The morning bell of the Azure Cloud Sect did not toll for prayer. It tolled for war.
The news had shattered the peace of the sect like a hammer hitting glass: The Blood Devil Sect had returned.
In the Grand Hall, the atmosphere was suffocating. The Sect Master, a nascent soul existence usually in seclusion, sat on his throne, his face obscured by shifting clouds. Below him, the Elders stood in two rows, arguing furiously.
"It is a declaration of war!" The Zhao Clan Head, Zhao Wuji, was purple with rage. "They ambushed my caravan! They slaughtered my men! They carved their cursed mark on my captain's chest!"
"But why now?" Elder Liu stroked his beard, his brow furrowed. "The Blood Devil Sect was annihilated three hundred years ago. And why attack a supply run of... what was it again, Clan Head Zhao?"
Zhao Wuji didn't flinch. "Medicinal herbs. Rare spirit grasses for the Sect's alchemy division."
Yan Luo stood to the side, silent. Her face was impassive, but her hands were clenched inside her sleeves.
Medicinal herbs, she thought.
She had visited the crash site at dawn. She had touched the scorched earth. Her Pure Yin Body was sensitive to spiritual residue. The canyon didn't smell of crushed herbs. It smelled of iron, fear, and... rotting meat.
"If it was herbs," Yan Luo spoke up, her voice cutting through the argument, "why is the resentment energy in the canyon so high? Herbs do not scream when they are stolen."
The hall went silent.
Zhao Wuji turned slowly to face her. His eyes were cold, devoid of the respect usually afforded to a Saintess.
"Are you questioning the victim, Saintess? Perhaps you have been spending too much time in the outer peaks, forgetting how the world works. Demons use blood arts. Of course there is resentment."
The Sect Master's voice rumbled from the throne. "Enough. The appearance of the Blood Devil mark is a threat to the entire region. Raise the alert level. Investigate all disciples for demonic signs. Clan Head Zhao, you have my permission to lead the hunt."
Zhao Wuji bowed, hiding a smirk. "Thank you, Sect Master. I will not rest until these... demons... are purged."
Yan Luo felt a chill. She saw the gleam in Zhao Wuji's eye. It wasn't the look of a grieving father. It was the look of a man who had just been given a license to kill anyone who knew his secrets.
Ghost Hollow
Mo Tian was tending to a small garden of withered spirit plants when Yan Luo landed.
He didn't look up immediately. He carefully pruned a dead leaf, his movements slow and deliberate.
"You look troubled, Senior Sister," Mo Tian said softly, his back to her.
Yan Luo sighed, the weight of the morning's politics pressing on her shoulders. She sat on the stone bench, uninvited. In front of "Han Fei," she felt she didn't need to maintain the icy facade of the Saintess.
"The Sect is in chaos," she said. "The Blood Devil Sect has returned. They attacked a Zhao Clan caravan."
"I heard the bells," Mo Tian said, turning around. He wiped his dirty hands on a rag. "Is it true? Are the demons back?"
"The mark was there," Yan Luo murmured. "But... something feels wrong, Han Fei. The Zhao Clan Head claims they stole herbs. But the energy at the site... it felt like a grave. And the 'Cleaners' guarding the wagons... they were men known for brutality, not commerce."
Mo Tian sat opposite her. He poured her a cup of cheap, bitter tea.
"Senior Sister," he asked innocently, "if you possess a treasure that is forbidden, and someone steals it... can you report the theft to the authorities?"
Yan Luo blinked. "No. Because revealing the treasure would implicate you."
"Exactly," Mo Tian nodded. "So you lie. You say they stole something else. Something boring. Like herbs."
Yan Luo's eyes widened. The logic was simple, undeniable.
"But if that is true," she whispered, her voice trembling, "then the Zhao Clan was transporting something forbidden. Something that generated resentment."
Mo Tian took a sip of tea. He needed to push her just a little further.
"I have been living in the Ghost Hollow for a month," Mo Tian said, looking down at his cup. "Sometimes, late at night, I hear things. The wind carries sounds from the valley below. Sounds of... wagons. And sometimes... crying."
Yan Luo froze. "Crying?"
"Like children," Mo Tian said. "But I told myself it was just the wind. Just the ghosts of this haunted peak. After all, the Zhao Clan is a pillar of the Righteous Path. They wouldn't hurt children... right?"
The teacup in Yan Luo's hand cracked.
The pieces fell into place. The resentment. The secrecy. The Blood Cauldrons she had read about in forbidden texts.
"Han Fei," she stood up, her face pale. "I need to go."
"Be careful, Senior Sister," Mo Tian stood up too, looking genuinely worried. "Curiosity kills more cats than swords. If the Zhao Clan is hiding something, they will kill to keep it hidden. Even a Saintess is not immortal."
Yan Luo looked at him, seeing only a humble disciple fearing for her safety.
"I will be careful," she promised. "Thank you."
She flew off, her white robes snapping in the wind. But this time, she wasn't flying toward the Sect Hall. She was flying toward the Zhao Clan's private estate.
Mo Tian watched her go. A dark smile spread across his face as the "Han Fei" mask slipped for a second.
"Go," he whispered. "Go and find the truth. And when you realize the Light is just a lie painted in gold... come back to the Dark."
[System Notification] [Manipulation Progress: Yan Luo] [Status: Suspicion -> Investigation.] [Dao Corruption: The Seed of Doubt has sprouted.]
Mo Tian returned to his hut. The tea was cold.
"System. Show me the status of the 'Children'."
A holographic screen appeared. It showed a feed from the safehouse in Silver City. Ghost One was standing before twenty pale, terrified children. He wasn't comforting them. He was handing them daggers.
"The world wanted you to be sheep," Ghost One was saying on the screen. "But the Master has given you a choice. Die as sheep, or live as wolves."
One of the girls, the one with the deepest scars, picked up a dagger.
Mo Tian nodded. "Good."
He sat down on his meditation mat. The Blood-Clotting Pills he had looted were lined up in front of him.
"Now," Mo Tian closed his eyes. "While the Saintess plays detective and the Clan Head plays hunter... I will become the disaster they both fear."
He swallowed five pills at once.
The energy exploded in his stomach. The Heaven-Devouring Foundation roared, grinding the medicinal energy into pure, dark fuel.
[Cultivating...] [Realm Increasing...]
The mist around Ghost Hollow began to swirl, forming a vortex above his hut. To the outside world, it looked like a natural weather phenomenon. But inside the eye of the storm, a monster was evolving.
[Breakthrough Successful] [Current Realm: Qi Condensation - Stage 8]
He was getting closer.
The Foundation Establishment Realm—the true beginning of cultivation—was within reach. And once he crossed that threshold, he would no longer need to hide in the shadows.
He would be the shadow.