A dense, unyielding mass of dark clouds swallowed the opening of an immense subterranean cavern suspended eerily in the storm-choked sky. Fierce winds howled outward like a ravenous beast's breath, its maw oozing destruction with every ragged snarl.

This was the forbidden gateway to the Shura Realm - a domain where demons and monstrosities thrived beyond mortal comprehension. The cavern hung above the ancient Shura Mountains far below, where countless elite warriors sat rigidly on mountain ridges, their gazes fixed upward through the swirling maelstrom as if awaiting a celestial omen.

After an eternal silence, ear-splitting shrieks tore from the abyss. Ink-black clouds gushed forth in violent torrents, spreading like spilled poison to blot out the sun and drape the northern frontier in midnight darkness. The Shura Mountains became a world without light, swallowed by this unnatural phenomena.

Suddenly, three hellish howls pierced the void as something monstrous burst through the cavern's maw. A beast unlike any found on the Five Elements Continent emerged - its thirteen-meter form bore three horned skulls crowned with obsidian spikes. Black scales shimmered like armor across a body armed with six iron-crescent claws and eyes glowing in violent hues of crimson, emerald, and sapphire.

The assembled Shura warriors gasped as they recognized this demon - the three-headed hellhound of the ninth stratum! Panic rippled through the mountain as diviners activated their protective barriers, bracing for the beast's onslaught. The creature loomed above them with fangs bared in a bone-chilling snarl.

"Relax," a deep voice rumbled from within the cavern. A towering figure emerged next, his bare torso etched with strange geometric tattoos that seemed to pulse with primal energy. At two meters tall, his sinewy frame exuded raw dominance as he stepped into the void like an unmovable mountain of flesh.

The hellhound immediately slunk low at this approach, grunting in submission while lowering its bulk for the man's mounting. With one fluid motion, the warrior planted himself atop the beast's back - a living spear piercing through muscle and sinew that sent the creature howling in pain yet remaining still as stone.

"Ao Gui!"

The Shura warriors erupted into cheers at his arrival.

"Master Ao Gui has returned!"

"Honor to our prodigal son!"

Straightening on his mount, he asked coldly, "Where is my father?"

A diviner bowed respectfully before hesitating. "He's recovering in the Xie Palace beneath the capital," they replied, suddenly awestruck. "My lord... you've reached the Nine Palaces Heaven realm?"

This revelation sent shockwaves through the crowd. Even the most beautiful Shura women couldn't suppress their admiration as their gazes lit up with starlight. This was a new era for their people - proof that even without King Ashura, their future remained in capable hands.

"Who would dare harm my father?" Ao Gui's voice turned frosty.

His sister Linying approached at this moment, her entrance alone stealing breath from every Shura male present. She carried the ethereal beauty of both human and demon - violet hair cascading past porcelain skin that contrasted starkly with the dark markings of her horns. Her curves were sculptural perfection, yet her delicate features defied all expectations.

"Linying," Ao Gui's rigid posture softened slightly as he looked at his sister. "How is Father?"

"A minor injury," she smiled sweetly before adding with a wink, "Actually, the King can't see you right now. He sent me to deliver this message - about a certain matter in the Western Regions."

Ao Gui groaned but relented after an exasperated glare at his sister's sly grin. With a forceful stomp that made the hellhound stumble, they turned skyward toward Shura Capital.

In the Western Deserts...

A lone figure trudged forward barefoot through endless dunes in perpetual twilight. During days, flames erupted from their skin like living pyres, while nights brought moonlight cascading over them as pure as liquid pearl. The traveler showed no signs of fatigue after weeks of unbroken journeying.

At first, desert wanderers mistook it for a supernatural being - those who approached too closely were found shattered beyond recognition. Soon the legend spread: this was no man but an incarnation of the heavens themselves.

By the time rain began to fall and stars ignited in the storm-darkened sky, the traveler opened crimson eyes that gleamed with divine power. "Ah," they whispered as sunbeams, moonlight, and constellations converged upon them all at once, "this must be what the Nine Palaces Heaven feels like."

(Please leave your votes for tomorrow's final chapter!)