Quan Yong's journey down the mountain had ended with nothing to show for it.
He stood at the foot of Black Mountain, his expression so dark it seemed water could be wrung from it.
If the Clear-Sight Subtlety Mirror could still be used, he would only need to bow before that ancient mirror, and every scheme and hiding place would be laid bare. There would be no need for all this trouble.
But the Magical Treasure consumed far too much power. He had already used it several times, and now the azure light on its surface had faded to almost nothing. There was absolutely no way to activate it again anytime soon.
A venomous snake lurking in the shadows had its eyes on him, yet he could not catch even a glimpse of it. Quan Yong felt as though thorns were digging into his back, leaving him uneasy all over.
Rather than return to Flying Yellow Mountain immediately, he made a detour to the Xu Residence.
Xu Xuan's body, increasingly steeped in demonic nature by the day, needed another layer of restraint.
Quan Yong spent half a day working in the stone chamber, planting a hidden restriction inside Xu Xuan. Ordinarily, it would reveal nothing of itself, but at a critical moment, it could preserve a thread of clarity in his mind, keeping him from becoming so utterly blinded by bloodlust that Gao Huan would one day be helpless against him.
After leaving the Xu Residence, he hurried to the Gao Household without pause.
He did not enter, merely extending his spiritual sense from afar to sweep over the courtyard where Gao Huan lived.
The young man was practicing his saber in the courtyard. Though his movements were still unpolished, they already showed a measure of steadiness. His energy circulated