The helicopter's rotors whipped the night air as Chu Yang stepped onto the skyscraper's landing pad. From this height, the city glittered—but his spiritual sight revealed patches of malignant darkness coiling around the murder sites.
A crisp *click-click* of heels preceded their escort. *"Mr. Ma awaits in his private lounge."*
The elevator ascended silently. Outside the mahogany doors at corridor's end stood two guards—low-level cultivators judging by their faint qi signatures.
Inside, the office was a study in restrained opulence. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed the metropolis below. The man at the center stood with his back turned, fingering an ancient bronze compass.
*"Ma Tiansheng."* The name rolled off Su Yuyan's tongue like a curse.
He turned.
The scar bisecting his face pulsed with residual dark energy—a wound that never fully healed.
*"Su Mingyuan's runaway daughter. And the Tai Xu heir."* Ma poured two glasses of amber liquid. *"Thirty-year spirit wine. Good for injuries."*
Chu Yang's throat burned as warmth spread through his meridians. Su Yuyan left her glass untouched.
Ma listened impassively as they recounted events. When Chu Yang mentioned the jade slip's revelations about the seal, his fingers stilled on the armrest.
*"Three core scriptures were lost when Tai Xu fell."* Ma's gaze pinned Chu Yang. *"Yours combines all three?"*
Without waiting for confirmation, he moved to a wall safe. The bronze case he extracted thrummed with contained power.
Inside lay a fragmented artifact—its surface etched with proto-celestial script.
The jade slip *screamed* in Chu Yang's mind:
**「Heaven's Seal: Nine Fragments Hold Back Oblivion.」**
*"A replica."* Ma traced the broken edges. *"One-tenth the original's strength, yet Darkmoon would raze cities for it."*
Su Yuyan's breath hitched. *"They're trying to break the ancient seal?"*
*"They believe it guards primordial qi—the key to transcending the Dharma's End."* Ma's scar twisted with his smirk. *"Fools. What awaits is annihilation."*
Chu Yang's spine prickled. *"Why tell us this?"*
*"Because tonight at midnight, Darkmoon will perform their ritual here."* Ma produced three coins shimmering with green light. *"I need you to activate the Trinity Formation when they strike."*
Su Yuyan's fingers closed around the coins. *"You expect us to believe—"*
*"The Tai Xu Slip is their bane,"* Ma interrupted. *"Its sacred light purges their corruption. That's why they hunt you."*
A knock. The assistant's voice: *"Movement in the garage."*
---
Security monitors showed hooded figures pouring from vents. Zhao Wuji's reforged blade glowed hellish crimson as his acolytes arranged five shrouded forms in a pentagram.
*"They're accelerating the rite!"* Chu Yang's phone showed 11:45 PM—fifteen minutes ahead of schedule.
The feed glitched—revealing Ma standing *alongside* Zhao, their weapons pointed not at each other but at the ritual's heart.
*"It's a trap!"*
The door slid open.
The assistant stood framed in the threshold, her eyes pools of liquid obsidian. The silver pistol in her hand didn't waver.