I Have a Golden Crow

September 29th, home on the 17th floor.

It was rare for Master Qing’s home to be this lively; the disciples were gathered together in full force, all fully armed.

In the very center of the living room, Du Yu stood quietly, the Divine Demon Bow on his back and the Fire Age Axe in hand, having already been standing there in silence for a long time.

He was waiting—waiting for Master Qing to arrive.

His fellow disciples were also very quiet, each silently tidying their gear.

Over the past three days, everyone had made full preparations, and Li Mengnan had also received her reward from the Great Xia Bookstore.

It was a specially customized Emperor-Grade Demon Weapon·Demon-Subduing Pestle.

And its Demon Soldier Array followed step for step after Du Yu and Lin Shiwei, with only one array effect: releasing a thin Wind Beam.

The array’s output form was exactly the same as the Demon Soldier she had owned before, very much like the Wind Glutton Dog Technique· Tearing Wind Beam.

Even more gratifying was that Senior Sister Jiang Feng’s Ancient Spiritual Artifact· Three Spirits Coin, under the continuous rank-ups of the group, had received tremendous nourishment and had fully recovered.

This, for Jiang Feng’s strength, was without a doubt a qualitative leap!

The Three Spirits Coin’s effects leaned toward protection; with Jiang Feng here, everyone’s safety would be better guaranteed.

Du Yu had also invited Kui Chou, the Supreme, out of the mountain to escort and protect them.

At this moment Lord Kui Chou was snoring away, fast asleep inside the Yongquan Acupoint beneath Du Yu’s foot...

"Master Qing."

"Master Qing!" Several voices suddenly sounded in the living room.

Du Yu opened his eyes and looked to his left.

He saw a figure in snow-white clothes coming down from the second floor; the woman had put on her trademark white sportswear again, tied her hair into a ponytail, and donned a white baseball cap.

Such an outfit showed how seriously she regarded the Ashen World.

"All ready?"

"Yes." Fu Jianzhou answered on behalf of all the disciples.

Yang Qingqing walked to the center of the living room and gave Du Yu a slight nod.

Du Yu immediately picked up the Fire Age Axe and, in his mind, called to the Void Axe: "Void."

"Here!" The Void Axe’s voice rang out crisp and forceful, its phantom outline wrapping around the body of the Fire Age Axe.

As Du Yu held the axe before him and drew it in a slanting arc, a Spatial Rift was slowly torn open, energy surging violently within, enough to make one’s heart pound.

Suddenly, strands of Rose Vine extended from Yang Qingqing’s fingertips, coiling around the disciples’ waists and abdomens one after another.

With Du Yu leading the way, the six of them strode into the Spatial Rift.

One second, they were still in a tasteful, elegant home.

The next second, it was the doomsday of falling ash.

"We’re back again, huh." Du Yu murmured, looking up at the sky.

Thick gray mist formed the clouds, gently churning, with strands of gray fog falling like raindrops.

Only the falling ash descended slowly, dragging out long gray trails.

Yang Qingqing also looked up at the hazy sky, then lightly furrowed her brows: "The ash here seems thicker than it was a few months ago."

"Really?" Du Yu glanced around, confirmed that everyone was close by, and had the Void Axe withdraw its Divine Techniques.

"Whoosh~"

The Spatial Rift slowly healed over, gust after gust of wind whipping their clothes into disarray.

"The Ashen World..." Fu Jianzhou gazed at the desolate, barren scene, his expression tinged with sorrow.

On one hand, Fu Jianzhou’s capacity for empathy was relatively strong.

On the other, anyone who saw a doomsday world could hardly help but feel all sorts of emotions surge up in their chest.

"So bleak." Li Mengnan’s voice was very soft; her hand, naturally hanging at her side, brushed to the left.

Finding Lin Shiwei’s hand, Li Mengnan tightly wrapped herself around her third sister’s arm, as if that simple act could give her a sense of safety in this ruined world.

