Deep within the towering peaks in the Upper Realm, the atmosphere inside the divine Leopard Sect was undergoing a silent, terrifying shift.
The ancient stone corridors that had once been filled with the arrogant laughter of the high elders were now completely frozen in a state of absolute, suffocating tension.
Wang sat calmly on the high throne of the Ancestral Gold Hall, his broad shoulders frad by the massive carved stone leopards that guarded the seat of ultimate power.
He wore a sweeping, magnificent black robe that lacked any traditional ornantation, yet the raw, ancient majesty radiating from his posture made the golden hall feel incredibly small.
His crimson eyes, glowing with a piercing, unyielding light, looked down at the four ancient figures kneeling at the base of the dais.
The four old sages, the ultimate hidden ancestors of the leopard tribe, remained perfectly still, their long grey sleeves sweeping the stone floor.
They had spent the last several days operating in absolute secrecy, using their ancient, forgotten network to dig deep into the internal records of every single official within the sect.
"Patriarch," the eldest sage spoke, his cracked voice trembling with a mixture of intense reverence and deep, burning anger as he lifted a thick, ancient jade scroll with both hands.
"The investigation is complete. The rot within our lineage runs far deeper than the current generation. The internal laws have been systematically dismantled over the past three centuries, and the core resources of the ancestral lands have been drained to feed the greed of a private faction."
Wang reached out his hand, and the jade scroll naturally levitated from the sage’s palms, flying smoothly across the empty air until it landed perfectly within his grasp.
His fingers closed over the cold stone, his eyes scanning the glowing spiritual text that listed every single transaction, every hidden alliance, and every tampered record within the sect’s inner archives.
"Elder Shen," Wang uttered, his voice smooth, low, and perfectly calm, yet it carried a natural, heavy pressure that made the spiritual crystals on the walls hum softly.
"His private estate has received over forty thousand high-grade spiritual stones from an untraceable source outside our mountain boundaries every single year for the past decade. And the soul hall records during the exact tiline of my descent... were personally wiped by his private elders."
"It is an absolute, treasonous betrayal, Patriarch!" the second sage cried out, his old body shaking with fanatical loyalty.
"The external source of those spiritual stones carries the faint, lingering aura of the northern bird tribes. Elder Shen is not rely embezzling resources; he is actively selling the secrets of our bloodline to the outside world! Please give the command, Patriarch! We will personally tear his courtyard to the ground and execute his entire line before the sun sets!"
"No," Wang said coldly, his crimson eyes narrowing slightly as he rested his chin on his knuckles, his posture completely relaxed.
"If you strike the dog now, the master behind him will simply cut the leash and vanish into the shadows. Elder Shen is a coward, but he does not have the courage or the intelligence to execute a plot of this magnitude on his own. He is rely a puppet."
Wang closed his eyes for a brief mont, his instincts, the supre, unyielding intuition of an ancient primordial deity, analyzing the hidden patterns within the jade scroll.
Every single clue pointed toward a grand, systematic attempt to keep the Leopard Tribe weak, fractured, and leaderless. And the fact that his own mories regarding the lower realm had been cleanly extracted proved that his family below was the ultimate target of this conspiracy.
A sudden, sharp ache hollowed out his chest, a wave of familiar, suffocating emotion rising within his core.
He still could not see her face in his mind, but the re thought that these corrupt parasites had touched his destiny made his ancient blood boil with an intense, murderous rage.
"Continue the shadow surveillance," Wang commanded, opening his eyes to flash a ruthless, chilling crimson light through the dark hall. "Monitor every communication talisman that leaves Elder Shen’s courtyard. Let him believe his secrets are perfectly safe for now. The more confident he feels, the more mistakes he will make."
"We obey the Patriarch’s decree!" the four old sages chanted in unison, bowing their heads all the way to the floor before their figures slowly rippled and vanished back into the void.
Once the ancestors were gone, the heavy stone doors of the hall smoothly opened, and Clan Leader Bai Feng stepped into the quiet room. His face was a mask of cold, majestic authority, but as he approached the throne and looked at his son, his expression settled into a deep, serious gravity.
