Evan Yang listened curiously as the man explained the ritual. For readers unfamiliar: they were all captives about to be sacrificed in a mysterious ceremony, forced to wait for their fate.
"The Demon Sacrifice uses our blood and souls as offerings to open a gate to the Fiend Realm. You probably don’t know the Fiend Realm—it’s a place in the Immortal Realm," the man sighed.
Evan’s face showed surprise—he hadn’t expected this. But since he was only an avatar, he didn’t know what would happen next. If the gate to the Immortal Realm really opened, Evan would definitely seize the chaos to slip in.
So Evan quickly calmed down, deciding to wait and see what happened tomorrow.
The other captives were amazed at how calm Evan was. It was hard to believe a newcomer could settle down so quickly, but as people doomed to die, they had no choice but to accept it.
Time passed slowly. Early the next morning, Big Ling and his brothers arrived, holding a bottle. He looked at everyone and said, "If you don’t want to die in agony, swallow this pill. Otherwise, you’ll wish you were dead. Take it and you won’t feel any pain."
Some of the captives, already desperate and knowing there was no escape, were also afraid of pain. So, resigned, they got up, took the pills one by one, and swallowed them. After a while, it was Evan’s turn.
Evan shook his head and said, "I’m not afraid of pain. I don’t need it."
"Are you sure?" Big Ling asked curiously. "Yeah," Evan replied. "That won’t do. You have to take it. If you refuse, we’ll use other methods," Big Ling said, dropping his smile.
Evan knew there was definitely something off about the pill, but for him, there was nothing to fear. He took the pill and said, "Since that’s how it is, I’ll just swallow it."
"That’s more like it," Big Ling said with a smile. He looked everyone over, and after confirming they’d all taken the pill, he smiled again. "I’ll be back in half an hour."
He closed the door. Everyone sat down in despair, and after a while, each began to feel as if their bodies had lost all sensation.
"I can’t feel anything!" someone exclaimed.
"Me neither," another replied. The rest echoed the same.
Evan’s avatar felt the same—no sensation at all. He was surprised, but since it was just a clone, he wasn’t worried. If it was destroyed, he’d just make another.
About half an hour later, Big Ling returned. Seeing everyone lying weakly on the ground, he laughed, "Time to go." Then he had the twelve carried out, Evan included. These captives were now powerless, ready to be sacrificed for the ritual—a ceremony where their blood and souls would be used to open a gate to the Fiend Realm.
After a short while, Evan and the others were brought to an altar-like place, surrounded by many Demon Emperors. Evan clearly heard Big Ling say to a fat man standing there, "The general is ready."
"Good. This time we’ll activate the Demon Sacrifice and send a hundred Demon Emperors through in one go. I don’t believe those Immortal Realm people will gather at the Devil-Fiend Well," the fat man said.
The hundred Demon Emperors were restless, but they knew once they went through, they might never return—and could only use half their strength on the other side.
Seeing their expressions, the fat man said, "Don’t worry, Lord Hellsky will bless you all soon, giving you auxiliary attributes so you can fight at full strength for half an hour after crossing."
Everyone was overjoyed to hear they could fight at full strength for half an hour. Evan was shocked too—he hadn’t expected a Demon Venerable from the Devil Realm to have such power. Just as Evan was wondering about it, someone descended from the sky with many followers. When the fat man saw him, he hurried forward and said, "Lord Hellsky!"
"How is it? Is everything ready?" Lord Hellsky asked.
"Yes, everything is ready," the fat man replied.
"Good. Let me check these hundred," Lord Hellsky said.
The fat man nodded and had the hundred step forward for inspection. After Lord Hellsky finished, he said, "You stand for the Devil Realm. Don’t let the Immortal Realm look down on us." "Yes, sir!" the hundred replied in unison.
Lord Hellsky nodded after looking them over. "Not bad. Next, I’ll empower you all. And you—start the Demon Sacrifice. Once the hundred are empowered, send them straight through."
"Yes, sir," the fat man replied. Then the twelve of them were placed on the altar. At his command, the Demon Sacrifice began. Evan felt as if all the blood in his body was about to seep out. He was alarmed—if anyone saw green blood, that would be trouble. But to his relief, his avatar didn’t have the true body’s traits—just red blood. The blood slowly seeped into the altar, and even his soul started to tremble.
The hundred finished receiving their empowerment, and the Demon Sacrifice ended. A tunnel appeared before them.
The hundred entered the tunnel one after another. Lord Hellsky watched them, and after the last one went in, he glanced back at the twelve sacrifices on the altar and suddenly froze. Looking closer, he exclaimed, "Who is that?"
He was talking about none other than Evan. At that moment, Evan knew there was no time to lose—and the gate was about to close. In a flash, his true body appeared and dashed straight into the tunnel.
In just an instant, everyone was shocked.
