Flames still roared above the ruins of Willow Creek Town, burning the towering waves of Corpse Sha Qi and the dense resentment together, turning them into billowing black smoke that shot into the sky.
Deathly silence cloaked everything, replacing the clamor of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood from moments before.
Lu Chen stood where he was, like a silent statue.
He didn't immediately count his gains, nor did he bask in the joy of his surging power.
He simply felt it all in silence: the confidence as vast and weighty as mountains and seas, brought by the 478 years of Demon Devil Lifespan, and the faint, subtle connection his newly gained [Water Sha Affinity] forged with the water vapor and baleful energies around him.
Beneath the ancient well, whose roots Lu Chen had severed with a single slash, a stream of incredibly pure, frigid Water Sha was slowly dispersing, returning to heaven and earth.
That power was the very essence the Vengeful Mother in the Well had accumulated over a century.
Drawn by [Water Sha Affinity], the energy felt a faint pull toward him, like a moth to a flame.
But before investigating it, there was something more important to deal with.
Lu Chen turned and strode away.
He headed for the Liu Clan Ancestral Hall, which had survived the blaze.
At the entrance, the two surviving strongmen sat slumped on the ground, trembling all over.
As they watched Lu Chen approach, the fear in their eyes surpassed even what they had felt facing the Corpse Vine Demon Tree and the Vengeful Mother in the Well.
In their eyes, the timid corpse collector who had been bullied by anyone just moments ago had become more terrifying and unfathomable than any demon.
"Lu... Brother Lu... no, my lord! Spare us!" One of the strongmen couldn't bear the pressure any longer. He dropped to his knees and kowtowed frantically. "We didn't see anything! We don't know anything!"
The other man came to his senses too. He scrambled to his knees, his voice shaking so badly he could barely speak. "My lord, we're worthless lives. We'd never dare let a single word slip! Please spare us for the sake of our wives and children!"
Lu Chen stopped before them and looked down from on high. His deep eyes, lit by the fire, shifted between light and shadow, giving away nothing.
The longer he stayed silent, the more terrified they became. They kowtowed with loud thuds, and soon blood appeared on their foreheads.
"Get up."
Only after a long while did Lu Chen speak, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
The two men felt as though they had been granted a reprieve, but they still didn't dare rise. They remained frozen in place, looking up at him.
"From today on, remember one thing." Lu Chen's voice was quiet, but each word pierced their bones like an icicle. "The Water Ghost Sha was ravaging Willow Creek Town, and we came under orders to eradicate it. The demons fought fiercely, and we suffered heavy losses. In the end, I awakened a sliver of my ancestors' inherited bloodline in that desperate situation. I fought to the death and perished alongside the demon... But luck was on my side, and I survived."
He paused, his gaze passing over their bloodied, battered foreheads. "As for you, the demon's unholy song knocked you unconscious as soon as the battle began. You saw nothing and know nothing. I dragged you both out of the sea of flames. Understood?"
Awakened bloodline!
That explanation was far more convincing—and far more shocking—than mere good luck.
The two men understood Lu Chen at once.
He wasn't just giving them a way to live. He was also finding a plausible explanation for his terrifying strength, one he could present openly.
"Understood! We understand!" The older strongman reacted quickly and immediately swore an oath. "You saved us, my lord! If we speak a single false word, may the heavens strike us down and send us to a miserable death!"
"Good." At last, a hint of "satisfaction" appeared on Lu Chen's face. He took a small porcelain bottle from his robes, poured out two pills of Blood Activating Powder, and tossed them in front of the men. "These are for your injuries—and to seal your lips. When you get back, keep them shut."
"Thank you, my lord! Thank you!" The two men received them as if they were priceless treasures, overcome with gratitude.
Having warned the only two witnesses, Lu Chen ignored them and turned toward the ruins of the ancient well.
The sensation from [Water Sha Affinity] grew clearer and clearer.
He stood atop the ruins and closed his eyes.
The flow of the town's underground waterways, every lingering thread of baleful energy—all of it lay bare to his senses.
Deep in the earth beneath the severed mass of flesh, a point of ghostly light flickered like a candle in the wind.
Lu Chen reached out and plunged his hand straight into the freezing mud and rubble.
A moment later, he pulled out a strange bead no larger than a pigeon's egg. It was a dead, inky black all over.
The bead was bone-chillingly cold in his hand, its surface smooth. Within it, countless anguished spirits seemed to wail in voiceless torment.
[Special material detected: Vengeful Mother Condensation Pearl.]
[Description: The core formed from a Ranked Demon, the Vengeful Mother in the Well, and its century of resentment and Water Sha essence. It contains extremely pure, frigid Water Sha power and spiritual resentment. Can be used for crafting, alchemy, or absorbed directly.]
[Warning: Direct absorption carries a high probability of causing loss of mental control, backlash from baleful energy, and a fall into demonic ways.]
Another profoundly wicked treasure—and another powerful tonic.
Without changing his expression, Lu Chen wrapped it in layer upon layer of oilcloth and tucked it close to his body.
Its value was probably no less than that of the Hundred Refinements Saber.
Lu Chen suddenly opened the ancestral hall's doors, went inside, and slowly sat down.
The two strongmen found it strange but didn't dare ask a single question, or even breathe too loudly.
As for Lu Chen, he closed his eyes and sank his mind completely into that boundless ocean of lifespan.
Three hundred and eighty-eight years!
"System." Suppressing the heat in his heart, he issued his first command in his mind. "Open the Deduction Furnace!"
[Deduction Furnace opened.]
"Insert Body Evasion Steps and Shadow Step!"
[Detected non-ranked movement technique Body Evasion Steps (Minor Mastery) and Mysterious Grade Low Rank movement technique Shadow Step (Minor Mastery). The two techniques share similar properties and have an extremely high compatibility. They can be fused.]
[The fusion will use Shadow Step as its foundation, absorbing the essence of Body Evasion Steps' nimble turns and evasions. It is expected to produce a new Mysterious Grade Low Rank movement technique.]
[Spend 400 years of Demon Devil Lifespan to conduct the fusion deduction?]
Seeing the number, even Lu Chen couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath. This technique cost even more Demon Devil Lifespan than his Turtle Breath Technique.
"Yes!"
[Command confirmed. Spending 400 years of Demon Devil Lifespan. Fusion commencing...]
In an instant, Lu Chen's mind became an endless martial arts arena.
Countless fragments of insight into evasion, shifting, stealth, and concealing one's breath collided, vanished, and reassembled like billions of stars!
When the first ray of morning sunlight pierced the clouds and illuminated the imposing silhouette of the Demon Suppression Division, Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze had grown deeper than ever, as though it reflected a starry sky shrouded in darkness.
[Fusion successful!]
[Congratulations, host. You have acquired a new technique—Shadow Demon Trace Steps!]
[Shadow Demon Trace Steps (Mysterious Grade Low Rank): Fusing the stealth of ghosts with the elusive shifts of the impermanent, the practitioner can become an intangible demonic shadow, moving through the gaps between light and darkness. Their tracks are impossible to predict, their traces impossible to find.]