The faint sound of bones cracking echoed from the back of the cave.
A deep, almost feral growl followed—low and vibrating through the stone walls.
Tian Jue turned his head just as the dense blood-red aura around Huan Tao condensed and pulled back into her body. Her breathing steadied. Then, her eyes snapped open—gleaming like a predator's under moonlight.
A wild pressure burst outward for a moment before she reined it in.
"...Tenth layer."
Her lips curled into a grin that showed her fangs. "Finally."
She stood, rolling her shoulders. The faint rippling of muscles under her robe was more apparent than before—raw power coiled in every movement.
Xu Lin, still pale but more alert now, blinked at her in disbelief. "You… just broke through in this place?"
Huan Tao smirked. "Why waste time? A good fight, blood pounding in your ears, your life on the line—perfect conditions for a breakthrough."
Tian Jue shook his head slightly. "You're insane."
"You're welcome," she replied without missing a beat. "If I hadn't kept that beast busy, you'd have had to fight it alone. You'd be cooked meat by now."
Tian Jue didn't deny it—he'd felt her pressure during the fight. It wasn't just strength. It was the kind of combat instinct born from tearing through stronger prey.
Huan Tao glanced at Xu Lin. "So, what exactly dragged a ranked disciple to the edge of death?"
Xu Lin took a breath and explained what he had told Tian Jue—about the inheritance ground, the two demonic beasts, and the masked cultivator.
When he finished, Huan Tao's grin faded.
"Inheritance ground?" Her eyes narrowed. "And demonic sect scum in the outer range? That's… bold. They usually keep to the shadows unless they're sure no one can track them."
"They might be sure," Tian Jue said quietly, leaning against the cave wall. "Xu Lin barely made it out. If that masked cultivator wasn't holding back, we'd be dealing with a corpse right now."
Huan Tao's jaw tightened, but her eyes flashed with excitement rather than fear.
"Then it's worth checking."
Xu Lin looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Check? You don't even know what's guarding it. You might run into that masked cultivator again."
"That's fine," Huan Tao replied flatly. "Pressure is how I grow. And if there's a fight to be had, I'm not letting some demonic vermin keep it for themselves."
Tian Jue studied her for a moment before speaking.
"We'll check… but not yet. You just broke through—you need to consolidate. And Xu Lin can't even stand without wincing."
Huan Tao scoffed. "Fine. But if someone else gets to that inheritance before us…" She left the sentence hanging, her grin returning. "You'll owe me a good fight."
Tian Jue didn't answer. He was staring into the forest outside the cave, the sun cutting through the mist in long golden beams. His mind was already running through formation patterns, tracing the possible route to the site Xu Lin described.
If the demonic sect really had planted its shadow this close…
The inheritance might be the least of their problems.
By midday, Xu Lin could at least sit up without breaking into a cold sweat.
Tian Jue took that as enough progress for the next step.
He stepped outside the cave, the air sharp with the lingering iron scent of blood despite the incense. The forest seemed calm… too calm. Not a birdcall, not even the rustle of leaves.
He knelt and pressed his palm to the ground. Thin, almost imperceptible silver lines of spiritual light began to seep from his fingertips, sinking into the soil like roots.
Formation — Tracking Veil.
A ripple of faint energy spread out in all directions, almost invisible unless someone stared directly at the distortion in the air. It was a technique he'd pieced together from several obscure manuals in his past life, made to trace faint qi trails without triggering common detection wards.
Huan Tao emerged from the cave, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed.
"You're going to track it now?"
"Yes." Tian Jue didn't look up. "Xu Lin said the formation covering the site is old, but the battle traces were fresh. That means they're still there… or nearby."
Her lips quirked. "Good. Less talking, more finding."
The silver lines under Tian Jue's hand pulsed, then split into several branching paths, each glowing faintly. All but one faded in seconds, leaving a single thread of dim light stretching deeper into the forest—toward the outer border Xu Lin had mentioned.
He narrowed his eyes. The qi signature was strange—part beast, part human. And the demonic taint clung to it like rot on wood.
