*End of the Era of the Origins... Ruins of the Obsidian Palace of the Clan of Pride...*

The sky of this era was nothing but a permanent battlefield where the laws of physics bent under the will of primordial powers.

Phoenixes immolated the clouds with their wingbeats while Titans reshaped mountains with every step. In this chaos of pure power, humans were nothing more than insignificant vermin, miserable creatures dying by the thousands in the crossfire of this war of lineages.

Yet it was at the heart of this devastation, in the still-smoking ruins of a draconic palace whose black stone pillars collapsed like charred bones, that a slave auction of refined cruelty was taking place.

The air was saturated with a nauseating mixture of smells: the cold iron of dried draconic blood, the acrid smoke of fires, and above all, the heavy and heady musk of Celestial Foxes. These creatures were the pariahs of the Era of the Origins, cursed by the Dao itself.

Their crime lay in their innate Qi, an essence of seduction so pure that it could make the will of the most seasoned warrior waver. For the dominant races, they were not living beings, but resources, tools of pleasure or currencies of exchange.

Xuan BaiShe advanced through the debris with an assurance that defied his own stature. He wore a white linen tunic of insulting cleanliness against the surrounding dust. His long silver hair, the tips of which turned ink black, floated slightly without any breath of wind crossing the devastated hall.

Although he was a human devoid of any real cultivation base at this time, his aura of calm and sovereign contempt imposed silence. He was already called the Celestial Demon, a terrifying entity renowned for devouring essences, even though in reality he survived only through cunning and strategic intelligence that he put at the service of Queen Long Huang before she was sealed.

He stopped in front of a row of iron cages. Inside, Celestial Foxes were chained, their silky tails dragging in the dust. Their sapphire eyes were misty with tears and terror. The slave merchant, a massive Titan whose Overlord Qi pulsed with misplaced arrogance, approached him while rubbing his calloused hands.

"Lord Demon..." began the merchant with an oily smile that revealed yellowed teeth. "What an honor to see you here, in the middle of these ruins. You are surely looking for something to brighten your nights in the obsidian palace?"

BaiShe did not turn his head toward him. He adjusted his monocle, observing the slaves with curiosity. His silver gaze stopped on an isolated cage at the back of the aisle. Inside, a young fox was curled up. Her vibrant pink hair was tangled, and her nine tails twitched nervously. Unlike the others who were moaning, she remained silent, her pink eyes flashing with pure hatred toward anyone who approached.

"That one is special..." noted the merchant following BaiShe’s gaze. "She is the wildest of the lot. She bit three of my guards this morning. She has temperament, Lord Demon. She will make a perfect toy..."

BaiShe approached the iron cage. The spiritual pressure he simulated thanks to hidden artifacts made the ground crack under his silk boots. The fox, Yi Lan, suddenly straightened up. She bared her fangs, a low growl emanating from her throat, but she was unable to look away from the young man’s silver pupils.

She instantly felt that this human was not like the other predators she had encountered. There was a darkness in him, a depth that seemed vaster than the abyss itself."

"Beauty is only waste if it is not paired with a purpose..." replied BaiShe in a monotone voice, his tone remaining perfectly calm despite the fury of the creature before him. "I am buying her for her potential for destruction, not for the fantasies of idiots..."

The merchant paused, disconcerted by the answer. He had expected negotiation on physical attributes or the purity of her lust Qi, but BaiShe spoke of her like a weapon of war. However, dragon gold was not refused, especially when offered by the former right-hand man of Queen Long Huang... The only one who had ever survived the Rakshasa. Or at least that is what everyone believed.

"If that is your wish, my Lord..." stammered the merchant while bowing his head. "But be careful. Her Qi is unstable. The Dao cursed her so that her desire consumes everything she touches."

BaiShe made a gesture with his hand, and a bag of high-quality spiritual stones landed at the merchant’s feet with a heavy sound. He took a key from his sleeve, a relic capable of breaking iron seals, and opened the cage. Yi Lan did not jump on him to slit his throat. She remained frozen, observing the pale hand that BaiShe extended to her.

"Come out of there, little fox..." he ordered softly. "The world you knew is dead under the flames of the Dragons. But in my shadow, you will find a place that the Dao did not plan for your species."

Yi Lan hesitated. She felt her seduction Qi boiling in her own veins, that power that drove men mad and pushed them to rape or kill her. But facing BaiShe, her Qi seemed to calm down, as if it had encountered an impassable wall of logic and coldness. She finally placed her delicate hand in the human’s hand. The contact was electric, a soul resonance that made BaiShe’s empty Dantian tremble.

"Why me?" she murmured, her voice a melody broken by twenty years of captivity. "I am only an anomaly. A beast that everyone wants to abuse."

BaiShe pulled her out of the cage with surprising strength, forcing her to stand before him. He ignored the lustful gazes of the other buyers who moved aside as he passed.

"Because in this world dominated by the beasts of Origins, we are both anomalies..." he replied as they began to walk toward the exit of the ruined palace. "My cunning and your hundred faces will be the poison that will make thrones tremble. The Dao may have cursed you, but this young scholar never intended to follow the rules of heaven."

Yi Lan followed him. She observed the back of this man who walked through the debris of an empire with the nonchalance of a sovereign in his own garden. She did not yet know that she had just met her obsession, the being for whom she would eventually sacrifice her tails, her Qi and her very existence. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The slave merchant watched them walk away, a feeling of unease suddenly washing over him. He had sold a fox, but seeing BaiShe leave, he had the impression of having placed the fuse of a bomb in the hands of an arsonist.

Eons later, they would bloody the nine Kingdoms under the name of the Celestial Demon and his Hundred Faces Demoness.

"So what is your name?"

"Yi Lan..."

"Prepare yourself, Lan’er." added BaiShe as they crossed the monumental gates of the palace, leaving behind the smell of blood. "Your education begins tonight. You will learn that beauty is the most effective of weapons..."