As Gavin stepped into his room, his eyes widened in surprise—not because of anything unusual inside, but because of what he had just discovered.
Before entering, he had instinctively expanded his spiritual field, performing a routine scan of the city. That was when he noticed it—Sun Yi had vanished.
In just half an hour, there was no way she could have escaped the city. The gates hadn't opened recently, not in the past few minutes, and Gavin had long mapped out the underground tunnels—none had been used for quite some time.
"Did she disappear underground?"
To confirm, he probed deeper, meticulously scanning the hidden nooks and crannies of the city.
Then, suddenly—she reappeared.
She stood inside a tunnel, as if she had just walked out of solid rock.
Gavin narrowed his eyes. He focused his spiritual field, attempting to probe the area she had emerged from—but found nothing.
"Strange… there's no barrier, no distortion. Whatever is in there, it isn't a Heavenly Essence Realm cultivator."
If it were, Gavin would have sensed something—at least the faint resistance of his spiritual probe being blocked.
But there was nothing.
"If a Heavenly Essence Realm expert were behind this, Sun Yi would have already known that I could sense her. If that were the case, the ambush would never have happened—they wouldn't dare. Which means… whoever is responsible for hiding her presence is not a Heavenly Essence Realm master."
Gavin sat on his bed, his mind racing.
"Then who… or what… is capable of making someone vanish from my spiritual vision?"
Gavin frowned, deep in thought.
"If it's not a Heavenly Essence Realm martial artist, then what else could achieve the same result?"
He sifted through his knowledge. Making a place appear normal under a probe was only possible if someone had mastered certain profound Rules—Hidden, Mirror, Light, Darkness, or Illusion.
But something didn't add up.
"Can anyone in this world even comprehend these Rules?"
The martial path here was fundamentally a body cultivation system, supported by spirit and energy cultivation, but it did not inherently align with the deeper mysteries of Hidden, Mirror, Light, Darkness, or Illusion. These Rules belonged to an entirely different category of power.
Yes, a martial artist could comprehend Rules, but how they manifested depended on the individual's understanding and perception.
For example, someone who comprehended the Rule of Life could either heal or steal life—the difference lay in their cognition of the Rule itself.
But the key issue was this:
Martial arts cultivation was primarily focused on strengthening the body. The spiritual and energy aspects were only support systems.
For someone to completely conceal themselves from his spiritual field, they wouldn't just be a martial artist.
"Then… could the one hiding Sun Yi be a cultivator of the spiritual path instead?"
Gavin immediately dismissed the thought. No spiritual cultivator could make someone completely disappear from his spiritual field.
Then what?
"I don't think the entity that concealed Sun Yi is a living being."
One by one, he had ruled out all possibilities. There was only one possibility left—a Heavenly Rank Spiritual Treasure.
But then, another contradiction arose.
"No… even a Heavenly Rank Spiritual Treasure cannot escape my spiritual perception. If it were one, I should have sensed it."
His thoughts raced.
"Then… it must be something stronger than a Heavenly Rank Spiritual Treasure."
That brought him to another unsettling question:
"Can this plane even produce an artifact beyond the Heavenly Rank?"
The answer was clear—no.
Then where did it come from?
"If it wasn't created here, then it must have come from another plane."
His expression darkened.
"Only a Legendary Artifact could deceive my spiritual field."
A chilling realization settled over him.
"Did a Legendary Artifact somehow find its way into this plane?"
Two possibilities came to mind—
- It had fallen here by accident, much like he himself had arrived in this world.
- Or a Legend had discovered this plane and placed the artifact here deliberately.
The more he thought about it, the more he leaned toward the second theory.
"Why else would the natives of this world be able to use a Legendary Artifact?"
If a Legend had indeed set their sights on this martial world, then things were far worse than he had initially thought.
"If this plane is being watched by a Legend… we have to be extremely careful."
Yet, Gavin was not overly concerned. If this was truly the beginning of an invasion, the method being used was not the most direct one.
There were several ways to invade a plane, but the most common strategies were:
1. A direct invasion through the plane barrier.
2. Sending a small team to infiltrate the plane and construct a space portal.
3. Manipulating the natives to betray their plane and build a portal themselves.
The fact that a Legendary Artifact had appeared first suggested that this was not a brute-force invasion. Instead, it pointed toward the latter two methods—a more subtle approach.
That was why he wasn't too worried.
If an infiltration team had been sent, their strength would not exceed that of a First Grade Martial Artist of this world—any stronger, and they would be detected by the Planar Will.
Likewise, if an invasion was being set up through native betrayal, the strongest force the enemy could use would be Heavenly Essence Realm Martial Artists.
Gavin wasn't afraid of either scenario.
Even though he was only at the half-step Earthly Essence Realm, his spiritual strength made him equivalent to a Heavenly Essence Realm Martial Artist.
He might not be able to defeat one outright, but at the same time, no Heavenly Essence Realm expert could defeat him either.
Then, his thoughts shifted to the Legendary Artifact.
"Should I go and take a look at it?" he wondered.
But almost immediately, he dismissed the idea.
"Right now, I'm hidden, and they are out in the open. It's best to maintain this status quo."
Even if the Legend had not personally descended upon this plane, that didn't mean he wasn't watching. And if Gavin made a move toward the artifact, he could easily become the target.
He knew that even though the Legend wasn't physically present, there were ways for a being of that level to attack across planes.
"I might not die outright… but if the Legend strikes, I could be seriously injured—or worse, cursed."
No, it wasn't worth the risk.
"It's best if I stay away from the artifact."
Another thought occurred to him—his spiritual scanning.
Up until now, he had been freely extending his spiritual field across the city, monitoring everything. But if the artifact was truly capable of hiding from him, then…
"Could it detect me as well?"
The possibility was unsettling. He had no way of knowing if his constant scanning would eventually reveal his presence to the entity behind the artifact.
It was a risk he couldn't afford.
From now on, he decided, he would no longer extend his spiritual field outside his body.
He could still sense his immediate surroundings, but anything beyond that was a gamble.
"It's best to remain unseen for now."
With his worries resolved, Gavin's thoughts shifted back to what he had originally planned to do upon returning to his room.
He had been considering creating a Martial Art fighting technique.
Not for himself—but for the future disciples of the martial sect he intended to establish. And for now, for Fang Ping.
The idea had come to him earlier, while they were returning from the ambush. Fang Ping had asked to learn a fighting method, and though Gavin possessed many techniques, he had been reluctant to teach them.