Rain poured heavily from the sky as Yue Yun stood at the edge of a ruined temple deep within the Mortal Realm.
Water dripped from broken stone. Smoke lingered in the air. Something about this place felt wrong—unnaturally wrong.
The land itself felt… poisoned.
Mei Lin stepped up beside him, her expression tense. "This temple was once sacred," she said quietly. "Now… it's been corrupted."
A flash of blue light cut through the rain.
Ao Xuan appeared above them, his massive form coiling through the dark sky, his scales flickering uneasily.
"This is no natural decay," the dragon said, his voice low. "A seal has been broken."
Yue Yun's expression tightened.
He stepped forward carefully.
The ground beneath his feet felt strange—almost alive.
Broken stones lay scattered around him, each one marked with unfamiliar symbols. Dark energy pulsed faintly from them, rising and falling like a slow, steady heartbeat beneath the earth.
Then—
A violent gust of wind tore through the ruins.
Shadows burst outward, twisting and gathering, forming a circle around them.
From the center…
Something began to rise.
A demon emerged, its body cloaked in shifting black mist. Its eyes burned like fire, cutting through the rain as it fixed its gaze on Yue Yun.
"You're too late," it hissed.
"The seal is broken."
Its voice deepened.
"The path between realms… is waking."
Yue Yun stepped forward, his hand igniting with Skyfire. Blue flames flickered through the rain, casting sharp light across the ruins.
"Who did this?" he demanded.
The demon's form flickered, its smile slow and unsettling.
"He waits in the darkness," it said.
A pause.
"And soon… your sister will stand at his side."
That was enough.
Yue Yun's eyes hardened.
In one swift motion, he raised his hand.
Blue flames surged forward, racing across the ground before exploding upward, wrapping around the demon in a blazing storm of Skyfire.
The creature screamed—
Then dissolved into smoke.
Gone.
Only the rain remained.
But the damage… was already done.
Mei Lin turned to him, her voice tense. "That was a Realm Seal," she said. "One of the ancient barriers meant to keep the Demonic Realm separate from the Celestial and Mortal worlds."
Yue Yun's heart pounded.
"If more of them are broken…"
Ao Xuan's voice cut in, heavy with certainty.
"Then the Three Realms will collide."