Far across the estate, in a chamber within one of the many pavilions of the Lin Clan estate, Elder Qianlong sat with his eyes closed, the faint hum of spiritual energy rippling through the air around him.
His senses—sharp and refined after decades of cultivation—twitched. A tremor in the spiritual flow, subtle but unmistakable, brushed against his awareness.
His eyes snapped open.
The disturbance was suddenly gone. Not just gone—it had collapsed, vanished entirely, leaving behind only a faint, lingering echo that faded just as quickly into nothing.
Qianlong's expression stiffened, a shadow crossing his normally composed face.
> Huh… it has moved.
He leaned forward, hands gripping the edge of the finely carved wooden table. The spiritual pressure he had been monitoring—Lin Canghua's presence, once wrapping around the estate—was no longer detectable. Every trace of its energy had disappeared.
> What's this…?
A cold sweat prickled along his temples. His heart beat faster—not from fear, but from calculation. It had left no trail, no ripple, no distortion. It had moved as though it had never existed at all.
He let his senses sweep outward, probing the estate. The residual qi fluctuations from the courtyard reached out faintly, but even those were fading. The battle had ended, and the only presence left was that of the Third Layer demon—and the whispers of devastation.
> Elder Lin Canghua…
His jaw tightened. The thought weighed heavily. A Sixth Layer cultivator—an elder of the Lin Clan—was gone. And the one responsible had been a demon beast at merely the Third Layer.
Qianlong rose slowly, robes brushing the floor, eyes narrowing. He raised a hand, fingertips glowing faintly with spiritual energy.
> Whoever—or whatever—that Third Layer might be, it doesn't matter. Somehow, some way, they were able to deal with one at the Sixth Layer like that… they are not to be underestimated.
He let out a slow breath, the muscles in his shoulders tensing.
> If the others have also sensed this… they'll already be scrambling. But no matter what we do now—it's too late.
Outside, the wind carried faint wisps of residual qi, twisting through the chamber and out into the open air, almost covering the entire building. Qianlong's eyes followed them—sharp, calculating.
> I need to move. I cannot wait.
With that, the elder vanished in a ripple of spiritual energy, leaving the chamber empty save for the faint hum of lingering qi—the last echoes of a storm that had swept through, leaving silence in its wake.
Qianlong emerged atop the roof of a nearby building, faint traces of spiritual qi still lingering around him. His sharp eyes swept across the estate below, searching for anything out of place.
Behind him, three more elders of the Lin Clan appeared in quick succession, their robes fluttering in the wind, their spiritual presence layered and formidable. The air hummed with tension as the four elders gathered, their combined power radiating outward.
They paused. All at once, the barrier—the defensive formation that had enveloped the estate, warding off intruders—shuddered violently.
Cracks ran along its surface, spiderwebbing through the ethereal shield. A faint hum rose, followed by a splintering sound—like a thousand glass shards shattering at once.
Before their eyes, the barrier dissolved completely, vanishing in an instant. The estate, once cocooned within its protective dome, now lay exposed—vulnerable to the unseen threat that had already swept through its halls.
The four elders froze, shock painted across their faces. Their spiritual senses screamed alarm, scanning every corner for disturbances—but all they found were collapsing echoes of qi, traces of battle lingering like shattered fragments.
Qianlong's gaze darkened. His hand tightened into a fist.
> Impossible… the formation… it's gone.
One of the other elders, Elder Yingshi, let out a low hiss of disbelief.
> The entire estate's defensive formation… shattered? And without warning?
Another, Elder Meirong, swayed slightly, as though the sheer weight of the revelation had knocked her off balance.
> If they could break it… without even showing themselves… what kind of power are we dealing with?
The air around them trembled faintly, carrying the residual tension of a battle fought elsewhere—far too deadly to have left anyone unscathed.
Qianlong's eyes narrowed, scanning the estate with calculating intensity.
> Whoever—or whatever—did this… is already inside. And they've just announced themselves.
A heavy silence fell over the group, broken only by the faint rustle of leaves in the wind. Every elder's senses stretched outward, probing for any trace—any signature—of the intruder.
But all they found were echoes… the faintest traces of qi, dispersed and unstable, like smoke in a gale.
> This isn't just an attack… it's a message. A warning. And they're telling us we've already lost the first move.
Qianlong's hand hovered near the hilt of his sword, energy rippling faintly along his robes.
> Then we have no choice. We move next. And we make sure they regret underestimating the Lin Clan.
The four elders exhaled slowly, a shared resolve settling over them—even as a cold, creeping dread filled the exposed estate.
From somewhere beyond the broken barrier, the faintest shimmer of movement hinted at a figure—or whatever had pierced the defenses—already observing, calculating, and waiting for the right moment to strike again.