The scent of burning sandalwood failed to mask the damp, metallic air inside the mountain manor.
Elder Jiang sat in the host's chair, his calloused hand resting on the hilt of his sword. As the leading elder of the River Sword Sect's enforcement hall, he was accustomed to deference, but today the atmosphere in the chamber was heavy with unspoken tension. Around the long obsidian table sat three other elders, representing the secondary sects that bordered the northern region. They were men of power in their own right, yet today they behaved like nervous merchants, casting frequent glances toward the heavy iron doors of the inner chamber.
They had good reason to be tense. The directive had come from the very top—a secret decree issued jointly by the Demon Suppression Temple and the Heavenly Sword Lake. The major sects wanted the rogue cultivator known as "Shen Mo" located at all costs, and they had authorized their vassal sects to act as their claws. The rewards promised were enough to elevate any of their sects to a new level: high-grade Spirit Foundation pills, ancient manuals, and political protection.
But the risk was equally high. "Shen Mo" had crushed elite disciples, survived the closing of the ruins, and vanished without a trace.
"How much longer must we wait?" muttered Elder Guan of the Iron Spear Valley, his thick fingers tapping impatiently on the table. "Our scouts have searched every town within three hundred miles. We have found nothing. If this reclusive master of yours cannot find him, the major sects will lose patience with us."
"Quiet, Elder Guan," Elder Jiang said, his voice cold and steady. "Master Xun does not operate under the laws of normal seekers. He traces the karmic path. If you disturb his concentration, you can explain the failure to the Demon Suppression Temple yourself."
Elder Guan grunted but fell silent.
A moment later, the heavy iron doors groaned open. A young acolyte dressed in plain grey robes stepped out, bowing deeply. "Elders, the array is prepared. Master Xun requests your presence."
Elder Jiang stood up, smoothing his blue robes, and led the group into the inner chamber.
The room was circular, its stone walls covered in complex, glowing inscriptions that pulsed with a dim, yellow light. In the center of the floor was a massive, circular bronze plate etched with the constellations and the lines of cause and effect(Karma). Sitting cross-legged at the center of the plate was a figure so thin he resembled a dried corpse.
Master Xun was blind, his eyelids sewn shut with thin silver threads—a self-inflicted sacrifice to enhance his celestial divination sense. He wore only a simple hemp robe, and his skeletal chest rose and fell in slow, barely perceptible breaths.
Before him on the bronze plate lay a small, sealed jade box.
"Master Xun," Elder Jiang said, bowing slightly despite the man's lack of sight. "We have brought the medium you requested."
The blind diviner did not speak. He slowly extended a withered, bony hand, his long nails tapping the jade box. The seal dissolved, and the lid slid open to reveal a torn, blood-stained fragment of black silk.
It was a piece of clothing belonging to one of the secondary sect disciples who had been defeated and discarded by Shen Mo during the battle at the Broken Ravine.
"The thread of karma is a heavy burden," Master Xun's voice was dry, like autumn leaves scraping against stone. "Every action leaves a mark. The one you seek spilled the blood of this disciple. He took their Qi, broke their foundation, and left his own intent behind. That is the cause. This blood is the effect."
Master Xun picked up the blood-stained silk. He held it between his palms, closing his eyes beneath the silver-threaded lids.
The inscriptions on the walls suddenly flared. The bronze plate began to rotate slowly, the clinking of its internal gears echoing in the quiet room. Master Xun began to chant in an ancient, forgotten tongue, his voice rising in volume as the air in the room grew cold and heavy.
Elder Jiang watched with his breath held. He could feel a strange, pulling force in the air, as if his own thoughts were being drawn toward the bronze plate. It was the influence of the Karmic force, a branch of the Supreme Laws that normal cultivators could only dream of sensing.
Master Xun's hands began to tremble. In his mind's eye, the blood-stained silk transformed into a thin, glowing crimson thread that stretched out from his palms, extending into the dark void of the world. The thread wavered, searching, seeking the source that had created the connection.
The crimson thread shot forward, traversing mountains, rivers, and spatial barriers with absolute speed. Master Xun's consciousness rode the thread, bypassed the mundane world, searching for the soul signature that matched the heavy, cold intent of the one who had worn the mask of Shen Mo.
For several minutes, the room was silent. Then, the yellow light of the wall inscriptions began to flicker violently.
Master Xun's brow furrowed, deep lines appearing on his skeletal forehead. "Strange... the thread goes deep. It enters a region of stillness. A place where the heavens are obscured."
"Can you locate him?" Elder Jiang asked, taking a step forward.
Master Xun did not answer. He pressed his palms together, forcing his celestial sense to accelerate. The crimson thread pierced deeper into the void, tracking the target's location.
Suddenly, the crimson thread struck something.
It was not a normal barrier of Qi or a protective formation. It was a massive, indifferent wall of absolute space—a boundary that separated the outside world from an independent, self-contained pocket. It was the spatial barrier of World-in-a-Jar, a high-grade treasure that existed outside the normal geography of the Starry River Planet.
As the divination force attempted to force its way through the spatial boundary to lock onto the soul inside, the spatial laws of the jar reacted. At the same time, a silent, ancient resonance from within the hidden space—spurred by a hidden grey stone—flared with a cold, absolute rejection.
The crimson thread of karma did not just stop; it snapped.
Boom!
An invisible, violent shockwave erupted from the bronze plate. The heavy gears of the divination array ground to a halt with a deafening screech.
