Chapter 1 The Wind

The wind howled.

The iron gate shuddered fiercely.

Withered leaves of late autumn were swept up, sharp as knives, scraping against the iron skin, creating ear-splitting sounds, revealing the wind's intensity.

But even so... the fog remained thick.

Even such a strong wind couldn't disperse the density, as if it were imprisoned within an invisible air pocket.

Inside the factory, it was a vast expanse of white.

Enshrouded in heavy fog, this was the core area where the "sealed item" was located… Within the dense white mist, however, simmered dazzling red light. The floor of this old factory was cracked like a volcano, with scarlet patterns flowing like lava, crisscrossing like a pool of molten rock.

Shi Li was squatting at the intersection of the octagonal red patterns.

He took out a sealed iron can from his pocket. After twisting open the lid, a scarlet, blood-like fluid slowly poured out.

These blood-like substances were all transcendental source materials!

Moreover, the aura was extremely strange, as if extracted through some ancient secret method.

Shi Li's movements were slow.

And very steady.

He patiently kept the iron can tilted to the minimum, ensuring that it only poured out the source material. Thus, in the snow-white mist, the scarlet blood formed a faint, continuous line... Eventually, all the falling scarlet source material was poured into the very center of the blood-colored patterns on the factory floor, into a square gospel box.

The gospel box was only palm-sized, but it seemed like a gluttonous giant mouth.

An entire iron can slowly poured out, all of it falling into the bottomless pit.

Then, the second can.

The third can.

...

...

By the time Shi Li had finished pouring all five bottles of blood-colored liquid he carried, nearly half an hour had passed.

He slowly stood up and looked at the small box on the ground, which was finally overflowing and slowly digesting, revealing a satisfied smile.

"Clang—"

Outside the iron gate, there was a dull thud.

Although the sound wasn't loud, it immediately caught Shi Li's attention.

"Someone!"

Shi Li's expression suddenly turned gloomy.

He lowered the brim of his hat and stood silently in the factory fog, concealing all his presence...

The whole world was silent.

It was as if the sound just now was a hallucination. The guy who accidentally touched the fragile iron door must not have imagined that this kind of gate was so fragile.

He also maintained silence, and no more movements were made afterward, probably hoping that the one inside the factory would think it was an illusion.

But it was a pity.

Shi Li didn't think it was an illusion.

Although he chose the most remote old district of the capital to "do the experiment," after all, a whole day had passed since the sealed item awakened, so it wasn't surprising to be discovered now.

The fluctuations of the sealed item were greatly suppressed.

Ninety percent of the power was concentrated in this factory.

The overflowing mist filled the deserted Yuandan Street. The rest should have spread to the other blocks... Maybe it was some unlucky guy who strayed into Yuandan Street.

"If it's an ordinary person, then there's no need to pay attention to him... It won't be long... before this person naturally withers."

Shi Li frowned.

"But if it's a transcendent... there's no need to worry about him entering this factory. Without specific 'protective items,' trying to break in is just courting death."

Recently, every time he came to the old city, he had a feeling of being watched.

"Wait..."

"Maybe... I've been targeted for a long time. This time, that person followed me to Yuandan Street."

Shi Li's expression was calm, and in the depths of his eyes, there was only indifference.

Gu Shen guessed right.

This fog shielded everyone's vision, even the members of the Eternal Foundation who released the fog were not spared.

It was difficult to track here.

Similarly, it was also difficult to detect being tracked.

"Is it because I entered and exited the old city too frequently?"

After sorting out his thoughts, Shi Li smiled self-deprecatingly. No matter what... the game of cat and mouse has now been completely reversed.

In this fog, he was the cat.

The other party was the mouse.

He walked out of the factory silently and slowly looked in the direction of the sound... Although he couldn't see anything, Shi Li was very sure.

There, stood a person.

In the direction he "looked."

At the other end of the broken wall—

About ten meters apart, in the dense fog, stood a tall figure, holding a motorcycle helmet in one hand, and pressing on the dented iron gate of the factory with the other.

Hu Danian controlled his breathing, letting his spirit relax and not be too tense.

The fog was vast.

He finally chose to believe Gu Shen... came to the factory to be the bait that took the initiative to expose himself.

In this fog, sound was the source of all information. Making this sound was telling Shi Li... someone was coming.

He exposed himself.

And stood in place, waiting silently.

Hu Danian closed his eyes.

In this situation, eyes were no longer important, because he couldn't see anything, so what he could believe in was his intuition, his life-or-death reaction, and... Gu Shen, who had not yet revealed himself.

...

...

Shi Li moved forward slowly.

He was too clear... what the limit of visibility of this fog was.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Stop.

If he went further, he would be where that guy was standing.

