Starting with a Super Five-Star Hotel

"Damn it, this kid knows how to live it up!"

The people who pushed open the door of the wooden hut were none other than Zhu Hongyun and Wu Ber. As soon as they saw Su Xuan sleeping amidst a cluster of fresh flowers with a beauty snuggled up next to him, they were filled with envy and jealousy.

"He's made himself a tomb of flowers!"

"Yes, and he's about to die!"

Zhu Hongyun and Wu Ber exchanged a glance. Slowly drawing their weapons, they prepared to make their move on Su Xuan.

But after lying down in the little wooden hut, Su Xuan had quickly fallen asleep to the sound of Ji Sisi's chatter, and he even had a dream. It was not a sweet one; it could only be described as a nightmare. And it wasn't the first time he'd had it.

In the dream, he walked alone. He was seemingly without purpose, yet his direction was certain. Before long, he stopped and fixed his gaze forward.

There was a door in front of him. On it was a couplet, with four characters on each side:

*No path to the Heavens.*

*A gate to the Underworld.*

"House Lord, come home!"

"House Lord, come home!"

Two armored retainers suddenly appeared by his side, kneeling on one knee with their hands clasped in a salute. He looked at them but shook his head. He knew he wasn't any House Lord, and his home wasn't behind that door. The two retainers kept urging him, on and on.

He turned his head to leave, but something strange happened. The surrounding scenery warped, becoming a valley. A deep pit, like a natural sinkhole, had appeared beside him.

This looks like the Valley of Thousand Snakes! he muttered to himself in the dream. Could this be the same sinkhole Ancestor Meng filled with manure? Is this where the Blood Immortal Vine grows?

"The gate!"

"It's the gate home!"

His two retainers were still by his side. Upon seeing the sinkhole, they grew excited and called it the gate home.

"House Lord, you've already found the way home! There is no better way than this; it will be safe and fast. Maybe someone will be waiting to greet us the moment we step through!" one retainer said excitedly.

Just as he finished speaking, a deep rumbling came from the depths of the sinkhole, as if a giant monster was about to rush out.

"How can this be?"

"Has the Underworld fallen, too?"

The retainers' expressions changed instantly. They leaped to their feet, drawing their weapons as if facing a great enemy.

The next second, a huge head burst forth from the pit. Twin horns grew from its crown, its eyes were as large as lanterns and brimming with bloodlust, and its gaping maw was utterly ferocious. Its body remained hidden in the sinkhole, not fully revealed. It looked like a black dragon.

ROAR!

The black dragon merely glanced at Su Xuan before roaring in fury, opening its mouth to swallow him whole. His two retainers would not allow it. They leaped up at the same instant, brandishing their weapons and slashing toward the dragon's gaping maw in a perilous counterattack...

"Huh?"

In the wooden hut, Zhu Hongyun and Wu Ber, who were about to assassinate Su Xuan, suddenly froze with astonishment. They saw Su Xuan sit up in his sleep without any warning. Not only that, but one of his hands was raised high as he muttered under his breath, "Come! Come!"

Zhu Hongyun and Wu Ber exchanged baffled glances.

Come? Come what? What does that even mean? What's going on? Could he have known we were coming to kill him? Is he waiting for us, inviting us to attack?

"What's happening?" To figure things out, Zhu Hongyun quietly asked Wu Ber, "Didn't you put something in the rabbit meat? How is he sitting up?"

"This..." Wu Ber looked at Su Xuan, frowning in thought before replying, "Maybe I used too much. It might have scrambled his nerves and caused an abnormal reaction. He should still be asleep. Here, watch."

Wu Ber waved his hand in front of Su Xuan's eyes. Su Xuan showed no sign of awareness.

"Forget about it, kill him!"

"Kill him!"

But just as the two were about to stab Su Xuan to death, something they never expected happened.

"Cousin, don't leave me!" Ji Sisi, who had been sound asleep, suddenly cried out in her dream. Her hands groped about until she finally grabbed Su Xuan, clinging to him tightly.

"Cousin, I know I wasn't very nice to you before. I always lost my temper with you, making you try so hard to please and pamper me... But I've suddenly grown to really like you. Please don't go, okay? I'll take good care of you from now on. I'll never make you angry again. When you become the family head, will you marry me?"

Ji Sisi kept talking in her sleep, tears streaming from her closed eyes.

"Just stab them both to death!"

"Fine, let's kill them both!"

The two, who originally intended only to kill Su Xuan, made this new decision on the spot. Then, one thrust his blade toward Su Xuan, while the other stabbed at Ji Sisi...

「At the same time, in a grand hall of the Yu Xian Sect」

Sect Leader Su Pei, cultivating amidst curling incense smoke, suddenly opened her eyes. With a flicker, she disappeared.

WHOOSH!

When she reappeared, she was standing on the ridge of the grand hall's roof. Bathed in moonlight, Su Pei, dressed in a long black gown, looked like an ethereal celestial. Those who didn't know her thought she simply favored black, but those close to her knew she had worn black ever since Ancestor Meng went to that place.

Su Pei gazed toward the Valley of Thousand Snakes, her brow furrowed. To be precise, she wasn't looking at the valley itself, but at the sky above it.

WHOOSH!

With another rush of air, a second person appeared on the roof.

"Sect Leader, has something happened at the Valley of Thousand Snakes?" the newcomer asked.

"No," Su Pei shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the sky above the valley. "Something is about to fall into it."

"Oh?" The newcomer was startled. He followed her gaze, and his pupils shrank.

Above the Valley of Thousand Snakes was a layer of clouds, its edges beautifully and brightly outlined by the moonlight. Suddenly, the cloud layer seemed to have been struck by something. The center rippled outward as a fiery red streak of light plummeted from within, crashing down into the Valley of Thousand Snakes.

The great formation that enshrouded the valley rippled from the impact, then healed itself.

"What on earth was that?" Protector Cai asked, looking away from the sky. "It penetrated the great formation of the Valley of Thousand Snakes directly. The impact must have exceeded the power of the Longevity Realm, right?"

"I don't know," Su Pei shook her head.

"Is it something from beyond the heavens?" Protector Cai pressed.

"I don't know."

Su Pei shook her head again, and her figure vanished from the rooftop.

Protector Cai shrugged and called out, "Sect Leader, should I go check on the Valley of Thousand Snakes?"

This is puzzling. The Sect Leader always seems to know everything. Why is tonight any different?

"No need," a voice replied. "Let nature take its course."

"Alright then!"

Protector Cai scratched his head. But he didn't listen to Su Pei. He flew off toward the Valley of Thousand Snakes.

...

RUMBLE!

Inside the Valley of Thousand Snakes, just as Zhu Hongyun and Wu Ber's blades were a mere inch from killing Su Xuan and Ji Sisi, something they would have never imagined, not even in their wildest dreams, happened.

An object trailing flames descended from the sky, smashing through the roof of the small wooden hut and landing directly in Su Xuan's hands.