"Sir, we have evacuated all the children safely."Two female guards knelt on one knee, their voices steady as they reported to the scholar lost in thought.
The man stirred from his silence, blinking back to reality.
"Good." His gaze swept across the courtyard, pausing at the crater where bodies still lay broken and lifeless. "One of you remain and dispose these corpses."
He turned without another word, his scholarly robes brushing against the ground. "The rest, follow me. Let's return."
"Yes, sir."
The guards obeyed, their figures shrinking in the night as they followed him beyond the manor gates.
Only one woman remained behind. She clasped her hands, then slowly raised her head to look at the crater. The heavy door shut behind her with a resounding bang, sealing her in silence.
Her eyes narrowed."Not only did they die… one of them even allowed herself to be captured by the Yunhua Empire."
Step by step, the guard approached the crater, her boots crunching against broken stone. Her calm façade began to unravel, anger seeping through her pores.
A black aura surged violently from her body. The pristine uniform of the empire dissolved into shadows, reforming into a black robe. Her long hair darkened to midnight, her veins bulging across her neck and forehead. She bit her lower lip, rage and frustration flashing in her bloodshot eyes.
"Trash." Her voice was hoarse with fury. "Not only did you fail… you've burdened me with more work."
Leaping into the crater, she strode toward the corpse of the female assassin, still propped upright, her dead eyes staring at the night sky from where her sword supported her body.
"Well…" The woman in black crouched before her. "At least you accomplished one thing."
With a cold sneer, she raised her hand. Two fingers stabbed into the dead assassin's eye sockets with sickening precision. Squirt— Blood burst outward, crimson spraying across the corpse's pale face. In her palm, two glistening orbs—bloodied eyeballs—rolled gently, reflecting faint light.
"The Technique of Capturing Shadows." She studied them with chilling calm. "Good. At least you preserved what you witnessed."
Within the crimson spheres, faint figures flickered. The woman's eyes hardened as she gazed at them."So… these are the two who disrupted our plans."
The bloodied eyeballs gleamed dully, reflecting the faint figures of Ye Kaishan and Song Yan within their crimson depths.
Her cold gaze lingered on their reflections as her aura darkened further.
"Do you think they're still in Starfall City?"
A man stepped out of a subspace rift beside her, his expression calm, yet eyes wary.
"I doubt it. But there's no guarantee they fled," she replied flatly, never lifting her eyes from the captured images.
"Either way, Chi Ruo…" The man studied the faint images in the blood-soaked orbs. "We should leave this place."
"You're right." She clenched the eyeballs tightly. "Let's go."
Their figures faded, vanishing into the shadows as though they had never been there.
The night bled into dawn. From the horizon, the sun rose with its army of twilight, scattering warmth across the land and forcing the lingering chill of night to retreat.
By morning, rumors of the previous night's chaos had already spread through Starfall City. The whispers ignited like wildfire, carrying from one district to another.
"Hey, have you heard about last night?"
"Heard? Hah, I saw the glow of battle myself in the dark corners of the residential area!"
"They say it was the work of an evil sect."
"Kidnapping children, refining them into strength… despicable. Even among cultivators, that's a line you don't cross."
"Tsk. What else do you expect from such vermin?"
"I heard they were from the Eastern Continent. Someone was captured alive—don't you know?"
Fear, outrage, and curiosity rippled through the populace, swelling until even the common folk debated the unseen war waged in their midst.
At the Yunhua Tower, the scholar sat quietly by a wide window, overlooking the sprawling city below. His scholarly robes hung neatly, his posture calm, but his eyes betrayed deep thought.
"It seems last night's incident has drawn much attention." He sipped his tea, then asked without looking back, "Did the prisoner speak?"
A female guard knelt before him."No, sir. Despite relentless interrogation and torture, the only information obtained was his connection to the Eastern Continent. Nothing more."
The scholar exhaled softly, placing his cup back on the table."...I see. You may go."
"Yes, sir." She bowed, clasped her hands, and retreated.
The scholar remained in silence, his gaze fixed on drifting clouds. His thoughts grew darker.
"One of our own guards was found dead last night within Yunhua Tower. Her blood was drained dry… her Dao companion also slain. Such cruelty…
" His hand tightened on the armrest. "Still, at least we now hold something in our grasp. Let us hope the force behind all this is not greater than the Yunhua Empire itself."
