The stars and moon have lost their color, and bloodstained hands wash the autumn clean. The world’s most powerful master at the Dongxu level, the most mysterious and unfathomable leader of the demonic Xingyue Sect, a super villain whose killings fill the fields—regarded by many as the number one under heaven. Though there is no official consensus, they are universally acknowledged as one of the top ten supreme experts... In this world where everyone reveres martial strength and a hundred schools preach their doctrines, the name Emily Smith is enough to stop a child from crying at night. As for the person before us, who knows which remote mountain valley he crawled out from...

The so-called female guards weren’t really guards; they were also disciples of the demonic sect. However, compared to core direct disciples like Lily Carter, there was an insurmountable gap in status. Very few dared to joke around with her; even if she wanted to chat idly with them, all she would get was respectful responses. Outsiders were even less worth mentioning—either fighting desperately against the “demoness,” or utterly bewitched like fools, or those self-important peers. The way John Smith acted so normally was something Lily Carter had never encountered before, and she found it quite amusing. She couldn’t help but laugh and say, “You seem much more carefree now. Before, you always seemed to be hiding a belly full of secrets, your brows clouded with worry. Did you just have some kind of epiphany?”

John Smith smiled. “Since you’re bored, how about I tell you a story?”

Lily Carter’s eyes lit up, and she said enthusiastically, “Yes, yes!”

John Smith began in a leisurely tone, “An old man selling porcelain bowls was walking along the road with a carrying pole. Suddenly, one of the bowls fell to the ground and shattered, but the old man didn’t even look back and just kept walking forward. A passerby saw this and found it strange, so he asked, ‘Why didn’t you even glance at your broken bowl?’ What do you think the old man replied?”

Lily Carter guessed with great interest, “Maybe the old man is actually rich and doesn’t care about a single bowl?”

John Smith shook his head. “The old man replied, ‘Since it’s already broken, no matter how many times I look back, it’s still broken.’”

Lily Carter was taken aback. The ever-present smile on her face slowly faded as she fell into deep thought. After a long while, she finally said, “That’s a very interesting story. It actually gives me some insight into my cultivation. Thank you.”

Not far away, in another carriage, Emily Smith was poring over several scrolls, her elegant brows tightly knit, one hand holding a brush as she wrote and drew on the paper. Her cultivation had already reached a realm unimaginable to ordinary people. Although the conversation between Lily Carter and John Smith wasn’t loud, she heard every word clearly. As John Smith finished his story, she, like her disciple, was momentarily stunned. Then she looked down at the scrolls in her hand, suddenly seemed to understand something, and burst out laughing. Several rolls of silk suddenly ignited with a ghostly blue flame, turning to ashes in the blink of an eye, vanishing without a trace.

A female disciple reported, “Sect Master, we’ve arrived.”

The convoy slowly came to a halt. John Smith also climbed out of the carriage and looked up at the seal script above the city gate: Tiandu.

At the same time, he suddenly felt an intense pressure surge toward his body, as if he had plunged into the depths of the sea, squeezing him so much that even breathing became difficult. Before he could ask Lily Carter beside him, he suddenly felt a surge of heat rise from his palm, instantly spreading through every cell in his body. The oppressive aura he had just felt vanished at once. On the contrary, he felt completely comfortable, even a strange sense of intimacy and familiarity welled up in his heart. Even the weeds by the city gate looked so lovely at this moment, as if... he had come home.

Chapter Five: A New World

The city gate was nothing like the strict, heavily guarded entrance John Smith had imagined. On the contrary, there wasn’t even a single guard. Maybe it was because in this bizarre world, individual martial strength was so high that guards were useless? Or perhaps civilization had reached a point where guards were no longer needed?

The city gate stood wide open, with people coming and going. Looking through the gate, one could see a street more than ten zhang wide, bustling with carriages and crowds.

The buildings along the street had a style somewhat reminiscent of the Song dynasty, the shops were thriving, and the cries of vendors rose and fell, the place teeming with life. The passersby wore all kinds of clothing, most carried swords or sabers, with many dressed as wandering heroes, and quite a few in splendid attire. However, there were absolutely no scholars in Confucian robes—overall, it still looked civilized rather than barbaric. All in all, the flourishing scenes of ancient times seen in movies were no more than this. It was quite different from the savage, cultureless world John Smith had expected.

The group slowly made their way inside. John Smith leaned closer to Lily Carter and asked in a low voice, “What’s with this city? Why do I feel like I’m being crushed so hard I can barely breathe?”

Lily Carter was glancing around, seemingly admiring the capital’s prosperity, and replied absentmindedly, “We’re under the emperor’s feet... The primary function of the first of the Nine Cauldrons that Suppress the World is to cover the entire city with the Unviolated Array, restricting martial power and forbidding flight. Even I can’t use half my strength here. The fact that you can still breathe is impressive. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

John Smith had no idea what the Suppressing Cauldron was, but it obviously sounded impressive if it was used to create the capital’s core formation. He subconsciously glanced at his palm again. Could this bronze shard really be related to the so-called Suppressing Cauldron?

It seemed even more worth looking forward to now...

But, well, forbidden to fly... John Smith sighed. “So you guys really can fly, huh...”