Chapter 289: Shadow of Lurking

Two streams of light tore the night veil, making no sound, and shot straight toward the southwestern border of the empire.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei walked side by side, yet they neither rode the wind nor wielded any treasure.

Beneath their feet, countless rule‑threads invisible to the naked eye automatically wove and extended, bearing them at unimaginable speed through heaven and earth.

This is the new world bestowed upon them by Wang Zhize.

In Zhang Mei's view, a high mountain is no longer a mountain but a redundant data block forcibly stacked from concepts such as "gravity," "mass," and "structure."

The roaring gale that whistled past is a line of simple code defining the attributes "flow" and "cut."

The entire world, in their eyes, is completely deconstructed, reduced to the lowest‑level "source code."

And they are inspectors granted administrator permissions by the Master.

"In the past I always felt those millennial sects and ten‑thousand‑year families had unfathomable depth, like a celestial trench."

Li Hu's voice rang in Zhang Mei's mind, carrying a dream‑like sigh.

"Now looking again, they're just sandcastles built higher and more complex on a beach."

Zhang Mei felt the same.

At her fingertips, a strand of transformed void‑law power twined, showing a gray that lay between existence and void.

Just now they passed a demonic sect famed for concealment; its mountain‑guard Array had, over the past three thousand years, turned countless righteous giants back empty‑handed.

In her "source code" vision, the core node of that Array shone like a ten‑thousand‑watt searchlight in the night, absurdly dazzling.

Its so‑called "perfect logical closed loop" was riddled with low‑level, fatal bugs.

She need not act; a single thought sufficed.

【Definition: This Array, energy supply linked to the array pattern, contains a logical paradox.】

With that simple thought, the so‑called ten‑thousand‑year Array that could repel a three‑day onslaught by a divine‑transformer cultivator would collapse within a hundredth of a second, its energy back‑firing and blasting the entire sect into a brilliant firework.

This is "Break‑Method."

Not by using stronger force to destroy, but by declaring your "death sentence" at the rule level.

"We've arrived."

Li Hu's voice cut off her thoughts.

Below lay an ancient mountain range stretching for hundreds of li, shrouded in mist, suffused with spiritual aura; the three ancient characters "Guiyuan Sect" on the sect gate fluttered like dragons and phoenixes, exuding a dignified, time‑worn authority.

A sect that has inherited at least eight thousand years, and in the empire's history ranks among the great pillars.

Yet in Li Hu and Zhang Mei's perception, this tranquil, elegant land hid a thorn.

A thorn that had pierced deep into the world's flesh, now slightly suppurating, emitting a foul stench.

It is an energy fluctuation of the same origin as the "Coordinate Mark" on Wang Zhize's world barrier, yet weakened by billions of times.

Like a drop of ink dropped into clear water—almost invisible after dilution—but its polluted essence cannot fool their "Void Antivirus."

"In the forbidden zone."

Zhang Mei's gaze pierced through layers of halls and dozens of protective Arrays, precisely locking onto a valley deepest within the Guiyuan Sect.

There, a dense gray mist so thick it would not dissolve enveloped the place; the Array's strength even caused a faint interference in their "source code" sight.

"An ancient 'Lock Heaven Absolute Ground Array' variant, interesting," Li Hu commented, "Legend says once fully activated, it isolates interior and exterior, forming its own realm; even the former pinnacle of this world would find it impossible to breach."

"No matter how good the code, it can't stop an administrator."

Zhang Mei's tone was flat; she stepped forward, her form already merging with the void.

Li Hu followed closely.

The two caused no energy ripple and simply "walked" into the Guiyuan Sect's mountain‑guard Array.

As if they had always been part of that Array.

Along the way, countless bright and dark sentinels, countless seals forged over a thousand years, appeared to them as mere placeholders.

They moved as if strolling through their own backyard, arriving directly at the valley classified as the sect's highest secret forbidden zone.

【Definition: "Lock Heaven Absolute Ground" means "ventilation and airflow."】

Zhang Mei extended her slender jade finger, lightly tapping the terrifying gray mist that could strangle the primordial spirit and block heavenly mechanisms.

Hum——!

The ancient, unchanging gray mist burst like a punctured balloon, silently splitting to both sides and revealing a narrow passage only one person could fit through.

The destructive energy on either side continued to surge wildly, yet oddly avoided this "non‑existent" path.

The two walked in.

An indescribable foul stench assaulted them.

It was not a physical odor but a filth that struck straight at the soul.

It was the emotional sediment formed when countless beings died in their deepest fear, heaviest despair, and most venomous hatred.

