Ten-Thousand-Mile Tracking

Wang Zhongze stood before the gates of Black Tiger Stronghold and spoke gravely. "I previously sent Wang Clan members to investigate this place in secret several times, yet they could never uncover any trace. I also made extensive inquiries and verifications at Wusheng Pass. This Black Tiger Stronghold had been abandoned for decades."

"Yet those black-clad assassins truly vanished without a trace here."

Wang Zhongze's heart weighed heavily as he thought of that young clansman still in the villains' hands. How could he possibly accept that?

Beside him, Xie Jinghan swept his gaze over the entire stronghold. Innate True Qi surged within him as his six senses spread outward, probing every blade of grass and tree within several miles.

Yet there was only the sound of wind, the chirping of insects, and the rustling of wild grass. Everything seemed perfectly ordinary, without the slightest clue to be found.

Those fleeing black-clad assassins had left behind no trace at all, as though they had vanished from the world.

"Have they concealed every trace of themselves?"

Xie Jinghan slowly shook his head. "Even after probing with my Innate six senses, I found nothing. These people are deeply versed in concealment and stealth. With them deliberately hiding themselves, finding them will be quite difficult."

Xie Jinghan and Wang Zhongze discussed the matter and swiftly finalized their search arrangements. They ordered the clan disciples to search separately in pairs, leaving markers along the way. Should anyone find anything, they were to immediately sound an arrow signal.

Once the arrangements were complete, Xie Jinghan turned to Xie Yue and instructed him solemnly, "Uncle Yue, remain here at the stronghold gates to hold the position and provide support. I will investigate the depths of the stronghold alone."

Xie Yue's expression turned grave. He cupped his hands and nodded. "Second Young Master, you must be extremely careful. Do not underestimate the enemy or risk yourself recklessly."

Xie Jinghan walked toward the depths of the stronghold. At the same time, he reached into his robes and drew out a thin, thread-bound martial manual. Its pages were yellowed, its corners worn, and it looked quite old. It was precisely the obscure miscellaneous martial skill he had deliberately retrieved from the Xie Residence Scripture Repository before setting out—the Wilderness Tracking Art.

"Fine then. Panel, let me see where your limits lie!"

Xie Jinghan murmured softly, and with a thought, summoned his martial arts proficiency panel.

This technique was not a combat art. It held no offensive or defensive power, relying purely on residual scents, footprints, and subtle disturbances in the wilderness to deduce a person's trail. It had been created from the lifelong experience of mountain hunters and was simple and easy to learn.

For tracking such hidden traces now, no technique could have been more suitable than this wilderness secret art.

His fingertips brushed across the yellowed pages as Xie Jinghan studied them intently, his mind sinking into the manual.

A moment later, the panel refreshed, and a brand-new martial arts entry appeared out of thin air:

[Wilderness Tracking Art: 1/1000 (Comprehending)]

As the Wilderness Tracking Art entered the beginner stage, a crude understanding of tracking instantly flowed into him. His five senses expanded slightly, and his vision and sensitivity to scents improved somewhat, enough for him to vaguely catch the flow of mountain winds and the faint movements of grass and trees.

But this small improvement was still far from enough to lock onto the deliberately concealed trail of those assassins. To trace their origins and find their tracks, he needed to continue refining the technique and accumulating proficiency.

Xie Jinghan continued circulating the Wilderness Tracking Art, sensing the mountain wilderness's vital currents over and over. The panel's numbers jumped rapidly as his proficiency soared without pause.

One hundred, two hundred, nine hundred, one thousand!

[Wilderness Tracking Art: 1000/1000 (Perfected)]

The Wilderness Tracking Art had gone from beginner, to proficient, to mastery, to perfection!

His realm transformed, and his senses surged!

"Perfected, hehe~~~~~~~~~"

For an ordinary technique to reach perfection had never been the endpoint of his cultivation.

He did not stop. He continued circulating the technique and sensing the mountain wilderness's vital currents. Amid this repeated refinement, a far more majestic flow of heaven-and-earth energy suddenly flooded into his mind, breaking free layer by layer from the shackles of the original technique and undergoing a fundamental transformation.

