The air inside Lu Chen's quarters tasted of burnt ozone and shattered spiritual energy. Ye Xiyue's once-impenetrable silver barrier lay scattered across the wooden floorboards like glittering, broken glass.
Standing in the shattered doorway, wreathed in crackling azure lightning, was Fang Tianyou.
The 'Heaven-Blessed Son' of the Azure Cloud Sect did not look divine at this moment. His robes were slightly scorched from his forcibly interrupted breakthrough, and his eyes were wide, twitching with a manic intensity. He stared directly at Lu Chen, ignoring the Saintess of the Fallen Moon Palace entirely.
"You," Fang Tianyou murmured, his voice a low, venomous hiss that vibrated with barely contained killing intent. "Why does my Innate Spirit Root scream when I look at you? A mere outer sect rat who just crawled his way up... why do you resonate with my foundation?"
Lu Chen stood perfectly still. Beneath his calm exterior, the Luck-Binding Mirror in his dantian was spinning violently. It was starving, thrashing against the confines of his soul as it sensed its original, stolen half—the Innate Spirit Root that Fang had violently ripped from his chest three years ago. The phantom scar over Lu Chen's heart burned like a branding iron.
Not yet, Lu Chen told the Void within him. *If I strike now, Ye Xiyue will see everything. The entire sect will descend on me.*
"Sect Master Fang's beloved disciple seems to have lost his mind," Ye Xiyue said, her voice dropping the temperature in the room by ten degrees. Silver Sword Intent manifested around her in the shape of blooming frost lotuses. "Shattering my barrier and threatening a newly promoted inner disciple without cause. Is this the righteousness of the Azure Cloud Sect?"
Fang Tianyou sneered, his azure lightning flaring higher, melting the stone archway of the door. "Saintess Ye, step aside. This has nothing to do with you. This rat drained the Spirit Spring and ruined my Heavenly Opportunity. I will extract his memories, tear out his meridians, and see what secrets he hides!"
Fang raised his hand. A colossal sword of condensed azure lightning formed in the air, humming with the oppressive might of a high-tier Foundation Establishment cultivator. The Azure Cloud Enforcers flanked him, drawing their blades, sealing off every escape route.
Lu Chen secretly shifted his stance, his fingers curling into a half-seal. He prepared to unleash the Void Sword Intent. If he had to slaughter his way out of the sect today, so be it.
But before Fang's lightning sword could fall, the world simply stopped.
It wasn't a metaphor. The ambient spiritual energy in the room instantly froze, turning as dense and unyielding as solid iron. The azure lightning above Fang Tianyou's head flickered, choked, and shattered into harmless sparks.
A pressure heavier than a collapsing mountain range descended upon Cloud Peak.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Outside, the elite Azure Cloud Enforcers collapsed to their knees, their faces slamming into the stone courtyard as their spines bent under an invisible weight. Fang Tianyou grunted, his knees trembling violently as he was forced into a deep bow, the veins in his neck bulging as he fought the suppression.
Inside, Ye Xiyue gritted her teeth, her frost lotuses shattering as she was pushed down to one knee.
Lu Chen felt the immense weight crashing down on his shoulders. The Luck-Binding Mirror immediately pulsed, offering to swallow the oppressive aura by pulling it into the Void. Lu Chen instantly clamped down on the artifact. No! Hide!
Allowing himself to be pushed down, Lu Chen fell to his knees beside Ye Xiyue, perfectly mimicking the struggle of a weak disciple.
The sky above Cloud Peak tore open. A massive, golden tear ripped through the verdant clouds, and a magnificent chariot drawn by four spirit-beasts entirely composed of golden flames emerged. Standing at the helm was a man wrapped in resplendent gold robes, his eyes glowing like twin suns.
"The Imperial Bureau of Heaven acts. Mortals of the Azure Cloud Sect, revere the Heavens," a voice boomed, echoing across the nine peaks of the sect. It wasn't loud, but it resonated directly against the eardrums of every living soul within a hundred miles.
