What Wei Du didn't know was that his entire conversation was being heard by the small phoenix hovering silently above his head. The tiny bird's presence was so faint and its movement so natural that it had gone completely unnoticed.
Wei Du entered the chamber, searching for Fang Ren. He checked every corner, behind pillars, and in the shadows, but found nothing. The boy had disappeared.
Then, without warning, a hand emerged from the darkness behind him and grabbed his neck with an iron grip. Fang Ren appeared, his expression completely calm as he began the demonic absorption process.
"You, how—my stealth can't be seen so easily," Wei Du gasped, struggling against the hold.
Faint glitters of light from the true phoenix moving above revealed the cultivator's position, enough for Fang Ren to track him perfectly. The phoenix's scales shimmered as it circled overhead, betraying the assassin's hiding spots.
Fang Ren remained indifferent throughout the process, not feeling the weight of taking a life this time. It was simply another step in his cultivation.
[MEMORY FRAGMENT ACQUIRED - OPEN?]
"Yes," Fang Ren commanded mentally.
A flood of memories washed through his mind. He saw Wei Du's plans, some of the cult's strategies, and something that made him pause—his father was alive. Li Renxiao hadn't disappeared at all. He was deliberately in hiding, aware of the movements happening across all continents. Demonic sects, cultists, unorthodox factions, and supreme beings were all making aggressive moves, and the Divine Sword was avoiding direct involvement.
The memory also revealed something troubling: the cult had already placed spies within the Eternal Nights Sect, specifically waiting for Fang Ren's arrival to kidnap or eliminate him there.
"This is troublesome now. Is this going to happen every time?" Fang Ren muttered to himself, the weight of constant threats pressing down on him.
But he also wondered why Wei Du was so weak despite being a vice sect leader. He didn't realize that Wei Du's only real strength was his concealment technique. Everything else was mediocre.
Later that evening, Fang Ren peeked inward at his primeval sea. The small land inside had grown slightly larger again. He'd read in novels about cultivators so powerful they could create galaxies and entire worlds within their own being, but he'd always thought it was exaggeration. Now he wasn't so sure.
"The land inside is slowly growing from all sides. Maybe it's also related to my recent encounters and absorptions," he thought, sensing his spiritual power had enhanced noticeably. But besides that, it was still just a small, barren piece of land.
__________
Deep inside a cave in the Qingzhou mountains, about sixty people dressed in dark robes sat in a circular formation, discussing urgent matters. A woman in the group spoke first, her voice sharp with frustration.
"What happened to Wei Du? Was he discovered and killed by the Li family so quickly? How pathetic. He just had to kidnap one kid."
A slightly older man stepped forward, expression serious.
"From what I've gathered, there were no signs of fighting at their estate. It's strange."
Another cultist raised his voice.
"Was he killed, or did he betray us?"
"Why would he betray us? And who would accept someone like him anyway?" someone replied.
"Maybe he's just hidden in their territory, waiting for a better opportunity to strike," another suggested.
A younger cultivator spoke up with growing concern.
"Leader, it seems we need help from the higher-ups. We're nothing but useless geese here."
"No. If we go to them like this, they'll think us incompetent, and none of us will get promoted," the leader said with grim expression.
A man wearing a mask—one of the middle-ranked members of the cult—stepped forward. The mask was shaped like a fox with golden linings. This was Huan Hu, known as the Phantom Fox, one of the middle echelons of the entire cult organization. He wore a grey robe layered with white, and his hair was streaked with grey despite his powerful presence.
"Ask him to stop hiding and attack immediately. I've heard reports that the three families are planning against us. They'll be here in one or two days," Huan Hu commanded coldly. "That old patriarch Juntian wants to use our new recruits as training for his clansmen. We still need to find the Divine Sword."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and within seconds, they all vanished from the cave, dispersing into the night.
The old man from the cult ran toward the crowded capital city, his expression troubled.
"I don't know where Wei Du went this time. He always acts alone, but how did he stop sending messages?" he muttered to himself.
He pulled out a soul bead from his pocket—an expensive item created by master artisan Ning Xuan. Unlike normal communication methods, these beads could only send one-way messages. There was no way to confirm if the recipient had received it or was even alive.
He crushed the bead between his palms.
"Brother Wei, I hope you respond quickly to this message. We need to act immediately," he whispered.
A bluish ray of light shot from his palm toward the west, traveling in the direction of the Li estate.
*****
Meanwhile, Fang Ren was eating the food that Butler Yong had brought him. The soup was hot, and he exclaimed in mock pain as he tasted it.
"Oops... it's hot. Hehe, just when I feel hungry, you're here," he said to the butler.
As they talked, Fang Ren noticed something different about the food today. It looked better prepared than usual, with more variety.
"What's going on? Is there something special today? The food looks quite good," he asked.
Butler Yong smiled.
"Oh, did young master not know? Lord Zhuang Jian and a few other clansmen successfully destroyed one of the demonic sect's information bases and one of the cult's main bases. The entire estate is celebrating. There's even a banquet being held right now."
Fang Ren's eyes widened slightly.
"Tch, I should have gone too, I guess," he said, a hint of regret in his voice.
Back at the cult cave, the news finally arrived. One of the cultists received the message about Wei Du.
"At least he wasn't a traitor," someone said quietly.
"Idiot, that's not the point!" another snapped.
But there was a problem—there were no signs of battle at the Li family estate. Nothing was destroyed, no bodies, no evidence of a struggle. How could Wei Du be dead if there was no evidence?
Huan Hu, the Phantom Fox, stood up slowly. His masked face turned toward his subordinates.
"That's enough. There's no need to care about Wei Du anymore. This time, the joint operation of those ancient families has weakened us considerably. And they're not going to stop with just one base."
He clenched his fist, and the sound was like thunder in the silent cave.
"One entire branch and three of our high elders were killed. One of them was from our side. Half our losses came from the Li clan's counterattack. Their strength is nothing to scoff at. We should refrain from making direct moves against the Li family for the time being," Huan Hu commanded. "I will report all these losses to the imperial court of the Nine Nether Abyss Alliance."
Though he'd decided to stop attacking the Li family directly, that didn't mean the cult would cease their operations against other targets.
Two days passed. The banquet had concluded, and people were celebrating their victory. But the next day brought bad news that shattered the mood.
Butler Yong approached Fang Ren again, but this time his expression was grave.
"Young master, something terrible has happened," he said quietly.
Fang Ren looked up from his meal.
"What happened? Weren't you all joyful at yesterday's banquet? Although I didn't attend because I didn't want to waste time with greedy old men bragging about their successors."
Butler Yong's face was pale.
"The Bai family's entire treasury was infiltrated by cultists. They released poisonous gas and set their ancestral building on fire. Hundreds of people died, young master. Their farming lands for spirit herbs were destroyed, all their tamed magical beasts were killed. While the family leaders were here celebrating with us, the cultists attacked their undefended territories."
Fang Ren felt a chill run down his spine. The situation had escalated far beyond what he'd imagined.
"They moved that quickly?" he asked, his tone serious now.
"Yes. The cultists are far stronger and more organized than anyone realized. They're not just a small unit anymore. They're operating like a major faction—as powerful as the demonic sects and orthodox sects," Butler Yong explained as his voice shaked slightly.
Fang Ren set down his food, his mind racing. The cultists were clearly playing a bigger game than anyone had anticipated, and this might even interrupt his plan to gather treasures and even joining a sect, the Mo clan fight was like a pebble in this lake.