Return to the Capital

"I feel it! My kin is here! Hahahaha, I will be free!" the Zhao Patriarch looked on in happiness, staring off into the sky.

Everyone could not help but pause and watch him laugh as if he had obtained the greatest treasure in the world.

"He must have turned insane", they thought, "Driven to the brink because of his situation."

But Ming Yue and Xuan Yin knew what he was talking about. They did not think less of him like the others but grew fearful from his words.

His kin? Have demons entered the human continent? Was what the Lord of Azure Souls said true then? That they had activated the teleportation circles and reconnected the continents?

"Stop him!" Ming Yue yelled out and charged at Ling Xue.

Xuan Yin awakened from her stupor and shot out two pitch black arrows. They were ethereal, almost formless, shooting through the air and straight into his body. His body crumpled from the impact but he still stood, unfazed from the attack. His happiness from before was still present, as if he didn't care. But soon his expression changed as the two arrows disappeared into nothing, entering his body. Once they disappeared, Xuan Yin formed several hand signs and began controlling the energy from the arrows.

"No! What is this?" he yelled out with desperation, trying to fight off the rampaging energies.

His physical body could not handle the fight between powers, it began to morph and bend into ungodly shapes.

Ling Xue realized that her master was suffering from those arrows that Xuan Yin shot and headed towards her. However, Ming Yue was already several feet in front of her and knocked her away. She chased after her and pinned her body to the ground. The edge of her sword pressed against her neck, ready to cut down.

"Wait, what are you doing? Why did you shoot him? Why did you shoot my father?" Liqiu looked towards the two, asking them in shock.

They promised to save her family but now, they've doomed it. Without her father, no one would be able to support their family against the Yong and Shi Family.

"Urgh...Ah....Aaahhhhhh!" the demonic soul screamed as the body could not handle the energy any longer.

Cracks formed all over it before disintegrating right in front of everyone, revealing a ball of black mist. Released from it vessel, it took the shape of a person except that there were two large horns on its head. Like the horns of a deer, they grew large and grand, nearly two feet in length with multiple branches to it. Compared to its appearance, the power it gave off was enormous causing many to drop to their knees.

The figure writhed in pain, unable to control his power. Xuan Yin's two arrows continued to cause havoc on him.

Ling Xue struggled to break free from Ming Yue but was helpless.

"Stop! Don't do this!" she cried out.

"What? What is this?" the Yong Patriarch spoke with awe, he was able to withstand the demon's aura and did not drop like the others.

This was supposed to be a fight among three noble families, humans! but now, this was no human. The feeling it gave off was different, like a demon.

Realization suddenly hit him as he looked at the dark figure.

"That's a demon! The Zhao Patriarch is a demon!" he yelled out with disbelief.

Everyone was hit with another wave of shock especially the Zhao Family.

A demon? Their patriarch was a demon? How could that be?

Liqiu could not believe it.

"Did they know?" she thought, "Did they know that he was a demon?"

She looked at Ming Yue and Xuan Yin, who were busy dealing with the demon and his servant. If it was like this, then no matter what had happened, her father was already dead. She focused back at the soul with newfound hatred. This demon had ruined her family and their livelihood. She could not let it live.

While it still struggled to rid its soul of the berserk energy, she trapped it within a prison of magma. A bright red ball of melting earth encased the demon, before condensing itself. But it barely did a thing, bursting open from the demon's power. Everyone else followed her actions, attempting to weaken and subdue the demon while it was still preoccupied. Ice, wood and rock formed a prison to contain the demon.

"Stop!" a thunderous shout knocked everyone away, stopping them from containing the demon.

Three figure flew down from the sky, landing in the center of it all. They looked around before one of them noticed Ling Xue and took her off of Ming Yue's grasp. She could do nothing to stop it for he was too strong. The one in front was the most eye catching as she was a demon, a horned demon, just like the demonic soul. She stared at the soul, dispelling Xuan Yin's technique almost instantly.

"This is the soul of my ancestor, he had been stuck in the Human Continent for over a thousand years. Please let him go, he does not have much time left to live and we would like for him to see his home once again", she cupped her fists and bowed.

"Where did you come from? What is going on?" the Shi Patriarch spoke out, demanding answers to everyone's thoughts.

One of the three, a man, explained.

"We have activated the teleportation circles and successfully linked with the Demon Continent. In doing so, we as the human race have begun exploring the continent to assess the situation. She is a representative of the Horned Race from the Demon Continent, sent for peace talks when suddenly she felt the aura of an ancestor and immediately set off to his location. This girl here is also a demon so we will be taking her back. Now then, may we go?" he asked the Horned Demon.

"Yes, let's leave", she agreed and they flew off with Ling Xue and the demon's soul. No one could stop them.

Those three left as quickly as they came, putting an end to this conflict.

In the coming days all three families stayed within their abodes to recuperate. Of the three, the Zhao suffered the most in both power and reputation. They had lost the strongest member of the family and they had lost it to a demon. Most likely, they would fade away, unable to rise up having lost something that could not be recovered.

Ming Yue and Xuan Yin left quietly. Neither were able to see Liqiu who had become bedridden from the shock. They offered their help within the coming years to repay the family and while You Qian thanked them, his eyes showed a great sorrow that could not be fixed There was bitterness in their hearts as they left the city, the Zhao Family had lost its spirit.

They journeyed back to the Capital in silence, hearing news of the Demon Continent's connection. There was a number of emotions, curiosity, excitement, fear. What could the Demon Continent bring? No one knew what treasures or unusual items were within it. What sort of dangers could there be? It was unfortunate that traveling to the teleportation circles on the road could take upwards to a year, by foot it was even longer. But for cultivators it was a matter of months.

At the gates, Xuan Yin split off with Ming Yue, explaining that she had learned a lot and wanted to returned to the Stone Forest to think about her experiences. She must have felt useless after how the situation played out and wanted to get stronger. Ming Yue did not blame her, she felt the same as well. It wasn't so much that they did nothing but that they could not affect the result. The Zhao Family was not kicked out but it would never be able to recover.

Perhaps if they were still around while she was stronger, she would come back to help them. If only she was more powerful. If she wanted to change something, she needed power and right now, she felt as if she had none of it.

She consoled herself before thinking about the task at hand, to obtain the Splitting Moon Blade from the auction. This sword was another step to improving herself and the urge to obtain it grew stronger. Perhaps without the sword, she could still go on, but this was a goal. It was something she gave herself to complete. If she could not go through with it, then this meant that she did not have the resolve.