softly, while vibrant emerald and traditional soft pink blossoms painted the slopes in a living rainbow.

Right beside this vibrant paradise rose a second mountain, shrouded in ominous dark mist. An invisible yet absolute boundary separated the two, marked by a long, glowing rope strung with ancient lanterns.

Each lantern burned with an orange flame crafted from rare materials, adorned with white talismans covered in intricate black runes.

The boundary rope swayed gently, even in the frozen time, creating an eerie yet beautiful contrast as colorful leaves from the vibrant side drifted toward the dark mist, only to hang suspended mid-air.

The entire universe was sealed and frozen in time by Wang Xiao's power.

Nothing should have been moving here.

And yet...

"Hehe~"

Two silhouettes were playing beneath a grand cherry blossom tree near the boundary line.

"Haha, how did you not freeze in time?"

An old man with flowing white hair and a long beard, dressed in ancient white hanfu, chuckled with a voice full of timeless wisdom. His glowing blue eyes twinkled as he gently reprimanded the tiny girl with long, flowing pink hair who was running circles around him.

She looked a little over six years old, her presence blending beautifully with the cherry blossoms behind her.

[Because her powers are related to time, obviously,] a calm voice echoed in the old man's mind.

The old man stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Indeed..."

At that moment, light footsteps approached from the mist-covered side.

A breathtakingly elegant young woman emerged, holding a wriggling green-scaled serpent with golden eyes in her delicate hands. Her long blue hair was styled in an intricate, noble updo adorned with silver ornaments and sapphire jewels. She wore a stunning light-blue aristocratic dress with white lace, bows, and sparkling gem details, the very picture of refined, aristocratic beauty.

"Um...?" she called softly, tilting her head with a puzzled expression. "Is this serpent supposed to exist here? It keeps trying to bite me."

The old man's eyes visibly twitched.

Before he could respond, the pink-haired little girl looked up in surprise. "Eh? Father, you look funny!"

Wang Xiao (still in his disguised elderly form) let out a long, exhausted sigh. "...Shuangshuang, release the World Devouring Beast before you suffocate it to death. And Eirene, stop calling me funny, I look old not funny."

The massive green serpent, the very same avatar that had earlier grown large enough to devour galaxies, hung limply in Shuangshuang's grip, looking thoroughly defeated and somewhat traumatized.

Shuangshuang pouted, her sapphire-like eyes narrowing in reluctant obedience. "Okay..." With a graceful flick of her wrist, she finally released the defeated serpent.

In her other hand, she still carried the delicate sky-blue parasol she had used earlier in the Netherworld to shield herself from the corrosive rain. It never left her side. Around her elegant neck now rested the glowing blue ruby necklace the Night Empress had given her, a beautiful, intricate piece that shimmered against her pale skin like captured starlight.

The so-called "World Devouring Beast", the little green serpent with golden eyes, slithered hurriedly toward Wang Xiao like a scolded puppy. It coiled pitifully around his neck for a moment before shrinking and transforming into a pendant: a dark string holding a large, mysterious green gem that pulsed with faint, dangerous energy.

Wang Xiao rubbed his temples wearily. "That snake is one of my avatars. Can you please stop tormenting it next time? I had to yank both of you, including this reckless beast, back here after it collapsed an entire hidden universe trying to eat itself."

Shuangshuang covered her mouth with her lace-gloved hand and giggled softly, the sound light and musical. "But, it looked so silly trying to eat its own tail! I thought the poor thing was sick or something."

Wang Xiao stared at his daughter. Even now, in this frozen paradise, her choice of attire made him question reality. She looked like a noble princess from some ancient human aristocracy, the light blue dress with intricate white lace, bows, and sparkling sapphire accents perfectly complemented her elegant features and icy beauty.

It was nothing like the divine or martial armour her sisters preferred. Shuangshuang had always leaned toward this refined, almost doll-like aesthetic.

He had teleported her here instantly when things spiraled out of control in the Netherworld, dragging the World Devouring Beast avatar along with her.

As for the little pink-haired girl bouncing near his legs, that was Eirene. Once Wang Xiao had frozen the entire Xianthera universe in time, this child had somehow remained unaffected.

She had spent who knows how long randomly teleporting across the frozen world out of boredom before finally dozing off beneath these cherry blossom trees.

"Now, both of you," Wang Xiao said sternly, though his disguised elderly face showed clear exhaustion. "I still have that green-haired pest to hunt down. And don't break my act in front of anyone else."

"!!"

Both girls instantly straightened up, their expressions turning serious.

Shuangshuang gave a graceful curtsy. "Of course, Father... We will be the picture of perfect daughters."

Eirene nodded, her long pink hair bouncing. "Hm! Perfect!"

Wang Xiao narrowed his eyes, clearly suspicious of their sudden malicious obedience. "Good. But just to make it realistic..." He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Click.

In that instant, time within Xianthera resumed. The frozen leaves began drifting downward once more. The lanterns along the boundary rope flickered to life. A gentle breeze stirred the colorful cherry blossoms, and distant sounds of birds and flowing water returned to the once-silent mountains.

The world was alive again.