The door of the interrogation room clicked shut with a soft "clack." Hang Zhongxuan turned to make sure it was completely closed before exhaling in relief. When Chen Qiyue was shoved inside, his bloodshot eyes thrashed violently as he struggled and screamed for them to let him go. Hang Zhongxuan, already fed up, silenced him with a spell that sealed his mouth shut.
Just as he finished casting the spell and turned to ask a question, Cen Wenyu furrowed his brow and glanced down at his light-brain device—where a familiar communication code was flashing.
[Han Ling]
Cen Wenyu's gaze sharpened as he immediately accepted the call, lowering his voice. "What is it?"
"Ling Ning is dead. Her abdomen was split open and the baby was taken out… The baby's soul is gone too." The voice on the other end was as calm as ever, but tinged with a faint hoarseness—likely the result of a long, silent rush. "I need you to come and identify whether the formation here belongs to this world or originates from another realm..."
Cen Wenyu's expression darkened instantly.
"I've sent you the location," Han Ling continued at the same steady pace. "It's an abandoned old apartment complex. There are no remnants of a barrier at the scene. But I need you to verify the structure of the array. Bring a forensic team and the police. If this is bait set by an enemy celestial master, we can't rule out that he may return to destroy the bodies or abduct someone."
"Understood. I'll handle it right away."
As soon as the call ended, Cen Wenyu's fingers moved rapidly across the light-brain interface, issuing orders to logistics.
"Contact the forensic unit and the stationed police team in the western district immediately. One group will come with me to the scene, another will block off the surrounding streets. No unauthorized personnel allowed in." He finished in one breath, then added, "Tell them this deployment requires no official filing—this is a special department emergency call. I'll sign the memorandum afterward."
The special department was located in the government sector, right next to the forensics and law enforcement centers—only a few hundred meters away by foot. This mobilization was the fastest and most discreet option available.
Once he was done, Cen Wenyu looked up and met Hang Zhongxuan's gaze.
"Han Ling?" Hang Zhongxuan asked, voice low but filled with realization and caution.
"Mhm. I'm heading to the scene." Cen Wenyu spoke evenly as he began to gather the items he'd need from the office. "Ling Ning is dead, the child taken from her womb, the soul gone. There's likely a soul-stealing array present. I need to verify whether it's a formation of this world. I didn't expect the enemy to extract the child so quickly..."
Hang Zhongxuan was silent for a few seconds, then said softly, "You'll be careful, right?"
Cen Wenyu paused for a beat. His gaze briefly passed over the naked concern on Hang Zhongxuan's face—something stirred gently in his heart. He nodded, his tone flat but unexpectedly firm. "I will. And you keep a close eye on Chen Qiyue. If he loses control, sever his soul root. Show no mercy... if…"
"If the one behind all this shows up, you run too…"
"…Don't worry." Hang Zhongxuan looked away, perhaps afraid his eyes might betray the anxiety within. His voice dropped lower: "I'm more afraid you won't come back."
That sentence was like a needle, pricking right at the heart.
Cen Wenyu didn't respond. He simply reached out and patted his shoulder, as if wordlessly entrusting something to him.
Outside, the sound of vehicles and heavy footsteps echoed—police had arrived. Their uniforms shimmered with a subdued glow at the end of the corridor. One officer raised a hand in salute. "Tech Officer Cen, we've received the dispatch order. Ready to depart."
"I'm here." Cen Wenyu walked toward them, his silhouette upright and steady as always. A few steps out, he suddenly turned back, eyes falling on Hang Zhongxuan.
"Wait for me to come back."
He said it lightly, but the words left a deep mark.
Hang Zhongxuan stood frozen as he watched him board the patrol vehicle. Only when the car lights disappeared into the night did he finally let out a breath and silently tightened his grip on the sword hilt at his waist.
This night was destined to be sleepless.
Afternoon light spilled through the clouds, falling across the concrete walls of the long-abandoned apartment building. It illuminated the peeling paint and rust-covered door locks. Even without a barrier concealing it, the place was eerily silent, like the air itself had been forcibly drained away.
As the levitating police vehicle slowly descended, several officers in uniform swiftly disembarked, efficiently sealing off all nearby entrances and exits. On the other side, a medical airship hovered in place, and a white-robed forensic investigator stepped out with an assistant, immediately heading into the building.
Cen Wenyu was the last to exit a military-grade light hovercraft. He moved quickly, his spiritual sense already scanning the area before setting foot inside. His eyes immediately found Han Ling, who stood sideways in front of a damaged hallway—his posture straight, gaze fixed on the blood-stained floor, face somber.
