The Capital, Chen Family Private Sanatorium.
Located in the Western Hills, this luxurious "sanatorium" was, in reality, the Chen family's stronghold for handling "dirty work" and hosting secret meetings.
At 3:00 AM, the screeching of brakes shattered the silence of the mountain forest. Several unmarked black vans screeched to a halt in front of the main building. The doors slid open, and over a dozen blood-soaked bodies with broken limbs were tossed onto the marble steps like garbage.
They were the Chen family deathsworn who had been crippled by Shan Hu at the Sky Eye Security Company.
Chen Tiannan, the eldest young master of the Chen family, stood on the steps wearing a silk robe, his expression dark and ominous. A Cuban cigar was clamped between his fingers, its ember glowing intermittently in the darkness.
Looking at his wailing elite subordinates, especially the Scarred Captain who had been interrogated via Shan Hu's "Soul-Seizing Art," Chen Tiannan's eye twitched violently.
"Young Master Chen... that Shan Hu... he is a demon..." Although the Scarred Captain had regained some of his senses, the terror in his eyes was etched into his marrow. He trembled as he relayed Shan Hu's message: "He said... wash your neck clean... otherwise, the Chen family will be the next Wang family of Longcheng..."
Bang!
Chen Tiannan kicked the Scarred Captain viciously in the face, knocking him unconscious.
"Trash! A bunch of useless trash!"
Chen Tiannan furiously threw his cigar to the ground and crushed it under his heel. As the heir to one of the Capital's four great families, when had he ever suffered such humiliation? Someone had beaten his men at his own doorstep, crippled them, and dumped them back as a demonstration of power?
"The Wang family of Longcheng? Hmph, does that little country bumpkin family deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as my Chen family?" Chen Tiannan's eyes flashed with venomous light.
He took out an encrypted satellite phone and dialed a number that was never displayed in his contacts.
The call connected, and a cold, raspy voice came from the other end, sounding like two pieces of metal grinding together: "Tiannan, calling your Master this late? Is the matter done?"
Chen Tiannan took a deep breath, suppressing his rage, and switched to a respectful tone: "Master, something has happened. Someone intervened, crippled my men, and threatened to destroy the Chen family. I'm afraid we can't get the ruin beneath the Ye family for now."
There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a cold sneer: "In this Capital, is there anyone who dares to touch what I have set my eyes on? What is his background?"
"His name is Shan Hu, from Longcheng. He seems to have some strange methods; he can catch bullets with his bare hands."
"Catching bullets? Mere parlor tricks of projecting Inner Strength," the voice said with disdain. "Since the Ye family refuses a toast only to drink a forfeit, we need not be polite. Your Master is at a critical stage of refining a 'Blood Corpse' these days. Once I emerge from seclusion, I will personally meet this arrogant brat who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. As for you, hold your forces for now. Don't let your father know, lest we alert the enemy."
"Yes! Disciple understands!" Chen Tiannan hung up the phone, looking at the brightly lit Capital in the distance, a cruel smile curling his lips.
"Shan Hu? Ye family? When my Master emerges, I will refine all of you into corpse puppets!"
Ye Family Ancient Estate, Backyard.
While the Chen family plotted, Shan Hu had already returned to the Ye estate.
Ye Qingyun stood respectfully to the side. Having received Shan Hu's notification, he had dismissed all guards and servants from the backyard, designating this area as an absolute forbidden zone.
"Mr. Shan, is this the place where you sensed the anomaly?" Ye Qingyun looked at the unremarkable dry well before him with some confusion. This well had existed in the Ye family for over a century; aside from being dry for ages, it had never shown any strange phenomena.
Shan Hu nodded: "This is the entrance to the array. Your Ye family has been sitting on a treasure mountain without knowing it. That is a stroke of luck; otherwise, you would have long been devoured by the wolves of the cultivation world without even a bone left."
After speaking, Shan Hu walked to the edge of the dry well. He used no brute force; instead, he extended a finger and drew a complex golden rune in the void. With a flick of his finger, the rune sank into the dry well.
It was the "key" he had left earlier.
Rumble—
The ground began to vibrate slightly, and a muffled sound like gears engaging came from within the well. Immediately after, the hard stone slabs at the bottom of the well slowly slid open to both sides, revealing a dark stone staircase winding downward.
A wind, ancient and decaying yet laced with pure spiritual energy, blew out from the passage.
Ye Qingyun's eyes widened. He had lived in the Ye family all his life, yet he never knew such a mechanism existed underground!
"Guard the top. No one is allowed to approach," Shan Hu ordered.
"Yes! Rest assured, sir!" Ye Qingyun immediately drew his sword, standing guard at the entrance like a gate god.
Shan Hu walked down the stone steps.
As he descended, signs of artificial excavation began to appear on the surrounding rock walls, which were embedded with Moonlight Stones that had long since extinguished.
After descending about three hundred meters, the view suddenly opened up.
A massive underground palace revealed itself before Shan Hu.
Just as his Divine Sense had investigated, in the center of the palace lay a huge Spirit Gathering Array, though it was currently dim and lifeless. At the heart of the array was a dried-up Spiritual Spring Eye. The tiny, nearly exhausted spiritual vein lay coiled beneath the spring eye, hanging by a thread.
Shan Hu walked to the spring eye, squatted down, and gently touched the cracked ground.
"Not natural exhaustion, but drained of its origin by human intervention," a fierce glint flashed in Shan Hu's eyes. He could sense a predatory restriction remaining on the array. Someone, centuries ago, had used this formation to forcibly drain this spiritual vein dry to nourish some evil entity or to break through a cultivation realm.
"No matter. Since I have encountered you, I will grant you a new fortune."
Shan Hu took out the remaining scraps of the Deep Sea Dark Crystal he had obtained in the South Sea, along with several Low-grade Spirit Stones from his storage ring.
He formed seals with both hands and shouted softly: "Reverse the Cosmos, Dead Wood Meets Spring, Gather!"
He injected the powder of the Spirit Stones and Dark Crystal into the various nodes of the array, reactivating this ancient formation that had slept for a hundred years.
Hum—
The underground palace shuddered violently, and the originally dim runes began to light up one by one. Shan Hu then forced out a drop of his own Immortal Emperor's Vital Blood and dripped it into the dried spring eye.
This drop of blood contained immense vitality and the power of Laws.
Like rain after a long drought, the withered spiritual vein emitted a joyous cry that seemed to come from the soul level the moment it absorbed the vital blood.
Strands of spiritual liquid began to seep from the dry spring eye. Immediately after, spiritual energy erupted like a geyser, instantly filling the entire underground palace. The concentration was so high that it formed a faint white mist in the air!
"It has only recovered ten percent, but that is enough for my current use."
Shan Hu took a deep breath, feeling the cheers of the True Essence within his body. This would be the perfect place for him to attempt breaking through to the Mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and to protect Qin Wan'er and Ye Qingcheng during their Dual Cultivation.
He sat cross-legged beside the spring eye, beginning to utilize this rare spiritual environment to consolidate his cultivation and deduce his next plans. The situation in the Capital was far more complex than in Longcheng, but the cards in his hand were also increasing.