From his sleeve, a silent dagger slid down. The dagger was engraved with a black dragon bone pattern. At this moment, the dragon bone seemed to come alive, possessing its own life, slowly stretching its body on the blade of the dagger.

The moment the dragon bone moved.

Shi Li also moved.

In an instant, he stepped into the limit of visibility of the fog. What came into view was indeed a towering figure pressing against the wall, but the man stood silently like a stone sculpture, as if waiting for him to come.

Was it an ambush?

Shi Li only had a moment to think.

He coldly stabbed forward... So what if it was?

The dagger reflected a cold light, and its speed soared in this instant. Even the fog that the wind couldn't disperse was now driven by his extreme speed, vaguely showing signs of spreading around.

Accompanied by the sound of an explosion.

This dagger pierced into a hard, round object.

Hu Danian opened his eyes at the last moment, like a furious Vajra, and swung the helmet in his hand hard. The alloy helmet was pierced by the dragon bone dagger, but the red-silver inside the inlay immediately poured out. The dragon bone pattern in the dagger burst out with an angry, high-pitched wail. Transcendental power encountered a strong logical material, like magma encountering liquid nitrogen.

After traveling north and south for half his life, this helmet was Hu Danian's treasured item for many years. Once the inlay was pierced, the red-silver inside would flow out. No matter where he went, having this helmet gave him another container for containing sealed items.

The dagger pierced into the helmet, triggering two completely opposite forces, and an extremely violent reaction between them—

With a "boom!"

The helmet suddenly exploded, red-silver splattered everywhere, and the bone dragon in the dagger roared furiously. The cold light reflected Shi Li's cold eyes. In this small dagger, a section of bone actually broke away and lifted up. This was not a carved pattern... but a real, sharp bone, born from both sides of the dagger. In an instant, this short weapon turned into a three-pronged arrow that slid out of the sleeve and was thrown!

Hu Danian's pupils shrank. His cheeks were pierced by the dragon bone, and distinct blood sprayed into the air.

In that split second.

He seemed to see... at the end of the arrow dagger, there was a chain-like bone rope connected.

"Swish!"

Shi Li raised his hand and pulled back. The opened bone thorns presented a barb shape, like eagle claws, and were retrieved from the back of Hu Danian's head... The vibrating wind reached Hu Danian's ears. He quickly dodged to the side, but it was too late. Another burst of blood was brought out, and the flesh on half of his neck was scraped away by the bone thorns!

Hu Danian covered his neck hard, his face very pale.

He felt a little dizzy.

Blood kept gushing out of his neck... He pressed hard, but it didn't work.

All this happened too fast.

From Shi Li's attack to the mutation of the dagger... This guy's ability was related to his own bones. The bone thorns that opened from the dagger, and the bone rope connected to the end, should all be extensions of his own bones.

"Sincerity Society, North Hall, Second Team, Hu Danian."

Shi Li looked at the weak man in front of him. He recognized Hu Danian's voice and said with a faint smile, "You're investigating me... Who's behind you, Lu Nanzhi, Cui Zhongcheng?"

Hu Danian smiled weakly, "Your words... are a little interesting."

Shi Li subconsciously didn't mention Zhao Qi.

Although Young Master Zhao was just an empty name... he was still a major figure in the Zhao family, and he enjoyed the resources and privileges of a future heir in many things.

"..."

Shi Li also realized his mistake.

But he didn't care, and said calmly, "You're about to die, you should think more about yourself."

Even if he didn't do anything.

Hu Danian was bound to die... Suffering such serious injuries, he wouldn't live long in the fog of Yuandan Street.

"Before I die... can I ask you a question?"

Hu Danian smiled.

He pointed to the fog and asked softly, "What's in this house?"

Hu Danian didn't know when Gu Shen would strike.

But he knew... this kid was a mental transcendent, and Shi Li had a mental lead buried in his mind by the Eternal Foundation. Even if he succeeded, the secret of this fog would be unknown.

"What a good dog, doing his duty..."

Shi Li looked at Hu Danian, who was covered in blood, shook his head with a smile, and said softly, "I'll tell you after you die."

His body leaned forward again.

At this moment, Shi Li's pupils shrank, and he "slowly" looked down at his feet.

Fragments of the helmet that had exploded everywhere, and the red-silver liquid, had unknowingly moved and gathered to the bottom of his feet, like being poured and constructed by some mysterious force, condensing into a fortress welded to the ground.

This red-silver fortress locked his feet in place.

So at the moment he lifted his foot and leaned forward, his body fell forward uncontrollably.

"...This?"

Shi Li's expression was a little dazed.

The explosion of the helmet just now... was Hu Danian doing it on purpose?

In order to wait for him to be careless, and then trap himself... But what's the use of trapping himself?

Then, a violent wind came from his ear.

A silver gleam bloomed in front of Shi Li's eyes.