At 7:15 a.m., Ji Chen stood in front of the Genesis Group building, gazing up at the high-rise that once felt so familiar.
His right hand unconsciously brushed the three high-grade spirit stones in his pocket—earnings from selling three Talisman of Spirit Protection at the black market the day before. Though the price was slightly lower than expected, it was enough to sustain their cultivation expenses for the next month.
"Who would've thought we'd return here?" Su Wan stood beside him, her voice soft. Dressed in a standard professional suit with her long hair tied into a simple ponytail, her bright eyes made her look like any other white-collar worker. But Ji Chen knew that hidden in her ring was a silver longbow, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
"The most dangerous place is often the safest," Ji Chen straightened his tie. "Besides, we need this job as cover."
Just a month ago, he and Su Wan had nearly lost their lives here, caught in a deadly trap set by Qin Yue. Now they were back—no longer fledgling cultivators, but survivors tempered by fire.
Over the past three weeks, they had trained in a safe house on the outskirts of the city during the day and visited the black market at night to gather intel. Ji Chen focused on the third layer of the Void Scripture, diving into the complex principles of artifact forging, while Su Wan studied the Azure Luan Fire—her family's secret art—and the newly unlocked sections of the scripture Ji Chen had shared. Surprisingly, their spiritual energy grew increasingly compatible. They could now briefly resonate their powers in perfect sync.
Inside the elevator, Ji Chen felt the flow of spirit energy coursing steadily through his veins. His cultivation had now stabilized at the early Foundation Establishment stage, and the purity of his energy far exceeded peers at the same level. He glanced at Su Wan beside him—her aura had become deeper, more refined. Clearly, the Void Scripture had aided her as well.
"Ready?" Su Wan asked softly.
Ji Chen nodded, adjusting his tie. "Let's see what's changed around here."
They walked into the building, scanned their cards, and passed through the turnstiles. The familiar chime of the elevator greeted them. Everything looked unchanged—but Ji Chen knew the undercurrents ran deep.
Back in the marketing department, colleagues greeted them warmly.
"Ji Chen! Heard you had food poisoning or something? You're looking good now!" Wang Lei clapped him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, all better," Ji Chen replied with a smile, though his gaze swept sharply across the office.
New faces filled the space, and something about the atmosphere had subtly shifted.
Li Jie walked over and handed him a file. "Just in time. We need you on the new project—Spiritual Energy Big Data. There's some messy data in the analytics section."
Ji Chen opened the file, and his pupils slightly contracted.
"Spiritual Energy Big Data—Monitoring and Analysis of Energy Fluctuations in Jiang City"
The coordinates on the charts marked recent abnormal energy spikes across Jiang City—locations that lined up perfectly with the Night Owl Society's activity zones.
Su Wan, standing behind him, also frowned slightly.
"Who's in charge of this project?" Ji Chen asked as casually as he could.
Li Jie pointed toward a nearby office. "New director from HQ—Zhou Wei. Big background."
Ji Chen looked through the glass and saw a slender figure in a snow-white suit, her long black hair cascading down as she flipped through files. The nameplate on the door read: Project Director Zhou Wei.
"A new director?" he asked, keeping his tone light.
Wang Lei leaned in and lowered his voice. "The chairman's niece, or so they say. Been here only two weeks and already reorganized three departments." He nodded toward Zhou Wei's office. "Pretty, but cold as ice. Everyone calls her the Ice Queen."
Just then, the office door opened, and the woman stepped out. Tall and graceful, with pale skin and piercing eyes, she radiated aloofness. But Ji Chen noticed something more—a faint layer of spiritual energy cloaked her body, nearly invisible to normal eyes, but clear as mist under his Spirit Sight.
"Ji Chen, right?" Zhou Wei approached him, her voice as crisp as winter frost. "Li Jie says you're good with data analysis. I want to hear your assessment of the new project at three this afternoon."
Her amber eyes held a sharp edge, and when her gaze passed over his right hand, the jade slip imprint in his palm warmed slightly—the Void Scripture warning him of danger.
"Of course, Director Zhou." Ji Chen maintained a professional smile while quietly activating a concealment technique to suppress his spiritual presence.
Zhou Wei nodded and turned away, her heels clicking sharply against the floor. As she walked past Su Wan, she paused ever so slightly, then continued as if nothing had happened
During lunch, Ji Chen and Su Wan sat in a quiet corner of the company cafeteria, speaking in hushed tones.
"That Zhou Wei—something's off," Su Wan tapped her finger on the table. "I used Spirit Sight on her. She's definitely a cultivator. Well-hidden, but not enough to fool me."
Ji Chen nodded. "And the Spiritual Energy Big Data project? It's clearly monitoring energy flows. What are the Night Owls planning?"
"She's testing us," Su Wan narrowed her eyes. "Qin Yue may be gone, but the Night Owls clearly haven't given up on locating the Void Scripture."
"Let's not make any rash moves yet," Ji Chen replied. "We need to know exactly what she's after."
As if on cue, Zhou Wei appeared—clad in a tailored white suit, her every step echoing authority. Her gaze swept the cafeteria and landed on Ji Chen. A faint smile curved her lips as she walked over.
"Ji Chen?" Her voice, cool as ever, carried a thread of something unplaceable.
He looked up, face unreadable. "Director Zhou, is something the matter?"
She pulled out a chair and sat gracefully. "We need your help with the project."
Su Wan watched closely, fingers subtly channeling spiritual energy under the table, ready for anything.
Zhou Wei glanced at her, smiling faintly. "And this is...?"
"Su Wan, my assistant," Ji Chen said calmly.
"Oh?" Zhou Wei tapped the table lightly. "You two seem... close."
