An old man slowly opened his eyes in a quiet mountain hut on the outskirts of the northern city. His hair and beard were all white, yet he radiated health and vigor. There was a brilliance in his eyes that made people dare not meet his gaze.
This old man was Han Jun.
Those who could recognize him would be greatly surprised if they saw this. To think that the true ruler of the Heavenly King Corporation and a Tier 3 powerhouse would actually live in seclusion in a place like this.
With his status and position, it was entirely possible to enjoy all the glory and splendor in the world, but he was actually willing to live in this remote mountain cottage like an ascetic.
"Master." A faint figure floated into appearance behind Han Jun and whispered, "Han Yuntian and Han Feng… are dead."
Han Yuntian was Han Feng's father. He was the Boss Han who just died by Gu Nan's sword, as well as this old man's third child.
However, Han Jun's expression remained indifferent when he heard the news, as if the ones who died weren't his son and grandson.
"How did they die?" The old man asked calmly.
The blurry shadow behind Han Jun gradually became clear, and it turned out to be a humanoid with a wolf's head. He didn't speak and instead handed some documents to Han Jun.
Han Jun's gaze quickly swept through the report, reading ten lines at once, but his brows wrinkled.
Han Yuntian was found dead inside his own house. No clues of the culprit could be found, but judging from the lingering energy on the corpse, it was most likely a Tier 3 existence…
"I've confirmed it myself. It may be the work of a Heroic Spirit," the werewolf saw Han Jun's expression and added.
"A Tier 3 Heroic Spirit?" The suspicion on Han Jun's face grew stronger—a Heroic Spirit of this level was even rarer than a Tier 3 human.
Even for King Level Heroic Spirits, it wasn't easy to grow to Tier 3 without dying. On the other hand, it was comparatively easier for Heroic Spirit summoners to reach this level with the help of multiple Heroic Spirits.
"The culprit can kill people inside the city, so it's definitely not a naturally formed Heroic Spirit… How could those two useless things provoke an expert of that level?" Han Jun said with an icy expression.
He had many children in his lifetime and even more grandchildren, so the death of one or two of them didn't give him any distress.
But if his useless descendants got the family into big trouble that couldn't be easily resolved, then not even death would be enough to make up for their stupidity.
'A Heroic Spirit wouldn't kill so purposefully. There must be someone behind this Heroic Spirit, giving the orders… If the Heroic Spirits under this mastermind's control are already this strong, then how strong would the summoner have to be?'
Although there were also cases of particularly powerful Heroic Spirits with weak summoners, Han Jun didn't want to take any risks.
"Investigate this matter," he coldly ordered the werewolf. "I'll pay a visit to the Heroic Spirit Temple. If a King Level Heroic Spirit really did appear in the world, then it won't be able to hide from the Heroic Spirit Mirror."
...
"The moon thrall is a King Level Heroic Spirit. If a moon thrall really did appear in the world, then My Lord will know as soon as you look at the Heroic Spirit Mirror," the bearded old man explained with a fawning smile as he floated beside Gu Nan.
There was a Heroic Spirit Mirror inside the Heroic Spirit Temple. Gu Nan hadn't known this information before; the old man was the one who told him.
The Heroic Spirit Temple was a special kind of existence that was basically the Heroic Spirit association. Even the textbooks Lin Duo studied at school were mostly written by the Heroic Spirit Temple.
The Heroic Spirit Temple could be said to be the absolute authority on all Heroic Spirit-related matters and commanded a very high status on the continent.
The Heroic Spirit Mirror, on the other hand, was a special treasure. A rather hefty cost had to be paid for each usage, but its function was also quite remarkable—it could be used to detect the location of a designated Heroic Spirit.
The Heroic Spirit Mirror was originally a product of the warring years. In the Heroic Spirit Continent, it was the equivalent of "radar." Now, it was mainly used to investigate Heroic Spirit-related crimes.
After understanding the mirror's function, Gu Nan was also satisfied.
Despite having a limited range, the Heroic Spirit Mirror was indeed what he needed right now.
If he found the moon thrall's location, then it wouldn't be long before he found the moon thrall's child as well.
