At dawn, the elders of the Nine Saint Demon Gate had made their preparations in full.
They sent a formal invitation to Li Qiye, asking him to proceed to the sect's deepest ground.
Chief Protector Yu He himself drove the carriage — a task that, under normal heaven and earth, would be unthinkable.
Yu He was a Peer King of the Dao, a power so immense that his footsteps alone could shake rivers and lands.
Yet today, this supreme figure served as coachman to Li Qiye. If word spread, the world would laugh itself silent.
### The Forbidden Peak
The Nine Saint Demon Gate traced its origin to the grand sage known as the Nine Saint Heavenly Demon.
Age after age, it flourished by the hands of countless ancestors, until it stood at the very summit of the Great Domain.
Its holy lands were vast and potent, saturated with spiritual essence. Mist rose like smoke between mountain and river, never dispersing.
Deeper still lay a solitary peak, crowned by a sealed cavern older than memory. Around it, ancient vines clung like serpents; the great mushrooms shone purple as umbrellas.
On the wind drifted a breath of ages — boundless, eternal.
That cave mouth, weather‑stained and cracked by time, was the sect's greatest taboo: TheHolySanctum.
Only elders and above could even stand before it.
### A Treasure of Legend
Since the sect's birth, the Holy Sanctum had haunted every disciple's curiosity.
Rumors claimed a world‑shaking treasure slumbered within — left by the founder himself.
For millennia, countless sect masters and brilliant saints had tried in vain.
It was said that after the Nine Saint Sage founded the sect, he sealed away his final legacy there.
Some believed he did so to shield the sect from unworthy descendants, that should Nine Saint ever fall, this cavern would ensure its return to glory.
Every generation believed an Emperor's treasure lay hidden inside — a gift bestowed by Immortal Emperor Mingren himself to honor the Sage's service.
But the Sage had never passed that artifact to his heirs. Thus the world assumed it was sealed within this very mountain.
An Emperor Artifact — forged by Mingren's own hand and tempered in wars across the Nine Heavens — was a power beyond comparison.
Whoever possessed it could crush all realms.
### The Seal of Nine Saint
Now the elders stood in solemn formation before the cave. The ancient wall bore scars of time; trees beside it split like dragon scales.
Upon the left wall was engraved four characters:
"HeavenlyDemon—OnlyMe!"
The strokes were bold, alive with the founder's breath, each line piercing the heavens.
Though the eras had weathered stone and soul alike, the inscription still radiated undying awe.
It was the Founder's own calligraphy. Many believed the key to unlocking the Sanctum lay hidden within those words.
Some said if one could present a true matching couplet, the gate would open.
Others argued the phrase itself contained the Dao of Heaven, its strokes woven to the laws of creation — reading and comprehending them would grant access.
For millennia, countless scholars, sages, and emperors had studied it. None had succeeded.
### Heavenly Demon and Crow
Li Qiye gazed upon the four characters and smiled faintly. A flicker of memory lit his eyes.
Ages ago, as the Dark Crow, he had once invited the Nine Saint Sage to serve as Dao Protector for Immortal Emperor Mingren.
At that time, the Sage had not yet taken the title of Nine Saint; he called himself the HeavenlyDemonofNineSaints, arrogant and fierce.
When Li Qiye had made the offer, the Sage snorted and replied with sheer defiance:
"HeavenlyDemon—OnlyMe!"
Li Qiye chuckled quietly at that old boast. How many eras had faded since then?
He himself had entered slumber; the Emperor had ascended; the Sage had raised this sect and left this message behind —
and with it, an unspoken request that if the Crow ever woke again, he might guide the sect once more.
He understood the riddle at a glance. Yet under the elders' watchful eyes, he had no reason to reveal his hand too soon.
### Pretending to Ponder
He stepped closer, tapping the rock, brushing dust from its edges, as if studying every mark.
The elders held their breath. None dared interfere.
After a long while, Li Qiye sat cross‑legged before the gate, eyes closed as if in deep meditation.
The sun passed its zenith; by evening, he had not moved.
As the sky burned crimson, whispers rose among the elders.
"Is he even doing anything?" one murmured. "Perhaps he's just putting on a show."
But memories of his previous miracles — the Heart‑Disrupting Forest, the Guardians — restrained their tongues.
"Tch, luck alone," another grumbled, unable to bear the shame of letting an outsider try where they had failed for a million years.
### "One Field of Feathers"
"Bring ink and brush," Li Qiye's voice broke the stillness.
At once they complied. He accepted the tools with a measured smile.
"So that's it... as expected of you, Nine Saint Sage."
He dipped his brush and scribed four characters on the blank right‑hand wall:
"AFieldofFeathers!"
The characters were crooked and childish, completely unworthy of the left wall's divine calligraphy.
Placed side by side, the pair looked almost absurd — a travesty of a couplet.
"Heavenly Demon — Only Me. A Field of Feathers."
For a heartbeat, the hall fell silent — then eruption.
"Insolence! You dare mock our founder!" roared an elder, voice like thunder.
Li Qiye cast him a glance of boredom.
"A martial brute dares lecture on the soul of words? You understand nothing of your ancestor's intent, yet you shout like a child."
"You —!" the elder started forward —
Then came the sound.
Groan—Groan—
The holy mountain shook, stone splitting like ice.
Before their staring eyes, the sealed cavern began to open.
For ten million years no hand had moved that door. Now, with those four clumsy words, it yielded.
"Impossible..." someone whispered, stupefied.
Li Qiye smiled, his tone light as mist.
"After all, your esteemed founder was once a chicken spirit. So naturally— a field of feathers."
He did not bother to explain further.
The truth was his alone to recall:
In that ancient era, the so‑called Nine Saint Sage had once defied him, only to be subdued and forced back into his true form — a crowing bird, feathers scattered to the ground.
And Li Qiye had laughed then, naming the scene: onefieldoffeathers.