At the valley's centre stood a pitch‑black ancient altar.

The altar's material was neither metal nor stone; its surface was etched with twisted runes markedly different from the "Lord's" heavenly‑offering style, yet fundamentally similar.

At the very centre of the altar, an Offering of a human‑head‑sized black crystal rested.

The crystal's surface was smooth as a mirror, but inside swirled a vague, constantly writhing phantom.

That phantom emitted the very fluctuation that shared its source with the void walkers.

It resembled a prisoner starved for billions of years, greedily sucking the black vapour that rose in threads from the altar's runes, a vapour forged from fear and despair.

Each strand of black vapour it absorbed sharpened its outline and amplified its evil aura.

"It's not a void walker…"

Li Hu communicated with Zhang Mei on the spiritual plane, his voice heavy.

"It's a vessel spirit polluted by the void, ancient, older than the 'Lord's' vessel spirit."

"It's been used as a signal amplifier, or rather… a waste‑recycling station," Zhang Mei's eyes were cold, "The void walker nailed it here to silently collect the world's negative emotions over its long years, as sustenance."

A "claw" that has been lurking for an unknown number of years, more hidden than the "Shadow" organization!

Li Hu can even imagine that, had the Master not suddenly appeared and resolved the crisis of the Heavenly Sacrificial Platform, perhaps a few thousand years later, when the spirit within this crystal stone has absorbed enough "resources", it would become the Void Walker's most perfect beacon and inside agent upon descending into this world!

By then, with internal and external forces cooperating, the entire world will become a sacrifice.

Li Hu clenches his palm, the power to break laws stirring, and he is 100% certain that with a single strike he can make this Altar and this crystal stone vanish completely on the level of the rules.

"Don't move."

Zhang Mei blocked him.

"It is now the Master's prey. Stirring up trouble is not the Master's style."

Li Hu took a deep breath and nodded.

Indeed, they are the Master's blades, but the one who gives orders is always the hand that holds the blade.

Zhang Mei closed her eyes, packaged all the coordinates, energy frequencies, rune structures, spirit‑state of the artifact… everything she could "read" into a data stream, and instantly transmitted it through the invisible mental link she shares with Wang Zhize.

……

The Imperial City, atop the palace wall.

Wang Zhize was looking down at the city below, which had already regained life and order; his will was immersed in his newly reborn realm, observing the coordinates bearing the "one‑way tracking" seal he had forcibly stamped on.

Suddenly, his mind stirred.

An unmistakably clear stream of information arrived from a distant corner of heaven and earth.

His consciousness instantly completed the reception and analysis of the information.

Guiyuan Sect, ancient Array, corrupted spirit artifact, Altar that gathers fear and despair…

A complete conspiratorial tapestry spanning thousands of years slowly unfolded in his mind.

"Interesting."

A cold curve lifted the corner of Wang Zhize's mouth.

The Void Walker, truly a veteran at toying with the world.

The plan of the Heavenly Sacrificial Platform is merely the overt main offensive.

And this piece lurking within the Guiyuan Sect is a hidden backup move, a reserve stronghold, an insurance after failure.

If I do not appear and the main offensive succeeds, it would be merely a flourish on an already splendid tapestry.

If the main offensive fails, it can continue to lie low, awaiting the next opportunity.

"Planning to use it as a springboard for a comeback?"

Wang Zhize's will took shape in the newly reborn realm, and in his eyes countless possibilities swirled like a galaxy, rapidly deducing.

Destroy it?

Too wasteful.

A piece meticulously placed by an enemy over millennia must contain abundant information and habits about that enemy.

Even… it can be turned to one's advantage.

Wang Zhize's command, crossing space, entered Li Hu and Zhang Mei's minds with crystal clarity.

"Do not disturb it. Set up a concealing Array outside and simply monitor. I will use it to see how many such 'trash cans' the so‑called 'Void Walker' has left in this world."

"Yes!"

Li Hu and Zhang Mei took the order and slipped out of the valley silently.

Zhang Mei redefined the rules, re‑"closed" the passage she had opened, restoring the "Lock Heaven Absolute Earth Array" to its original state, as if no one had ever come.

Then, outside the forbidden zone, the two used the transformed Void Law to lay a layer of even more concealed, undetectable monitoring network.

Having done all this, they hid within the clouds, their gazes piercing every obstacle, staring at the twisted phantom within the jet‑black crystal stone that still greedily devours fear.

A chill rose from the depths of their hearts.

This is certainly not the only one.

The world they've lived in half their lives, in places they cannot see, has long been riddled with countless holes.

A "detoxification" sweeping the entire heavens and earth has only just begun.