A Silent Warning

The order was given in the dead of night. After the last campfire in New Fire Valley went out and most of the disciples entered meditation or slept, four figures silently slipped out of the valley and disappeared into the deep shadows of the forest. There was no extra conversation, and even their footsteps were as light as the wind rustling through fallen leaves.

Lin Xiao walked in front, his amber pupils slightly contracting in the darkness, as if they could pierce through countless obstacles. His tongue unconsciously licked his canine teeth, his body rising and falling across the rugged terrain, each step precise and steady. Lu Yuan followed closely behind, his breathing even, the mark between his brows, imperceptible to ordinary people, trembling slightly at an extremely low frequency, like a fine needle probing into the surrounding ocean of energy, capturing every abnormal ripple of Soul Power.

Mo Chen carried a bulging leather pouch on his back, from which metal and crystals clattered softly. His eyes gleamed, and his fingers occasionally tapped in the air, as if reviewing a complex soul guidance circuit. Shen Moxin lagged behind, adjusting her simple glasses. In her hand, she held a palm-sized soul guidance plate covered with runes. A pale blue light flowed slowly within the grooves of the runes, illuminating the strength and direction of all Soul Power fluctuations within a hundred-meter radius.

"Three hundred li, Gray Rat Market." Lu Yuan's voice rang out in the silence, low and clear. "According to the purchasing disciple's description, there are at least five suspicious individuals, their Soul Power fluctuations ranging from Soul Ancestor to Soul King. The leader has a thorn-encircled, howling wolf head pattern on his cuffs."

Lin Xiao snorted. "The Zhao Clan... their ghosts never leave."

"They might not know the exact location of New Fire Valley," Shen Moxin interjected, her finger gliding across the soul guidance board. "Gray Rat Market is a black market, information is chaotic. They might just be following vague clues, conducting a thorough search of the area."

Lu Yuan nodded. "So, our goal isn't to kill, but to 'cleanse' and 'mislead.' To make them back down, to make others think this area is 'eerie,' and that they won't dare to come back in the short term."

Mo Chen chuckled softly and patted his leather bag. "I've brought all the 'little gadgets.' Twelve Flow Disruption Crystal, eight sets of directional resonance runes, and that main control disc."

"As planned, it will be done in two steps." Lu Yuan stopped, and the four of them crouched down in a sheltered spot in a mountain hollow. He picked up a dry twig and quickly sketched on the ground. "The first step is to set up an interference network within a twenty-mile radius of Gray Rat Market. Using Mo Chen's Soul Tool to Simulation various Soul Power fluctuations and life auras, combined with my subtle influence on local energy fields, we will create a 'maze'."

The withered branches drew several intersecting circles. "The trackers will receive a large amount of contradictory information. Their tracking Soul Skill, soul compasses, and even the sense of smell of Soul Beast will all fail here. They will 'see' multiple suspected targets appearing in different directions, communications will be interfered with, and the information transmitted back to headquarters will be chaotic."

Shen Moxin added, "At the same time, we need to screen them. Which ones are spies who are simply doing their jobs for money, and which ones are trackers with specific purposes—like the Zhao Clan. The latter need extra 'attention'."

"The second step," Lu Yuan pointed a withered branch at the center of the circle, "Is to pinpoint the leader and issue a warning. Lin Xiao, you're in charge."

Lin Xiao's lips curled into a sharp smile. "Understood."

"Remember, it's a warning, not a kill." Lu Yuan looked at him. "We need to terrify him so much that his soul is ripped out, yet we can't find any trace of our actions. We need to make him understand that we have the ability to take his life, but we chose a more 'civilized' method. That way, when he goes back, he'll strictly order a news blackout, instead of escalating the conflict."

"Is the gift ready?" Lin Xiao asked.

Mo Chen took out a smooth, grayish-black stone, about the size of a pigeon's egg, and a folded, thin piece of paper made of a special material from the side pocket of his leather pouch. "Image-Recording Soul Tool Stone containing a little 'surprise.' Just four words on the note."

Lin Xiao took it, twirled the stone between his fingertips, and put it into his inner pocket. "A greeting from an old acquaintance?"

"Yes." Lu Yuan stood up, scattering the patterns on the ground. "Let's begin."

