Part 1: The Empress's Return
The journey back to the Netherworld was a somber, silent affair. Princess Xue An, sensing her mother's heavy heart, was quiet, her usual stream of questions replaced by a watchful, supportive presence. She clutched the small wooden cow Lan Yue had won for her at the festival, a secret she kept from even her mother, a tangible link to the sad, beautiful hero she had finally met.
As they stepped back through the Whispering Pass, the familiar, cool, and orderly darkness of the Luminous Dynasty enveloped them like a protective shroud. It was home. It was a fortress. And it was in danger.
Xue Lian did not rest. Within the hour, her twelve commanders were assembled in the war room. The atmosphere was grim. They had watched their Empress leave on a "birthday trip" and seen her return with the weight of the world on her shoulders.
She laid out her findings with cold, brutal efficiency. She told them of the organized rogue demonic sect, a new power festering in the mortal realm. She described the horrifying, soul devouring nature of the Void creature. And finally, she delivered the most devastating blow: the revelation of the conspiracy.
"This was not a random incursion," she concluded, her voice ringing with cold fury. "It was a summoned attack, a deliberate act of war. And the architect of this war is not a demon, but a traitor within the righteous sects Elder Feng of the Golden Sun Pavilion."
An uproar of shock and rage filled the room.
"Treachery!" Commander Kael bellowed, his fist crashing down on the obsidian map table. "They collude with our own kind to unleash abominations! We should have marched on them a decade ago and burned their pathetic sects to the ground!"
"And in doing so, become the very monsters they accuse us of being?" Xue Lian's voice cut through the noise, sharp as glass. "A blind war is precisely what Feng wants. It would unite the other sects against us out of fear and duty, making us the villains of his story. We will not give him that satisfaction."
She began to pace, her authority absolute. "Our strategy changes. We are no longer in a state of isolation. We are in a war of whispers. Commander Kael, you will double the patrols at the Great Ward. I want a report on any unusual energy signature, no matter how small. Jax, Ren, you are now my external hand you will remain in the mortal realm until I recall you. Vex'aal," she turned to the shadow in the corner, "your Silent Web is now our most vital asset. I want everything you can find on Elder Feng, his faction, his history, and any mention of these Void gate runes. I want to know the man's every secret."
She paused, looking at the determined faces of her commanders. "Feng has made one critical error. He believes we are blind. He does not know that we have an asset of our own, deep within the righteous sects, feeding us intelligence." She would not reveal Lan Yue's name, not even to them. "This 'Ghost' is our key. We will gather our intelligence, we will understand our enemy's plan, and we will dismantle his conspiracy from the shadows before he even knows we are moving."
Part 2: The Saint's Hunt
Lan Yue's life in Luyan became a masterful deception. By day, she was the diligent Saint Yue, sending a frustrated Wei Chen on a series of wild goose chases to obscure archives and remote temples in search of "historical precedents" for the Void. By night, she became a ghost, slipping through the city's dark alleyways with her two demonic commanders, her true mission underway.
Their target was the four armed leader of the rogue demonic sect. Through the Whispering Stone, Xue Lian relayed Vex'aal's intelligence: the chaos of the battle had forced the demon leader to abandon his base in the Undercity and take refuge in a fortified safe house within the city's most lawless district.
They moved through the darkness, a perfectly silent, lethal team. Ren's illusions cloaked them in shifting shadows, Jax's senses scanned for ambushes, and Lan Yue's celestial energy allowed her to feel the lingering spiritual trail of their quarry. They found the safe house a nondescript warehouse guarded by a handful of nervous looking demons.
There was no need for a frontal assault. A silent command from Lan Yue, and Jax became a brute force phantom, creating a diversion at the building's main entrance. As the guards rushed to respond, Lan Yue and Ren slipped in through a high window on the opposite side.
They found their target in an upstairs office. But they were too late.
The four armed demon leader sat slumped in his chair, his face a mask of terror. But there were no wounds on his body. Instead, fine, grey dust covered his skin, and his life force, his very soul, had been utterly extinguished. The cloying, silent presence of the Void lingered in the room.
Clutched in his dead hand was a small, rolled scroll.
Lan Yue gently took it, her heart growing cold. Elder Feng was tying up his loose ends. He had used the demons to create his diversion, and now he was using his summoned monster to silence his own pawn. The conspiracy was even more ruthless than she had imagined.
She unrolled the scroll. It was a list of names, of delivery dates, and of locations along the border a clear logistical plan for smuggling artifacts and personnel. It was the proof they needed.
She raised the Whispering Stone, her thoughts a cold, urgent message that flew across the realms.
*Lian… we found him. He's dead. Feng used the Void on his own ally. But we have it. We have the scroll. We have his plan.*
In her distant war room, Xue Lian received the message, her expression grim. They finally had the proof they needed to act. But their enemy was a monster who devoured his own, and they were in a deadly race against a clock they couldn't see.