"A Gold-Robed Inspector..." Ye Xiyue whispered, her eyes widening in genuine shock. "Why would they send a Gold-Robed elite to a provincial sect?"
Lu Chen kept his head down, sweat pooling on his collar. They came because of me. Because I triggered the black tribulation, drained the spring, and killed Gu Yan. The Imperial Bureau is hunting the Sovereign of the Void.
The golden-robed man stepped off his chariot. He didn't fall; the air itself seemed to solidify to form golden stairs beneath his boots. In a single breath, he was standing in the courtyard outside Lu Chen's shattered doorway, gazing imperiously at the kneeling disciples.
"I am Inspector Yan of the Imperial Bureau," the man declared, his voice devoid of any human warmth. "The Great Azure Realm's total providence has violently fluctuated three times in the past month. A massive void in destiny has been detected in this exact province. Someone here is manipulating the Heavens."
Fang Tianyou, struggling against the pressure, managed to raise his head. "Lord Inspector! I am Fang Tianyou, the Heaven-Blessed Son of this sect! There is no manipulation here, only my divine providence! This rat beside me—"
"Silence," Inspector Yan commanded. The sheer force of the word slammed Fang Tianyou's face back toward the dirt. "The Heavens do not care for your self-appointed titles, boy. The Heavenly Fate Compass will reveal the truth."
Inspector Yan raised his right hand. From his spatial ring, a disc of ancient starmetal floated upward. It was covered in intricate, shifting constellations, and at its center was a needle made of crystallized dragon marrow. The Providence Compass.
"All present shall be judged," Inspector Yan decreed. "The Compass reads the Qi Yun of the soul. If you possess a natural destiny, you shall pass. If your destiny is a void, or if you practice the heresy of the forbidden arts... you will be eradicated on the spot."
Lu Chen's heart flatlined.
The Providence Compass wasn't like the cheap astrolabe the previous inspector used. This was an ancient artifact of the highest order. If it scanned his soul, it would find absolutely nothing—an endless, devouring black hole where his luck should be.
He had less than three seconds.
Mirror, move! Lu Chen roared inwardly.
He drove his consciousness into his dantian. The Luck-Binding Mirror hummed. Lu Chen aggressively gathered the residual wisps of luck he had stolen from the Spirit Spring just an hour ago. It was raw, unrefined luck. He didn't absorb it; instead, he forced the Mirror to expel it outward, coating his soul in a fragile, temporary shell of stolen providence.
It felt like wrapping his soul in barbed wire. The Void inside him clawed desperately, trying to eat the golden aura he was using as a disguise. Lu Chen bit his tongue, using the physical pain to maintain absolute focus. He had to balance the hunger of the Void with the projection of the illusion.
The Compass floated toward Ye Xiyue first. A beam of pure white light washed over her.
The needle spun and settled, projecting a towering, immaculate silver moon above her head. It was breathtakingly pure, radiating a cold, serene energy.
Inspector Yan's eyes softened just a fraction. "The Heart of the Sword. Fallen Moon Palace's Saintess. Your providence is pure and undisturbed. Step aside."
Ye Xiyue rose gracefully, though her eyes immediately darted toward Lu Chen with deep concern. She knew what he was. She knew the scan would expose him.
The Compass moved to Lu Chen.
The white light washed over his kneeling form.
Instantly, the Void within him shrieked, lunging at the light to consume it. Lu Chen forcefully suppressed it with all of his Perfect Foundation cultivation, forcing the stolen Spirit Spring luck to the surface.
The Compass hummed. The needle trembled violently, twitching left and right. For a terrifying half-second, a flicker of absolute darkness threatened to manifest in the projection. Lu Chen poured every ounce of his willpower into the Mirror, projecting a mundane, weak yellow glow.
The needle settled. Above Lu Chen's head, a dim, sickly yellow spark flickered weakly in the air, looking like a candle about to be blown out by the wind.
Inspector Yan scoffed in open disgust. "What a pathetic display of Qi Yun. Fading, unremarkable, and weak. The fact that you even managed to reach Foundation Establishment is a statistical error of the Heavens. Trash. Step aside."