[Ten-Thousand-Mile Tracking Art: 1/1'000'000 (Comprehending)]

Xie Jinghan gathered True Qi in his eyes, which flashed with piercing light. His gaze seemed able to see through all falsehood, and every minute change in the surrounding forest fell into his sight.

Bent wild grass, slightly sunken soil, fine dust disturbed by air currents—these subtle traces, imperceptible to ordinary people, now spread clearly through his senses.

As the Ten-Thousand-Mile Tracking Art entered the beginner stage, he quickly noticed something unusual.

Though the gates of Black Tiger Stronghold had been completely abandoned, faint traces of deliberately concealed human presence lingered in the surrounding forest. The traces were extremely obscure, blending into the trees and undergrowth, with most of them erased by some special method. If his tracking technique had not advanced, he would never have detected them.

"Concealing the truth from others—quite an impressive method. There truly is something hidden here."

Xie Jinghan narrowed his eyes toward the west of Black Tiger Stronghold, his gaze turning cold. After hesitating briefly, he reached into his robes again and took out another lightness-skill manual from the Xie Residence Scripture Repository: Leaping Art. This was a lightness footwork technique cultivated by martial artists. It did not pursue the elegant mysteries of jianghu qinggong, but specialized in swift travel, mountain climbing, and crossing ridges.

His mind sank into its pages, and the panel slowly refreshed with a new martial arts entry.

[Leaping Art: 1/10000 (Comprehending)]

As the Leaping Art entered the beginner stage, its exquisite methods of jumping and vaulting flowed through his limbs and bones. The techniques for exerting force through his waist and legs instantly became clear to him, and a sudden lightness filled his steps. Crossing mountains and ridges, shifting rapidly over short distances, and sprinting at high speed all came naturally.

No longer hesitating, Xie Jinghan suddenly launched himself into the air. Empowered by the Innate Realm, he became a faint afterimage, sweeping over the wild grass along the mountainside and racing toward the direction where that hidden aura was strongest.

He crossed two rugged ridgelines and avoided layer upon layer of dense forest.

After racing for an hour, he abruptly stopped and raised his eyes, fixing his gaze tightly on another mountaintop several miles away.

That mountain had gentler terrain and lush woods. Compared to the steep desolation of Black Tiger Stronghold, it possessed a quiet, secluded air. Trees stood scattered across its slopes, and vines intertwined, completely concealing one area on the mountainside. Ordinary people passing through would only take it for an ordinary stretch of woodland and would never stop to inspect it closely.

Deep within that dense forest, an utterly inconspicuous courtyard lay quietly hidden.

The courtyard was extremely crude, built from raw timber and roofed with thatch. Its walls were covered in thick moss, blending into the surrounding forest so thoroughly that not the slightest sign of human construction could be seen. It was ordinary to the extreme.

Xie Jinghan turned into a traceless breeze and silently swept into the hidden courtyard amid the woods.

The courtyard was dilapidated and deathly still, without the slightest sign of living people.

Yet beneath Xie Jinghan's heightened senses, a faint thread of life and blood aura seeped from deep underground.

The aura was cold and lifeless, identical to that of the black-clad assassins at the birthday banquet, only far denser.

Xie Jinghan's mind settled, and he instantly saw through the mystery within.

Beneath this seemingly ordinary wilderness courtyard lay something else entirely—a supremely hidden underground space!

Xie Jinghan observed closely. A heavy bluestone slab lay on the ground in one corner of the courtyard. Its patterns differed slightly from the surrounding earth. It should have been the mechanism controlling the entrance to the underground space.

Xie Jinghan slightly raised his fingertips. A wisp of pure Innate True Qi drifted forth and struck precisely upon the slab's hidden pattern.

Click, click—

The heavy bluestone slab slowly slid aside, revealing a pitch-black, unfathomably deep underground passage.

A foul gust of cold dampness mixed with thick blood stench rushed into his face. Bone-piercing chill instantly engulfed the area, utterly different from the fresh mountain breeze outside.