Chapter 8: The Great Demon of the Monster King Era
Half Moon City is perched at the very edge of the human realm, overlooking the endless expanse of the White Tongue Mountain Range. It took a century’s worth of human effort to finally put it together, piece by piece, like an IKEA project gone wild.
On the human side of the mountains, lush green trees flourish, bursting with life. But flip it over and you’ll find the other side—a graveyard of barren wasteland, littered with remains and bones, serving as a not-so-subtle reminder of what lies beneath.
A vulture’s low, sorrowful call drifts through the air, causing even the battle-hardened guards of Half Moon City to feel a chill run down their spines.
In the human realm, there’s no real government system per se. The big cities are all under the thumb of various immortal sects. However, when it comes to Half Moon City, all the sects unanimously agree on one thing: they need to protect it at all costs. It’s like the bouncer of the human realm’s club, keeping the monsters out, all while serving as the fort that watches over the first major city of the Monster Race, Dark Language City, since a massive war four hundred years back.
Local to Half Moon City is a modest sect known as the Half Moon Sword Sect. They’re not exactly the top dog compared to the Heavenly Sword Sect or Thousand Bird City but they’re not total pushovers either; they rank somewhere in the middle, like a solid B student.
Every five years, as per the agreement amongst the Seven Great Sects, a fresh batch of inner door disciples is sent to Half Moon City, where they are managed by local authorities. This setup not only boosts their battle skills by taking down Dark Language City, but it also serves as a friendly reminder to the monster folk that they shouldn’t get any wild ideas.
If Half Moon City finds itself in hot water, they can easily call for help from Heavenly Sword Sect or Thousand Bird City, but for the particularly hairy situations, the sect leader themselves must lead a rescue mission.
And wouldn’t you know it, Half Moon City just happened to stumble into a mess not seen for a century!
Out of nowhere, nearly twenty massive monster beasts launched a surprise attack on Dark Language City. Thanks to the prolonged oppression by the Half Moon City defenders, Dark Language City’s fighting capacity was practically non-existent. In a flash, the city was breached!
The monsters wasted no time and rushed straight for the center of the city, seeking out the Sky Tower. This tower, towering over a hundred meters, is managed by Half Moon City, with its surface extending deep underground. Down at the very bottom, the monster king’s avatar is sealed, sort of like that time you thought you lost your phone, only to find it was in your pocket the whole time.
Dark Language City had been compliant for so long due to the Monster King being under human control. With this siege, the monsters’ true aim was crystal clear: they were gunning for the King below the Sky Tower.
Amongst the impetuous monster wave were a handful of top-tier powerful demons. Now the Sky Tower was seriously on the ropes. Several elite disciples from various sects fell like dominoes in the fight—a devastating loss for all the sects involved.
Half Moon City scrambled to send reinforcements to the Sky Tower while simultaneously sending out SOS signals to Heavenly Sword Sect and Thousand Bird City. When Ling Xiaozu and Li Ying Tian received news of the emergency, they couldn’t help but feel the weight of the situation.
In the era of immortal heroes and mystical wars, quality trumps quantity. Often, one top-tier powerhouse can hold back legions like a pro in a superhero movie.
In a rush, they gathered their team, comprised of mostly veteran elders and a few high-ranking disciples, and bolted to Half Moon City. Upon their arrival, they found themselves at the brink of disaster; the enemy had already taken control of multiple underground levels of the Sky Tower, sitting smugly just a step away from their ultimate goal.
Yet down below, they couldn’t unleash their full potential. One wrong move and the upper levels might collapse—turning it into a precarious situation that would spell doom for everyone involved.
In light of this, Ling Xiaozu and Li Ying Tian decided to team up and push through the chaos.
Only two sect leaders had the mastery to handle such immense power and maintain order in this situation—like seasoned chefs in a busy kitchen.
Under their command, the reinforcements charged forward. In the end, only a handful of monsters made it out alive; the rest met their end. The Sky Tower was saved!
But here’s the kicker. Once those enormous beasts kicked the bucket, they all transformed into human forms. Talk about a plot twist! Even seasoned veterans like Ling Xiaozu and Li Ying Tian had never witnessed such an oddity.
