Lin Qian was stepping out of the rented courtyard when she spotted Zhao Zhi and Xu Yun approaching from the main path. Upon noticing her, they exchanged a look and changed their direction toward her.
"Lin Qian," Xu Yun greeted, her expression curious. "How's everything?"
Without wasting time, Lin Qian filled them in on the situation.
"So all three victims are in there?" Xu Yun asked for confirmation.
Lin Qian nodded. "Yes. We've gathered them all here to keep things manageable."
"Good idea. How are they now? Do you need any help?" Xu Yun offered, glancing toward the courtyard entrance.
Lin Qian shook her head. "No. A-He is still forming his core—Lei Wen is with him, making sure he's stable. The young girl, Xiao Lan, is inside, learning how to control her core with a basic cultivation method I taught her. Madam Hao is doing the same." She glanced back toward the courtyard. "I was just about to head out to get dinner for them."
Xu Yun exhaled in relief. "Good, good. But… what's next for them? It's obvious their normal lives are over."
Zhao Zhi interjected, "Not necessarily. They just need to find a cultivation sect or teacher. Their families can still live normal lives, but…" He paused, his expression turning somber. "I don't think staying in Baishan is an option for them anymore."
Lin Qian sighed. "Lei Wen and I came to the same conclusion." Her gaze drifted past them toward the street. "Where's General Xuan Tian? Didn't he return with you?"
Zhao Zhi and Xu Yun exchanged glances, a hint of amusement flashing between them. Zhao Zhi's lips curled into a half-smile. "Oh, do we have news for you."
All four of them sat inside an unoccupied room in the courtyard. Zhao Zhi's hands moved animatedly as he recounted how Xuan Tian spent his day at Zhang Family Clinic.
Lei Wen raised an eyebrow. "He's still in there?"
Zhao Zhi nodded. "Yes. When we left, we tried contacting him, but no answer."
Lin Qian crossed her arms. "And you're not worried?"
Zhao Zhi shook his head. "No. He was pretty confident when he said he'd try to come back tonight. I believe he'll be fine. After he left for the restricted area, for the rest of the day, I couldn't really concentrate. I kept expecting something to happen. But… zilch. Nada."
Lei Wen continued, his tone grim, "How do we know that he's still in there? He could be anywhere. He might be in trouble. We should –"
"Lei Wen," Lin Qian touched his hand gently, stopping him. "Calm down. This is The God of War Xuan Tian we're talking about here. He's far more capable of doing it than all four us combined."
Zhao Zhi added, "He's also far stronger than four of us combined."
Realisation dawned on Lei Wen, "You're right. I'm sorry. It must be because I'm exposed to Madam Luo's parental's love and worried," he joked lamely.
Xu Yun fall in contemplation, "It must've been hard on them. I cannot imagine how worried they are."
The night stretched on, and still, there was no sign of Xuan Tian. Lei Wen stood on his balcony, eyes scanning the city below, his senses stretched to their limits in hopes of detecting any hint of the General's presence. Anxiety coiled tight in his chest. He couldn't help it.
Behind him, the soft creak of a door opening broke the quiet. He turned on instinct, shoulders tense, only to see Lin Qian stepping into the room.
"You're still scanning?" she asked, concern threading her voice.
Lei Wen didn't bother hiding his worry and nodded. "Yes, I am."
Lin Qian crossed the room, wrapping her arms around him in a reassuring embrace. "Don't be. You've never seen him in action. I have. He's very good at what he does. Trust me."
He sighed, returning the embrace. "I do. It's just—"
A shimmer of energy rippled through the air, cutting him off. Both their heads snapped toward the source as a faint thud echoed from the room next door. Then came a familiar voice, calm and steady: "Sorry I'm late."
Relief crashed through Lei Wen. He exhaled loudly and immediately headed toward Xuan Tian's room.
Outside the door, he found Zhao Zhi already approaching, with Xu Yun hurrying down the hallway toward them. They all felt it—the distinct pulse of Xuan Tian's Spirit Energy. It thrummed in the air, deliberate and unmistakable.
Zhao Zhi smirked. "He sure knows how to make an entrance."
They entered the room to find Xuan Tian already seated at his usual spot, calm as ever. The rest of them settled around the table, falling into a familiar routine. It was something they hadn't realized they needed until now—a semblance of normalcy after the whirlwind of recent days.
