Heaven’s Shadow

The gray rabbit cowers backwards and continues to stare at the person who just appeared warily. However, there doesn’t seem to be obvious killing intent coming from that person. Thus, the simple-minded rabbit doesn’t immediately turn around to flee.

Both of its ears are still taut upwards. Soon, it realises that it should keep a distance away from the dangerous human, thus, it pulls its stretched-out head backwards and prepares to escape.

At the instant that it lowers its head, the two long ears of the gray rabbit suddenly twitch. At this instant, that little animal seems to hear something, a shrilling and desolate sound of an object ripping through the air.

The gray rabbit lifts its head, but it was too late. A wave of coldness envelops it. Reflected in its eyes in its final moments is a cold merciless black dagger slicing through the air. Without a single sound, it pierces through the chest of the rabbit easily.

The gray rabbit collapses and falls into the bushes. A short moment later, a trail of blood flows from the bushes. Walking over, Lu Chen squats beside the bush and grabs the lifeless rabbit. Taking a glance at it, he retrieves his dagger.

The black dagger had pierced through the chest of the gray rabbit, causing it to die instantaneously.

Lu Chen quietly watches as crimson-red blood flows from its wound. Suddenly, his body jolts. In that instant, his expression is indescribably profound and bizarre. In it, a hint of shock, surprise, comprehension and finally, as well as incredulously, fear.

※※※

A wisp of black spirit energy quietly seeps into his body once again. It slowly flows through his meridians, as though a black apparition. Within his dantian qihai, a black Five Elemental Divine Compass rises, causing his dantian to transform into a world of darkness. At the center of this bizarre world, a flicker of black flame burns unspectacularly.

That wisp of black spirit energy circulates through the meridians of his entire body once before silently entering his dantian. Then, as though a water droplet converging as one with the ocean, it is propelled by an intangible force and melds together with the black flames.

The black flame shudders and wavers for a moment before calming down yet again.

Nothing seems to have changed.

However, Lu Chen knows and senses that something has changed. It is so minor that it could be negligible, but he still feels the black flame, upon absorbing the wisp of black spirit energy, grew stronger by a little bit.

What exactly is that black spirit energy?

Lu Chen lowers his head to look at the lifeless rabbit, and his face suddenly turns peculiarly pale.

Two times, by the clear stream at the bottom of the mountain and by the bushes in the tea mountain, a small fish and a gray rabbit. The two events seem to be completely unrelated with one another, but they had a common point of similarity.

That is, when the two were struggling for their lives, when their lives were about to come to an end and when death was approaching them, Lu Chen feels a wisp of the fearsome and terrifying black spirit energy seeping into his body.

This kind of power and this kind of spirit energy is something that is unheard of. It doesn’t belong to the five elements and vaguely roams between life and death.

It seems to... smell of death, death spirit energy?

※※※

Zhang Jiu Ping is thirty-seven year old. With a responsible personality, he does his job seriously. He originates from a renowned sect, Tianluo Sect, and his cultivation realm isn’t weak. He was entrusted by his sect to work in the Immortal Alliance. After roaming among several halls, three years ago, he came under the Fleeting Cloud Division that was under the command of the trusted subordinate of Tianlan Zhenjun, Xue Ying, and became a sentinel.

A sentinel is a great yet terrible job. The advantage to it is that it doesn’t involve much killing. Sentinels are only responsible of contacting those ‘Shadows’ with mysterious backgrounds, and sometimes, they can even earn some additional Spirit Stones. It is a safe and lucrative job. On the other hand, those Shadows under the Fleeting Cloud Division, other than the few who managed to muddle into their ranks to make a living out of it, most of them are peculiar individuals with bizarre personalities. Furthermore, having to patrol outside for most of the time, it can be considered quite a tough job.

Zhang Jiu Ping has been in this job for three years for now. These three years, he had carried out his responsibilities well, making nearly no errors at all. Thus, quite a few influential figures in the Immortal Alliance had high hopes for him. After putting him through a bit more hardship, they intend to promote him to a more important position, perhaps even to govern an subsidiary organisation by himself.

Just that, luck is a mysterious and inexplicable thing. This man, after laying dormant for many years, just as he is about to achieve success, something suddenly happened to him.

Without any foreboding signs or clues, this exceptional sentinel of the Immortal Alliance’s Fleeting Cloud Division suddenly died in the depths of an inconspicuous alley by Zhuque street in the south of the Immortal City.

He died very tragically. There were bloodstains all over his body. When his corpse was noticed, it was swiftly sent back to the Fleeting Cloud Division. The culprit was determined likely to be from the Three Realm Divine Cult, because there was traces of a cultivation technique unique to the cult on his body. Other than that, Zhang Jiu Ping’s innumerable wounds on his body was determined to not be a result of battle. Based on the words of several individuals of special standing from the Immortal Alliance who examined the corpse, it was likely to be the result of an interrogation method.

It is hard to imagine what kind of person would dare to lay their hands on the Immortal Alliance where over tens of thousands of cultivator sects all over the world are congregated, given its name as the dominant power on the center continent. However, if the culprit was the Three Realm Divine Cult, the puzzles seem to fit perfectly together.

Furthermore, the very fact that this incident happened in the Immortal City, right under the eyelids of the Immortal Alliance, made the top brass incensed. As such, it is clear to see that the Three Realm Divine Cult, which had maintained a low profile for many years, had grown arrogant.

All kinds of orders to look into the matter kept flying out from the Immortal Alliance, and the atmosphere in the massive Immortal City grew tense. In the Fleeting Cloud Division, in addition to the tense atmosphere, there is a hint of dismal as well.

Old Liu steps out from the room where the corpse was laid. Outside the room, there are quite a few people who have gathered and most of them are from the Fleeting Cloud Division. There are also others who are close to the Fleeting Cloud Division who came here to listen into the news. He takes in a deep breath. Despite his horrible complexion, he doesn’t say anything, only silently shaking his head. After a moment, he says with a suppressed tone, “Tragic.”

The hushed atmosphere takes another dive. After a moment, some people started to curse.

Old Liu sighs and looks towards the sky. With a deep voice, he questions, “How did Old Zhang provoke those lunatics from the demonic cult?”

By the side, another sentinel from the Fleeting Cloud Division harrumphs silently, “Who knows, those lunatics don’t obey common sense.” At this point, he pauses and muses. “Old Zhang keeps quite a low profile, so it is unlikely for him to have a grudge with the demonic cult. Perhaps... the demonic cult sought him out for other matters?”

Old Liu raises his head, and at the same time, the others happen to look over as well. Exchanging gazes, their complexion darken and at the same time, they mutter, “Shadows!”

...