At Shushan Sword Sect's Swordmaking House, Jason Chu sat deep in meditation, nearing the final stages of condensing his Golden Core. Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation, as though an unseen force was probing his very being.
"What's going on?" Jason murmured, his brow furrowing. Instinctively, he expanded his divine consciousness, casting it over the entire Shushan Sword Sect.
"What is that? It's emitting a powerful energy… It seems tied to space and time," he pondered. "And it's the source of this feeling of being watched."
Though blind, Jason's divine senses clearly perceived the energies of Shushan's strongest gathering around a mysterious object, a relic high above the sect, pulsing with an ancient aura—the Heaven-Peering Mirror. His heightened hearing caught fragments of the conversations swirling below, and Jason quickly pieced together what was happening.
"So that's it…" he muttered. "As expected of Shushan Sword Sect, with deep reserves of mystical relics. They even have a tool capable of seeking out hidden truths."
But Jason remained calm. Years of diligent training had furnished him with powerful artifacts and secret techniques. Though the Heaven-Peering Mirror's surveillance was sudden, he was prepared. Almost reflexively, he activated the Divine Art of Universal Concealment. The instant he channeled the technique, the invasive sensation faded, severed by the concealment spell.
"It's quite a miraculous artifact," Jason thought, his curiosity piqued but tempered by the knowledge that using such an item required a steep sacrifice of lifespan—a cost he had no interest in paying.
Putting aside the Heaven-Peering Mirror, he refocused on his breakthrough. His Golden Core was nearly formed, and with the mirror's gaze now thwarted, Jason sank back into meditation.
…
Meanwhile, the Great Elder's eyes widened in shock as he manipulated the Heaven-Peering Mirror. Moments earlier, he had been on the verge of discerning the identity of Justin's attacker. But now, the figure had blurred once again, obscured by a mysterious force that resisted all his attempts to pierce through.
"Has the Heaven-Peering Mirror malfunctioned?" he whispered, disbelieving. "No… the vision is growing clearer, but that figure remains hidden!"
His heart raced as he recognized the location unfolding within the mirror—it was within Shushan itself! Just like Sarah Qin's ambush years prior, Justin had encountered an assailant right on sect grounds. This realization rattled him to his core. Since Sarah's attack, Shushan had increased security to unprecedented levels. Yet not even the most vigilant elders or hidden patriarchs had sensed this new intruder.
Around him, the other Shushan practitioners grew restless, shame coloring their faces. Within a mere century, two of Shushan's key figures had been attacked within their own territory without detection—a humiliating failure of the sect's defenses.
In the mirror's vision, they watched as Justin fled in panic, pursued by a figure whose casual strides belied their lethal intent.
"He's so powerful! Justin is a Longevity-stage practitioner, yet he can't even put up a fight!" murmured one elder, a sense of dread creeping in. Could this attacker be a Heavenly Gate Grand Elder? But how could such a presence enter Shushan undetected by the ancestral patriarchs?
Could Justin… truly have perished?
Despite the vision being a recording of the past, the spectators felt their hearts pounding, unable to shake the sinking feeling that Justin had met his end. Watching him in retreat, they exchanged troubled glances, and Simon's voice finally broke through, shaking with rage.
"Find out who that figure is. We'll hunt them to the ends of Heaven and Hell!" he vowed, his eyes blazing. But then, something caught his attention.
"Wait!" interjected Ryan Xia, the Second Elder, inhaling sharply. "Look closely at that sword… does it seem familiar?"
The assembled elders' eyes narrowed, examining the spectral image of a sword descending upon Justin. Suddenly, recognition dawned.
"The Heavy Profound Divine Sword… It belongs to the Sword Demon Dugu!"
An immediate hush fell over the group. If it was the Sword Demon Dugu who attacked Justin, then everything started to make sense. Even Simon was left speechless, his rage giving way to bewilderment.
The Sword Demon Dugu had once swept across the world undefeated; who could possibly resist him? After so many years, he had likely reached unfathomable heights in cultivation, perhaps even beyond the knowable realms. If the Sword Demon himself had attacked, not even the Heaven-Peering Mirror's scrutiny would be able to reveal it.
But why? Why would the Sword Demon target Justin?
The implications were staggering. If the Heavenly Elder had also been slain by the Sword Demon, then…
"Even if he is one of our patriarchs, he cannot kill our Sect Leader without reason!" Simon's voice trembled with barely controlled fury. His bold statement left the other elders silent and unnerved.
If this was truly the case, Shushan would face internal chaos unlike anything it had ever experienced.
"What could the Sword Demon possibly be planning?" they murmured, lost in confusion and dread.
In the mirror, the vision played on, revealing Justin's final moments. As the Heavy Profound Divine Sword descended, he had nowhere left to run. Some of the onlookers couldn't bear to watch, closing their eyes against the painful sight of their kin turning on one another.
But then—
"What… what is that?"
"It's… demonic energy?"
"That's impossible! How could Justin be emitting such intense demonic aura?!"
Gasps filled the air as Justin, in his last desperate moments, erupted with dark, malevolent energy. A demonic spear materialized in his hands as he turned to face his assailant. The realization struck them like a lightning bolt.
"Justin… he's a demon?!"
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