Before Li Qiye could respond further, another elder stepped forward abruptly.
"Young Master," the elder said urgently, his voice tight with strain, "there is **more pressing news**."
The courtyard stilled at once.
"We received word not long ago," the elder continued, "that **Jinshi City** was also attacked… last night."
A ripple of shock passed through the gathered elders.
Li Qiye's eyes sharpened. "Jinshi City?"
"Yes," the elder replied gravely. "By the **same demons**."
His voice dropped further.
"The **demonic fox**… and its master—the **White Scale Demon**."
At the mention of that name, even the air seemed to tense.
"They struck in the **dead of night**," the elder went on. "Without warning. Without mercy. By dawn, it was already over."
Silence pressed down on the courtyard.
"All **Foundation Establishment cultivators** of **three major clans** in Jinshi City were slain," he said. "Not over days. Not across multiple battles."
He swallowed hard.
"In a **single night**."
Several elders inhaled sharply.
"One of the fallen," the elder added, his voice heavy, "was a **respected clan elder at the mid-stage—sixth layer of Foundation Establishment**."
The courtyard erupted into hushed murmurs.
"That's impossible…"
"A sixth layer…"
"In one night?"
Li Qiye's fists clenched.
Elder Lianhua's expression finally shifted—just slightly.
"A pattern," she said quietly.
The murmurs died instantly.
"This is no longer a test," she continued. "Nor an isolated hunt."
Her gaze lifted toward the distant horizon, as if seeing far beyond White Hollow City itself.
"This is **purging**."
A chill ran through Li Qiye's spine.
Jinshi City had fallen.
And whatever was moving through the cultivation world… was accelerating.
Li Qiye's breath caught.
His head snapped up, disbelief flashing across his face.
"Is that… even possible?" he demanded, voice tight. "Jinshi City has **three clans**. Together, that's more than **twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators**—several of them at the **mid-stage**."
His gaze sharpened, disbelief hardening into something colder.
"And you're telling me they were all killed in a single night," he said slowly, "by **one creature** supposedly at the **third layer of Foundation Establishment**?"
The courtyard was silent.
"That shouldn't be possible," Li Qiye continued, his voice rising despite himself. "No matter how gifted, no matter how cunning—realm suppression exists for a reason. Numbers alone should have worn it down."
His jaw tightened.
"Unless…" He paused, then shook his head once.
"Unless it was never truly at the third layer to begin with."
Several elders exchanged uneasy glances.
"The only explanation," Li Qiye said, forcing his thoughts into order, "is that it has been **hiding its cultivation**."
He turned toward Elder Lianhua.
"If its true realm were higher—much higher—then everything makes sense. The slaughter. The ease. The restraint it showed in White Hollow City."
His fists clenched.
"It played weak," Li Qiye said bitterly. "Used deception to test us, to gather information, to move without drawing attention."
The name **White Scale Demon** echoed in his mind.
"That means," he said quietly, "we were never facing a third-layer monster."
The realization settled like a stone in his chest.
"We were facing something that didn't want to be seen yet."
Elder Lianhua moved.
One moment she stood several steps away—
the next, she was **before Li Qiye**.
Before anyone could react, she raised a single finger and gently pressed it against his forehead.
Li Qiye's pupils dimmed.
The tension drained from his body all at once.
His eyes slowly closed as consciousness slipped away, his legs giving out beneath him—
—but before he could fall, he **stopped**.
His body lifted from the ground, suspended in midair, robes swaying faintly as if cradled by an unseen current.
The elders gasped, then immediately lowered their heads.
Elder Lianhua withdrew her hand.
"Enough," she said calmly. "His mind needs rest."
She guided Li Qiye's unconscious body forward with a controlled flow of qi, placing him gently into the waiting arms of the elders.
"Let him recover," she said. "Too much has unfolded in too short a time."
Then she extended her hand once more.
The **remains of the clan head** were passed to the elders as well, wrapped in spiritual force—preserved, dignified, untouched by decay.
"That is the body of your clan head," Elder Lianhua said. "Put him to rest properly."
Her gaze lingered for a moment—solemn and respectful.
She then reached into her sleeve and produced a **storage pouch**, placing it into Elder Wu's trembling hands.
"Take this," she said. "The contents are sufficient to stabilize the clan and begin rebuilding."
Elder Wu bowed deeply, voice hoarse.
"This junior thanks Immortal Elder!"
Elder Lianhua did not respond.
Her eyes lifted toward the far horizon once more.
This situation had grown beyond a single clan.
The storm beneath the heavens was only beginning to reveal its shape.
She turned back to the gathered elders, her presence alone silencing the courtyard.
"I will leave White Hollow City," she said calmly. "I am going to search for the **master of the fox**."
A chill swept through the elders.
"The **White Scale Demon**," she continued. "Whether it hides its cultivation or not, whether it moves openly or in shadow—I will find it."
Her gaze sharpened, quiet yet absolute.
"I have made a promise," Elder Lianhua said. "And I do not break my promises."
The air grew faintly heavy, pressure coiling without menace—only certainty.
"Those responsible for this calamity," she said, "will be held to account."
She paused, allowing the weight of her words to settle.
"You are to focus on **stabilizing the clan**," she instructed. "Rebuild your formations. Restore order in the city. Protect what remains."
Her eyes briefly flicked to Li Qiye's unconscious form.
"When he awakens," she added softly, "tell him this—"
"His path does not end here."
The wind stirred.
Petals lifted from the pond, spiraling gently into the air.
And then, as naturally as mist dispersing at dawn—
**Elder Lianhua vanished**.
She left behind silence, resolve, and the unmistakable certainty that **judgment had already begun to move beneath the heavens**.