“But I’ve heard this sect is incredibly mysterious. No one has ever found it.”
“Master, that’s where you’re mistaken.”
Daoist Hakuzi stroked his long white beard, a smug smile spreading across his face.
“In the past, this humble Daoist once met the senior brother of the man known then as Number One Under Heaven, Sword Immortal Xelorian. That senior’s name was Aurel.”
“At the time, I assisted Senior Aurel in deciphering an obscure medieval Elixir Formula. In gratitude, he offered me a promise: he would act on my behalf once in the future. Whether it was to kill or to save, he said, ‘just say the word.’”
“What! The senior brother of Sword Immortal Xelorian!?”
Xander was dumbfounded.
Shock was swiftly replaced by a wild surge of elation. His large, round face flushed with eagerness as he bent slightly at the waist, hands rubbing together.
“Oh dear. So in our Chur family’s hour of need, we still have a true pillar to lean on. Daoist, it's you!”
“Hahahaha!”
Hakuzi gave a slow, satisfied stroke of his beard, clearly relishing the admiration.
Neither he nor Xander were aware of Seraphine’s fearsome rise in the Martial World.
But that was to be expected.
They were not true Martial Artists. Without inside connections or whispered rumors, they remained blind. Especially with the Royal Guard enforcing silence, no news of Seraphine had yet reached their ears.
“Tomorrow,” Hakuzi declared, his voice brimming with conviction, “I will set out for the East Sea to request Senior Aurel’s aid. With his mastery of strange arts and Secret Techniques, he will certainly succeed in saving the Young Master!”
“Good!”
Xander slammed his palm down on the table in delight, his face radiant with hope.
“Daoist, rest assured. As long as Alec can be saved, the Chur family will spare no expense. Of course, you will have a generous share!”
“Mm.”
Hakuzi nodded in satisfaction, already picturing how he’d expand the Crane Palace, his permanent residence, by another two chambers.
...
Meanwhile, inside the room.
A cold light reflected in Meira’s eyes as she stared at her phone screen.
“Hello, this is the customer service desk for the Black Skull Organization.
It’s our pleasure to serve you.
Would you like to:
— Consult on a contract?
— Submit a mission request?
— Check your mission status?
— File a complaint or suggestion?”
Her expression darkened.
Without hesitation, Meira tapped Submit Mission Request.
Black Skull Customer Service:
“Understood. Now initializing mission request interface: please wait.”
"…"
“Please fill out the target’s detailed information, proposed payment amount, desired completion time, and provide a target confirmation document.”
Meira’s fingers danced swiftly across the screen. Her expression was icy, composed, unshakably calm.
She entered:
Target: Seraphine Aurenthal
Fee: 10,000,000 Auril
Expected time: 72 hours
Confirmation document: Head
A brief pause.
Black Skull Customer Service:
“Thank you. The mission request has been received.
Please wait while we coordinate with available contractors.”
Ten minutes later, a new message appeared.
Black Skull Customer Service:
“Your mission request has been accepted.
Assassin ID: 【Madness Wind】
Confirm the following:
— Payment: 10,000,000 Auril
— Completion timeframe: 72 hours
— Target confirmation: Head
? Reminder: If the target’s danger level exceeds your submission by more than 100%, 30% of your payment and deposit will be forfeited.”
Meira: “Confirm.”
BANG!
She shut her phone with a violent snap.
Her expression twisted into something cruel, bitter.
Through clenched teeth, she growled,
“Seraphine. Just wait. I’ll burn everything if I must, but I will kill you.”
...
At the same time.
Southwestern corner of Zen City.
The ruins of a once-lively bar had been cordoned off with bright yellow caution tape, fluttering slightly in the wind. The Patrol Division was on-site, working through the wreckage.
CLICK.
CLICK.
The sound of camera shutters echoed intermittently.
Patrol Chief Lior, with his hands clasped behind his back and his stomach bulging forward, muttered to the officer beside him, “Just log this one as a gang-related revenge hit. What else could it be? Damn small cities.”
“I disagree.”
A clear, light voice cut through the chatter.
A young woman with glasses and a long coat stepped under the caution tape. Her delicate face, tinged with a hint of baby fat, held a pure and composed expression. She offered her hand and smiled warmly.
“Hello. Yvienne Snowlock, Secret Service.”
Chief Lior blinked, caught off guard, and reluctantly extended half a hand. “...Hello.”
