Chapter 274: A New Journey

Li Hu leans on his sword.

Drops of blood from the blade's tip fall onto the cold ground, making a light "tap, tap" sound.

Li Hu's arm trembles, not from fear, but from the over‑release of power and the exhaustion after a long‑suppressed emotion finally bursts its dam.

He looks at the corpses covering the ground, these once lofty Shadow organization assassins who had hunted them to a dead end in sky and earth, now turned into cold flesh and blood.

He personally ended seventeen of them.

Each slash bears the blood feud of his grandfather Wang Shan.

Zhang Mei stands beside him, her condition a bit better; the rune short sword she grips has dimmed its light, but the eyes that were once gentle now hold only glacier‑like resolve.

The hatred did not drive them mad; instead, within a night they were forced to become warriors capable of standing alone.

"Very good."

Wang Zhize's voice sounds faintly, devoid of any emotion, yet like a hand it gently smooths the taut string in their hearts stretched to the limit by revenge.

He says neither "Well done" nor "Good job."

To Wang Zhize, this is not a victory worth celebrating, but merely the beginning of repaying an old blood debt.

It is only natural.

"The power within you must be honed through battle. The blood of your enemies is the finest whetstone."

Wang Zhize's gaze sweeps over the two, giving only the most objective assessment of their performance.

After speaking, he no longer pays attention to the exhausted pair, but strolls alone through the blood‑soaked stronghold.

He walks very slowly; each step seems to elicit a barely audible hum from the mountain rocks beneath his feet.

He extends his hand, his fingertips lightly tracing the air.

The Array runes originally meant for defense and alertness light up one by one on the walls and floor, yet emit no murderous intent.

Light flows, and the Seal that once defended outward instantly reverses, becoming an inner‑encasing shell that perfectly seals all breath here.

He points again with a single finger.

"Definition: Here, everything is normal."

Hum—

The entire mountain stronghold trembles slightly.

The illusion array that shrouded the mountain exterior shifts its light and shadow, becoming more real; even the phantom images of patrolling disciples reappear, and everything returns to how it was before they arrived.

To outsiders, this Shadow border outpost still operates normally, as solid as a golden fortress.

After completing all this, Wang Zhize nods with satisfaction.

He dislikes leaving any trace, preferring to turn the enemy's belongings into his own weapons.

"Time to inventory the spoils."

He turns, reaches toward the treasury deep within the outpost, and snatches in mid‑air.

"Boom!"

The massive stone door bursts open in response, spilling radiant treasure light; the spiritual energy almost materializes into a dense fog that gushes out.

Mountains of spirit stones, talismans flashing various hues, neatly stacked Jade Bottles of pills, and rows upon rows of jade tablets inscribed with cultivation manuals…

This is the centuries‑long accumulation of a Shadow border outpost, its value enough to make any second‑tier sect envious.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei's breathing catches.

Yet, the next second, an even more shocking sight appears.

In front of Wang Zhize, space ripples like water, and a deep vortex that seems to connect to another world materializes out of nowhere.

The wealth piled like mountains in the treasury is drawn by an invisible giant hand, turning into a multicolored torrent that soars and plunges entirely into the vortex, vanishing.

The whole process takes only a dozen or so breaths.

The once glittering treasury becomes empty, with only a few strands of lingering spiritual energy swirling.

"Let's go, this place is useless now."

Wang Zhize says calmly, as if merely tidying up some trash.

He shifts his thought, and Li Hu and Zhang Mei feel a flash before their eyes; the next moment they find themselves in a brand‑new realm.

Here is Wang Zhize's little world.

The sky is azure, the earth verdant, and the heart of the world—grandfather Wang Shan's divine soul Core—lies at the center, radiating gentle light like a warm sun.

And the resources just "transported" in sit like small hills nearby, awaiting processing.

At the other end of the world, Zhitao sits cross‑legged, his belly rising and falling like a bloated toad.

Around him, wisps of gray‑white mist continuously drift out and are drawn back in.