Master Xun gasped, his body jerking backward as if he had been struck in the chest by a war hammer. The bronze plate beneath him fractured, a jagged crack splitting the constellations in half.
Pfft!
The blind diviner coughed up a dark, thick spray of blood, staining the bronze floor. His breath became shallow and gasping, his body trembling under the force of the spatial backlash.
"Master!" the acolyte cried out, rushing forward to support the old man.
Elder Jiang's hand tightened on his sword. "What happened? Did the divination fail?"
Master Xun raised a trembling hand, waving the acolyte away. He wiped the blood from his lips, his sewn eyelids twitching.
"It... it did not fail entirely," Master Xun whispered, his voice weaker than before. "But the target... he is protected by a high-grade spatial treasure or shielded by a powerful cultivator. My sense was repelled by the spatial barrier, and the backlash has damaged my foundation."
He opened his hands. The blood-stained fragment of black silk, which had been the medium for the ritual, suddenly turned to ash, drifting away between his skeletal fingers.
"But before the thread snapped," Master Xun continued, his voice tight, "I captured a single coordinate. The target is not far. The spatial node of his hiding place is anchored within the borders of Rivercloud City county."
Elder Jiang's eyes narrowed. "Rivercloud City county? Are you certain?"
"The karma does not lie," Master Xun said, leaning heavily against the acolyte. "He is there. Hiding in the dark, waiting. But his protector is strong. I cannot pinpoint the exact street or forest."
"That is enough," Elder Jiang said, a cold smile appearing on his face. He gestured to the other elders. "Rivercloud City county is a small region. If we know he is there, we can find him."
They bowed to the injured master and quickly retreated to the outer manor hall.
"Rivercloud City is the territory of the Green Bamboo Sect and Thousand Leaf Immortal sect," Elder Guan said as the door closed. "If we send our disciples and experts to search the city openly, it will provoke them. The Green Bamboo Sect may be a secondary power, but they will not tolerate foreign elders scanning their territory with divine sense. It will create a political conflict."
"We do not need to search openly," Elder Jiang said, his eyes glittering with a cunning light. "In fact, sending our own people will only warn Shen Mo. He is cautious. If he sees secondary sect cultivators patrolling the streets, he will flee or remain hidden forever."
"Then what do you propose?" asked Elder Song of the Jade Mist Palace.
"We use the local vermin," Elder Jiang replied. "The minor clans and gangs of Rivercloud City know every face that enters. They notice when a merchant buys too many pills, or when a youth rents a cabin in the forest. They are greedy, and they are cheap."
He turned to the acolyte who had followed them out. "Bring the Head of the Zhao Clan. He has been waiting in the pavilion."
A few minutes later, a middle-aged man with a rotund frame and shrewd, watery eyes was escorted into the hall. He wore rich silk robes, but he immediately knelt before the cultivators, his forehead touching the stone floor.
"Zhao Zhen of the Rivercloud Zhao Clan greets the exalted elders," the man said, his voice trembling slightly but carrying a tone of deep obsequiousness.
"Rise, Zhao Zhen," Elder Jiang said.
The clan head stood up, keeping his hands folded within his sleeves. He was the leader of a minor merchant clan that controlled several inns, warehouses, and rogue networks in Rivercloud City. To the Green Bamboo Sect, he was a loyal tributary merchant; to the secondary sects, he was a potential tool.
"We have a task for you," Elder Jiang said, placing a heavy, blue storage bag on the table. The bag was open, revealing the glittering light of tens of high-grade spirit stones and several bottles of rare Qi-nourishing pills.
Zhao Zhen's eyes widened, his throat dry as he stared at the wealth on the table. That single bag was worth more than his clan's entire annual revenue.
"Tell me your command, Exalted Elder," Zhao Zhen whispered. "The Zhao Clan will execute it without fail."
"We are looking for a youth," Elder Jiang said, his voice lowering. "He is roughly fourteen to fifteen years old. He may disguise his appearance, but he cannot change his basic bone structure. He is a genius of the Spirit Foundation Realm, but he will likely suppress his aura to make himself look like an ordinary mortal or a weak Qi Condensation disciple. He will be solitary, cautious, and may possess a large amount of wealth."
Elder Jiang leaned forward, his gaze locking onto the clan head. "We do not want you to fight him. If you attempt to touch him, your entire clan will be wiped out in an instant. We only want your eyes."
"Your innkeepers, your street vendors, your warehouse guards, and your scouts," Elder Jiang continued. "Watch every entrance to the city. Watch the forest paths. If any suspicious youth appears, or if anyone matches this description, do not approach them. Report to us immediately through this message talisman."
He slid a crimson talisman across the table.
Zhao Zhen reached out, his hand trembling as he took the talisman and the storage bag. "It shall be done as you command, Elder. My scouts will cover every corner of Rivercloud City. Not even a stray dog will enter without our knowledge."
"Good," Elder Jiang said, waving his hand. "Go. If your information leads to his capture, the major sects will help your clan with a permanent seat in the county alliance."
A permanent seat in the county alliance will help him gain more benefits for his clan.
Zhao Zhen bowed repeatedly and agreed again and again, his face flushed with greed, and quickly left the manor.
Elder Jiang stood by the window, looking toward the distant southern hills where Rivercloud City lay. The trap was set. It was a silent, invisible web, woven not from Qi or formations, but from the greed of local mortals and minor cultivators.
"Let us see how long you can hide, Shen Mo," Elder Jiang murmured, his hand tightening on his sword hilt.
The hunt had truly begun.
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