The dust from the shattered spatial domain had barely settled on the floorboards of the Star-Gazing Pavilion, but Tantai Zhi was acting as if the sky had just fallen.
"Husband, your wrist!" Tantai Zhi gasped, her golden eyes wide with sheer, unadulterated panic.
She dropped to her knees right there in the corridor, grabbing Yan Shuo’s right hand as if it were made of the most fragile, spun glass in the mortal realm. She held it up to the glowing spiritual pearls on the wall, her beautiful face pinched in intense concentration as she inspected his knuckles.
There was a faint, microscopic redness on his skin from where he had gripped the heavy iron sword.
"This is unacceptable!" Tantai Zhi declared, her voice trembling with self-reproach. "I am a terrible wife! I should have chopped that void in half myself! Look at your poor skin, it is practically bruised!"
With a flick of her wrist, she produced the glowing jade jar of Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus Ointment—the priceless, legendary sect treasure that could regrow severed limbs and cure mortal curses.
She didn’t use a drop. She scooped out a massive, glowing glob of the priceless ointment and began frantically, gently massaging it into his perfectly fine, completely unbroken wrist.
Yan Shuo looked down at her, entirely amused. He had just executed a world-rending Abyssal Severing Strike, bending the laws of space and gravity to his will, and she was treating him like a toddler who had scraped his knee on a rock.
Being a pragmatic Demon Lord, Yan Shuo instantly recognized an opportunity for more pampering. He let his shoulders slump, letting out a very soft, very fake sigh of discomfort.
"It was quite a heavy sword, Zhi’er," Yan Shuo murmured, leaning his weight slightly against her shoulder. "The spatial backlash was very harsh on my fragile Foundation Establishment meridians. My other hand is starting to feel a bit stiff as well."
Tantai Zhi gasped softly, her eyes filling with absolute devotion and worry. "Give it to me, Husband! I will massage both of your hands! If the ache travels to your arms, I will carry you for the rest of the day!"
Standing a few paces away, clutching her burlap sack, Su Mei stared blankly at the ceiling of the pavilion.
Her Dao heart was completely numb. She watched the fifteen-year-old monster—who had just casually devoured a soul-fire curse and shattered a supreme-tier spatial execution array—shamelessly whine about a stiff wrist just to get his beautiful wife to rub legendary ointment on him.
He has no shame, Su Mei thought, a single tear of profound exhaustion rolling down her cheek. The greatest, most terrifying anomaly in the Heavenly Dao is a soft-rice-eating swindler.
"Ah, that is much better, Wife," Yan Shuo smiled warmly as she finished bandaging his perfectly healthy hands in soft silk. "Your touch is truly miraculous. Shall we ascend the tower and find our host?"
Yan Shuo turned toward the massive, spiraling staircase carved from black jade that led to the apex of the Star-Gazing Pavilion. It was hundreds of steps high, winding up into the shadows.
Yan Shuo let out a long, deliberate sigh. "Those stairs look terribly steep. I fear my Qi is a bit depleted from that... strange anomaly we encountered."
He didn’t even have to ask.
Before Yan Shuo could take a single step, Tantai Zhi stepped forward, sliding one arm under his knees and the other around his back. With effortless grace, she scooped him up into a flawless princess carry.
"Do not strain yourself, Husband," she beamed, her terrifying crimson robes fluttering as she held him securely against her chest. "Rest your head. I will carry you to the Heavens if I must."
Yan Shuo didn’t protest. He simply wrapped his arms around her neck, rested his head against her collarbone, and closed his eyes in pure contentment. "You are too good to me, Zhi’er."
"Miss Su," Yan Shuo called out lazily over his wife’s shoulder. "Bring the sack. Try not to fall behind."
Su Mei let out a pathetic squeak of obedience and began trudging up the massive staircase, hauling the heavy burlap sack of looted spirit stones, while the Saintess happily carried her husband up the steps like a prized trophy.
A few moments later, they reached the apex of the pavilion.
Tantai Zhi gently set Yan Shuo down on his feet, refusing to let go of his hand.
The top floor of the Star-Gazing Pavilion was a massive, circular chamber with a domed crystal ceiling that offered a flawless view of the sky. But the room was completely silent.