"I believe you've all been waiting for me to recount how my day has been," Xuan Tian said, his gaze sweeping across the table.
Four heads nodded in unison.
"First of all, let me confirm," he continued, voice gentle, "everything is okay in the courtyard?"
Lei Wen nodded. "Yes. Everything and everyone is fine. A-He's core is still forming—it might fully form by tomorrow. The other two are learning how to stabilize their cores with the basic cultivation method Lin Qian taught them."
"Good," Xuan Tian said, satisfied. "One problem taken care of." He then began recounting what happened after he parted ways with Zhao Zhi.
Midway through his explanation, Xu Yun's jaw dropped. "High Immortal Stage Five?!" The others mirrored her reaction, eyes widening in shock.
It wasn't an exaggerated response. Immortal cultivation was divided into four realms: Low Immortal, Mid Immortal, High Immortal, and Immortal Saint. Each realm was further split into five stages. High Immortal Stage Five was the pinnacle right before ascending to Immortal Saint—a level of cultivation so rare that reaching it demanded not just years of relentless effort, vast resources, and above-average talent, but also sheer luck. Attempting breakthroughs at that height carried immense risks; one mistake could mean death.
That someone at that level was involved in this situation was concerning—if not alarming.
Zhao Zhi whistled under his breath. "Whew. No wonder I couldn't scan inside. It's stronger than me."
Lei Wen's face turned grim. "Stronger than any of us... well, besides you, General."
But Xuan Tian wasn't finished. "Not only that—the employees inside? They're all Warriors."
This time, it was Zhao Zhi who gaped. "Warriors?! My assistant? How did I not sense it?"
"They each carry a token that masks their Warrior auras," Xuan Tian explained. "Those same tokens are also used as keys to enter the restricted courtyard."
The room fell into thoughtful silence, the weight of the situation settling over them like a heavy blanket.
Lei Wen was the first to break the silence. "Warriors as employees… This isn't some low-level operation. This is a well-prepared, organized setup. Even though Warriors are weaker than Low Immortals, having them as basic staff? Whoever's behind this isn't a simple character."
Lin Qian nodded in agreement. "And I doubt this has only been going on for three months. It must've started much earlier—maybe even years ago."
Zhao Zhi leaned back with a grimace. "And we still don't know why they're doing this. What's the end goal? What are they planning with all those humans developing cores?"
"Tomorrow," Xuan Tian said calmly, "we might find out."
Xu Yun glanced at him. "But how did you get out, General? I thought you were avoiding breaking through the barrier."
"I did," Xuan Tian replied. "I didn't break out. I stole one of their tokens and duplicated it."
Zhao Zhi smirked, "Of course you did."
Xuan Tian continued, "I forced myself to come back tonight because I needed to update you—and to bring this."
He opened his palm, revealing a dark reddish-brown pill resting in the center of his hand. "They fed me this. I believe this is what's causing those spontaneous core formations."
The room's atmosphere thickened with tension as everyone leaned in, eyes fixed on the small pill that seemed to carry far more weight than its size suggested.
Zhao Zhi, being the pill expert among them, reached out and picked up the pill. He examined it carefully—scanning with his eyes, inhaling its scent, and sending a stream of Spirit Energy into it. After a moment, he set it back down on the table, brow furrowed.
"I've never smelled any pill like this before," he said, his tone serious. "There's an ingredient in there I don't recognize."
He pulled out another pill—the one Xuan Tian had acquired the night before—and placed them side by side. Studying them both, Zhao Zhi continued, "What I can say for sure is that these two pills were made using the same concoction method. They share similar structures and refining techniques."
He paused, fingers drumming the table. "Both of them contain an unknown ingredient, but there's something else—a faint energy pulse in each one. Different energy pulses, to be exact."
A heavy silence fell before Zhao Zhi spoke again, his voice weighted with gravity. "I have a theory." He pointed at the dark reddish-brown pill. "This one... I still can't determine what the secret ingredient is. But this one—" he gestured to the ordinary-looking brown pill "—I believe the missing ingredient is... a Refined Immortal Core."
The words hung in the air like a thunderclap, tension thickening as the team absorbed the implication.