Liu Zhenxiong hauled Wu Teng to his feet, and the four cultivators ventured deeper into the manor.

It didn't take long for Li Xuanming to locate the hidden mechanism. A heavy stone door ground open, revealing a dark stairwell leading deep underground.

They descended in silence, eventually stepping into a vast, cavernous dungeon beneath the estate. The floor was paved entirely with jagged obsidian rock. The air down here was thick, practically suffocating with dense Yin energy and foul Demonic Qi.

A righteous cultivator would have felt as though they were drowning in a swamp of filth. But for a Demonic Path cultivator like Chu Xuan? This was a blessed paradise. He breathed in the heavy, dark energy, his internal Spiritual Qi humming in quiet satisfaction.

At the center of the underground palace sat a solitary figure.

He was withered. Emaciated. At first glance, he looked less like a man and more like a corpse left to rot in the desert—parchment-thin skin stretched taut over a skeletal frame. It was a deeply unsettling sight.

The echoing footsteps of Chu Xuan and the others broke the dead silence.

The aged figure didn't flinch. He didn't even look up. After a long, agonizing moment, a raspy, hollow voice echoed from his throat. "Here again? How much blood are you planning to drain from me this time?"

Liu Zhenxiong’s voice cracked with emotion. "Master! It's me! Zhenxiong!"

The skeletal figure froze. His head snapped up.

Through sunken, hollow eye sockets, he stared at Liu Zhenxiong, then shifted his gaze to Chu Xuan, Li Xuanming, and Wu Teng.

Now that he was closer, Chu Xuan finally got a clear look at Wan Wuying’s face. This was supposed to be a high-spirited, untouchable Golden Core Ancestor. Now, he was nothing more than a tortured husk. His cheekbones jutted out sharply, and his aura was incredibly weak. The Shengang Sect had bled him dry for far too long.

"Zhenxiong..." Wan Wuying’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

Moving in perfect unison, Chu Xuan, Li Xuanming, and Wu Teng cupped their hands and bowed deeply. "Wuji Sect disciples, greet Ancestor Wan Wuying!"

Wan Wuying stared at them, stunned. Then, a hoarse, broken chuckle escaped his lips, quickly escalating into a booming, manic laugh that shook the cavern.

"The Heavens haven't forsaken me!" he roared, his voice trembling with vindication. "I never imagined that I, Wan Wuying, would live to see the outside of this hell! Good! Good! You are all fine sons of our Wuji Sect!"

Liu Zhenxiong stepped forward, his expression solemn. "Master, we will dismantle the Formation and get you out of here right now!"

The Formation flags binding the Ancestor were planted openly in the stone. It was a one-way cage—designed strictly to suppress the prisoner inside, with zero external defenses. Mo Huanshan, the arrogant Sect Leader of the Shengang Sect, had likely never entertained the thought that anyone could breach Cloud Mist Manor, slaughter the guards, and actually reach this deep into the dungeon.

Working quickly, the four of them uprooted the Formation flags one by one. The oppressive hum of the array died out.

Liu Zhenxiong rushed forward to support his frail master.

Li Xuanming retrieved a premium bottle of healing Pills, offering them respectfully with both hands. "Ancestor, your injuries are severe. Please, heal yourself."

Playing the role of the perfectly loyal junior, Chu Xuan stepped up and offered a heavy pouch of large Blood Beads. Outwardly, his posture was flawlessly deferential. Inwardly, it was a cold, calculated investment. A healthy Golden Core Ancestor was the ultimate meat-shield for their escape.

Wan Wuying didn't hesitate. He snatched the Pills and the large Blood Beads, swallowing them whole.

The effects were instantaneous and visceral. His skeletal frame began to knit back together at a visible rate. Shriveled muscles swelled with new vitality, and his sunken flesh plumped up like a re-inflated balloon. In the blink of an eye, the eerie, hollow look vanished from his face, replaced by the heavy, suffocating majesty of a Golden Core cultivator.

"Excellent!" Wan Wuying laughed heartily, his aura flaring. He looked at Li Xuanming. "I know you. You are the First Ancestor's closed-door disciple, Li Xuanming. He never shut up about you, always boasting that you had the potential to form a Golden Core."

Wan Wuying clapped a heavy hand onto Li Xuanming’s shoulder. "Seeing you today, he wasn't wrong. Not only are your aptitude and strength exceptional, but your character is top-notch!"

Chu Xuan stood quietly in the background, perfectly content to let Li Xuanming absorb the praise. Attention brought expectations, and expectations brought danger.

"Mo Huanshan will sense that I’ve broken free," Wan Wuying said, his smile fading into a grim scowl. "There is no time to waste. We leave now. We can talk on the way."

"Yes, Ancestor," the four replied in unison.

"Where to, Master? Do you already have a destination in mind?" Liu Zhenxiong asked.

Wan Wuying let out a dark, mocking laugh. "I decided where to go a long time ago. I was just ambushed by those hypocrites from the Shengang Sect and Jinlong Temple before I could get there. Follow me."

