Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I first met Han Zhaoye on the altar at the deepest part of Sky Burial Valley.

That night, wind and snow weighed heavy on the mountains. My Master, Shuo Xuanjin, slapped a Demon-Slaying Order onto my desk, saying only one thing: “Bring back Han Zhaoye’s head before midnight. If you can slay him, you will be the next Peak Master of Clear Sky Peak.”

Han Zhaoye was the Young Master of the Demonic Sect and the man with the highest bounty on his head from the righteous path in recent years. Rumor had it that he was ruthless and cold-blooded, having slaughtered three cities and wiped out seven fortresses. It was said he would even rip the hearts out of Nascent Soul cultivators while they were still alive to feed his vicious beasts.

But when I stepped onto the altar with my sword drawn, what I saw was not the high-spirited demon from the legends.

He was pinned to a stone platform by nine Soul-Locking Nails. His black robes were soaked through with blood, and the broken half of a blade was thrust diagonally into his chest. A ring of flickering green flames burned around the platform, looking as though someone had just finished a ritual and fled in haste. Hearing my footsteps, he slowly opened his eyes. With a slight tilt of his brow, he actually smiled at me first.

“Jing Guichen,” he called my name in a raspy voice. “You’ve come at just the right time.”

The tip of my sword pressed against his throat. “You know me?”

“More than just ‘know’ you.” His gaze fell upon my wrist, as if seeing an old relic. “If you kill me now, someone will have you pinned here tomorrow as well.”

I didn’t care for his nonsense. Just as I was about to slit his throat, he tilted his chin toward a bronze lamp in the center of the platform that was half-shattered.

“That is a Life Lamp,” he said. “Light it for me first, and I will tell you who really destroyed Floating White City all those years ago.”

My heart constricted violently.

Floating White City was my home.

Fourteen years ago, Floating White City was reduced to ash in a single night. Of the three thousand seven hundred residents, I was the only survivor. Master picked me up from the pile of corpses and brought me back to Clear Sky Peak. Since then, I have practiced the sword and cultivated for only one purpose: to kill every last demonic cultivator and avenge the souls of my city.

And yet, Han Zhaoye was mentioning Floating White City now.

I stared at him, trying to find any trace of a lie on his face. But in his eyes, aside from the bloodshot weariness, there was a nearly absurd sense of certainty.

“You have three breaths left,” he said. “The people hunting me are coming back. If the Life Lamp goes out, I die, and you will never find the truth.”

Sure enough, the sound of something cutting through the air echoed from outside the altar.

I gritted my teeth and withdrew my sword. Forming a hand seal, I forced out a drop of heart’s blood and flicked it toward the shattered lamp. The bronze lamp had only a sliver of wick left, but the moment my blood touched it, a pale green flame surged upward. In the next instant, the fire split into two wisps; one sank into Han Zhaoye’s chest, while the other shot straight for the space between my brows.

Before I could react, a sudden heat seared my wrist.

Looking down, I saw a faint green Lamp Mark had appeared on the inside of my wrist at some point, identical to the one on Han Zhaoye’s.

Han Zhaoye looked up at me, his lips covered in blood, yet his smile was deeper than before.

“Too late,” he said. “The Shared Life Lamp is lit.”

No sooner had he spoken than a murderous aura closed in from outside the valley.

And for the first time, my heart began to beat in the exact same rhythm as a demon’s.