His spiritual sense had long since locked onto Black Stone Beach, three hundred li away. It was an abandoned smuggling port, surrounded by mountains on three sides and open to the sea on the fourth. Its treacherous terrain and motley population made it an ideal place for the Devil Dao's miscreants to hide.
The details the kid named Chen Ye had confessed were exhaustive. The ringleader was a demonic cultivator known as Ghost Elder, who had spent years cultivating with the blood essence of the living and was utterly ruthless. This ritual had been meant to forge a powerful demonic artifact. As for Chen Ye, he was just some unlucky fool who'd been seized on short notice to serve as a "blood catalyst."
Everything made sense. There were no logical inconsistencies.
The boy's horrified, despairing gaze, his desperate desire to survive, his hatred for the fiend—all of it had seemed perfectly genuine. Ling Zhao prided himself on having seen countless people and never misjudged one.
"Captain, Black Stone Beach is just ahead," one of the team members said in a low voice as he approached.
Ling Zhao nodded and maintained his speed. His gaze was sharp as an eagle's, and his powerful spiritual sense swept over every corner of Black Stone Beach like quicksilver.
The caves, the reefs, the abandoned wooden huts—even the shipwrecks on the sea floor...
Yet the results made him furrow his brow.
Nothing.
There was nothing at all.
Forget the powerful demonic cultivator, Ghost Elder—even the faintest trace of demonic aura was nowhere to be found. Black Stone Beach lay utterly lifeless. Only the wind moaned against the reefs, as if mocking their futile efforts.
"Spread out! Search carefully!" A chill entered Ling Zhao's voice.
The team members immediately dispersed and began a thorough search of