Yan Shuo’s dark eyes immediately swept across the chamber, his lazy demeanor vanishing, replaced by the sharp, calculating gaze of a veteran predator.
The spider had fled the web.
In the center of the room, a massive jade array table lay completely shattered, cleaved perfectly down the middle by the backlash of the collapsing spatial domain. Surrounding the ruined table were scattered scrolls of ancient celestial calculations and overturned inkwells.
But what caught Yan Shuo’s attention was the floor right beside the shattered table.
There was a thick, fresh puddle of dark blood, slowly soaking into the pristine white marble.
"He ran," Tantai Zhi stated, her golden eyes narrowing as her spiritual sense swept the entire tower, finding it completely empty. "He felt your majestic presence, Husband, and scrambled away like a frightened rat. Should I track his Qi and sever his legs?"
"No, Wife," Yan Shuo murmured softly, walking slowly toward the shattered array table. "A rat that knows how to manipulate spatial coordinates will have erased his tracks perfectly. He is already hundreds of miles away."
Yan Shuo crouched down beside the puddle of blood.
He didn’t touch it, but he closed his eyes and extended a microscopic thread of his spiritual sense toward the crimson stain, analyzing the residual Qi left behind by the Faceless Scholar’s violent coughing fit.
The Qi was incredibly pure, but it carried a distinct, deeply paranoid chill. It was a spiritual signature that felt like freezing rain on a desolate graveyard.
Yan Shuo opened his eyes. He recognized that chill. He had fought side-by-side with it for fifty years.
He shifted his gaze to the shattered remnants of the jade array table. Amidst the rubble, a single, broken array flag lay half-burnt by the backlash. Yan Shuo picked it up, examining the intricate, glowing runes painted onto the fabric.
His eyes locked onto one specific character: the ancient rune for Void.
The stroke order was flawless, except for the final line. The tail of the character hooked sharply to the left, rather than the traditional right. It was a profound, arrogant stylistic choice, a minor deviation that only one array master in the ancient era had ever stubbornly insisted upon using.
So, it really is you, Bai Chen, Yan Shuo thought, the name of his former sworn brother echoing in his mind like a death knell. You didn’t just steal my Heavenly Dao Relic and crawl into a hole. You wore a weeping silver mask and seated yourself at the right hand of the Righteous Alliance.
Yan Shuo slowly crushed the broken array flag in his fist, turning the fabric into fine ash.
The confirmation ignited a cold, apocalyptic fury deep within his Abyssal Core. A century ago, Bai Chen had driven a sword through his back while smiling. Now, his old friend was terrified, running from a ghost he thought he had buried.
Run as far as you like, Yan Shuo promised the empty room, a terrifying, bloodthirsty smile tugging at the corner of his lips. I have a new body, a flawless foundation, and the wealth of an empire. I will dismantle everything you have built before I finally take your head.
"Husband?" Tantai Zhi’s soft voice broke through his dark thoughts.
She knelt beside him, her beautiful face filled with concern. "Are you angry? Your Qi feels very heavy. If you want, I can go down and slaughter the Patriarch for letting the bug escape."
Yan Shuo looked at her. The violent, demonic rage in his soul instantly cooled, soothed by the absolute, unwavering devotion in her golden eyes.
He reached out and gently brushed a stray lock of black hair behind her ear, taking care not to disturb the jade lotus hairpin he had given her.
"I am not angry, Zhi’er," Yan Shuo smiled genuinely, standing up and pulling her to her feet. "In fact, I am in a wonderful mood. We have successfully emptied the Alliance’s central treasury, we received a very warm welcome, and we know exactly who we are hunting."
He turned around, wrapping his arm comfortably around her waist.
"Come," Yan Shuo said lazily. "Let us go inform the Patriarch that we are taking his flying ship as compensation for the stairs we just had to climb. I believe it is time we return to the Azure Sword Sect to properly digest our new wealth."
Tantai Zhi beamed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Yes, Husband! I will make sure the ship’s cabin is perfectly prepared for your rest!"
As they walked out of the Star-Gazing Pavilion, leaving the shattered array and the bloody warning behind, the shadow of the Faceless Scholar loomed heavily over the Central Continent. The hunt had officially begun.