Feint East, Strike West

Meanwhile, Shen Lian moved like an agile black panther through the shadows outside Zhu Mansion.

He keenly observed the activity around him, searching for the best place to scale the wall.

Finally, in a secluded corner, his figure flashed. Using Soul Power, he leapt onto the wall and landed without a sound.

Then, keeping close to the wall and using the trees and buildings in the courtyard as cover, he swiftly made his way toward Zhu Lingtian's study.

In the bushes outside the study, he crouched halfway down. Soul Power circulated faintly around him as he vigilantly watched every movement inside, waiting for the right moment.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhuqing headed straight for Zhu Zhuyun's courtyard.

As she stepped into the courtyard, moonlight spilled across the bluestone ground, casting her resolute figure into sharp relief.

She took a deep breath, a fierce glint flashing through her eyes, and shouted toward the room:

"Zhu Zhuyun, didn't expect this, did you? I came back alive!"

Her voice rang especially loudly through the silent night, startling several birds perched beneath the eaves into flight.

The sound of objects crashing came from inside. Then Zhu Zhuyun emerged with arrogant strides.

She wore a luxurious red gown, dazzling jewels in her hair, and exquisite makeup.

However, the instant she saw Zhu Zhuqing, the smile on her face froze, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Who did I think it was? I didn't expect your life to be so tough. You actually managed to come back alive."

Zhu Zhuyun's words were full of mockery and disdain, along with a trace of poorly concealed surprise.

Zhu Zhuqing clenched her fists. Her nails dug deeply into her palms, blood slowly flowing through her fingers, yet she did not notice at all.

Zhu Zhuqing glared viciously at Zhu Zhuyun and shouted word by word:

"I came back this time to make you pay the price!"

The moment her words fell, brilliant light erupted around her as she activated Martial Soul Possession with the Hell Spirit Cat.

Two yellow hundred-year Spirit Rings slowly rose from beneath her feet, emitting a dim glow. Her body began to change as well—her nails sharpened into claws, her gaze grew fiercer, and her aura became increasingly keen. Then she lunged fiercely at Zhu Zhuyun.

Zhu Zhuyun froze for a moment before a cold smile appeared on her face, excitement gleaming in her eyes.

"I didn't expect you to grow bolder after going out for a while. But that's fine. Let me show you the fourth soul skill I gained after breaking through to Soul Ancestor."

As she spoke, four Spirit Rings rose beneath her feet—two yellow and two purple—standing out sharply in the night.

With a sharp cry, she formed a black claw shadow that tore through the air with a piercing shriek and struck viciously toward Zhu Zhuqing.

In an instant, two powerful forces collided in the courtyard, erupting in dazzling light and a thunderous crash.

The tables and chairs in the courtyard were overturned by the powerful shockwave. Flowers, grass, and trees were uprooted, and dust flew everywhere.

Zhu Zhuqing and Zhu Zhuyun clashed fiercely amid the dust cloud, claw shadows whirling as Soul Power spilled in all directions.

The bluestone ground cracked into a spiderweb pattern under the impact of Soul Power. Zhu Zhuqing dropped to one knee, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth and dripping onto her black clothes, blooming into sinister red plum blossoms.

Zhu Zhuyun stepped slowly forward over the wreckage. Purple light flared from her fourth Spirit Ring, while the Nether Claws condensed at her fingertips radiated a chilling coldness.

"Just a Soul Grandmaster, and you dare act so wildly before me?"

Before her words had even faded, her third soul skill, Hell Stab, swept forth on a foul wind like a venomous snake, striking straight for Zhu Zhuqing's throat.

Zhu Zhuqing hastily raised her arm to block. Agonizing pain instantly shot through her arm, and she was sent flying like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into a corridor pillar.

The sandalwood pillar shattered with a roar. Amid the flying splinters, she looked at the Vermilion Bird Bracer Shen Lian had left on her wrist, determination flashing through her eyes.

The instant Soul Power flowed from her fingertips into it, the flame patterns on the bracer suddenly lit up, and a crimson Vermilion Bird burst free from its seal.

With a beat of its wings, the night sky above all of Zhu Mansion was dyed blood-red.

Wherever its wings swept, the air let out piercing explosions. Even the distant lanterns warped and melted under the intense heat.

Zhu Lingtian, who had been reviewing secret letters in the study, abruptly rose to his feet. The wolf-hair brush in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter, and strange ripples spread across the ink in the inkstone. In his perception, an aura comparable to that of a Soul Emperor had actually appeared in Zhu Zhuyun's courtyard!

Zhu Lingtian hurriedly left the study and rushed toward Zhu Zhuyun's courtyard.

Here, Zhu Zhuyun's smile froze as she looked at the Vermilion Bird.

In a panic, she unleashed her fourth soul skill, Nether Phantom Claw Array. Five enormous claw shadows, black as night, shot into the sky, only to crumble inch by inch beneath the Vermilion Bird's shriek.

The instant the Vermilion Bird's sharp beak pecked toward her throat, Zhu Zhuqing saw something reflected in her sister's pupils that she had never seen in her eyes before: fear.

At the critical moment, a golden figure tore through the air.

The golden silk whip Zhu Lingtian flung from his sleeve coiled around the Vermilion Bird like a spirit snake. Vast Soul Power burst forth, tearing the flaming beast into sparks that filled the sky.

When he landed, the ground cracked beneath him. His dragon-patterned python robe snapped in the wind as his blade-sharp gaze cut toward Zhu Zhuqing.

"You ran off for no reason, and now that you've come back, you still dare hurt your sister? Get back to your courtyard right now! I'll deal with you tomorrow morning!"

Zhu Zhuqing looked at Zhu Zhuyun's triumphant smile behind her father, her nails digging deeply into her palms.

Memories surged like a tide. When Zhu Zhuyun had pushed her into the pond as a child, her father had been just as blindly partial.

Whenever she found something she liked, Zhu Zhuyun only had to ask for it to take it away. Zhu Lingtian would dismiss it with a single sentence: sisters should get along.

The residual heat of the Vermilion Bird Bracer still lingered against her skin. She knew Shen Lian's plan was at a critical moment, so she could only swallow the grievance filling her heart, lower her eyes, and bow.

"Yes, Father."

As she turned to leave, Zhu Zhuqing deliberately staggered.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Zhu Lingtian frown as he examined Zhu Zhuyun's injuries. In the shadows, Shen Lian's figure silently slipped into the study.

Shen Lian pressed himself against the study's cold purple sandalwood wall, condensing Soul Power at his fingertips into a thin blade and precisely slicing through the window paper.

The candlelight inside flickered. The wick Zhu Lingtian had forgotten to extinguish when he left crackled softly, casting shifting shadows over a parchment map.

Shen Lian slipped inside like Gui Mei, his hawk-like gaze sweeping over the desk piled with secret letters. In a hidden compartment on the third shelf of the sandalwood bookcase lay the Star Luo Empire Defense Map, wrapped layer upon layer in oilcloth.

The moment he lifted the oilcloth, Shen Lian's breath caught.

On the yellowed silk were clearly marked the City Defense Guard layout of Star Luo City, troop deployments at the border fortresses, and even the rotation schedules of the Royal Guard.

Shen Lian swiftly took out a palm-sized crystal Soul Tool, an image-recording device unique to the Sun-Moon Empire.

The instant he infused it with Soul Power, ripples spread across the crystal's surface, capturing every detail of the entire defense map.

Suddenly, the sound of the night watchman striking a gong came from afar. "Dong—dong—the third watch—"

Shen Lian's pupils suddenly contracted, but his movements grew even steadier.