The officer beside him leaned in and whispered excitedly, “Chief, that’s her! The legendary female detective from the Secret Service!”
“Ah. That brilliant detective.” Lior feigned interest, lips pursed. “Detective Snowlock, do you have an opinion on the scene?”
“One moment.”
Yvienne smiled politely and quickly crossed the wreckage to a black, viscous puddle of blood pooled near the charred floorboards. She knelt down and drew a sample into a test tube with careful precision.
Then, she removed her glasses and looked up at the gray ruin, smoke still coiling faintly in the air.
Closing her eyes, she drew a deep breath.
“Hoo.”
When she opened them again, the world had changed.
The shattered bar was whole once more. Smoky figures drifted through the space: faceless patrons, blurred like brushstrokes. They passed through Yvienne like mist.
She began to walk among them.
To the outside world, she was simply walking through smoke and ruin. But in her eyes, she wandered a shifting landscape of color and shape, like stepping inside a living oil painting.
This was Yvienne’s superpower: 【Empathic Markings】.
Ability Description: Within a limited area, Yvienne can read simplified scene information from up to 12 hours prior. This data is converted into sensory impressions: sight, sound, smell: allowing her to reconstruct the past.
She moved silently through the illusory reconstruction. So far, nothing of note.
Then, with a thought, the memory playback accelerated.
The bar's patrons moved faster and faster. Time whipped by. Outside the doors, gray clouds scattered like torn silk.
Scenes distorted, overlapping and rewinding.
Suddenly, Yvienne froze.
Her eyes narrowed.
The playback halted.
A tall, lean figure appeared in the doorway, expression unreadable, aura sharp and cold.
In an instant, violent air surged out from him. Every person in the bar was pinned to the walls like insects on skewers.
What followed was a slaughter.
Hundreds of lightning-fast strikes shredded the patrons into chunks of blood and flesh. Gore pooled on the floor like black oil. The very same blood that now rested in her test tube.
“That aura... familiar. High-level Ability. Near S-class.”
Then, an explosion consumed the vision. The lean figure had hurled a bomb before vanishing. The bar became rubble.
Moments later, the present-day patrol officers entered and erected the yellow tape.
Playback ended.
“Detective Snowlock?”
The memory dissolved. Lior’s voice brought her back.
“Brilliant detective, huh?” he muttered. “Find anything?”
Yvienne nodded politely. “Yes.”
“Well? Out with it.”
“I can’t say.”
“You!” Lior stepped forward, puffing up his chest. “This is my jurisdiction, little girl! Don’t give me that nonsense!”
Yvienne tilted her head slightly, then calmly pulled out her phone and made a call.
Lior scoffed. “Oh? Calling in backup now? You think you can shake things here? I’ve got connections, young lady, serious...”
She lowered her phone. “Done.”
Lior sneered. “Hah. You think just one phone call can...”
BEEP BEEP.
His belt phone rang.
Lior checked the caller numbers.
His expression froze.
“...Bureau Chief Lior.”
He answered quickly. “A girl from the Secret Service is here, wants to take over the case at the bar. What should I...?”
“She’s authorized.” The voice on the other end was firm, no room for doubt.
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“What? But this is my jurisdiction!”
“Do you want me to repeat myself?”
Click.
Lior stared at his phone like it had betrayed him.
Then, with a sigh, he turned to Yvienne and raised his hands.
“Fine. You win. Secret Service privilege, huh? Got someone high up to cover for you... impressive.”
Yvienne ignored him entirely.
Her eyes flickered with strange light, shifting through fragments of the past, adjusting their temporal order in real time.
Yvienne’s superpower remained active, images from the scene looping around her: flickering figures, reversed time, broken events slowly playing backward. Her gaze sharpened as she continued to search for clues.
Beside her, Chief Lior paced back and forth like a restless catfish, his hands behind his back, belly swaying with each step.
“Only this much Ability,” he muttered. “Who doesn’t know how to pull strings these days... even I know the young master of the Chur family...”
Yvienne acted like she hadn’t heard a word.
Her concentration remained fixed on the memory. From the lean attacker’s entrance to the final explosion, she observed everything: the posture, the aura, the bloodshed, even the cause of the conflict.
“Over a girlfriend dispute... he massacred an entire bar, implicating dozens of people. Too ruthless.”
A chill shimmered behind her glasses.