For the next two hours, the four of them moved like ghosts through the mountains, valleys, and abandoned paths surrounding Gray Rat Market. Mo Chen's movements were astonishingly fast; he barely needed to look, his fingers flying across the ground as he embedded walnut-sized Flow Disruption Crystal into tree roots, rock crevices, or shallowly buried them in the soil. Each crystal was engraved with complex soul-guiding patterns, and once activated, it would continuously release Simulation Soul Power fluctuations—sometimes the explosive aura of Power Attack System Soul Master, sometimes the swift trajectory of Agility Attack System, sometimes the gentle ripples of Auxiliary System, and even a few faint but eerie, Soul Beast -like auras mixed in.

Shen Moxin, on the other hand, was like a meticulous surveyor. The soul guide plate in her hand constantly received feedback from the points set up by Mo Chen and adjusted the parameters of the interference network in real time. Where the Simulation signal needed to be strengthened, where the frequency needed to be staggered to avoid being detected, where there were blind spots in the coverage that needed to be filled... She was completely focused, her eyes behind her glasses never blinking.

Lu Yuan's work was the most mentally taxing. He didn't need to manually set up the Soul Tool; instead, he stood still, closed his eyes slightly, and focused all his attention on the mark between his eyebrows. His spiritual power, like the finest tentacles, carefully probed into the surrounding space, sensing the invisible, fundamental energy channels that supported the operation of the world— Soul Power was essentially one of its more active manifestations.

Then, he began to exert extremely subtle influences.

It wasn't a forced change, but rather like dropping a few pebbles of a specific frequency into a calm lake, creating carefully designed ripples. These ripples interacted, superimposed, and interfered with the Simulation fluctuations released by Mo Chen's Flow Disruption Crystal, ultimately weaving a chaotic yet realistic energy "Spiderweb" within a radius of twenty miles. Any tracker who stepped into this area felt as if their Soul Power perception was trapped in a dense fog and echoing maze, losing all true coordinates to the information they received.

Lin Xiao wasn't idle either. Relying on his beast-like intuition and top-tier Agility Attack System speed, he silently searched the area like a hunter in the dark. He discovered three makeshift shacks, with traces of fresh food and a few changes of clothes inside. On the trunk of a tree next to one of the shacks, there was a very faint mark carved with a dagger—a wolf's head surrounded by thorns.

He licked his teeth, his eyes turning cold.

In the darkest hour before dawn, the jamming network was set up. The four reunited on the back slope of a high ground, where they could see scattered lights in the direction of Gray Rat Market in the distance.

"Network activated and running smoothly." Shen Moxin stared at the soul guidance panel, where the blue light band representing the interference intensity fluctuated steadily. "The coverage area is larger than expected, and the intensity at the edges is slightly weakened, but it's enough to confuse the perception of Soul King in the core area."

Mo Chen rubbed his hands, his face beaming with barely suppressed excitement. "The effect is 30% stronger than the lab tests! Mr. Lu, your 'tuning' of the energy field was crucial. Those Simulation fluctuations now look so real, I can hardly tell the difference myself."

Lu Yuan didn't speak, but simply took a deep breath. Two consecutive hours of intensely using the mark to perceive and influence the energy field left him with a subtle fatigue that originated from the depths of his soul. However, his complexion remained unchanged, except that the mark between his eyebrows seemed to be a degree hotter than usual.

"Target spotted." Lin Xiao suddenly lowered his voice and pointed to a path on the east side of Gray Rat Market.

In the hazy morning mist, five figures were leaving the edge of the market and heading towards the mountains. They were walking widely apart, spaced about ten meters apart, advancing in a loose fan shape, clearly a standard reconnaissance formation. The leader was a lean, sharp-eyed middle-aged man, dressed in an inconspicuous gray outfit, but at the cuffs, dark patterns could be faintly seen reflecting light during occasional movements.

Lin Xiao's pupils narrowed to slits. "Peak Soul King, four others: two Soul Ancestor, and two newly ascended Soul King. The leader is from the Zhao Clan; I've seen his portrait before. He's a steward on the Zhao Clan's outer perimeter, Zhao Kun."

"As planned, let them into the net." Lu Yuan's voice was calm and composed.

The five-person team unknowingly entered the interference zone. At first, everything was normal, but as they ventured deeper into the forest, strange things began to happen.

The Soul Ancestor walking on the far left suddenly stopped, looking puzzledly to his right. "Boss, over there... there seems to be a fluctuation of Soul Power, very faint, but it feels like someone just passed by."