His sigh echoed softly through the chamber as the sun climbed higher, washing the land in its golden rays.
Southern Continent – Starfall City, Starport of the Dark Valley
At the edge of the vast valley stood the colossal starport, a harbor large enough to house flying boats capable of carrying thousands. The air buzzed with life as cultivators and mortals alike prepared for departures across the continents.
"The boat to the Eastern Continent will soon depart!" an old woman's voice boomed from atop the towering ship, her announcement rippling across the waiting crowds.
"Ye Kaishan, hurry! We're late!" Song Yan's voice was sharp as she pulled him along.
Ye Kaishan frowned as he ran at her side. "Wouldn't it be easier to just teleport inside the boat?"
"No." Song Yan shot him a look. "This is Starfall City—the capital of the empire. Use of laws is strictly forbidden near the port. And besides,
if you use space laws here, it will attract attention. The guards of Yunhua Empire would descend instantly. After last night's incident, they're already alert for any signs of space law."
"...Fine," Ye Kaishan muttered, keeping pace as they reached the towering vessel.
A woman stood at the boarding platform, calmly checking each passenger. Her gaze lingered briefly on Song Yan."How many in your party?" she asked lightly.
"Two," Song Yan answered calmly.
The woman's eyes flicked toward Ye Kaishan before she retracted her gaze. "One hundred soul stones each. That will be—"
Before she could finish, Song Yan tossed two heavy bags toward her. The woman caught them and peeked inside. The glitter of soul stones reflected in her eyes.
"Well then…" she said smoothly, stepping aside. "You may enter."
Without another glance, Song Yan and Ye Kaishan ascended the stairs, their figures disappearing into the towering ship as the port buzzed with anticipation.
The port buzzed with anticipation as the massive flying boat lifted from its moorings. With a low, resonant hum, it drifted slowly into the sky, gliding toward the unseen horizon beyond the vast valley.
Ye Kaishan stood at the railing, his eyes fixed on Starfall City, which grew smaller and smaller with each passing moment until it was but a speck against the endless land.
"So… finally, the Eastern Continent, huh?" he murmured under his breath. His gaze shifted downward, but all his eyes met was a yawning abyss of darkness.
"Even though they say it's a valley, I can't see its end," Ye Kaishan whispered, brows furrowing as the ship floated steadily over the abyss.
"Are you curious about this valley?" Song Yan's voice came softly, her own eyes lowered toward the void.
Ye Kaishan glanced at her, then back at the abyss. "The ship is moving slower than before—probably because we're crossing this place. What exactly lies beneath it?"
Her expression grew calm, yet solemn. "This is the Valley of the Unknown. It stretches across the world, separating the four continents from the central one.
Anyone who has fallen into it… has never climbed out."
Her tone hardened as she spoke, carrying a quiet weight that made the air between them heavy.
"Never returned?" Ye Kaishan frowned. "So there's truly something down there?"
"I don't know," Song Yan spoke, her voice steady but grim.
"Many cultivators have tried to descend, but none who ventured deep inside ever returned.
Those who barely touched its edges reported that after a certain depth, the source laws of cultivation are forcefully suppressed. And those who dared go further… their bodies began to collapse, torn apart by something they couldn't resist."
Ye Kaishan's eyes narrowed as he gazed into the abyss below, its darkness endless, almost alive. So it's that dangerous… he thought, a spark of curiosity and defiance flickering in his chest. I wonder… if my space laws would work within that void.
Song Yan caught the curiosity flickering in Ye Kaishan's eyes and a faint smile to curved her lips.
When I first heard about it, I was curious as well, she thought. For ordinary cultivators, it's impossible… but those who have surpassed the Emperor Realm—perhaps they might be capable of venturing inside.
Her gaze lingered on the endless darkness below as the steady hum of the flying boat carried them across the night.
"You should rest," Song Yan finally said, closing her eyes as she sat cross-legged to meditate. "It will take half a month before we reach the Eastern Continent."
"Half a month, huh…" Ye Kaishan murmured, tilting his head back to watch the drifting clouds. His gaze lingered on the vast, starlit sky above, while the abyss below swallowed all light into endless shadow.