Yu Xuan sat leisurely atop the spirit boat as it cut through the crimson sky at nearly two thousand kiloters per hour.
Despite the terrifying speed, the deck remained eerily calm.
Not a single ripple of wind disturbed his robes.
The layered formations engraved in the boat perfectly isolated the interior from outside pressure, turbulence, and spatial friction.
To anyone aboard, it felt as though the world itself had slowed down.
He was also not worried about the others, as they were powerful too.
Though Yu Xuan resisted the urge to make a pirate flag, he did not relax.
His spirit sense remained fully extended, sweeping the surroundings in overlapping waves.
Underground.
Midair.
Even for faint spatial distortions.
Anything that dared to move within several kiloters of the boat would be detected instantly.
This was simply caution.
At the current speed, Yu Xuan calculated he would reach Mo Lin’s location in exactly twenty-one minutes.
Ten minutes passed.
Halfway to his destination.
The ground below suddenly trembled.
Not a natural quake.
It was sharp, violent, and rhythmic.
A battle was going ahead.
Yu Xuan’s expression shifted slightly.
Controlling the spirit boat, he activated stealth mode.
The spirit boat’s aura vanished as its surface darkened, folding light and spiritual fluctuations inward until it blended seamlessly with the sky.
Silent.
Invisible.
Yu Xuan then speeded the boat to an unbelievable rate.
Monts later, Yu Xuan slowed and hovered high above the disturbance, in the upper atmosphere present here.
Below him.
Mo Lin was fighting.
Yu Xuan raised an eyebrow.
"So I really am unlucky, huh? Or is it sothing else?" he muttered suspiciously.
According to all reports so far, only demonic beasts had appeared within this gate.
Yet here.
This was no beast.
No.
There were people.
More than one.
Yu Xuan’s gaze sharpened as he observed the battle.
Mo Lin stood at the center, sword blazing with intent, his movents sharp and decisive.
He wasn’t being suppressed, but neither was he gaining ground.
It was a stalemate.
Then Yu Xuan noticed sothing else.
In the shadow casted by Mo Lin’s opponent.
Figures existed.
Hidden.
Waiting and watching.
The man Mo Lin was fighting had ashen-grey skin, a lean fra, and eyes completely devoid of pupils — smooth, hollow voids that reflected no light.
Yu Xuan’s gaze followed the shadows.
One. Two. Three...
More.
And then.
Soone looked up from the shadow.
Straight at him.
Their gaze pierced through layers of concealnt, locking directly onto Yu Xuan’s position in the sky.
Yu Xuan’s lips curved slightly.
"...Interesting."
This gate had just beco far more lively than expected.
***
"You’re not half bad," Mo Lin muttered, chin slightly raised, his tone carrying an unmistakable Young Master arrogance.
"But clearly this Young Master is better."
After all, if no one was around to complain, why not enjoy himself?
Across from him, the ashen-grey–skinned demon, Kui Quan, stared in silence.
His hollow, pupil-less eyes reflected no light, yet sothing unreadable stirred within them.
He had noticed it.
That subtle emphasis on the words "Young Master".
A pointless provocation.
Kui Quan chose to ignore it for now.
Without warning, the shadow cast by a nearby jagged rock twisted violently, swelling outward like a living thing.
In an instant, it reshaped itself into a colossal shadow-hamr and ca crashing down toward Mo Lin.
Mo Lin’s expression sharpened.
A single step forward.
Sword Qi flashed.
SHHHING—!
The hamr split cleanly down the middle, dissolving into scattered darkness before it could even touch him.
Mo Lin exhaled lightly, lips curling.
"Your control over shadows is darker than... shit?"
He paused before the last word, which slipped out instinctively.
Yet despite his casual deanor, Mo Lin still hadn’t gone all out.
Inside his sword, the old woman’s voice, his ever-reliable living detection array, had been screaming warnings since the fight began.
She detected multiple presences.
And they’re hiding inside shadow of this grey skinned demon.
anwhile, dark veins bulged across Kui Quan’s forehead.
Mo Lin had successfully rage baited him.
Mo Lin’s careless arrogance had pierced straight through his composure.
Just then.
A voice echoed within Kui Quan’s mind.
’Old Kui, end this quickly. You’re being watched, soone’s observing us from a spirit boat.’
The tone was calm, almost lazy.
Kui Quan’s jaw tightened.
Spirit boat?
His thoughts flickered.
’What about our plan? Will Silent Listener act?’
There was a brief pause.
Before the Demon of Pacts, mostly called by their Demonic Na answered.
’I’ll try once, you just distract him.’
Kui Quan’s shadow stirred unnaturally, rippling like a living sea.
Above them in the crimson sky Yu Xuan watched silently.
***
Within the shadow of Kui Quan.
Darkness folded upon itself like layered cloth, concealing far more than it should have.
Multiple presences lurked there, perfectly still, perfectly patient.
At the very center stood the Silent Listener.
His body was wrapped head to toe in black bandages, each strip carved with ancient letters that pulsed faintly.
Upon his head rested a wide bamboo hat.
Dozens of talismans were pinned along its rim, fluttering without wind, all connected by a thick, blue-burning thread that crackled silently, as though consuming sothing invisible.
The Silent Listener did not breathe.
He did not shift his stance.
He waited.
Above him, Mo Lin and Kui Quan clashed at close range, sword intent and demonic aura grinding against one another.
That was the opening because of their distance.
The Silent Listener’s eyes narrowed behind the bandages.
His divine sense expanded outward locking directly onto Mo Lin.
At the sa ti, his hands moved.
Several hand seals were ford in succession.
Instantly, one of the talismans hanging from his hat ignited.
The blue fla flared violently, racing along the thread and then vanished.
The talisman disappeared as if it had never existed.
In that sa instant, the Silent Listener’s consciousness plunged forward.
Straight into Mo Lin’s Sea of Consciousness.
Or rather.
What he believed to be Mo Lin’s Sea of Consciousness.
The mont his perception stabilized.
The Silent Listener froze.
Endless horror was etched across his face beneath the bandages.
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