Almost simultaneously, another Soul Ancestor on the right pointed in the completely opposite direction. "No, it's this way! I can feel some residual heat, and... the grass has been trampled."

The leader, Zhao Kun, frowned and raised a palm-sized bronze compass. The compass needle, which had been steadily pointing north, began to tremble slightly, and then slowly and erratically began to rotate.

"Try the Communication Soul Tool," Zhao Kun said in a deep voice.

A Soul King took out a small black box and infused it with Soul Power. The surface of the box glowed faintly, but only a piercing, intermittent noise could be heard, and no words could be made out.

"Interference?" The Soul King's expression changed.

Zhao Kun's sharp eyes swept across his surroundings. The mountains and forests were silent, the morning mist flowed, and there was nothing unusual about it. But his years of experience living on the edge told him that something was wrong. It was too quiet; not even the early birdsong could be heard.

"Split up, two people per group, explore fifty meters in different directions, then immediately return to this spot to regroup!" he decisively ordered.

No sooner had the order been given than something even stranger happened.

Just thirty meters directly in front of Zhao Kun, behind an ancient tree, a blurry figure suddenly flashed by! The figure was extremely fast, dressed in ordinary clothes, and the profile of the face flashed by in the mist, bearing a six or seven-point resemblance to the "Lu Yuan" described in the intelligence!

"Over there!" a Soul King shouted, about to give chase.

But as soon as he took a step, another Soul Ancestor exclaimed, "Behind us! There are some behind us too!"

Everyone turned around abruptly and saw the bushes in the direction they had come from swaying slightly, as if someone had just passed through them.

Zhao Kun's heart sank. He realized they had been tricked. This was not a simple tracking or encounter, but an elaborate trap. The other side not only knew of their existence, but also possessed methods they couldn't comprehend, capable of creating illusions right under their noses and disrupting all perception and communication.

"Retreat!" Zhao Kun ordered decisively, his voice tinged with barely perceptible fear. "Retreat back to Gray Rat Market immediately!"

But the original path was nowhere to be found. The fog seemed to have thickened, the surrounding trees all looked the same, the compass was completely malfunctioning, and even the sun was obscured by clouds, making it difficult to discern directions. The five of them wandered around the forest like headless flies, each time thinking they had found a way out, only to find themselves back in a familiar place.

Panic began to spread. The two Soul Ancestor, in particular, were breathing heavily, their eyes constantly darting towards the seemingly calm shadows, as if something deadly might leap out at any moment.

Zhao Kun forced himself to remain calm. He knew that if the other side had the capability to deploy such a large-scale disruption, they would have already done so if they truly wanted to kill them. This current strategy of trapping them without killing them seemed more like... a warning? Or a mockery?

He gritted his teeth, signaling everyone to stop and form a circle back-to-back. "Don't panic! Conserve your Soul Power, wait! We'll find our way when the fog clears at noon!"

Just then, a very slight, almost inaudible gust of wind swept past his head. Zhao Kun was startled and looked up sharply, only to see swaying branches and a sliver of grayish-white light.

He subconsciously touched the bag slung across his side. The feel of the leather, the weight... it seemed unchanged.

But the unease in his heart suddenly amplified tenfold.

Lin Xiao, like a weightless leaf, glided lightly from the horizontal branch three meters above Zhao Kun's head, landing silently. With a few leaps, he disappeared into the depths of the dense forest, reuniting with Lu Yuan and the other two who were waiting in the distance.

"Release them." Lin Xiao said succinctly, his face expressionless, but a hint of satisfaction at completing the mission flashed in his eyes.

Lu Yuan nodded, closed his eyes again, and the mark between his brows glowed slightly. He needed to bring this "maze game" to a close and show these lost "guests" a way out—of course, a "way" that bypassed New Fire Valley and led in the opposite direction.

With his precise guidance and the coordination of the Mo Chen Soul Tool, the energy flow of the interference field underwent a subtle change. Zhao Kun and his group of five felt that the surrounding mist seemed to be flowing faster, and the unsettling "sense of being watched" from a certain direction weakened. Almost driven by their survival instincts, they groped their way towards the direction that felt "safer."

Two hours later, the five people, exhausted and with most of their Soul Power depleted, finally stumbled out of the forest. Before them lay a completely unfamiliar hilly area overgrown with weeds, a hundred miles away from Gray Rat Market.

Zhao Kun's face was ashen, and he slumped to the ground, panting heavily. The other four were even more disheveled, their eyes filled with lingering fear and bewilderment.

