The flames outside began to die.
Several surviving traitorous servants — cowards who'd once eaten from the Liu Clan's hands — crawled through the ruins like rats, looting corpses and fleeing like vermin.
Lin Xuan sat cross-legged inside the broken hall.
His eyes, once dull and soft, now burned with hellfire.
He pressed a bloodied hand to the floor. A demonic rune flared — black as the void, pulsing with hunger.
> "Demonic Devouring Art — First Form: Soul Leeching."
Screams erupted outside.
The Qi, blood essence, and fragmented souls of three nearby servants were drawn toward him like smoke into a vortex. Their bodies shriveled, their eyes hollowing as their very existence was consumed.
The black glow wrapped around Lin Xuan like a cocoon. When it faded, the boy's body had transformed. Muscles tightened. Bones strengthened. His aura surged.
> 5th Layer of Qi Condensing Realm.
He exhaled.
> "Five more like that… and I'll reach layer seven."
Then, his gaze turned west — toward the direction Liu Yue had fled.
That strange ache in his heart returned.
> Why does her safety concern me? Why does her face haunt my thoughts?
> "Foolish sentiment… and yet…"
His fists tightened.
> "I will save her."
With one step, his body vanished into the night — swift as wind, silent as shadow.
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