After calming the storm in Dark Language City, the members of Heavenly Sword Sect and Thousand Bird City were treated like honored guests in Half Moon City. But before they could even settle down on their chairs, urgent messages thrummed from their home sects.
Both Heavenly Sword Sect and Thousand Bird City had simultaneously come under siege by the very same monsters!
With alarm bells ringing in their heads, the battle-hardened Ling Xiaozu and Li Ying Tian exchanged worried glances.
In that instant, they finally grasped the enemy’s true intentions.
The foot of Phoenix Mountain in the Small Thousand World, where the Monster King’s ‘evil’ avatar is sealed, and the Floating City of Thousand Bird City, where the King’s actual body resides, were now at risk. If the pieces were reunited, there was real potential for the Monster King to stride back into the world.
The silver lining? The enemy, while having snagged the King’s ‘evil’ avatar, couldn’t break into the sanctums of Half Moon City or Thousand Bird City, thank goodness!
But no one dared commit to the idea that the beasts wouldn’t return for round two. So, like someone who accidentally stepped in gum, the two sects hurried back, stepping on the gas without looking back.
…
As Ling Xiaozu recounted the recent turmoil of Half Moon City, Wang Qianshan and Luo Ying listened with bated breath, hearts racing with both terror and shock at the grand scheme unfolding before them.
The struggle between the humans and the monsters had left an indelible mark over four hundred years past. Since then, all the major sects had heightened their vigilance against the Monster Race, perpetually on the lookout for signs of another uprising.
But who would have guessed that Cold Moon Witch could secretly mobilize such a massive force, initiating an assault on Half Moon City, Heavenly Sword Sect, and Thousand Bird City? It was a classic misdirection play!
This demoness, who had only two months prior emerged from the shadows, sent chills down spines as her grand plan unfolded.
“Junior, what’s your take on this witch?” Ling Xiaozu probed.
“Honorable Sect Leader, this witch might just be one of the top-tier demons that accompanied the Monster King during that great battle four hundred years ago,” Wang Qianshan stated, a gasp rippling through the room like popcorn in a microwave.
Everyone’s eyes went wide with disbelief. As someone who was merely an inner door disciple back then, they all carried the scars of that war, feeling those painful memories rise like a bad burrito.
“Didn’t we eradicate every last one of them back then? This sounds like crazy talk, don’t go making wild accusations!” one elder countered, brow furrowed and arms crossed.
Wang Qianshan sighed, “If I didn’t have some solid backing, you think I’d throw around big claims like this?”
“I have two pieces of evidence,” he continued, his voice steady.
“First, when the monster army invaded the Small Thousand World, our forces teamed up to set a trap, and the Monster King, in a moment of hubris, fell right into it, fleeing to Phoenix Mountain, battered and bruised.
We were hot on their heels, fearing the rise of this malevolent being.
And in that fray, the Cold Moon Witch appeared at Phoenix Mountain, sans troops, and attempted to hold us back. I can still picture her icy demeanor as she brought chaos to our ranks; she exploded in a cloud, taking half our crew with her! To this day, not a single remnant was recovered.”
The tension sharpened around the room as everyone leaned in.
“Fortunately, I had a fellow disciple shield me just in time, knocking me unconscious. If it weren’t for our Sect Leader showing up, we might have literally let the Monster King slip through our fingers.”
Wang Qianshan continued, “And guess what? The explosion we witnessed recently mirrored that incident. If that’s not suspicious, I don’t know what is.”
“Second piece of evidence: our Sect Leader mentioned how I changed my name to Qianshan post-battle.” He paused, letting the gravity of his words settle in.
“My old name was Wang Xiaoni, known only to a few, including our master and some senior brothers. That day, our sect suffered heavily; everyone else was killed except for our Sect Leader and me.”
“Why would that demoness know my new name though? It just doesn’t add up—until I realized: when I passed out, our Sect Leader was calling my name repeatedly while trying to save me. She must have heard it from her hiding spot and remembered.”
Ling Xiaozu slapped his hand, “That explains it! It would appear she has at least six or seven hundred years of cultivation under her belt.”
The room went silent, with fear creeping in as the reality of their situation dawned on them.
No wonder this demoness could waltz around the Heavenly Sword Sect, easily overpowering Wang Qianshan and Luo Ying, because she was indeed a great demon from the Monster King era—equal parts terrifying and formidable.