"Boss... what... what exactly is going on?" A Soul King's voice trembled.

Zhao Kun didn't answer. His face was grim as he untied his bag. His movements suddenly froze when his fingers touched the inner pocket.

There was an extra hard object there.

He slowly pulled out a smooth, grayish-black stone and a folded piece of thin paper. The stone felt slightly cool to the touch and faintly emitted fluctuations of Soul Power. Unfolding the paper, he saw only four characters with still-wet ink:

Greetings from an old acquaintance.

Zhao Kun's pupils instantly contracted to the size of pinpoints. He recognized the stone; it was an expensive Image-Recording Soul Tool Stone, typically used to record important images.

His fingers trembled slightly as he infused a wisp of Soul Power into the stone.

A faint light appeared, casting a small, blurry, flickering shadow in front of him. The scene depicted a dimly lit room where several people were talking in hushed tones and exchanging items. The profile of one of them, his voice, and the box he was handing over—bearing the Zhao Clan's secret insignia—were all visible...

Zhao Kun's breathing suddenly stopped, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

This was a secret deal he made three years ago with a shady organization, carried out under orders from his family! The entire process should have been kept completely secret, and all traces had been erased!

How could they have this?! Not only did they have the ability to put something into their personal bag without the five Soul Master noticing, but they also possessed this incriminating evidence that could bring him, and even a portion of the Zhao Clan, to their doom!

Fear, a cold, bone-chilling fear, coiled around his heart like a venomous snake. His opponent hadn't killed him, not because they couldn't, but because they didn't need to. This Image-Recording Soul Tool Stone and this note were more powerful than any sword or blade. It was a clear message: your life, your weaknesses, are in my hands. Get lost and shut your mouth.

"Boss? What's this?" A Soul Ancestor leaned over and asked curiously.

"Shut up!" Zhao Kun clenched the stone and paper tightly, shouting sharply, his voice trembling with fear. His fierce gaze swept over his four subordinates, the murderous intent in his eyes silencing them all.

"Everyone, keep what happened today a secret!" Zhao Kun said, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth. "Anyone who dares to utter a single word—including what they saw, what they encountered, what they gained... I, Zhao Kun, swear I will make their entire family die a horrible death! Do you understand?!"

"Yes, yes!" The four were terrified by his unprecedented ferocity and nodded hastily.

"Go! Leave this area immediately! When we get back, just say... say there's a strange natural area of disordered Soul Power in these mountains, and we didn't find anything!" Zhao Kun stood up and hurried away from New Fire Valley without looking back. He had to go back immediately and subtly report to the family's higher-ups that "the mission failed, the area is dangerous, and we recommend abandoning it," while also desperately covering up the secret brought by this deadly stone.

Watching the five figures hastily disappear into the distance, Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze from the high slope in the distance. His face was somewhat pale, and the weariness at the soul level was becoming increasingly apparent, with a persistent, low-pitched burning sensation emanating from the mark between his brows.

"Take care of the other scattered spies in a similar way," he told Shen Moxin. "Use interference fields to guide them to 'accidentally' discover a few seemingly suspicious but actually unrelated locations, or 'trapped' them in a natural cave for a few days. In short, muddy the waters and tarnish the reputation of this place."

Shen Moxin nodded, her fingers rapidly manipulating the soul tool board. "Understood. The interference network will continue operating for three days, after which the core Soul Tool will automatically degrade without leaving a trace."

Mo Chen grinned. "Now, for at least a few months, no foolish spies will dare to venture into this remote mountain area."

Lin Xiao crossed his arms and looked in the direction Zhao Kun had disappeared, then suddenly said, "He got off too easily."

"Deterrence is sometimes more effective than killing," Lu Yuan said softly, raising his hand to rub his temples. The burning sensation did not subside; instead, it was accompanied by a subtle, almost soul-crushing emptiness.

When the four quietly returned to New Fire Valley, it was already broad daylight. Smoke curled from the chimneys in the valley as the disciples began a new day of cultivation and work, completely unaware of everything that had happened outside the valley the previous night.

Lu Yuan went straight back to his stone chamber and closed the door. He sat cross-legged, trying to calm his fatigue and emptiness through meditation, but with little effect. The burning sensation of the mark between his eyebrows became clearer and clearer. He could even "feel" that the mark itself seemed to have faded a Sisi compared to before. It was extremely subtle, and if he hadn't been so perceptive, he would have hardly noticed it.