Lu Chen let out a shaky breath, slumping forward as if exhausted by the pressure. *I survived.* He slowly stood, his eyes darting to the floor to hide their predatory gleam. *Enjoy your arrogance, Imperial dog. One day, I will swallow your golden flames whole.*
"Now," Inspector Yan turned his gaze toward the courtyard, where Fang Tianyou was finally allowed to stand. "Let us see the so-called 'Heaven-Blessed Son.'"
Fang Tianyou straightened his robes, a confident, arrogant smirk returning to his face. He had always been told his providence was blinding. He had stolen Lu Chen's supreme Innate Spirit Root, after all. He was destined to be the Infinite Sword Sovereign.
"Witness the favor of the Heavens, Inspector," Fang Tianyou declared, spreading his arms wide.
The Compass floated over to Fang Tianyou. The white light cascaded down upon him.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, the starmetal disc emitted a sound like a screaming banshee. The dragon marrow needle began to spin so fast it became a blur.
SCREEEEEECH!
A massive pillar of golden light erupted from Fang Tianyou, shooting toward the sky. Fang smiled, expecting praise.
But the smile vanished when he saw Inspector Yan's face contort in absolute horror and fury.
"Look closer, fool," Inspector Yan spat, pointing at the projection.
The golden pillar wasn't pure. As the Compass fully analyzed Fang's soul, the illusion of his 'perfect' providence fell apart. The golden light was actually composed of hundreds of jagged, mismatched fragments. Worse, holding the golden fragments together were pulsing, grotesque threads of blood-red karma and rotting black spiritual residue.
It looked less like a divine blessing and more like a stitched-together corpse of stolen destinies.
"A parasitic foundation," Inspector Yan whispered, his aura erupting with violent hostility. "You possess a stolen Innate Spirit Root. And to sustain it, you have been secretly siphoning the lifeforce and providence of mortals and lesser cultivators... a patchwork soul of forbidden arts!"
"What? No!" Fang Tianyou panicked, stepping back as the Azure Cloud Enforcers looked at him in shock. "This is my natural destiny! The Azure Cloud Sect Master verified it himself! I am the Heaven-Blessed—"
"You are a parasite!" Inspector Yan roared. "The Bureau of Heaven commands that all artificial providence be purged! You dare to taint the Heavenly Order?!"
The Gold-Robed Inspector lunged forward, his hand forming a massive golden talon designed to rip the soul from the body.
Cornered and facing sudden execution, Fang Tianyou's survival instincts took over. "I am destiny!" he screamed. He forcefully ignited the stolen Innate Spirit Root to its absolute maximum capacity, drawing upon the stolen power that had once belonged to Lu Chen.
A shockwave of immense, chaotic energy exploded from Fang, temporarily halting the Inspector's golden talon.
But as Fang pushed the stolen root to its absolute limit, the unnatural connection between the root and its original owner snapped taut.
Standing mere yards away, Lu Chen suddenly gasped, his vision whiting out.
The Luck-Binding Mirror in his dantian let out a deafening roar. The stolen Spirit Root inside Fang Tianyou was desperately crying out to its true master. Before Lu Chen could suppress it, a visible, crackling thread of dark Void energy shot out from Fang Tianyou's chest—bypassing the Inspector entirely—and slammed directly into Lu Chen's heart.
The entire courtyard froze.
The golden light of the Imperial Bureau illuminated the unmistakable, terrifying tether of absolute darkness connecting the 'criminal' Fang Tianyou to the 'weak' outer disciple Lu Chen.
Inspector Yan stopped his attack, slowly turning his glowing eyes to follow the tether of Void energy. He stared directly at Lu Chen.
"What..." Inspector Yan whispered, his golden aura flaring with a sudden, dawning terror. "What are you?"
Lu Chen looked down at the dark tether connecting him to his stolen talent, then looked up at the Gold-Robed Inspector. The sickly yellow illusion of his providence shattered into dust, revealing the suffocating, endless abyss beneath.
Well, Lu Chen thought, his lips curling into a cold, predatory smile as Void Sword Intent began to bleed from his pores. So much for laying low.