Situ Ming's betrayal was like a poisoned thorn thrust into the heart of the Alliance. Tang Xiaoqi knew that if left unextracted, it would bring endless trouble. He was determined to find Situ Ming as soon as possible, whether dead or alive, to uncover the truth behind his betrayal, recover the stolen secrets, and sever the tentacles the Demon Lord had reaching into the Alliance.
The Alliance's "Wartime Supervisory Office" quickly mobilized. Mu Qingfeng and Liu Yun took charge to stabilize public sentiment and continue investigating other potential traitors. As for the mission to pursue Situ Ming and his accomplices, Xiaoqi personally took responsibility.
He did not make a big show of it. He only brought a few people—Third Senior Sister Liu Yun, who excelled in tracking and concealment (her avatar), Second Senior Brother Luo Feng, who was extremely sensitive to energy fluctuations (in Jade Pendant form), and a rabbit spirit with exceptional sense of smell and a natural talent for locking onto specific scents. Following Luo Feng's previous analysis pointing toward the Southwest Miasma Land, the group quietly departed from Alliance Headquarters.
The Southwest Miasma Land was vast and dangerous, riddled with poisonous insects, hidden swamps, and natural miasma that was intensely corrosive and disruptive to Divine Consciousness. An ordinary Cultivator would find it impossible to take even a single step here, but precisely because of this, it had become the perfect place for hiding and conducting secret activities.
Xiaoqi suppressed his powerful Nascent Soul stage Divine Consciousness to the extreme, becoming the most patient hunter, carefully sensing every trace of discordant energy fluctuations lingering in the air. Liu Yun's avatar moved like a ghost through the dense forests and marshes, searching for any signs of human activity. Luo Feng continuously scanned the energy flow of the surrounding environment, trying to extract the unique spiritual marks belonging to Situ Ming or his accomplices from the chaotic miasma and earth pulse fluctuations. The rabbit spirit twitched its nose, straining to distinguish that scent belonging to Situ Ming, mixed with panic and a hint of something sinister.
The pursuit was not smooth sailing. The other party was clearly an expert at this, having set up multiple decoy formations and even detonating several pre-set interference artifacts, trying to confuse and mislead. But with Xiaoqi's absolute strength and the team's precise coordination, these tricks were broken one by one.
After three days and nights without rest, they finally locked onto an extremely hidden cave entrance in a valley deep within an area shrouded by thick gray miasma, filled with strangely twisted plants. The entrance was concealed by natural vines and illusion formations. Had it not been for Luo Feng detecting faint energy reactions inside that matched Situ Ming's spiritual power, and the rabbit spirit confirming the scent led here, it would have been nearly impossible to discover.
"It's inside. The scent is chaotic—besides Situ Ming, there are at least five or six unfamiliar energy signatures, and the energy attributes... are very sinister," Luo Feng's voice echoed in Xiaoqi's Divine Consciousness.
Xiaoqi made a gesture, and Liu Yun's avatar silently slipped into the shadows, responsible for perimeter guard duty and blocking any possible escape routes. He, carrying the jade pendant and rabbit spirit, moved like a breeze melting into the surroundings, silently infiltrating the cave.
Inside, the passage wound downward. The light was dim, and the air was filled with a strange smell mixing decomposing organic matter and the burning of some kind of incense. Occasionally, rough carvings could be seen on the walls—not any known writing or totem, but twisted, eerie symbols resembling countless eyes and tentacles entangled together. Looking at them for too long made one feel unsettled and uneasy.
After advancing about a hundred zhang, faint voices could be heard ahead. Xiaoqi signaled the rabbit spirit and Luo Feng to stay silent, while he himself adhered to the cave ceiling like a gecko, fully suppressing his presence, slowly approaching.
An open underground stone cavern appeared ahead. In the center of the cavern, several clusters of ghostly green bonfires burned, their flickering flames casting the several figures inside into long, short, distorted shapes. One of them was indeed the traitor, Situ Ming! He looked haggard now, his eyes vacant, the traces of demonic energy corruption on him even more pronounced. He was excitedly saying something to a figure wearing a black cloak with an indistinguishable face.
"...I've brought the goods! Let my grandson go! You promised!" Situ Ming's voice was hoarse, filled with desperate pleading.
The black-robed figure let out a low, raspy laugh, like sandpaper scraping: "Elder Situ, why the rush? The 'Lord Above' is very satisfied with your 'contribution.' However, to ensure everything goes smoothly, we need you to do one more thing for us..."
Just then, the rabbit spirit at the cave entrance seemed to catch an extremely distasteful scent and couldn't help but let out a tiny sneeze. Though the sound was light, in the silent cave it was like thunder!
"Who's there?!" The black-robed figure sharply turned, two scarlet points of light glowing beneath the hood.
Exposed!
Xiaoqi no longer hid. His body flashed like lightning, lunging directly at the black-robed figure, while simultaneously shooting a binding spiritual light at Situ Ming.
The black-robed figure reacted extremely fast. With a strange shriek, his entire body burst open into a dense black mist, and he melted into the shadows like a dissolving shadow, seeping into the ground—this was some kind of advanced Shadow Escape Technique! Several other guards also erupted simultaneously, attacking Xiaoqi to buy time for the black-robed figure.
Xiaoqi coldly snorted. His Nirvana Crimson Flame Sword did not leave its sheath. Instead, he simply formed a sword gesture with two fingers, and a concentrated, supremely powerful crimson-gold sword blade swept across. The guards didn't even have time to scream before they turned to ash in the sword light. At the same time, he stamped his foot lightly, and a surge of Chaos Power seeped into the ground. The black-robed figure, who was about to fully merge with the shadows, was blocked by an invisible barrier, let out a muffled grunt, and was forced to reveal his form.
On the other side, Liu Yun's avatar had also struck. Sword light like a net, she subdued all the remaining Situ Ming accomplices who tried to resist or flee.
The battle ended in an instant. Xiaoqi did not immediately kill the black-robed figure. Instead, he completely bound him with his powerful Divine Consciousness. He walked to the bonfire, his gaze falling on a simple altar in the corner of the stone cavern. On the altar were several items—copies of the secret jade slips Situ Ming had taken! And beside the jade slips, an odd-looking black token was placed, neither gold nor stone, carved with symbols matching the eerie symbols on the cave walls—an empty eyeball pattern surrounded by countless tentacle-like markings.
Xiaoqi picked up the token. It was ice-cold to the touch, and a sinister spiritual fluctuation tried to corrode his Divine Consciousness, but he easily dispelled it. On the back of the token, three twisted ancient characters were inscribed—[Shadow Assembly]. And scattered beneath the altar were several pieces of animal skin paper, with prayers written in blood, fragmentary:
"...Lord of the Void, all things return to silence... Shadow is eternal, swallowing light... Offering sacrifices, opening the passage..."
"Shadow Assembly... Lord of the Void..." Xiaoqi murmured, his eyes flashing with killing intent. This so-called "Lord of the Void" was undoubtedly another name for the Demon Lord! This mysterious "Shadow Assembly" was actually an organized, doctrinal evil cult devoted to the Demon Lord's revival! Situ Ming's betrayal was by no means an isolated case—there stood such a hidden leviathan behind it!
He abruptly looked at the bound black-robed figure and the ashen-faced Situ Ming.
This pursuit had uncovered not just a traitor, but revealed a far larger, more dangerous malignant tumor hidden in the shadows of the Alliance! The Shadow Assembly must be uprooted!