Around noon, Yun Youzi arrived, leaning on his wooden cane. As soon as the old man entered, his cloudy eyes fixed on Lu Yuan's brow, and his expression gradually became serious.

"Hey kid, put your hand out."

Lu Yuan did as instructed and extended his wrist. Yun Youzi's withered fingers touched it, and a wisp of gentle yet highly penetrating Soul Power probed into Lu Yuan's body, circled around, and finally slowly gathered towards the center of his brow. The old man's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

After a long pause, he withdrew his hand and sighed deeply.

"Nonsense." Yun Youzi's voice was deep. "You used the power of that ' Key ' last night? More than once, and to a considerable degree."

Lu Yuan did not deny it. "It requires precisely influencing the local energy field, combined with Soul Tool to create large-scale interference. Ordinary Soul Power cannot achieve this."

"Do you know what you're consuming?" Yun Youzi stared at him. "That's not ordinary Soul Power! That's your ' Origin,' or rather, a deeper ' Soul Power ' bound to that Stone Gate Mark! Soul Power can be replenished, but this stuff, once consumed, is extremely difficult to replenish! Overuse can, at best, cause the mark to become unstable and your abilities to weaken; at worst, you might be backfired by the mark, damaging the very foundation of your soul!"

Lu Yuan was silent for a moment, then raised his finger and gently touched his brow. "I felt it myself. It gets hot when I use it, and I feel empty afterward. Also... the color of the mark seems to have faded a little."

Yun Youzi leaned closer for a closer look, his expression growing even more grim. "That's right, it's faded. Although it's a small amount, it's definitely being consumed. Kid, the power of this ' Key ' is not something you can squander indefinitely. You must use it cautiously, and never lightly use this level of rule perception and influence unless absolutely necessary."

"I understand." Lu Yuan smiled wryly. "It seems the price of this 'privilege' is greater than I imagined."

"Good to know." Yun Youzi shook his head, took out a small jade bottle from his robes, and poured out a pill the size of a longan, emitting a bitter medicinal fragrance. "Soul Stabilizing Pill, my most treasured possession. Take it, rest quietly for three days, and try not to use your Soul Power again, especially the power of that mark."

Lu Yuan took the pill and swallowed it. A cool sensation immediately spread from his stomach, slowly rising and soothing the weariness and burning in the depths of his soul. He let out a long sigh of relief.

"The spies on the periphery have been mostly dealt with," Lu Yuan said. "New Fire Valley should be able to enjoy a period of peace."

Yun Youzi nodded. "That solves one immediate problem. But bigger trouble is probably yet to come. The Spirit Hall's investigation team won't give up just because a few spies have gone missing."

Just then, a thought suddenly struck Lu Yuan. Perhaps it was because he had taken the Soul Stabilizing Pill, which had nourished his soul and made his senses exceptionally sharp; or perhaps the conversation earlier had made him subconsciously try to sense the "movements" further away.

He closed his eyes, carefully extending a tiny wisp of perception, connected to the mark, towards the outer reaches of New Fire Valley, into the more distant void. Not to influence anything, but simply to "listen."

He once again "heard" those faint yet widespread "noises" in the background of the flow of Soul Power across the continent. But this time, beyond these noisy background sounds, in the extremely distant east—in that direction, if his knowledge of the continent's geography was correct, it should be the location of Spirit City —he vaguely caught a "sound."

That wasn't a real sound, but a vast spiritual force, as deep as an endless ocean and as refined as ancient ice. It wasn't directed at this place; it was just a tiny, insignificant "ripple" that naturally emanated from the accidental turn of a giant beast, sweeping across a wide area. When this "ripple" passed through the location of New Fire Valley, it didn't even pause; it vanished in an instant.

But the instant he was swept over, every hair on Lu Yuan's body stood on end. A sense of insignificance and fear, stemming from his very life instinct and the incomprehensible power he faced, gripped him tightly. His back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his face as pale as paper.

"What's wrong?" Yun Youzi sensed something was amiss.

Lu Yuan's lips moved, his voice a little dry. "It's nothing... I just feel that some 'gazes' might see further than we imagine."

He looked out the window of the stone chamber; the eastern horizon stretched out, with white clouds drifting by. That was where the highest hall of power and authority on the continent resided.

Has his "petty maneuver" already caught the attention of a true giant...?