General Lin truly could be a source of security.

She carried many labels—strong, calm, and also solid, dependable.

Yet even she, entering the Ashen World for the first time, felt somewhat short of breath.

Fortunately, the gray mist permeating the surroundings was rapidly driven back by the Spiritual Qi within their bodies, scattering in all directions.

Otherwise, people might not even dare to breathe.

"This is what the Twin Tree Realm looks like after defeat." The always taciturn Jiang Feng suddenly spoke.

Du Yu turned to look, and saw his senior sister half-kneeling on the ground, one hand scooping up a handful of barren soil and rubbing it between her palm and fingers.

All things withered, only death remained.

Just as everyone was taking in the sensory shock the Ashen World brought, Jiang Feng’s expression darkened: "There are bones underfoot."

This discovery left Jiang Feng quite puzzled.

She knew this place had already been invaded by the Youhan Army, Cold Beasts rampaging across the land.

Precisely because of that, the ground beneath should not be packed with countless bones. Anywhere the Cold Beasts passed, even crushed bone powder would be devoured clean.

"This was once where the Dixiu Tree was stationed." Du Yu explained, "Master Qing’s Dixiu Tree."

Yang Qingqing: "What you’re sensing is only the tip of the iceberg."

Jiang Feng lifted her gaze to her master’s back. "Hm?"

Yang Qingqing let out a soft sigh: "Beneath our feet, it’s all bones."

The Three Spirits Coin at Jiang Feng’s neck trembled lightly, emitting a pleasant "shasha" sound.

Fine sand also emerged from Jiang Feng’s fingertips, drilling down into the earth.

A moment later, Jiang Feng stood there, utterly stunned.

Master Qing had spoken no falsehoods: deep beneath their feet was layer upon layer of white bone, densely packed, beyond counting.

"Let’s go. Head east." Yang Qingqing commanded.

The Dixiu Tree had said that the Chi Bear’s homeland lay directly east of where it stood.

The purpose of the disciples’ journey to the Ashen Continent was to seek out the Otherworld Bamboo Wood Forest.

And as the woman stepped forward and set foot on the barren soil, a thin veil of gray dust splashed up, staining this group of travelers from the Otherworld.

Under the gloomy sky, their eyes were filled with desolation.

The sorrow in her heart was beyond words.

Lin Shiwei pressed her lips together, letting out a heavy sigh in her heart.

If the Demon Tamers of Great Xia could see a scene like this, everyone would fight to the death to protect the Twin Tree Realm.

"Shiwei."

"Here!"

Yang Qingqing lifted her chin slightly, gesturing toward the left front: "Go."

"Yes." Lin Shiwei pushed her Extreme Eye Power, spotting a rather rare Demon Beast·Mud Stone Bull.

It was only three meters long and less than two meters tall, just a Spirit-level Cold Beast.

The girl shot out at once, her wide Black Python Robe snapping in the wind.

"Moo!!" Seeing a living being closing in, the Mud Stone Bull, with its mud-like skin studded with gravel, charged at the girl viciously.

No Demon Skills, no tactics, not a shred of intelligence.

All it had was the killing instinct of a beast.

Lin Shiwei suddenly raised her long leg, her leather boot stamping down toward the Mud Stone Bull’s massive head.

A muffled "bang"!

A tiny member of the Human Race, just like that, easily stopped a roaring, rampaging giant beast.

With such an utterly mismatched size, the scene looked downright surreal.

The Mud Stone Bull’s Demon Breath Battle Robe shattered with a boom, and its huge head was heavily stomped into the ground.

Lin Shiwei dropped to one knee, her fist wrapped in a Finger Tiger, pressing against the Mud Stone Bull’s skull.

Pressing, not smashing.

As Energy from the Finger Tiger poured into the Mud Stone Bull’s head, surging Flame Energy erupted inside the Cold Beast’s skull.

