The air in the Green Wolf King's banquet hall was thick—a heavy, suffocating mixture of aged wine, roasted meat, and the lingering pheromones of powerful cultivators. By the time the moon had reached its zenith, the revelry had peaked. Most of the men were swimming in a golden haze of intoxication, their defenses lowered by the sheer volume of spiritual liquor they had consumed. Only Luo Zhen remained clear-headed, his eyes tracking the room with the quiet precision of a predator.
Xie Jun, his face flushed a deep, pomegranate red, slammed his goblet onto the table. The wood groaned under the impact. He leaned in, his voice loud and dangerously indiscreet. "The Corpse Cave," he slurred, the words cutting through the ambient noise like a blade. "We can't push it back any further! We need to move. Now. Before someone else sniffs out the treasure."
The silence that followed was instantaneous and deafening. It was as if the room itself had run out of oxygen. Xie Jun's eyes went wide, the fog of alcohol evaporating in a sudden surge of adrenaline. He didn't look at his host, nor at his companions. His gaze snapped instinctively toward Luo Zhen.
The others followed suit. Wei Rui's hand froze halfway to his mouth; the Green Wolf King's smile didn't fade, but it hardened into something brittle and artificial. They were all staring at the one man who wasn't supposed to know.
Luo Zhen didn't flinch. He remained reclined in his chair, a picture of effortless nonchalance. He had been listening, of course, but he knew the value of playing the fool in a room full of paranoid kings. He felt the weight of their collective gaze—a mix of fear, calculation, and burgeoning hostility.
"Well," Luo Zhen said, breaking the tension as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with a casual air of boredom. "It seems the wine has finally caught up with everyone. I didn't catch a word of that, but I can see the evening has reached its natural conclusion. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll retire for the night."
He rose without waiting for an answer. His movements were fluid, showing no sign of the drinks he had shared. He walked out of the residence, leaving the heavy silence behind him, and headed toward the row of stone villas reserved for the City Lords.
As he walked, his mind raced. The Corpse Cave. The name alone suggested something ancient and foul, likely a burial ground of high-level cultivators or demons whose remains had refused to settle into the earth. If men like the Green Wolf King were this terrified of the secret getting out, the bounty inside wasn't just gold—it was power.
Back in his room, Luo Zhen sat in the darkness, staring at the moonlight filtering through the window. He knew he hadn't escaped the situation; he had simply moved the pieces to a different board.
Back at the feast, the atmosphere had turned from celebratory to poisonous.
"You idiot," Wei Rui hissed, his voice a low growl of fury once he was certain Luo Zhen was out of earshot. "Old Xie, do you have a hole in your brain? How could you let that slip in front of him?"
Xie Jun looked like he wanted to crawl into the floorboards. "I... I wasn't thinking! It's the Wolf King's place, we're all brothers here... I just forgot for a second that he was sitting right there."
"He heard it," Wei Rui said, his eyes narrowing. "Luo Zhen isn't some backwater brawler. He's sharp. He's suspicious. Right now, he's probably in his room figuring out how to blackmail us or find the cave himself."
Xie Jun tried to regain some semblance of bravado. "So what if he knows? The location is buried in the heart of the Red Desert. It took the Wolf King years of wandering to stumble upon that spiritual nexus by accident. Without the coordinates, Luo Zhen could search for a century and find nothing but sand."
Wei Rui shook his head. "It's not about him finding it. It's about him talking. If word reaches the two Great Demon Kings—the peak-stage monsters—they won't ask for an invitation. They'll descend on us, take the cave, and likely kill us all just to tidy up the loose ends. We'll lose everything."
The room went cold. The prospect of the Great Demon Kings getting involved was a death sentence for their ambitions.
"So we kill him," Xie Jun whispered, his hand drifting to the hilt of his weapon. "We team up. Right now. We strike before he can send a message out."
The Green Wolf King, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "And who among you wants to go first?" He looked at them with a pitying expression. "Did you not see what he did to Pang Hong? Luo Zhen is a monster in human skin. If the four of us attack him, yes, we might kill him. But at least two of us are going into the ground with him. Are you volunteering to be the sacrifice, Xie Jun?"
Xie Jun blanched and withdrew his hand.
"There is a better way," the Green Wolf King continued, his voice calm and melodic. "We don't kill him. We don't bribe him. We bring him in."
"Bring him in?" Wei Rui asked, incredulous. "You want to split the loot five ways instead of four?"
"Think, Wei Rui," the Wolf King urged. "Why haven't we cleared the deepest chambers of the cave yet? Because every time we try, those 'things' drive us back. We lack the raw, overwhelming martial power to break through the final seal. Luo Zhen is that power. If we bring him, we actually finish the job. A fifth of a mountain of treasure is better than a fourth of nothing."
The logic was cold and undeniable. Slowly, the panic in the room transformed into a grim, calculated resolve.
Luo Zhen was halfway into a meditative state when the rhythmic thud of footsteps reached his ears. He didn't open his eyes. Through his spiritual sense, he watched the four Kings approach his door. They weren't coming with weapons drawn; their auras were suppressed, almost humble.
"Come in, gentlemen," Luo Zhen said before they could even knock.