"Wang," Bai Feng spoke, his deep voice echoing through the vast space. "The news cannot be contained any longer. The phenonon from your bloodline awakening inside the ancestral pond was too massive. The spiritual energy of the entire mountain range shifted, and the outside world has noticed the fluctuation that a supre powerhouse has erged within our borders."
Wang let out a soft, amused huff, his face remaining perfectly calm as he leaned back against the stone throne. "Let them notice. Who is coming?"
"The Divine Azure Roc Clan," Bai Feng replied, his eyes narrowing slightly as his long golden-trimd sleeves shook with an undercurrent of tension. "They are the dominant power of the eastern ridges, and they have always viewed our leopard tribe as their primary rivals. They have just sent a formal, high-grade communication bird to our front gates. They are sending a grand delegation, led by their young master and two high elders, to ’congratulate’ our sect on the successful awakening tomorrow morning."
A slow, highly dangerous smirk spread across Wang’s lips as he heard the na of the rival tribe.
The Azure Roc Clan was notorious for their extre arrogance, their unmatched speed in the skies, and their constant attempts to suppress the surrounding feline lineages.
"To congratulate us?" Wang murmured smoothly, his voice dripping with glacial silk as he looked down at his own palms, where the crimson spiritual energy was humming like a trapped beast. "They want to test the strength of the new young master, hoping to find a weak point they can exploit before our core stabilizes. They are completely unaware that the person sitting on this throne is not a fragile youth."
"They have no idea that the first Patriarch has returned to the world," Bai Feng said, a rare, proud smile cutting through his cold features as he stood beside his son. "They expect to see a typical young genius who can be easily intimidated by their younger generation."
"Excellent," Wang whispered, his eyes flashing with a ruthless, protective light that made the air inside the golden hall drop by twenty degrees in an instant.
"Tell the outer disciples to prepare the grand reception plaza. We will give our guests from the heavens a welco they will rember for the rest of their absolute lives."
As the heavy ironwood doors of the Ancestral Gold Hall closed behind Clan Leader Bai Feng, the silence that returned to the vast chamber was heavy enough to suffocate an ordinary immortal.
Wang remained seated upon the high stone throne, his broad shoulders perfectly still beneath his sweeping black robes. He did not imdiately call for his attendants or prepare his cultivation core for the upcoming banquet; instead, his crimson eyes fixed entirely on the blank wall opposite the dais where the sect’s ancient reflection mirror usually hung.
The information provided by the four old sages had left a bitter, tallic taste in his mouth.
The realization that the rot within his tribe was directly tied to the tampering of his own soul archives ant that his enemies were not rely greedy officials they were ticulous, patient planners who had spent centuries preparing for his eventual descent.
He slowly lifted his right hand, his fingers spreading slightly as a small, highly concentrated fla of crimson energy ignited above his palm.
The fire did not emit any heat, but the sheer atmospheric density of the fla caused the space around his knuckles to warp and ripple like heated glass.
Deep within that tiny crimson fla, a faint, nearly imperceptible vibration began to hum, matching the exact frequency of the soul signature he had uncovered in the broken archive stones.
’You are down there, fighting against the limitations of that weak world,’ Wang thought, his jaw tightening into a sharp, rigid line as a sudden, intense wave of dark protectiveness threatened to shatter his icy composure.
’And these parasites are using my own na, my own lineage, to try and clear a path for your destruction. They believe that by wiping my mory, they have completely cut the thread that binds us together.’
The four old sages materialized once again from the deep shadows behind the throne pillars, their withered faces entirely serious as they knelt in perfect unison.
"Patriarch, the shadow sense implanted within Elder Shen’s courtyard has just detected a minor spatial ripple. He has not left his estate, but his primary soul lamp experienced a sudden, sharp spike in temperature just as the Roc Clan’s communication bird crossed our mountain gates."
A cold, thoroughly ruthless smile cut through Wang’s handso features, his crimson irises flaring with a dangerous, predatory light that made the ancient ancestors break out in a cold sweat.
"Let him signal his master. Let him tell them that the Roc Clan is coming to test my depth. The more frantic they beco, the more resources they will pour into this mountain range. When the grand delegation arrives tomorrow morning, we will show them exactly what happens when an ordinary bird tries to fly in the sovereign territory of the white leopard."
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