In the midst of the thick fog, a bonfire burned brightly.
Large pieces of split firewood were thrown into the bonfire, making the flames sway and sending up a large cluster of sparks.
The sparks rose with the heat of the bonfire and met the fog shrouding the woods. They quickly extinguished, cooled, and disappeared.
In contrast, the vigorous bonfire dispelled all the cold and fog from the Qingxuan Sect's camp, leaving only the firelight illuminating the ground.
The Qingxuan Sect's disciples sat around the bonfire with their backs to it and facing out of the camp.
While the bonfire warmed the spines of the Qingxuan disciples, the firelight shone through the gaps between them and fell on the ground, extending outward until being swallowed by darkness.
"All disciples, listen up!"
The Qingxuan Sect Master stood at the side of the bonfire with a stern, extremely cold voice: "Be vigilant and don't relax!"
"No one is to leave before dawn. Stay right here!"
"Yes!"
Amidst the shouts, alarmed bird cries could be heard from the distance as they left their nests noisily.
"Dad, what exactly happened?"
Ling'er, the young girl who was still yawning, looked to her father puzzledly. Ziyin quickly whispered, "Junior sister, don't make trouble."
"But I'm just..."
Ling'er was about to speak up when she noticed her father's icy stare. She immediately closed her mouth and retreated a step to hide behind Ziyin.
Ling'er looked around with resentment that she didn't dare express.
Although petulant, she also understood how to read the situation.
She knew her father was in a bad mood, so she furled her banner and surrendered. She sat cross-legged on the icy ground, hugging her Northern Spirit Dog, Thirteen, to keep warm.
Though it was early spring, the ground hadn't stirred with vital energy yet and winter's chill still lingered on the earth.
As the saying goes, the spring cold cuts bitterly!
Ling'er had only been sitting on the ground for a moment before she started fidgeting restlessly.
The ground was too cold and hard, with little stones poking. Only sitting by the bonfire was comfortable.
"Geez, why make everyone stay up instead of sleeping tonight!"
Ling'er rested her chin on Thirteen's head. She hugged the little dog tightly while Ziyin sighed.
By now, he and the Sect Master were among the few who knew the night watch disciples had completely disappeared without a trace—dead or alive.
As for why the news was suppressed...
It was to avoid panic and unrest which would impair the disciples' usual judgment and calm execution.
For their sake, suppressing the news was necessary.
"Endure it for a bit longer, junior sister!"
Ziyin took off his cloak he had fetched earlier and draped it over the girl.
"It'll be over once day breaks."
"Alright...."
Ling'er sighed and closed her eyes, hugging the dog in her arms.
What? Can't sleep?
She was the Sect Master's daughter. What's wrong with sleeping?
Not only could she sleep, she could sleep hugging the priceless Northern Spirit Dog like a hot stove—smelly but cozy!
Just as Ling'er dozed off, Duke who was squatting at the tent entrance clicked his tongue.
He had intended to feed the dog earlier but when he entered, he found the dog missing. Before Duke could search for it, the entire Qingxuan Sect had mobilized.
"Still too slow!"
Duke whispered to himself with another sigh. He had done a lot of unnecessary things tonight.
He should've been more direct and decisive—knocked the girl out cold under the night's cover and taken away the dog.
"It's because I was too greedy, making things overly complicated!"
The cat summed up his actions to himself while reminding himself to avoid such mistakes in the future.
He didn't fear making mistakes but repeating them out of ignorance without summarizing and drawing lessons—that would be a grave mistake indeed.
Isn't growth about succeeding, failing, summarizing, and learning over and over again?
"Looks like I'll have to find another chance to take the dog."
"Wonder where the Qingxuan people will move after tonight..."
As Duke watched the Qingxuan members, he suddenly propped himself up with his front limbs and stood, gazing heavily upwards with a twitching nose, smelling the air.
"This smell..." Duke kept inhaling deeply to identify the abnormal scent diffusing in the air.
Just then, an evil wind howled out from the woods, blowing fog toward the camp.
As the evil wind hit, swaying the bonfire, alternating light and darkness swept over the camp under the flickering flames.
The unsteady firelight disrupted many Qingxuan disciples' vision.
Light and darkness exchanged continuously, replacing each other and hindering sight.
"Which unruly bandit dares behave so evilly!!"
As the Sect Master shouted, thunder rumbling in his mouth, his free right hand swung his sleeve, filling it with wind. His expansive sleeve billowed.
The moment his entire sleeve inflated, his right arm stabbed out swiftly, stirring up a powerful palm force gale inside the camp.
In a flash, the fog carried in by the evil wind was scattered by the Sect Master's strike.
The fog visibly experienced immense pressure as the turbulent airflow tore it apart along the ground while more was shredded by the palm force.
"Tsk, this palm skill... has been tempered by at least ten years of True Essence realm cultivation!"
Duke clicked his tongue and was secretly glad he hadn't attacked recklessly, barely restraining himself.
Otherwise, if this guy discovered him...
Bundling offer! Buy one Spirit Cat, get one Spirit Dog free!
"However..." Duke carefully smelled the air again. The scent from before had grown richer after the evil wind.
"This smell is..."
The cat's eyelid twitched as he covered his little nose.
"Pew, it's fox stench!"
At the same time, Thirteen, held in Ling'er's arms, also struggled violently, starting to howl incessantly.
"Awoo!!"
"Awoooo awooo!!"
"Awoo... arooo.... woof.... awooo awooo!!"
...
The series of howls attracted everyone's attention.
After striking out a palm, the Sect Master looked to his daughter.
"Ling'er, quiet that spirit dog."
"I can't control him, dad!"
Ling'er hugged Thirteen's neck but he remained fierce and wild. The power bursting from his small body nearly overwhelmed even the martial artist Ling'er.
"Master, this spirit dog must have noticed something wrong!"
Gazing at the rabidly barking Thirteen, Ziyin suddenly spoke.
"The spirit dog gave warning?"
The Sect Master knitted his brows. This was not an auspicious sign!
The barks carried far in the silent night. At the same time, a pair of eyes in the woods narrowed.
"Damn, what a dirty-mouthed dog!"
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