“After gaining power, people like him are becoming more and more unrestrained...”
The images rewound again. The bar reset to its earlier state: the moment when the black-clothed figure had just entered.
Yvienne stepped toward him. His face remained blurred in the scene, but she calmly reached into her coat, pulling out a blank sheet of A4 paper.
She extended her right hand.
Her second Ability activated: 【Soul Drawing】.
BUZZ~~
The moment her finger grazed the illusion, the sheet of paper began to move.
As if guided by an invisible hand, dark ink danced across the page, gradually sketching out a vivid image.
Before long, a precise portrait emerged, like a black-and-white photo.
A lean young man with dark skin, icy eyes, and a stubborn jawline.
Yvienne adjusted her glasses, murmuring to herself:
“It really is you... Madness Wind, Wang Xiao. But how did you become this powerful...?”
Suddenly:
RING RING RING RING!
Her phone vibrated at her waist.
She glanced at the screen: her expression instantly shifted.
She pressed the answer button and bowed her head respectfully.
“Your Majesty.”
It was the Emperor of Emberlight.
Not far away, Chief Lior heard those two words and nearly collapsed on the spot. His legs buckled. He spun around, face pale, staring at Yvienne like she’d turned into a goddess.
She didn’t even glance at him.
She listened intently, offering short, deferential replies. Her tone was focused, steady, calm.
After a while, she slipped the phone back into her coat and exhaled softly.
She turned and found Lior’s face frozen in an awkward smile, sweat beading on his temples.
She walked past him toward the edge of the bar ruins.
“Ah, ah, Master Detective! Miss Snowlock! Wait!” Lior scuttled after her. “Be careful, the ground’s still slippery! And this case, well... are you short on manpower? If you need assistance, I have connections.”
Yvienne stopped and turned slightly, frowning faintly.
“Someone will come to take over this case. You don’t need to concern yourself further.”
She turned away again and jogged ahead.
Waiting nearby was a crimson-black sports car, all sharp lines and aerodynamic angles, sleek and silent like a predator at rest.
“Whoa...” one of Lior’s subordinates gasped. “That thing looks like a military-grade supercar... I haven’t even seen one online.”
BEEP BEEP.
Yvienne calmly raised a key fob with a curved 3D screen. Light pulsed beneath her thumb.
With a soft hum, both car doors lifted skyward like the wings of a great raptor.
She stepped in, one long, graceful leg after another, settling into the seat.
BUZZ~~
The engine purred.
A moment later, the car shot forward and vanished into the horizon.
Lior stood staring for a long while, before finally thumping a fist into his palm.
“Damn... if only I’d been more attentive... sigh.”
His subordinate blinked at him. “Chief, she’s just Secret Service. You don’t need to be that reverent, right?”
The young officer smacked his lips. “Still... that car was seriously next-level.”
Lior snapped. “Cars, cars, that’s all you think about! Can you even afford the paint job?! Listen, forget the car, she’s not normal. She’s from up there. You saw how she answered the phone, didn’t you?!”
He huffed and turned away, muttering, “Let’s go. Country bumpkins like you wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
Dusk fell. The lights of Zen City flickered on, dulling the steel hues of the sky.
The city was quieter at night. Traffic had thinned, and even the main road lay wide and nearly deserted.
Yvienne leaned back in the driver's seat, one hand on the wheel, the other gently propping up her cheek.
The streetlights slid across her face, delicate, thoughtful, and slightly wistful.
“The successor has been chosen.”
“His Majesty wants me to leave the Secret Service and form a new Affairs Bureau directly under the successor.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. The crimson car hummed, zipping between lanes with effortless speed.
“Where will I find initial personnel?” Her mind raced. “For now, I’ll borrow a few reliable people from the bureau. That should do.”
She smiled. “I haven’t resigned yet, so technically, it’s just internal resource redistribution.”
“Both civilian and military staff... salaries will be key. Since people are already grumbling about pay, I’ll use that to tempt the hesitant ones.”
“The successor doesn’t lack funds. Not bad.” Her fingers tapped the wheel. “I’ll run a quiet internal recruitment drive first.”
She exhaled gently, tension draining from her shoulders.
But then another thought drifted into her mind.
“I wonder what kind of person she is... the new successor.”
“Hopefully not someone difficult to work with.”
A playful smirk tugged at her lips.
“Though I’ve heard... she’s very beautiful.”