"You got here faster than I expected," Han Ling said, giving him a slight nod.
"Luckily the special department is near the police and forensic centers—didn't delay too long." Cen Wenyu replied just as he spotted the forensic expert crouching beside the blood-soaked floor, closely inspecting the state of Ling Ning's body with their assistant.
Han Ling added quietly, "Her soul is already gone."
"..." Cen Wenyu's brows twitched, and his expression deepened, but he didn't speak. He silently logged the information into his light-brain.
Police officers began patrolling in groups—one circled toward the back alley, another entered the building to check for hidden individuals. Their comms buzzed with clipped reports: "No anomalies on the third floor," "Rear door shows no signs of forced entry"… The entire scene was falling into tight control.
The forensic investigator turned toward Cen Wenyu and Han Ling. "The female victim shows signs of severe hemorrhage. Though the incident occurred some time ago, we can preliminarily determine death by excessive blood loss. As for…" He paused, turning toward the tiny corpse. "The infant's body shows patterned wounds likely caused by some energy-type formation. Death resulted from suffocation and massive organ failure."
The assistant added softly, "We can't accurately measure the spiritual energy traces… we're not cultivators."
Han Ling's expression darkened. It seemed he had expected this—but having it confirmed only solidified the enemy's intention.
"She probably… didn't even realize she was going to die." His voice was nearly a whisper. "From the start, their real target was the child."
The air grew heavy, as though something unseen pressed down on it. Even a nearby officer paused his call, quietly turning his eyes toward the two lifeless bodies.
Cen Wenyu turned to Han Ling. "And the child's soul? It's really gone?"
"No remnants." Han Ling closed his eyes.
"Looks like our earlier suspicions were correct… I just forgot to remind you that Ling Ning was…"
Han Ling's eyes dropped, staring at the blood-soaked concrete floor. The shadows in his gaze deepened.
"…Our earlier suspicions were right after all." Han Ling finally spoke, voice so low it was nearly swallowed by the drifting wind in the corridor.
Cen Wenyu turned at his words, expression tensing. "You mean… the sensory transfer array?"
Han Ling gave a small nod, his voice tinged with a trace of inescapable guilt. "Before the operation began, I forgot to have Leander remind you all—Ling Ning had been cursed long ago. The moment anyone touched her…"
"…They would be instantly transported to the caster's location, no matter the distance," Cen Wenyu finished grimly.
A brief silence settled between the two of them. In the distance, the faint noises of patrol officers and scanning equipment echoed—but none of it could dispel the oppressive chill surrounding the place.
"You don't need to blame yourself, Han Ling." Cen Wenyu finally spoke, his tone calm but resolute. "This wasn't your fault. If anything, it's our lack of strength and limited understanding of high-level spellcraft that cost us the warning signs. If we'd grasped the signs earlier… maybe we could've stopped her from being taken."
"But why did they extract the baby now? Was it because Ling Ning went into premature labor?"
"No, she just happened to go into labor—so they took the opportunity to steal the baby's soul…"
"If the child were born full-term, their destiny profile would have locked in the moment of birth. To steal the soul at that point would be too late. Even if they succeeded, the fusion with their own fate would be weak—and likely cause severe backlash…"
"So this timing was just right—no more, no less—for raising that fate."
"Damn it… We were careless!"
Han Ling didn't respond. He only gave a heavy nod, his expression tense. It was true—his focus had been entirely on investigating Ling Zhao's case, and he had neglected to consider that Ling Ning's pregnancy might already be far enough along for someone to act.
Seeing Han Ling's troubled expression, Cen Wenyu said nothing more. He simply patted his shoulder and returned to observing the small corpse. The infant's blood had long dried to a dark, rust-colored stain. The tiny body was curled up, motionless, like a broken rag doll. And beneath where the baby lay, on the once-dusty floor, a complex blood-red formation had begun to appear.
"This is…" Cen Wenyu crouched down, eyes locking onto the miniature formation drawn in blood. His brows knit tightly.
The sacrificial array was no more than half a man's width. Its runes were dense and intertwined, spiraling inward like they were forcing all power toward a single focal point. And at that focal point—was precisely where the infant had been born.
Blood as ink, spiritual bone as needle, destiny as the array core.
This wasn't a common sacrificial formation. It was something far older, something forbidden—recorded only in the oldest of texts: the Blood-Spirit Sacrificial Array. Ancient. Taboo. So intricate that even the well-versed Cen Wenyu couldn't help but frown.
"This isn't something from the modern era…" he murmured, reaching out to touch the edge of the array. A faint trace of spiritual intent still lingered in the cold symbols.
