Beneath the outer wall of the Marquessate, in a most inconspicuous shadowy corner, the air rippled with almost imperceptible concentric circles, as if a stone had been dropped into water. At the center of the ripples, a shadowy mass, viscous as ink and constantly twisting and writhing, quietly seeped out.
This shadow had no fixed form, appearing to be condensed from the purest darkness and malice, exuding a chilling, deathly, and soul-freezing evil aura. It flowed silently like a living mire over the cold walls, leaving no trace, as if it were a part of the shadows itself.
This was a "Shadow Demon Puppet," a puppet crafted through an extremely vicious, secret evil art specifically for reconnaissance. Formless and intangible, it could perfectly blend into any shadow, bypass most physical and low-level magical restrictions, and possessed an almost instinctive keen perception for life force and abnormal energy fluctuations. Crafting such a puppet required the soul of a living person as a guide, a process of unparalleled cruelty, truly a demonic method.
The withered, gaunt figure controlling the Shadow Demon Puppet was currently seated on a skull throne a thousand miles away in a miasma-filled mountain range. Two points of scarlet ghost fire pierced the void, "gazing" coldly at the Marquessate slumbering in the night through the "eyes" of the Shadow Demon Puppet.
"Hmph, a mere mortal Marquessate, yet it gave birth to an Immortal Pill that can activate Chaos Dan Qi? I shall see what kind of divine being is hiding here!" a hoarse thought transmitted through the void like a venomous snake.
The Shadow Demon Puppet stealthily crept along, like the most lethal phantom, swiftly traversing the shadows of the Marquessate's pavilions, towers, corridors, and rock gardens. Wherever it passed, the vegetation seemed to instantly lose its vitality, taking on a layer of decay. The guards patrolling the compound, with their low cultivation, were completely unaware, merely feeling a bone-chilling gust of wind that left them stiff and their blood sluggish, only recovering after a while and attributing it to the cold night breeze.
The Shadow Demon Puppet’s target was extremely clear – the source of the Dan Qi containing the Essence of Chaos Origin that its master had captured during the day! Following that faint, almost dissipated, peculiar sensation, it moved rapidly within the compound like the most precise hound.
The kitchen... the study... the training ground... Its speed was extreme. When it swept past Wú Zhènshān’s transformed study, it paused slightly, seemingly sensing the vigorous life force and a faint lingering trace of Pathfire there, but soon moved on. These, though extraordinary, were not enough to activate Dan Qi of that caliber!
Finally, the constantly writhing body of the Shadow Demon Puppet stopped outside the innermost warm chamber of the Marquessate, where the guards seemed most lax!
The windows of the warm chamber were tightly shut, and it was dark and silent inside, only the even and faint breathing of an infant could be dimly heard.
However, the Shadow Demon Puppet, like a shark smelling blood, writhed violently with excitement! It was here! The source of that incomparably pure Dan Qi that made its master’s soul tremble! Although currently faint to the point of being almost undetectable, its intrinsic supreme aura was like a lighthouse in the dark night, crystal clear to the senses of this evil entity so acutely sensitive to energy!
"Found it!" A thousand miles away, the withered figure on the skull throne’s scarlet ghost fires flared intensely, its hoarse voice carrying a trace of ecstatic joy. "The warm chamber... an infant? Humph, whether it's a disguise or possession! This Dan Qi, I must have it!"
Receiving the command, the viscous body of the Shadow Demon Puppet suddenly elongated and thinned, like the thinnest black oiled paper, about to silently seep through the gap in the window lattice!
Inside the warm chamber.
On the soft baby bed, Wú Lín’s small body was wrapped in a brocade quilt, his little fists resting loosely by his cheeks, breathing evenly, sleeping soundly. His small mouth was slightly pursed, looking incredibly peaceful and harmless.
At the very instant the chilling, deathly aura of the Shadow Demon Puppet was about to touch the gap in the window lattice—
Wú Lín’s long, butterfly-wing-like eyelashes trembled ever so slightly.
Without even opening his eyes.
A thought, like the murmur of a slumbering giant dragon, drifted faintly:
"Noisy."
There was no earth-shattering pressure, no dazzling divine light.
Only an intangible yet supreme primordial Chaos Qi, as if originating from the dawn of the universe, spread quietly like the most insignificant ripple on a slumbering deep sea.
This aura was infinitely vast and infinitely minute, infinitely rigid and infinitely soft. It encompassed all things, yet transcended all laws!
It brushed past the window lattice.
The Shadow Demon Puppet, about to seep in, was like ice and snow thrown into the core of the sun. Before it could even let out a single scream, the viscous, writhing black body instantly solidified! The dark evil energy that constituted its body, condensed from countless living souls and resentments, was as fragile as dewdrops in the sun before this wisp of Chaos Qi, dissolving, decomposing, and turning into the most fundamental void particles, utterly annihilated!
Outside the warm chamber, in that shadowy corner, the air twisted slightly, as if something had never existed, and returned to complete tranquility.
A thousand miles away, in the miasma-filled mountains, the skull palace.
"Pfft—!"
The withered figure seated on the skeletal throne violently convulsed! The two points of scarlet ghost fire flickered erratically like candles in the wind, on the verge of extinction! His shriveled chest heaved violently, and he spewed out a large mouthful of viscous, foul-smelling black blood!
"Ah—!" A piercing howl, utterly inhuman, filled with extreme pain and unbelievable terror, instantly reverberated throughout the gloomy hall! The terrifying sound waves caused the entire skull palace to tremble, and the black frost on the walls cracked inch by inch!
The withered figure clutched his head, as if undergoing the most cruel torture in the world, his body spasming and curling up on the throne. The mental connection between him and the Shadow Demon Puppet had been instantly and completely severed by an unimaginable, incomprehensible, and irresistible terrifying power! Not only that, but the Chaos Qi that had backlashed through the connection, even just one in a hundred millionth wisp of it, was like the most overbearing heavenly punishment, fiercely striking his primordial spirit! His Yin evil primordial spirit, cultivated for hundreds of years, was instantly and severely wounded, covered in cracks like porcelain!
"Ch... Chaos... backlash..." the withered figure's voice was hoarse and broken, filled with boundless fear and the trembling of survival. "That... that wasn't an Immortal Pill... it was... it was..."
In his mind, only that supreme primordial aura remained, as if capable of parting the heavens and earth! That was not an aura that any pill could emit! It was more like... the primordial aura unconsciously emanated by a sleeping, unspeakable great existence!
Just a wisp of unconscious aura backlash had almost annihilated his body and soul, this demon of the Late Golden Core stage!
What in the world was that "infant" in the warm chamber?!
The withered figure curled up, his body trembling uncontrollably, the scarlet ghost fires dim and lusterless, leaving only boundless fear. He no longer dared to entertain any thought of probing or coveting! That place was an absolute forbidden zone!A place of no return that even thoughts could not approach!
"Order... order..." he used his last ounce of strength to issue hoarse commands like a bellows, "All... those investigating the Lin Tian Dynasty... Yong'an Marquessate... all... withdraw! Those who disobey... will have their souls scattered and their spirits extinguished! Never to be reborn for eternity!"
The voice echoed in the hall, carrying bone-chilling fear and despair.
Inside the warm chamber.
Wú Lín lightly smacked his little lips, turned over, buried his little head in the soft brocade quilt, and continued to sleep soundly, as if he had merely shooed away a negligible mosquito.
Outside the window, the night was still deep and peaceful.