Wei Ji sat quietly beside the bed, his gaze locked on Lu Shaohua's sleeping face. Her breathing was calm, almost too serene, as faint ripples of spiritual light shimmered around her body.
The glow pulsed gently, like waves brushing against the shore, filling the chamber with warmth and a strange kind of holiness.
Wei Ji's brows furrowed slightly.
Even as he watched, he could feel the force of her energy spreading through the air — thick, rich, and impossibly refined.
He leaned forward, whispering to himself, "This woman… her spiritual energy is ten times stronger than mine."
His hand trembled slightly as he reached out, feeling the surrounding Qi move on its own toward her.
Ten times stronger, and yet he was using the same cultivation method that once made him feared in the Upper Realm — the Heavenly Ascension Scripture.
That technique alone was considered an immortal-tier method, refined through countless lifetimes of study. And yet here, in this low realm, Lu Shaohua's natural energy completely overshadowed his.
Wei Ji let out a small sigh, shaking his head. "If she ever learns how to use that properly, I'd die without even realizing it."
He smiled bitterly. She looked peaceful now — her hair loose, her face glowing with life, her body emanating power she probably didn't even understand. No, Wei Ji thought firmly, I can't let her learn techniques meant for battle.
He turned his gaze toward the faint moonlight spilling through the open window.
The light flickered against his eyes as his thoughts turned dark. "Those Demonkins…" he muttered. "Could they have been drawn here by her aura?"
He recalled the battle earlier — those creatures appeared the moment he converted her strange demonic energy into spiritual energy. It clicked now. Her breakthrough had released a Celestial Demonic Aura, something that should not exist in this world at all. Making all those Demonkins attracted.
Wei Ji's expression hardened. "If that's true," he murmured, "then she's in even more danger than I thought."
He clenched his fist, a sudden memory flashing in his mind. The body. The first cultivator he killed when he awoke in this world — he had left the corpse behind the building. He needed that body. The blood, the Qi, the essence — all of it could be used to forge a false foundation for his new body. Without it, he'd be stuck in the lower stages for too long.
Wei Ji stood up, his robes swaying softly as he walked to the door. He opened it without a sound and stepped outside.
The night air was cold and smelled faintly of ash and iron.
The courtyard was spotless — the soldiers must have cleaned up after the chaos. Broken tiles had been replaced, and the traces of battle were gone. The moon hung high above, as if looking at him down below.
Wei Ji moved toward the back of the estate, where he had hidden the corpse earlier.
The shadows thickened there, the air growing strangely heavy. When he arrived, his brows tightened. The ground was clean. No blood. No smell. No trace of the body.
He crouched, touching the ground with his palm. "Gone?"
He closed his eyes and began to sense the spiritual residue in the area. Threads of green light glowed faintly around his hand as he murmured to himself, "It wasn't eaten… I can tell."
His expression darkened. "No, if it were Demonkins, they would've left traces — bits of corrupted Qi, foul energy, a scent of death. But here…" He pressed his hand deeper into the soil, his voice low but steady. "It's clean. Too clean. Someone took it."
Wei Ji stood slowly, a faint smile playing on his lips. "So, someone was here before me. Someone smart enough to take the corpse and hide their tracks."
He lifted his right hand and made a quick series of hand signs. Green spiritual energy burst from his fingertips, spreading like rippling light.
A single blade of grass sprouted from the dirt, twisting upward unnaturally fast until it bloomed into a bright, glowing flower.
The petals trembled, then exploded into thousands of smaller fragments that flew in every direction.
The light from them spread through the air like fireflies, vanishing into the distance one by one. Wei Ji opened his eyes, watching carefully. "Show me," he whispered.
A few seconds later, one of the glowing fragments pulsed and stopped midair, pointing north. Wei Ji's lips curved upward. "Found you."
He exhaled slowly, whispering as he tightened his robes, "Whoever took it isn't far. If they had time to drag the body, they'd be no more than a few li away. And if they're hiding that well, they must have a reason."
Without hesitation, Wei Ji's figure blurred, and he shot upward, landing softly on the rooftop of the Han residence. Then, with a few light jumps, he vanished into the night.
The wind howled as he crossed rooftops and leapt over the walls. Soon, the lush greenery of the forest came into view.
Wei Ji landed silently, crouching on a thick branch. His eyes scanned the darkness below — then he saw it.
In the distance, behind a cluster of rocks and dead trees, a massive shadow moved. Its shape was animal-like, but the size… it was enormous. When it stepped into the moonlight, Wei Ji's breath caught in his throat.
It was a wolf.
But not an ordinary one.
Its fur shimmered like black steel, and its eyes glowed with silver light. Each step it took shook the ground, and the air around it rippled like heat waves. Its presence was suffocating. He can tell. Even though he's far away.
Wei Ji's mind raced back to his past life. "No…" he whispered, his voice trembling. "That's… impossible."
He recognized it instantly.
The War Wolf Chariot — a divine beast that was pulling chariot of the Celestial Demon Empress, a creature feared even by the gods. In his past life, it took the combined power of seven supreme sects to merely scratch it.
"What's it doing here?" Wei Ji muttered, cold sweat forming at his temples. "This realm shouldn't even be capable of supporting its existence."
The wolf lowered its head, sniffing the air as if it sensed something.
Wei Ji's instincts screamed at him to retreat, but he forced himself to breathe slowly. Maybe, just like the Demonkins, the creature before him wasn't as strong as the one from his memories.
"This must be before it matured," he realized, eyes narrowing. "It's weak… or maybe still growing."
His fingers twitched. The killing intent inside him rose like a tide, spilling out around him until even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
"If I can kill it now," he said under his breath, "then the future I know will never happen."
He took a step forward — but then stopped himself. His breathing slowed again. "No," he muttered. "I can't be reckless."
He closed his eyes, exhaling. "Prepare first."
He made a series of hand signs, faster than before.
The ground beneath him began to tremble, and suddenly, vines shot up from the soil, spreading across the forest floor. Flowers bloomed unnaturally fast, their petals glowing green.
Trees twisted as thick roots crawled from the ground, forming natural barriers.
The forest came alive around him, forming a living web of traps and defenses.
Wei Ji opened one eye slightly, glancing at the massive wolf. "If I'm wrong about its strength," he whispered, "then this might be my only chance to survive."
He knelt down, pressing one hand to the earth to stabilize the flow of energy. His breathing steadied as the vines continued to grow and spread, wrapping around stones, branches, and roots.
Slowly, he closed his eyes again to recover what spiritual energy he had used.
The night grew quiet, only the soft hum of nature filling the air.
But then—
A low growl echoed through the forest.
Wei Ji's eyes snapped open. The wolf had moved. Its silver eyes locked onto him from the shadows.
Wei Ji froze for half a heartbeat.
"So, you've found me already," he muttered under his breath.
Wei Ji straightened his back, his expression calm but his heart pounding violently.
"Fine," he whispered, his voice low and sharp. "Let's see if you are as strong as you are in your prime."