The car’s headlights cut through the encroaching darkness as it sped toward the city limits, merging into the long shadow of night.
...
Also that night, in the outskirts of Emberlight's Ashara...
WHOOSH ~ WHOOSH ~
Above a sparsely trafficked highway, two figures streaked across the sky.
Kael and Vale, disciples of Seraphine, were journeying east, heeding their master’s command to eliminate the mysterious Heavenreach Sect.
Having reached the peak of the First Stage of Mystic Aperture, the two possessed force that could rival heavy artillery. With each exertion of their refined internal techniques, they could soar hundreds of meters per second, gliding through the air with power that shattered sound and blurred space.
If not for the danger of fatigue or the destructive backlash upon landing, they could even sustain supersonic flight, not just gliding but truly flying.
But after all, human beings were never born to fly.
Even among high-level martial artists, who through tireless cultivation had gained the ability to hover and soar, their movements remained far clumsier than true birds of prey.
This method of high-speed movement could only be used in straight lines.
Unless they dared to risk their bodies against the immense strain of sudden directional changes at supersonic velocity, internal organ shift, bone dislocation, and spiritual energy backlash, they were no more agile than arrows fired from a bow.
Even now, though their bodies were as hard as fine steel, they couldn’t survive that kind of mid-air turn.
They would either die or be crippled.
After a while, the pair finally reached the edge of the city. With Ashara behind them, and the open land of the East before them, they no longer needed to restrain their movements.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two sonic booms echoed across the sky.
Wrapped in gray-white sonic clouds, they burst forward at full speed.
From the ground, it would seem as if two shooting stars had torn through the heavens, vanishing into the night horizon.
One hour later.
The two landed beside a wilderness highway, their breathing slightly ragged, clearly fatigued. They had traveled nearly nine hundred kilometers.
There, beside an off-road vehicle, stood Alban, waving at them.
They had contacted him beforehand, instructing him to prepare supplies at this rendezvous point.
Now, the trio set up a grill, pulling out beef, vegetables, iced drinks, and alcohol. Beneath the starry night, they ate, drank, and chatted beside the empty road.
Alban, gnawing on a grilled chicken leg, couldn’t contain his curiosity: “Master, Uncle, just how strong are you hai now? Grandmaster actually entrusted you with something so... outrageous.”
“How strong?”
Vale wiped away the beer foam from his lips, stood up, and pulled two short spear pieces from his waist.
He twisted them together, click, twist, a long black Soldier Spear.
He pointed it toward a massive stone outcrop more than a hundred meters away.
“Watch carefully.”
He casually twisted the base of the spear, then let loose a light thrust.
BOOM!
The air ruptured.
A sharp spiral of aether shot forth, screeching across the plains like a spinning storm.
BOOM!!
The projectile struck the distant boulder. The ground shook.
Dust rose in clouds.
As it cleared, Alban stood stunned.
A gaping hole, over three meters wide, had torn through the center of the massive rock, piercing straight through to the other side.
It wasn’t a crack, it was a tunnel.
“That’s... that’s practically a mortar round!”
He turned to Vale, who wore a smug grin, stroking his goatee like an old sage.
“Master... that wasn’t your full power, was it?”
Vale smirked. “That? Just a casual charged strike. A true ultimate move would be... five or six times stronger.”
“Hisss ~” Alban inhaled sharply, goosebumps crawling up his neck.
Kael, still seated, devouring a rack of pork ribs, spoke with his mouth full: “We can’t even show you our real ultimate moves. Master said one of them’s similar in scale to an atomic bomb.”
“Hissssss ~”
Alban nearly choked.
He looked at the two of them, then at the smoldering boulder, and felt like everything he’d ever worried about was suddenly meaningless.
He shook his head with a wry chuckle. “And here I was, hesitating to tell you something. Clearly, I was overthinking.”
Kael raised a brow. “What is it?”
Alban’s expression turned serious. “After the ether tide, several evershield body experts have begun reappearing. Mostly reclusive elders and hidden masters from the older generation... word is, some of them are unhappy with Grandmaster being made alliance leader.”
“Heh.”
Vale scoffed, running his fingers down the smooth shaft of his spear. “A few moldy insects crawling out of their coffins, thinking they still matter.”
“After we finish this mission, I’ll visit them myself, clear their heads for them.”
“Count me in, Senior Brother.”
