Shan Zhen moved through the estate like a shadow streaking across the rooftops, his feet barely touching the curved tiles before propelling him forward again.
He soon reached the place where the battle had taken place just moments ago.
The signs were everywhere.
Cracked stone.
Burnt wood.
Fragments of talismans still smoldering in corners.
But no bodies.
He landed briefly atop a cracked pavilion roof, crouching low as his eyes swept the courtyard below.
His spiritual sense expanded outward—farther—stretching across the entire compound.
The lingering Qi in the air was too recent; the energy hadn't dissipated. The battle had only just ended.
> "There's lingering Qi of several Foundation Establishment cultivators, but apart from that, there isn't a single trace of the elders. Not Meilin. Not Han. Not Yulan. Not even Jinhai. No signs of anyone leaning out of this compound—it's as if they simply vanished without a trace. Though... I can faintly sense another energy."
His spiritual sense stretched outward, tracing the faint flickers of energy drifting away from the compound.
His eyes narrowed.
He followed the trail—the shards of energy flickering faintly in the air. The scent of blood and scorched stone was still sharp.
How?
That energy... though faint, he couldn't be mistaken.
That was the energy of a demonic beast at Foundation Establishment level.
How did a demonic beast of such power breach the formation without raising alarms?
Destroying it wouldn't be trivial for someone of that cultivation, but to pass through without even so much as a flicker suggested it knew its way through the defense —or used some unorthodox method to sneak in.
The others must have discovered it and engaged, but it wasn't alone.
There was a faint lingering trace of another demon beast.
If he followed the trail, maybe he'd uncover the truth, what's going on.
His mind raced.
He turned sharply, sending his spiritual sense toward the Head Elder quarters.
But—
Nothing.
> "Huh. Even Elder Lianhai presence is gone…"
His expression hardened. The light beneath his feet pulsed once—and he vanished, dashing toward the heart of the estate.
---
Confrontation and End
In a courtyard deep within the estate, a fox stood calmly under the moonlight.
The lizard's tiny paws clutched the pouch tightly, its golden eyes gleaming faintly in the dark of night.
Perched on the fox's head, its tail twitching with slow, deliberate rhythm.
Eyes gleaming, a smile played on the fox's muzzle.
> "With this, I now possess four Earth-grade tools."
Its sharp ears flicked at a subtle shift in spiritual energy—a presence approaching.
Without a word, the fox's head snapped toward the incoming Qi.
Eyes narrowing, it muttered under its breath, voice low but clear:
> "Oh? We were just about to come looking for you.
But you've come to offer yourself instead."
The lizard's gaze followed, alert but calm.
---
Shan Zhen landed silently on the rooftop of a nearby building, his gaze locking on the two figures below.
A fox with a small creature perched calmly on its head.
That was it?
His eyes narrowed, scanning. No human. No corpses. Just... them.
> Two Foundation Establishment demonic beasts?
Then where are the others? Where are the elders?
I still can't sense their presence…
His spiritual sense surged outward, fast and searching—but the moment he reached—
> "No need to look for them."
The fox's voice cut in, smooth and certain.
> "They're already dead.
All six of them."
The words hit like a blow to the chest.
Shan Zhen's breath caught.
> Dead? No... That's not possible.
Not Meilin. Not Han. Not Yulan. Not even Jinhai. And Elder Lianhai too?
That's six Foundation cultivators. Five early-stage, one mid-stage.
Even if these two are mid-stage, how could they have killed them so easily?
There are no signs of a hard battle... barely any destruction.
But no matter how deep he searched, he found nothing—not even a fading trace of their spiritual signatures.
His chest tightened.
> If it's true... if they're all dead... then this clan...
The Shen clan is already on the brink of destruction. If I die here too—
He reached for his robe. Inside, a jade slip—an emergency beacon. He pushed Qi into it.
> If I can't stop them, I can at least alert the other two families. If they move quickly, they might—
The fox was already moving, without warning.
Its turquoise eyes gleamed, voice like a sigh:
> "Tsk. And here I thought you'd try something clever."
Shan Zhen didn't even react. He'd already been trapped in an illusion.
Pain tore through his chest.
He gasped—snapping out of the illusion just
Behind him, the lizard slowly turned visible, its tail piercing through Shan Zhen's chest, crackling with sparks of lightning.
The lizard was already in motion, jaws wide open, biting down on his neck—fangs sinking deep.
Blood burst from his nose and mouth.
The jade slip slipped from his hand—cracked, useless.
He tried to cry out, to will his spiritual sense forward, to scream through the formation lines—
But it was too late.
His vision swam as the lizard's jaws tightened.
He staggered back a step, one hand outstretched—
> No. I can't... not like this. Not before I—
His thoughts stopped.
His knees hit the ground. Then his body.
Still.
The fox approached, brushing ash off its fur with a casual flick of its tail.
> "And now, seven," it said softly.
Lizarius hovered above the corpse, golden eyes gleaming in silence.