The door creaked open. The Green Wolf King led the way, his expression a mask of practiced diplomacy. He didn't waste time. He shut the door, bolted the windows, and pulled a translucent, lychee-sized orb from his sleeve.
As the orb glowed, a shimmering veil of energy expanded, wrapping the room in a sensory vacuum. Luo Zhen felt the outside world vanish. No sound could leave this bubble; no spiritual sense could penetrate it.
"A Sound-isolating Pearl," the Wolf King explained, holding the artifact aloft. "A bit of a luxury, but necessary for what we need to discuss. Daoist Luo, let's skip the games. You heard about the Corpse Cave. We're here to make sure that secret stays profitable for all of us."
Luo Zhen leaned back, crossing his arms. "I'm listening."
The Wolf King began to weave a tale of discovery and frustration. He spoke of the Red Desert, a wasteland where the ley lines of the world seemed to knot into a tangled mess. Five years ago, he had found a massive, subterranean necropolis. It wasn't just a grave; it was a reservoir of spiritual energy so potent it had begun to crystallize.
"The place is crawling with 'corpses'—not mere zombies, but high-level entities that have retained their martial instincts," the Wolf King said. "We've looted the outskirts, but the core remains untouched. There are high-grade spirit stones, rare herbs that only grow in the dark, and Iron Essence by the ton."
He paused, then reached into his ring and produced a small, grayish-white bead. It looked unremarkable, but the moment it appeared, a strange, floral scent—cloying and sweet—filled the air.
"This," the Wolf King said, "is a Corpse Bead. They are harvested from the hearts of the elite guardians. For a poison cultivator, they are an elixir of transformation. For a martial artist, they are the ultimate tool for body tempering. They harden the skin and strengthen the marrow beyond what any pill can achieve."
Luo Zhen's interest piqued. Body tempering was the foundation of his strength. If these beads were as potent as the Wolf King suggested, the Corpse Cave wasn't just a treasure hunt—it was a shortcut to his next breakthrough.
"And you're inviting me because you can't get past the gatekeepers," Luo Zhen surmised.
"Exactly," the Wolf King admitted. "We've hit a wall. With you, we can break it. We finish the Ranking Competition, return to our cities to prepare, and in fifteen days, we meet at the edge of the desert. Five-way split. Total secrecy. Do we have a deal?"
Luo Zhen weighed the risks. He knew they were dangerous allies, but he also knew they feared him more than they hated him. "Deal," he said.
The following morning, the sun rose over the arena with a harsh, unforgiving light. The Second Round of the City Ranking Competition was underway, and fate—or perhaps a clever organizer—had pitted Luo Zhen against both Xie Jun and Wei Rui in a two-on-one handicap match.
The crowd was electric. They had seen Luo Zhen's brutality the day before, and they wanted to see if the two veteran City Lords could bring the dark horse down.
Luo Zhen stepped into the arena, his black robes fluttering in the wind. Opposite him, Xie Jun and Wei Rui stood shoulder to shoulder. They looked grim, their previous night's camaraderie replaced by the professional mask of combatants.
"City Lord Luo," Xie Jun shouted, his voice carrying to the stands. "We know your strength. But for the honor of our cities, we cannot simply step aside!"
Luo Zhen chuckled. It was a good performance. They had to make it look real; otherwise, the Great Demon Kings watching from the high towers would suspect their newfound alliance. "Then come," Luo Zhen said, drawing the Green Brilliance Saber.
The fight began with a flash of cold steel.
Xie Jun and Wei Rui moved in perfect synchronization, their magic treasures—a heavy bronze bell and a pair of silver hooks—whirling through the air in complex arcs. To the spectators, it looked like a desperate, high-stakes struggle. Luo Zhen parried, his saber clashing against the bell with a resonance that shook the ground. He moved with a calculated sluggishness, giving the duo "face" by allowing them to press the attack.
He let the fight drag on for ten minutes, building the tension until the crowd was on the edge of their seats. Then, he decided it was time to end the theater.
Luo Zhen shifted his stance. The air around him suddenly dropped in temperature. He raised the Green Brilliance Saber high above his head, and the emerald light radiating from the blade intensified until it was blinding.
"Tyrant Emperor Kill!" he roared.
A fifty-meter blade of pure green energy erupted from the saber. It wasn't the hundred-meter monster he had used to decapitate Pang Hong—he was holding back, ensuring he didn't actually kill his new business partners—but it was still an awe-inspiring sight.
The blade descended like the hand of a god.
Xie Jun and Wei Rui acted their parts perfectly. They screamed in feigned desperation, throwing up every defensive barrier and shield in their arsenal. The emerald blade slammed into their defenses with the force of a falling mountain.
The explosion sent a shockwave through the arena, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. When the air cleared, Xie Jun and Wei Rui were lying outside the boundary lines of the arena. They were bruised and breathless, their robes torn, but they were very much alive.
The referee stepped forward, his voice booming over the stunned silence of the crowd. "The match is decided! Luo Zhen of Red Rock City is the victor!"
As Luo Zhen sheathed his blade and walked away, he caught the briefest of nods from the Green Wolf King in the stands. The deal was sealed. The competition was just a formality now. The real battle—the one that would determine the future of the region—lay waiting in the shifting sands of the Red Desert, inside the dark heart of the Corpse Cave.