Wan Wuying led them back to the surface.

Without a word, he unleashed a massive wave of Spiritual Qi, enveloping Chu Xuan and the other three. With a deafening boom, they shot into the southern sky. As they passed over the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, Wan Wuying swooped down to scoop up Xu Ming and the remaining lookouts, dragging them into his slipstream.

A Golden Core cultivator’s true speed relied on their Dharma Treasures, which were leagues above the Magical Artifacts used by Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Naturally, the Shengang Sect had stripped Wan Wuying of his weapons.

Yet, even relying purely on his raw Spiritual Qi, and even while carrying half a dozen grown men, his speed was terrifying. The wind screamed past them. In the blink of an eye, they cleared the Cloud Mist Mountain Range and crossed into the borders of Wu Province.

Wan Wuying didn't slow down until a sprawling mortal city appeared on the distant horizon. He banked sharply, diving into a secluded, heavily forested valley rich with ambient Spiritual Qi.

"We rest here," Wan Wuying commanded. He immediately sat cross-legged on a flat boulder, closing his eyes to aggressively pull the heaven and earth's Spiritual Qi into his recovering core.

Chu Xuan surveyed the area. He knew Wu Province was south of Tong Province, but the local power dynamics were a mystery to him. For now, sticking with a Golden Core Ancestor was the most pragmatic survival strategy.

But Chu Xuan never left his safety in the hands of others.

While the rest of the group collapsed in exhaustion, Chu Xuan silently slipped away. He circled the valley's perimeter, methodically planting hidden Formations at every conceivable entrance and exit. If anyone—friend or foe—approached this valley, he would be the first to know.

By the time he returned to the center of the camp, Wan Wuying had finished his initial meditation and was deep in conversation with Liu Zhenxiong, Li Xuanming, and Wu Teng.

"... Xuanming, I sensed the lingering aura of a little bald donkey from Jinlong Temple back there," Wan Wuying was saying, his brow furrowed. "He was using fierce ghosts to temper his Magical Artifact. That monk was no weakling, and he possessed an Evil-Suppressing Tattoo. How exactly did you manage to kill him?"

Li Xuanming coughed awkwardly. He glanced up just as Chu Xuan walked back into the clearing. "To be honest, Ancestor... it wasn't me who defeated Huikong. It was Junior Brother Chu."

Liu Zhenxiong bowed his head respectfully. "Master, the monk was exceptionally cunning. He hid in the shadows, waiting until we had exhausted almost all our Spiritual Qi against the guards before showing himself. The three of us were no match for him. We nearly died."

Liu Zhenxiong turned to look at Chu Xuan with genuine awe. "It was Junior Brother Chu who bided his time. He waited until the monk lowered his guard, then struck like a thunderbolt, instantly gaining the upper hand and executing him!"

Wu Teng cupped his hands, his voice trembling slightly at the memory. "Ancestor, Huikong nearly killed me with a single strike. If not for Junior Brother Chu’s ruthless intervention, I would be a corpse right now, and this entire rescue operation would have failed."

Wan Wuying’s sharp gaze snapped toward Chu Xuan.

He scrutinized the young man. He knew Li Xuanming. He had personally trained Liu Zhenxiong. He even recognized Wu Teng as one of the Wuji Sect’s sleeper agents.

But this kid? His face was entirely unfamiliar. *This* was the one who slaughtered a Jinlong Temple elite?

Sensing the Ancestor's gaze, Chu Xuan stepped forward, cupping his hands in a flawless, deeply respectful bow. "Wuji Sect disciple Chu Xuan, greets the Ancestor."

"Chu Xuan?" Wan Wuying chewed on the name. It rang absolutely no bells.

"Master," Liu Zhenxiong quickly explained, "when the Sect was destroyed, Junior Brother Chu was merely a Qi Condensation disciple. He only broke through to the Foundation Establishment realm recently, while we were scattered."

Wan Wuying frowned, his confusion deepening. "Even so, to reach Foundation Establishment now, you must have been at least at the eighth or ninth layer of Qi Condensation when the Sect fell. I knew all the senior disciples. You weren't among them."

Chu Xuan kept his head bowed, his voice the picture of humble reverence. "At the time of the Sect's destruction, I was only at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation."

Wan Wuying’s eyes widened.

"After the Sect fell," Chu Xuan continued smoothly, "I experienced a moment of enlightenment. My cultivation speed increased by leaps and bounds. I also stumbled upon a bit of luck, acquiring a large number of Blood Beads. That is how I managed to step into the Foundation Establishment realm just a few days ago."

Wan Wuying stared at him, utterly astounded.

From the fourth layer of Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment in just a few short years? That wasn't just fast; that was monstrous.

And according to Li Xuanming and the others, this newly-advanced Foundation Establishment junior had single-handedly butchered a Jinlong Temple monk who had them dead to rights.

If this kid hadn't been there, Wan Wuying realized with a chill, he would still be rotting in that underground cell.