"Damn it!" Lord Hellsky roared in fury.
"What’s going on?" The fat man still didn’t understand, but he could feel Lord Hellsky’s rage.
Lord Hellsky acted at once, smashing the Demon Sacrifice. Evan, who had just entered, suddenly found space twisting—this was caused by Lord Hellsky’s powerful attack, disrupting the ritual and sending Evan into an unknown region.
All he saw was himself, alone in a dark void—no planets anywhere. "Strange, this isn’t the Fiend Realm. Where am I?"
Lord Hellsky’s sudden strike twisted space so badly that even Evan didn’t know where he’d ended up. The spatial distortion was a direct result of the Demon Venerable’s intervention, leaving Evan lost in the void.
As for Lord Hellsky, he turned angrily to the fat man: "Is this how you handle things?"
"Who was he?" The fat man felt as if Lord Hellsky knew something.
"He’s the one who destroyed the Devil-Fiend Well. If I hadn’t spotted him in time, he would’ve escaped," Lord Hellsky said angrily.
The fat man had no idea what was happening. Lord Hellsky, a Demon Venerable—one of the highest-ranking devils—growled, "Damn it. Who knows if my last strike had any effect on him."
Word quickly spread that Evan had appeared at the Demon Sacrifice. Demoncloud Demon Lord and Morak were shocked when they heard, rushing over to ask what happened. When they learned Evan had entered the space tunnel but was struck at the last moment by Lord Hellsky, they wondered if he’d made it to the Immortal Realm.
"Damn it, I didn’t expect him to escape here," Demoncloud Demon Lord said angrily.
"Looks like we’ll have to search for him in the Immortal Realm next time," Morak said, frowning.
Demoncloud Demon Lord snorted, "During the next great war, I’ll definitely find him."
He left in anger, and Morak left just as angrily. Meanwhile, Xiao Xiang heard the news and muttered, "That kid—he’s got no sense, rushing off like that."
As for Evan, who should’ve died nine times out of ten, Xiao Xiang just shook her head. When Clara Snow heard the news, she was shocked and quickly tried to find out if Evan had truly escaped the Devil Realm and reached the Immortal Realm.
Meanwhile, Evan found himself surrounded by darkness—no planets in sight. But he quickly calmed down. "Maybe I’m in some remote corner of the Immortal Realm. If I search carefully, I should find something."
With that plan in mind, Evan picked a direction and kept flying.
Eventually, he saw clusters of water-blue planets ahead. Overjoyed, Evan landed on one and saw people there. When he confirmed they were Immortal Realm inhabitants, Evan was ecstatic. "Great! I’ve finally escaped the Devil Realm!"
Overjoyed, Evan released the Wine Beggar and Lydia Yang, explaining the situation to them.
"This really is the Immortal Realm, but..." the Wine Beggar said, frowning.
"But what?" Evan asked curiously.
"But I think I’ve been here before," the Wine Beggar said, puzzled.
"You’ve been here? That’s great! We can leave, then," Evan said.
"This is the Water Clan, one of the Heaven-Battling Clans in the east. Look at their clothes—they’re all water-colored because they worship the Water Clan here." The Wine Beggar explained. "So, do you know how to leave?" Evan knew that every Heaven-Battling Clan was difficult to enter or exit—outsiders could never understand their ways.
The Wine Beggar shook his head. "When I was young, I came with my father for the Water Patriarch’s birthday, but I never learned the way out—escorts led us everywhere, and every Heaven-Battling Clan keeps its entrances secret."
"That’s trouble," Evan muttered. He hadn’t expected to escape death, only to land in the Water Clan’s territory—one of the Heaven-Battling Clans.
"Maybe we can find someone from the Water Clan. If they know we’re from the Yang Clan, they might help us," the Wine Beggar suggested.
Evan was about to agree, but Lydia Yang frowned. "Third Brother, that’s not reliable. Don’t forget—years ago, Second Brother injured their young master, and now he can’t walk. Their clan cut all ties with us."
"Well…" The Wine Beggar looked at Evan, helpless. But it was the only way to leave.
"Is this about my father?" Evan asked curiously.
"Yes. Years ago, your father competed against the Water Clan in a Heaven-Battling match. He accidentally crippled their young master, and to this day, those legs can’t be healed. That’s why the Water Patriarch became enemies with your father," the Wine Beggar explained with a sigh.
"So that’s what happened. What should we do? We still need a way out." Evan sighed. "Looks like it’s up to you two—they know you, but not me. You can help me get out, but don’t let them know I’m from the Yang Clan, or the consequences could be disastrous," the Wine Beggar warned.
Evan didn’t know how deep the grudge between the Yang Clan and the Water Clan was, but he knew he had to find a way out. He nodded. "Alright, I’ll remember."
"Alright, let’s just stay put for now," the Wine Beggar sighed.