The golden blood of the Demigod assassinated by Yi Lan was still smoking on the basaltic ground, releasing an odor of corrupted divinity. In her left hand, the Fox of Desire clutched the World Seed, that translucent crystal sphere that seemed to contain a miniature galaxy.

Her pink and vaporous Qi coiled around the relic. She turned toward Xuan BaiShe, superbly ignoring the six other Ancestors of the Azure Kingdom who were screaming their rage a few meters away. Her pink sapphire eyes, now tinged with a deep purple, saw only her darling.

"Darling..." she murmured with a softness that violently contrasted with the surrounding charnel house. "Take your treasure."

With a fluid gesture, she threw the World Seed toward BaiShe. The young master extended his hand and seized the object. Instantly, he felt his Omega Heart leap in his chest. The resonance between his Devourer Physique and the original energy of the seed was so powerful that it nearly broke his mask of serenity. However, he adjusted his sage monocle, observing Yi Lan with icy lucidity.

The remaining Ancestors, led by Lord Wu, did not waste another moment. Their dantians hummed like distant storms. They understood that they had been infiltrated and humiliated. Consequently, the air around them began to liquefy under the pressure of seven Demigod-level domains activating simultaneously.

"Fox vermin!" roared Lord Wu. "Do you think this little sleight of hand will save you? You will die in atrocious suffering, and your master will devour his own entrails before we are done with him!"

Yi Lan let out a childish laugh, while her nine pink tails unfurled behind her, saturating the atmosphere with a scent of peach blossoms and lust. She moved closer to BaiShe, her opulent bust brushing against his arm.

"Darling..." she began, her expression suddenly becoming lucid and serious. "These old men are too numerous. Even if I am a creature of the Origins, this lower realm limits my power. Seven Demigods prepared to die for their relic..."

She took a step forward, interposing herself between BaiShe and the azure tide about to surge. Her Qi suddenly changed frequency, becoming unstable and sharp.

"Leave, darling..." she ordered without turning around. "Go stabilize your inner world with this seed. I will take care of these wastes. I will lock them up with me..."

BaiShe remained motionless. His silver gaze analyzed the structure of Yi Lan’s meridians. He then perceived the rising power of a forbidden technique. The young woman had no intention of fighting fairly. She was preparing to consume her own spiritual core to force a dimensional barrier.

"< Law: Mirrors of Obsessional Illusion >" pronounced Yi Lan in a voice that seemed to resonate across several dimensions at once.

Suddenly, the volcanic sky of the Seed World fragmented into millions of pink glass shards. Each mirror fragment reflected a distorted version of the seven Ancestors’ darkest desires. The space began to fold in on itself, forming a gigantic and sparkling sphere several hundred meters in diameter. The mirrors swirled at a prodigious speed, creating a vortex that brutally sucked the seven Demigods inside.

Yi Lan stood at the border of the glass dome, her body beginning to become translucent. She smiled at BaiShe, tears of devotion beading at the corners of her eyes.

"I will close the domain from the inside." she explained. "They will not be able to get out before my soul finishes consuming itself to make this space explode. It is the only way to guarantee your safety, my love... Farewell."

She took a step toward the glass abyss, ready to seal her fate. But she had not gone two meters when a hand closed on her shoulder.

BaiShe had moved with a speed that defied his current cultivation. His Omega Heart was now beating with a dull force, awakening fragments of memory that the Dao had tried to erase. He remembered. He remembered the Era of the Origins. He saw Yi Lan, already at that time, standing alone against the legions of Rakshasas to offer him a second of respite. She had done it without asking for anything, without even a promise of return.

The Celestial Demon in him then felt an impulse that was not love, but something far more dangerous: absolute possessiveness. As the future sovereign, he accepted that the world could burn, but he would not tolerate anyone touching what belonged to him. Yi Lan was not merely a servant; she was his property.

"Stop this circus, Lan’er..." declared BaiShe in a voice so cold that it seemed to freeze the surrounding lava.

Long Huang, who had gotten up with difficulty, rushed toward him. She seized BaiShe’s arm, her black eyes injected with fury and an anxiety she could no longer mask under her dragoness arrogance. Leaving the fox to enter her restrictive domain alone.

"Don’t be an idiot, little snake!" she cried, her ten black horns vibrating with distress. "If you go in there, you will not come back! This domain is a soul prison designed for self-destruction. Even your Devourer Physique will not be able to contain the explosion of seven Demigod Dantians fused with the essence of an Origins Fox!..."

BaiShe freed his arm with calculated slowness, a sovereign authority emanating from every pore of his skin. He adjusted his monocle, his gaze lost in the pink reflections of the mirror dome.

"I do not let anyone dispose of what belongs to me..." he replied. "Yi Lan is mine. No one, not even the Dao, will dictate her sacrifice. If she must die, it will be by my hand, and not to serve as a shield for my own escape. I am the Celestial Demon."

He turned his head toward Long Huang, a narcissistic and cruel smile stretching his jade lips.

"Keep the seed, Dragoness. If I do not come out, devour it and finish what I started."

Simultaneously, he took a step forward, penetrating the glass wall. The impact between his Khaotic Qi and Yi Lan’s barrier produced a strident hiss.

Inside, the world was a cacophony of reflections and screams. The seven Demigods, trapped in their own fantasies, were already beginning to strike the walls with the force of despair. Yi Lan, kneeling at the center of the domain, maintained the seal, her Qi escaping from her body in increasingly thin pink filaments. She started when she felt a familiar presence behind her.

"BaiShe?" she stammered, her sapphire eyes widening in terror. "Why? You should have left! The domain will collapse in a few minutes!"

BaiShe approached her, walking on the broken mirrors. He stopped right in front of her and placed a delicate hand on her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"Just like in the Era of the Origins... you remain someone dear to me, Lan’er..." he murmured softly. "But do not confuse my affection with weakness. You acted without my consent. For that, you will have to be punished... but first, let us finish this together as in that era..."

Yi Lan trembled with her whole body, a tear of gratitude rolling down her cheek. She felt BaiShe’s Qi link with hers, miraculously stabilizing her Dantian which was on the verge of imploding.

"You... you have really changed, BaiShe..." she murmured in a breath. "... The Demon I loved was an insatiable void. But you... you are... I love you."