"Pff~"

After that eerie dull sound, the giant Cold Beast no longer had any sign of life, no more struggle.

Demon Soldier Array·Rouge Tiger!

Just thinking of that name brought a hint of memory to Lin Shiwei’s eyes.

She had given the Demon Soldier and the Array the same name: Flame Finger Tiger.

But when Du Yu heard it, he tweaked the name, turning it into "Rouge Tiger."

The word Rouge Tiger was, of course, easy to understand:

Beautiful, ferocious.

Lin Shiwei wasn’t quite sure whether Du Yu was naming the Demon Soldier, or hinting at something else.

After all, this Demon Soldier had ferocity to spare but lacked beauty, its whole body scorched black.

So... mm.

From a distance, Yang Qingqing saw her disciple easily deal with the Cold Beast with minimal commotion, and she couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

Sometimes she wondered if she might actually be overcautious on this trip to the Ashen Continent.

As long as they didn’t get near the Cold Tree Area or the Cold Beast Camp, and just moved around in the wilds, these brainless Cold Beasts wouldn’t cause the group much trouble.

"Screee~~~"

From the sky behind them suddenly came a bird’s cry.

Yang Qingqing turned to look, only to see a huge swallow streaking through the gray haze above, heading straight for them.

Still no Demon Skills, no tactics, and it even thoughtfully announced to everyone: I’m coming!

Honestly, even ordinary wild beasts out hunting know how to hide themselves.

But these brutal Cold Beasts couldn’t suppress their violent tempers at all; the first thing they did upon seeing prey was to howl like mad.

Yang Qingqing: "Mengnan."

"Yes!" Li Mengnan, draped in the White Cloak·Wind Witch, immediately raised her palm.

And right along the Shadow Soul Bird’s swooping path, a Wind Killing Array suddenly flared to life.

Countless Wind Blades appeared, tearing fiercely through the air.

The dense chorus of slicing sounds was enough to make one’s heart tremble.

The Shadow Soul Bird’s Demon Breath Battle Robe shattered with a boom, its body ripped open with gashes one after another, blood spraying wildly.

"Screee~ screee~~~" The Shadow Soul Bird let out a wretched wail, and in the endless Wind Blades, it was violently slain.

No one knew which strike had been the fatal one.

In any case, the Shadow Soul Bird suddenly fell silent; blood scattered down as its body was chopped into several segments, crashing headfirst to the ground.

It had to be made clear: Li Mengnan wasn’t jointly casting Demon Skills with a Demon Pet.

The Wind Witch was draped on the girl’s body; it was fighting personally, and the Demon Skills it released were at full Cold Jade Level, not watered down in the slightest.

Yang Qingqing: "Think up a better approach. Next time, keep the commotion smaller. The sound and the smell of blood will draw other Cold Beasts."

"Yes, Master Qing." Li Mengnan looked like she’d done something wrong, answering in a small voice.

"Oh-ho?" A rough voice suddenly rang out in Du Yu’s mind. "You’re here already? This is that so-called Gray World?"

Looks like the Supreme Lord had woken up.

"Ashen World," Du Yu answered in his mind. "Kui Chou, the Supreme, we’ve arrived."

"This barren?" Kui Chou’s huge eyes, like Copper Bells, glared wide as his visage appeared before Du Yu. "Hmph, the Cold Trees around here really got their way, huh?"

Du Yu: "Mm..."

Even though Kui Chou’s tone hadn’t changed, Du Yu could still sense the shock in his heart.

"Damn." Kui Chou cursed under his breath, staring at the drifting gray mist, clearly wanting to say more.

But he suddenly changed tack, asking, "What’s up with the little brat? Why’s she so sad? Did you bully her?"

Du Yu said softly, "This is Little Fen Yang’s homeland."

Kui Chou opened his mouth, stalled for quite a while, and in the end, he chose silence.

...

Three Chapters today, at 14:00, 22:00, and 24:00.