Looking at the old man whose body was about to turn into an illusory shadow and whose soul was about to scatter, Gu Nan smiled. "In that case, I'll take you to the Heroic Spirit Temple… You can repair your body there, right?"
The old man was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. He suggested this course of action for Gu Nan precisely because his current situation wasn't optimistic, and only the Heroic Spirit Temple could save him.
...
It was lively as usual when Han Jun arrived at the Heroic Spirit Temple. This was the gathering place of Heroic Spirit summoners.
Heroic Spirits that would rarely ever be seen in daily life appeared in the temple one after another.
However, someone of Han Jun's status naturally didn't need to mingle with those people.
Not long after he reached the Heroic Spirit Temple, someone came out to welcome him.
"Elder Han, Temple Master Dongfang has been waiting for you for a long time," the person who greeted Han Jun said.
This world didn't only have one Heroic Spirit Temple. The person in charge of each temple was called the Temple Master. The Temple Master here was called Dongfang Qi, an old friend of Han Jun's.
Han Jun first paused slightly in surprise, then reacted and shook his head with a chuckle. He didn't ask anything and just followed the person inside, where he saw a gray-haired old man in the inner temple. It was precisely Dongfang Qi.
Dongfang Qi waved for the greeter to leave and immediately said to Han Jun, "I knew you'd pay the temple a visit as soon as I heard that something happened to your family!"
"Why? Did you confirm that it's the work of a Heroic Spirit?" Han Jun didn't care about the death of one of his sons at all. Rather, he was much more concerned about the enemy's identity.
Dongfang Qi's expression gradually became serious. "Yes, and it's a Heroic Spirit I've never seen before…"
There weren't any clues from Han Feng's death, but Han Yuntian had died inside his own house. Naturally, people from the Heroic Spirit Temple assisted in the investigation.
While Gu Nan's lingering energy at the crime scene might just give the werewolf mere suspicion that a Heroic Spirit caused it, in the eyes of the expert investigators from the Heroic Spirit Temple, it was indisputable proof.
"Have you used the Heroic Spirit Mirror to investigate yet?" Han Jun couldn't help but ask.
"Not yet." Dongfang Qi shook his head. "We'll be able to track it using the Heroic Spirit Mirror when the temple investigators finish extracting the energy left behind at the crime scene."
Han Jun frowned a little, but he also knew that a brand-new Heroic Spirit could only be tracked like this, so he had to sit through it and wait.
The process didn't take long, but before they even turned on the Heroic Spirit Mirror, there was a noise outside.
"What happened?" Dongfang Qi frowned as he asked a worker outside.
The temple attendant who was stopped by Dongfang Qi quickly bowed and replied, "Answering the Temple Master, a person came here to heal an injured Heroic Spirit. It's a rare guardian Heroic Spirit…"
Dongfang Qi was even more confused. "Isn't that normal? What's there to make a fuss about?"
While it was true that guardian Heroic Spirits were rare, this was the gathering place for all the rare and precious Heroic Spirits in the whole city, so it wasn't surprising for bizarre Heroic Spirits to appear here.
The worker replied with a bitter smile, "That person is really… His Heroic Spirit is clearly dying, but he doesn't care about it at all. For someone like him to have a guardian Heroic Spirit is simply a waste of a precious treasure."
Hearing this, Dongfang Qi and Han Jun exchanged a glance and gently shook their heads at the same time.
There were all kinds of people in the world, and there were also many fellows who didn't cherish their own Heroic Spirits, but such people were bound to be spurned by Heroic Spirits.
"Temple Master, the mirror is ready," another voice said behind the two men.
Faced with a more pressing matter, Dongfang Qi was too lazy to care about some guardian Heroic Spirit. He immediately ordered someone to activate the Heroic Spirit Mirror to track down the culprit's whereabouts from the lingering energy on Han Yuntian's corpse.
However, the result surprised him greatly. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"Dongfang, where is that Heroic Spirit?" Han Jun couldn't understand the symbols on the Heroic Spirit Mirror, so he could only ask Dongfang Qi.
Dongfang Qi was silent for a moment, and after a long time, he slowly spat out four words, "Right inside this temple…"