Han Ling stepped closer, eyes locked on the ground. "You mean—?"
"The structure's too archaic. It doesn't align with modern array design." Cen Wenyu slowly stood, hesitation and gravity flashing in his gaze. "Modern arrays emphasize efficiency and stability. Even though spiritual energy has been returning to the world, the overall aura remains thin. Cultivators struggle to advance, and even basic arrays require external energy sources to function."
"Which is why we rely on 'Spirit Storage Devices.'"
"Spirit Storage Devices?" Han Ling echoed.
Cen Wenyu nodded. "A kind of technological spirit reservoir—spiritual energy is pre-stored in crystal cores or energy chambers and only released upon array activation. That way, even low-level cultivators can use advanced arrays. But this design here… it's entirely different from those."
He pointed at the blood array on the ground. "This doesn't rely on external spirit storage—it uses fate, spiritual bones, and bloodlines as its core. The energy consumption is enormous. Without a large supply of spirit stones or ancient methods of power transmission, it shouldn't even function."
Han Ling fell silent for a moment, then murmured, "Could this array… actually be from the Celestial Realm…?"
His voice trailed off, frown deepening.
"What is it?" Cen Wenyu sensed something was off.
"I just thought of something… Why didn't they use spirit stones to power it?" Han Ling's tone grew colder. "If both have spiritual energy, why not use stones?"
"Spirit stones are incredibly rare." Cen Wenyu replied, watching him with a strange look. "Don't you know where spirit stones come from?"
Han Ling shook his head. In this world, he really didn't know. Maybe… from spiritual veins?
"Spirit stones are formed when heaven and earth's energy condenses within unique spiritual veins over countless years. But when the apocalypse struck, tectonic shifts and aura collapses destroyed most of those veins. Nowadays, spirit stones are nearly extinct—most are buried in dangerous zones or death territories. Even stepping into those places risks death."
"The few spirit stones still around are monopolized by top-tier cultivators and privileged departments. You almost never see them in the open market." He paused, voice softening. "No one would be wasteful enough to use spirit stones to power an array."
Han Ling stayed quiet, his expression darkening. He remembered how the original body had left behind an entire mountain of spirit stones, sealed within storage pouches—likely linked to the Han family's secrets. That stash of spirit stones… it might've been a kind of arrangement. Or perhaps… a bait.
The thought unsettled him.
Suddenly, Cen Wenyu pulled out his communicator and said in a grave tone, "I'm contacting my grandfather. His knowledge of ancient arrays surpasses mine—maybe he can identify this one."
"I don't trust it… I've never seen anything like this." Cen Wenyu murmured as he dialed the familiar code. The screen lit up with the image of an older man—gray hair streaking through his beard, exuding a calm, steady presence.
"Grandpa, we've discovered a strange sacrificial array. Could you take a look?"
He transmitted the live footage. The elder was silent for a moment, then furrowed his brows and leaned in to examine it closely.
"…I've never seen this array's complete formation before," the elder finally said, voice deep and cautious. "But this is definitely built using ancient methods… far too traditional. No one in the current age should be using something like this—unless that person doesn't belong to this era. Or… dug it up from a long-lost text."
"Is there any way to identify who created it?" Cen Wenyu asked.
"Not from my generation. None of us have seen array formations like this before." His grandfather's voice grew heavy. "Be careful. This kind of array… may be tied to something far more dangerous than you expect."
After a brief silence, the elder suddenly spoke again. "Wait. Don't leave the scene yet."
He zoomed in on the footage, his frown deepening further. His voice, though still calm, held a note of repressed excitement.
"This formation… I've only ever seen fragments of it in a few incomplete ancient scrolls. Among the living, I doubt more than five people could even recognize it. And those who've seen it with their own eyes… might not exist at all."
He paused, then spoke in a low, firm tone. "I have to see it in person."
"Grandpa?" Cen Wenyu was stunned.
"Send me the coordinates. Immediately." The elder's face turned grave. "This may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If this truly is the type of sealing array I suspect… then the truth behind this is far more complicated than we imagined."
He stared straight into the screen and uttered a chilling warning:
"This array… is a variant of an ancient sealing technique. The terrifying part isn't where it came from…"
"It's that it's still active."
The screen fell silent. Then the elder said, in a voice low and firm:
"Which means—someone alive in this world still knows how to use this kind of power."
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Hey everyone! Just a quick heads-up — premium chapters will begin tomorrow! (After chapter 27 end vol 3)
That means the story will keep updating regularly, and your support means the world to me
Also, I've just dropped a new Bonus Theater episode (extra scene)!
If you're curious about what happened behind the scenes… go give it a read!