Back at the **Azure Valley Sect**, the news of the tragic event in **Scarlet Flame Forest** had reached the sect, and the disciples who had barely escaped with their lives trembled in fear as they entered the sect grounds. Jin Wei, Tao Lin, Li Da, Ming Yue, and Lian Hua were barely able to walk, their bodies bruised and hearts broken from the horror they had witnessed. Jin Wei was dead, his heart crushed without warning by a figure who seemed more ghost than a man.
The news reached the **Elder Council** swiftly, and the room was filled with indignation. Elder **Xu Ling**, a man with sharp, piercing eyes and an unyielding demeanor, slammed his fist down on the table. His robes billowed with the force of his anger.
"How dare someone kill a student of the Azure Valley Sect?!" Elder Xu Ling's voice was a growl. "This is a direct insult to our sect's honor. No one, *no one* dares to challenge us like this!"
Elder **Cheng Zhi**, who was known for his wisdom and cold logic, nodded in agreement but with a more calculating expression. "This is not just a matter of revenge, Elder Xu. Whoever did this is not a mere bandit or rogue cultivator. They're strong, far too strong to have simply stumbled upon us by accident. This was deliberate."
Elder **Shi Mei**, the youngest of the council members, spoke next. Her voice was low but filled with a sharp edge. "We cannot allow this to pass. It will send the wrong message. If we don't take action, what will the other sects think? We must find the killer, even if it costs us everything."
The **Sect Leader**, **Ling Xian**, stood in silence at the head of the table, his face expressionless. Though a man of few words, his mere presence commanded authority. Finally, he spoke, his voice calm but full of the weight of leadership.
"Enough," he said. "We will not let this stand. Prepare the **Bloodstone Mirror**."
The elders exchanged uneasy glances. The **Bloodstone Mirror** was a legendary artifact, capable of tracing the aura of an individual and revealing their last known location. However, its power had limits. It could only track those who were connected to the **Essence**—the energy that bound cultivators to the natural world. But **Liang Zhen** had long since severed his ties to Essence cultivation, relying solely on his **Eternal Body Cultivation**, which did not leave an Essence signature.
Still, the ritual proceeded. The elders gathered around the **Bloodstone Mirror**, and Elder Cheng Zhi began chanting the ancient incantations. The mirror flickered to life, glowing with a crimson hue as it searched for a trace of the killer.
The image that appeared was fragmented and faint. The figure in the mirror was blurred, a shadow, moving through the **Scarlet Flame Forest**. It flickered briefly before dissipating as if it had never been there.
Elder Xu Ling cursed under his breath. "He's cloaking himself. His aura is masked—he's not using Essence cultivation. This is impossible!"
Elder Shi Mei frowned. "We cannot track him with the mirror. Whoever this is, he is unlike any cultivator we have ever faced."
Ling Xian stood, his gaze fixed on the space where the image had been. His expression darkened. "Find him. I don't care how but find him. We must know who dares to cross us."
Meanwhile, in the quiet halls of the **Azure Valley Sect**, a different conversation was unfolding.
In a secluded courtyard, **Lian Hua** and **Zhen Yue** sat together, the weight of recent events heavy on their shoulders. Zhen Yue was still processing everything that had happened in the forest, her mind struggling to make sense of the violence, the fear, and the overwhelming aura of Liang Zhen's presence.
"Zhen Yue…" Lian Hua began, her voice soft but filled with a quiet intensity, "I have to tell you what I saw. What happened when we were there… when we saw him."
Zhen Yue, her brow furrowed in confusion and concern, turned toward Lian Hua. "What do you mean? What did you see? Was it… was it him?"
Lian Hua hesitated, the memory of the encounter still fresh in her mind. "I... I don't know. I saw someone who looked like him, but his eyes… they were empty. Lifeless." She swallowed hard, her voice tinged with unease. "He killed someone. A young man from the Azure Valley Sect. I saw it with my own eyes. He—he crushed his heart... without even a second thought." She paused, her breath catching in her throat. "It was like he wasn't even human anymore."
Zhen Yue took a step back, shock flashing across her face. "You're saying it was him? After all this time, we couldn't find him, and now... now he's like this?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Could it be him?"
Lian Hua nodded slowly, but there was doubt in her eyes. "I don't know if it's the Liang Zhen we used to know... But it was his face. The same person… but completely different." She clenched her fists, trying to push away the nagging feeling that had taken root in her chest. "I don't understand what happened to him, but he's changed. And I... I think it's because of us."
Zhen Yue's gaze softened as she placed a hand on Lian Hua's shoulder. "We searched for him for so long, but we couldn't find him. We didn't know what he was going through... We didn't know he had turned into this. Could we have stopped it? If we had found him sooner, would he have been the same?"
Lian Hua shook her head, her thoughts racing. "I don't know. But I feel like we're the reason he ended up like this... His path, his loneliness, everything. It's all because of what we did—or didn't do." Her voice wavered with guilt and a hint of fear. "Can someone like that still be saved?"
Zhen Yue didn't answer immediately. She stared out the window, the weight of Lian Hua's words hanging in the air. "I don't know. But we can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to find out what happened to him, and if there's any way we can help him… or stop him."
The two girls fell into a heavy silence, each lost in their thoughts, haunted by the memory of the boy they had once known.