The Great Ruins in darkness is both tranquil and lively. For those without strength, hiding in scattered villages and ruins, it is tranquil; but for the truly powerful, the night in the Great Ruins is anything but quiet.
Those who walk the darkness of the Great Ruins witness all manner of strange and fantastic sights, encounter countless inexplicable, godly or ghostly events. If fortune favors them, they may step into wondrous worlds—though whether they return alive is never certain.
Tonight, the Great Ruins is especially enchanting. The blizzard has just ended; wherever light touches, thick snow clings to branches and leaves, draping the world in silver.
Suddenly, the sky grows impossibly bright. Many living beings in the Great Ruins lift their heads to gaze upward, where the darkness is now streaked with brilliant color.
These colors are not ordinary light, but the dazzling radiance of divine powers flaring—clusters of brilliance pushing back the dark.
The darkness feels almost tangible. Though forced to retreat by these lights, it surges back each time, filling every empty space anew.
The lights shift, growing ever more bizarre. The beings of the Great Ruins see stars racing across the sky, contending and battling with one another above.
The movements of the stars overhead are strange: eighteen stars lead the way, followed by two more. The front stars press forward, while the pair behind chase and harry them.
Whenever the eighteen stars pause, ready to encircle, the two behind dart westward. If the eighteen do not pursue, the pair quickly close in again to harass them. When the eighteen give chase, the two flee with all their might.
Back and forth it goes; the eighteen stars are dragged into a stalemate, unable to unleash their full speed.
Beside a campfire in the ruins below, the Enforcer Elder looks up at this scene, a sliver of hope rising in his heart. The Heavenly Demon Patriarch and Jasper Ling are deliberately stalling the gods of High Heaven, avoiding direct confrontation—perhaps, just perhaps, there is a chance to survive.
Suddenly, one by one, the stars in the sky dim and vanish from sight.
The Enforcer Elder’s heart sinks. The gods of High Heaven have hidden themselves, luring the Heavenly Demon Patriarch and Jasper Ling to seek them out. If they do, they’ll walk straight into an ambush.
"Don’t go…"
The Enforcer Elder grows tense, clutching his collar as if gripping his own heart, eyes locked desperately on those two moving stars in the sky.
"Don’t get close, don’t get close! Run—now!"
The two stars hesitate, seeming uncertain. Then, suddenly, they too go dark, not shedding a trace of light.
Once again, the sky is pitch black—everyone has hidden their presence.
The Enforcer Elder’s eye twitches, his heart pounding harder and harder, nerves stretched to the limit.
Everyone is hidden, groping through the darkness, searching—this is the most dangerous moment. The Heavenly Demon Patriarch and Jasper Ling cannot match the enemy’s patience or strength. The gods can wait, or leave; the Patriarch and Jasper cannot afford to wait too long. They must confirm whether the enemy has truly retreated!