Huan Tao tilted her head. "That's them?"
"Yes," Tian Jue said quietly. "But the trail's… masked. Someone's layering suppression techniques over their own scent. Whoever it is knows how to cover their tracks."
Xu Lin stepped out of the cave, pale but determined. "You'll need to be careful. If you trigger their wards, they'll know you're coming."
"I know," Tian Jue replied. "That's why I'll scout alone first. If I'm not back before sundown, you two head back to the sect."
Huan Tao's eyes sharpened. "Not happening. If you go, I go."
Tian Jue's gaze lingered on her for a moment. Her aura was still wild from the breakthrough, like a blade fresh from the forge—sharp but unstable. Bringing her would make stealth harder… but leaving her behind might be worse.
Finally, he sighed. "Fine. But we move like shadows. One step too loud, and the inheritance ground becomes a battlefield."
Huan Tao grinned like she'd just been promised a feast.
Tian Jue turned his eyes toward the forest. Somewhere out there, past the mist and the trees, something old and dangerous waited. The inheritance was only the bait.
The real trap was still hidden.
The forest swallowed them whole.
Tian Jue's Concealment Web Formation shimmered faintly underfoot before vanishing from sight, erasing their qi signatures as they moved. Every step was deliberate—heel to toe, shifting weight silently on the damp earth.
Normally, back at the sect, Huan Tao was the one getting scolded for dozing off in lectures or pestering senior sisters with strange questions. More than once, Tian Jue had seen him trade snacks for spirit stones and think it was a brilliant deal.
But here, under the shadow of towering pines, that side of him was gone.
His posture straightened, his steps soundless, eyes sharp and alert. The boyish grin had been replaced by a half-lidded stare that swept the surroundings like a predator sizing up prey. Even his breathing slowed until it was almost inaudible.
Tian Jue kept one hand hovering near the talisman pouch at his waist. "Don't get too far ahead," he whispered.
Huan Tao didn't even glance back. "You're slow." His voice was deeper here, lacking its usual teasing lilt. "The forest doesn't wait for the cautious."
The deeper they went, the stranger the forest became. Tree trunks twisted unnaturally, bark peeling in spirals to reveal flesh-like fibers beneath. The air felt thick, not just with mist, but with something that clung to the skin—demonic intent woven into the environment itself.
A faint buzzing reached their ears. Not insects—spiritual wards resonating. Tian Jue crouched and traced the air with two fingers, revealing a nearly invisible net of red threads between the trees.
Huan Tao stopped beside him, eyes narrowing. "Blood-ward web. They're hunting intruders."
"You've seen this before?" Tian Jue asked quietly.
Huan Tao's lips twitched. "Once. It took an entire hunting party to kill the thing that set it up." His voice carried no fear, only something primal and eager.
Tian Jue dismantled a portion of the ward with careful cuts of spiritual thread, each snip done in total silence. When it faded, they slipped through.
For the next hundred meters, the forest seemed empty—no birds, no beasts, no wind. Then, without warning, Huan Tao's hand shot out, stopping Tian Jue in place.
"Step there," she whispered, pointing to a patch of moss. "Not here."
Tian Jue squinted. To the untrained eye, the moss looked harmless. But as his spiritual sense brushed it, he felt the faint pull of a hidden formation, one that would have triggered a chain reaction of traps.
"How did you—"
Huan Tao finally looked at him, and for a heartbeat, Tian Jue saw it clearly: the raw, untamed beast in human form. "Because," she said, voice low and edged with something feral, "I smell blood waiting ."
They moved again, this time with Huan Tao leading, his movements fluid and aggressive, like a tiger weaving through the undergrowth.
By the time they reached the last rise before the outer border, Tian Jue could see faint glimmers of spiritual light ahead. A dome-shaped barrier shimmered in the distance, distorted by layers of illusion and killing arrays. Inside, the faint silhouette of an ancient structure loomed.
And circling it—two figures in black robes, their masks carved with grinning skulls.
Huan Tao's lips curled upward, but it wasn't the grin of the gullible disciple from the sect. This was a predator's smile.