Kael tossed aside the pork bones, licking his fingers. “I still lack fame in the martial world. Not even a single cool nickname.”
He pinched his fingers together, eyes glittering coldly.
“Let them come. I’ll show them that the evershield body is long obsolete.”
“Uh…”
Alban glanced nervously at the two fierce figures before him and stammered, “Two masters… aren’t you being a little too intense?”
“Intense?”
Kael abruptly turned his head, eyes sharp. “How does one cultivate martial arts without intensity? How else does one make a name for themselves?!”
He jabbed a finger forward and barked, “You live your whole damn life not for fame or fortune, then what for? Your mother’s ass?!”
“Good!” Vale gave a resounding thumbs-up. “Junior Brother’s words hit the mark! Pure wisdom!”
He laughed and added, “A martial artist must keep three parts of viciousness in their chest! If you don’t dare to fight, don’t dare to kill, ha! Then just stay home and grow vegetables!”
“Exactly!” Kael crossed his arms smugly and laughed heartily, completely in agreement.
Alban, eyes darting between the two, was momentarily speechless.
Is… is the reason I’m progressing so slowly because I’m too soft-natured?
Just then, Vale spoke up again. “Right, Alban, why hasn’t the 《Worldly Prodigy List》 announced that your Grandmaster is now the number one in the world?”
The question caught Alban off guard. He hesitated, then sighed: “Because… of the Royal Guard.”
"Master might not know this, but after the ether tide that day, the Royal Guard paid visits to all the major sects in Emberlight, on that very same day.
In short… they made it clear: keep your distance from the general public. Even communication was to be minimized.”
“Ahh, I see.” Vale immediately understood and dropped the topic.
Kael, frowning and clearly left behind, grumbled, “Senior Brother, what are you two mumbling about? Speak clearly, I’m totally lost.”
“Ah,” Vale sighed and looked at Kael. “You brat don’t know, but the Royal Guard is the royal family’s secret enforcement force. Very troublesome to deal with.
But our Master… was once part of the royal family herself. Tsk. The whole thing is actually quite interesting.”
Kael shrugged. “Whatever. As long as they don’t mess with me.”
Not long after bidding Alban farewell, the two disciples set off again.
They raced along mountain ridges and soared across rivers, riding the wind. In mere hours, they had crossed hundreds of kilometers, finally reaching the coast of the East Sea.
Seraphine’s words rang in their minds. They made no attempt to find a ship.
Upon arrival at the beach, they didn’t pause. Without hesitation, they charged directly toward the vast ocean.
BOOM! BOOM!
Their powerful strides sank deep into the sand. A moment later, their figures blurred, vanishing like arrows loosed toward the sea.
SWISH ~ SWISH ~
The instant their feet struck the surface of the waves, they burst forward again, skipping like stones across water.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
With increasing speed and rhythm, they formed a single black line across the sea.
They sprinted wildly over the ocean, slicing through waves like a storm, charging into the blue expanse.
RUMBLE!
Behind them, the tide churned furiously, waves boiling in their wake.
Their silhouettes shrank into the horizon, until they disappeared entirely.
...
Emberlight East Sea, offshore of Skypond Island.
By morning, the sea lay calm, save for the occasional swell.
Then, two black lines suddenly pierced the skyline, cutting across the sea like twin blades.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH ~
Amidst the exploding spray, Kael and Vale shot into view, skimming the water’s surface with effortless grace.
They paused a few miles from shore, hovering just above the sea.
Looking ahead at the looming figure of Skypond Island, they exhaled lightly, a touch of fatigue in their voices.
“We’ve arrived.”
From the sky, the island resembled a pear, narrow in the east, wide in the west.
An extinct volcano dominated the western tip. Ages ago, it had spewed ash that gave rise to lush soil, eventually forming a small town and several fishing villages.
But none of this mattered to Kael and Vale.
Their destination lay within the eastern forest, where the Heavenreach Sect had hidden itself.
After landing on the shore, the two made haste toward the dense green wilderness.
With their current physical cultivation, a single leap could shatter the air and carry them over a hundred meters.
Rushing through terrain was barely an effort.
In mere minutes, they arrived at the forest’s edge.
Vale came to a halt. Gazing at the verdant canopy, he closed his eyes and concentrated.
After a while, he turned to Kael.
“You feel it too?”
Kael nodded. “About two hundred meters in.”