Within the mist, at times the terrified face of the Shadow Owl appears, and at other times it shifts into the seductive, entranced visage of the Shadow Enchantress.

He is digesting.

Not merely digesting energy, but also analyzing and comprehending those two completely different principles.

"Brother, the scent of these two is really strange," Zhitao suddenly opened his eyes, scratched his head, "one is a clueless fool, the other a whiny girl. But… seems quite useful."

He suddenly grins at Li Hu.

Li Hu feels his mind go blank; before him Zhitao's figure instantly becomes towering, like a demon god ruling his life and death, leaving him unable to muster any resistance.

But the next second, he sees Zhitao turn into a delicate, peerless beauty, sending a flirtatious glance his way, making his heart sway.

"Get lost!"

Li Hu bites his tongue hard, the sharp pain jolts him awake, breaking out in cold sweat.

"Hahaha, fun, right?" Zhitao laughs triumphantly, "Now I can deceive people too!"

He has already grasped the basics of the Illusory‑Real Realm and Spiritual Enchantment, crude as they are, but with boundless potential.

Wang Zhize ignores his brother's offering, turning his gaze toward Li Hu and Zhang Mei.

"Those resources, you may take and use at will."

"What you must do is, in the shortest time, blend the concept of 'Breaking Law' into every attack and every defense you make."

"You don't need to understand the law; you only need to learn… how to destroy it more efficiently."

Wang Zhize's voice carried an unchallengeable authority.

What he wanted were not two burdens who could only trail behind waving flags and shouting, but two sharp blades that could clear away stray soldiers for him.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei nodded heavily, fierce fighting spirit blazing in their eyes.

After settling everything, Wang Zhize's consciousness returned to the stronghold in reality.

He stood deep within the empty treasury, looking at an unremarkable stone wall, countless streams of data flashing in his eyes.

That was a secret dug out from the deepest memory of the Shadow.

"Lord's plan… using the masses as medicine, billions of souls as a lure, to forge the Immortal Path Pill…"

Wang Zhize's gaze was as cold as ice beneath the Nine Abyss.

"And the Core of the activation ceremony's stronghold lies right behind this."

He stretched out his hand and gently pressed it against the stone wall.

"Definition: Array, manifest. Passage, open."

On the stone wall, countless intricate, bizarre crimson runes lit up, intertwining and spiraling until they formed a continuously rotating crimson vortex.

A deeply hidden secret transmission Array was thus exposed.

One end of the Array connects to the deeper core of the Shadow organization's interior, and also to a forthcoming, utterly inhumane blood sacrifice.

Wang Zhize did not step in immediately.

He again wielded the authority of "Definition," lightly tapping several key nodes of the transmission Array with his fingertips.

The crimson light flickered a few times, and several barely perceptible law runes belonging to Wang Zhize silently merged into the Array Core.

This will not change the destination of the transmission, but when he needs it, it can turn the Array into a one‑way death cage that only allows entry, not exit.

Or a precise coordinate, letting him descend at any time.

After completing all this, he summoned Wang Zhitao, Li Hu and Zhang Mei from the small world.

The four of them stood again on this deathly silent land that had been disguised.

"The other end of the transmission Array is the enemy's true nest."

Wang Zhize looked at the three, his voice calm yet bearing the oppressive pressure of an approaching mountain storm.

"We go there not to destroy, but to… hunt."

"Lord, should be arriving soon."

"The appetizer is already finished; it's time to meet the host who prepared this feast for us."

Wang Zhitao licked his lips excitedly, his eyes filled with a beast's hunger for prey.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei clenched their weapons; their hatred had not yet cooled, and a new fury was ignited.

Wang Zhize collapsed the small world again, turning it into a speck of light that merged into his brow.

He was the first to step forward, entering the crimson vortex.

His figure was instantly swallowed.

Wang Zhitao and the other two followed closely behind.

When the last figure vanished, the crimson vortex slowly faded, and the stone wall returned to its original state.

The entire stronghold was silent as if it had always been so.

A new storm had quietly begun in the enemy's unsuspecting heartland.