Ji Chen smiled politely. "Just coworkers."
Zhou Wei studied him for two seconds, then reached out and brushed a fingertip across the back of his hand. Her nail carried a barely visible sigil.
Ji Chen instantly recognized it with his Spirit Sight—it was a tracking charm meant to gauge his spiritual reaction.
He retracted his hand smoothly. "Apologies, I'm booked tonight."
A glint of cold amusement flickered in Zhou Wei's eyes before her smile returned. "Another time, then."
She rose and left, heels clicking crisply.
Su Wan whispered, "She left a probe on you."
"Yeah, a Spirit-Seeking Rune," Ji Chen said, eyes narrowing. "Trying to get a read on my cultivation."
"She suspects something," Su Wan frowned. "Should we take her out?"
"Not yet." Ji Chen's eyes sharpened. "Let's see how deep this rabbit hole goes."
For the rest of the day, Ji Chen kept up appearances while quietly studying the internal changes in the company. Most notably, a new initiative had launched: the Urban Energy Optimization Project. On the surface, it tracked electricity usage across the city—but Ji Chen could clearly see the coordinates overlapped with ley lines and areas of recent Night Owl activity.
"She's mapping out the spiritual veins of the city," Su Wan whispered in the stairwell. "With that data, they could build another Nine Yin Convergence Array."
Ji Chen flipped through the project files. "Worse. If they combine this with surveillance data on civilians... they could pinpoint sacrifice targets and ley line nexuses."
"And launch a citywide ritual." Su Wan's face darkened. "We can't let that happen."
At the afternoon briefing, Zhou Wei listened to Ji Chen's report with polite interest. But her follow-up questions were far too specialized—referring to energy patterns only a seasoned cultivator would recognize.
"What do you make of the spike in the southwest quadrant?" she asked, pointing at a fluctuating graph.
Ji Chen deliberately answered with a mix of technical jargon and coded cultivation terms. "It resembles a harmonized resonance—possibly from overlapping energy nodes. If we identify the convergence points..."
Zhou Wei's eyes lit up. "Go on."
After the meeting, Ji Chen received an encrypted email from her—requesting a special analysis report by that night. The attached files weren't just energy readings—they were real-time spiritual flow maps of the entire city.
"She's biting," Ji Chen told Su Wan. "You stay back and study the next level of the Scripture. I'm going to find out what she really wants."
Su Wan frowned. "She's clearly baiting you."
"Exactly why I have to go." Ji Chen's tone turned resolute. "If she's part of the Night Owls, we need to know their endgame."
Night had fallen. The office was silent, leaving Ji Chen alone on the top floor. He had deliberately left several flaws in the analysis report—bait for a trap—and now, all that remained was to wait.
Sure enough, just past nine, the sound of high heels echoed in the hallway.
"Still working?" Zhou Wei pushed the door open, carrying two cups of coffee.
"Almost. This section of the data is... strange." Ji Chen pointed at the screen where he'd planted a misleading anomaly. "These wave patterns… they almost look like—"
"Like what?" Zhou Wei leaned in, her voice casual. A faint fragrance drifted from her hair, but Ji Chen could still sense the cold spiritual energy beneath it.
He lowered his voice. "Like energy resonance from a formation."
Zhou Wei froze for the briefest moment, then smiled. "You know formations?"
"A little," Ji Chen replied with a relaxed smile. "I was part of a metaphysics study group in college."
Their eyes met—each reading the other. Suddenly, Zhou Wei placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You know," she said softly, "there's an old data server in the basement. It contains raw archives the current systems don't access. Want to take a look?"
Ji Chen knew—the real game was about to begin. He pretended to hesitate for a moment, then nodded. "Sure. Who knows? Maybe we'll find something useful."
The elevator descended to sublevel three. Zhou Wei swiped her access card and opened a secure door. At the far end of the hallway was a room labeled "Equipment Storage," but Ji Chen had already activated his Spirit Sight. Behind that door, waves of concealed spiritual energy pulsed—it was clearly warded by an isolation barrier.
"It's right inside." Zhou Wei's tone had turned ethereal. She gestured politely for him to enter.
Ji Chen quietly gathered his spiritual energy and stepped through.
In the center of the room, a ritual formation was already active. Six black candles formed a hexagram, their flickering flames casting eerie shadows on blood-red runes etched across the floor.
"The Nine Nether Soul-Seeking Array?" Ji Chen recognized it instantly—a formation favored by demonic cultivators to extract memories by force.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Zhou Wei's voice turned icy. "I knew you weren't just a normal employee. Ji Chen, tell me who you really are, and I'll grant you a quick death."
Ji Chen scoffed. "So I die either way? Then why would I tell you anything?"
"But if you cooperate…" Zhou Wei's eyes gleamed with a strange fervor. "Perhaps I'll let you live. Join us. Feed me intel. You're useful, Ji Chen."
He smiled faintly. "Sounds like a great deal."
In a flash, Ji Chen flipped his palm. The Spiritfang Dagger burst into golden light, slashing straight toward the core of the array!
Zhou Wei's face changed instantly. She hadn't expected such speed and power. She leapt back as a crystalline sword of pure frost materialized in her hand, thrusting directly at Ji Chen's throat.
But Ji Chen was ready. The dagger met the blade in a flash of light, metal and ice clashing in a burst of spiritual force. In the tight confines of the chamber, their weapons collided again and again, gold and silver energy intertwining like dueling serpents.
Freezing mist exploded outward with every strike, clashing violently with the golden spiritual flames surging from Ji Chen's dagger. The force of each collision sent visible shockwaves rippling through the room, rattling the walls and warping the etched runes on the floor.