News that the Celestial Basilica had entered first-level alert hit the Luminous Sanctuary like a boulder dropped into a stillke.


    In an instant, the whole ce erupted.


    On Saintlight Peak, the Mountain-Guarding Grand Array ran at full force.


    A golden barrier wrapped the entire mountain peak so tightly that even a bird could not pass through easily.


    Checkpoint after checkpoint went up along every key road at the mountain foot. Basilica disciples stood watch every few steps, all of them wearing grave expressions like an enemy was already at the gate.


    The pilgrimage road that used to stay open to outsiders was nowpletely sealed. No one was allowed in or out.


    Once the news spread, forcesrge and small across the Luminous Sanctuary blew up at once.


    "What is the Celestial Basilica doing? Highest alert? They''ve never done that since the day they were founded!"


    "I heard they even urgently recalled all the Elders and disciples who were out on missions. This looks like they''re getting ready for war!"


    "Don''t tell me the demons are about to attack. I heard the Celestial Pce in the Fourteenth Firmament was already wiped out. The Demon Dragon Lineage can''t be stopped anymore..."


    Voices rose and ovepped from every direction.


    The panic spread through the Luminous Sanctuary like a gue.


    What shook everyone even harder was the news of the Hallowmere Order''s destruction.


    That news swept across the entire Luminous Sanctuary at the same time.


    That towering mountain gate, which had stood for thousands of years, was now nothing but ruins.


    Out of thousands of disciples, not a single one survived.


    Vice Preceptor Cedric Vale was dead. Order Master Cillian Vale was dead. Even those True Immortal Realm Elders were all killed.


    Word was, there had only been a handful of killers.


    The one leading them was a young man at High Immortal Realm Level Four, and he had pped Order Master Vale, a True Immortal Realm Level Two cultivator, to death with a single palm.


    "High Immortal Realm Level Four killing someone at True Immortal Realm Level Two? How is that even possible?"


    "I heard that man''s name is Jared. He''s the Dragon Emperor reincarnation everyone kept talking about before!"


    "He was the one who destroyed the Celestial Pce, and now he''se to the Luminous Sanctuary too? What is he trying to do?"


    The panic only deepened.


    Some of the lesser sects had already started quietly packing up their belongings.


    They were making preparations to run at any moment.


    The mid-sized forces moved just as fast.


    They urgently recalled their disciples, activated their Mountain-Guarding Grand Arrays, and shut their mountain gates tight.


    The forces that had been close to the Hallowmere Order fared worst of all.


    Day and night, they lived under a shadow, each one afraid they would be next.


    All across the Luminous Sanctuary, every whisper set people on edge. Every shadow looked like trouble.


    At that same time, in a small town 100 miles from Saintlight Peak, Jared sat inside an unremarkable teahouse and drank his tea at an easy pace.


    Lydia sat across from him, calm and steady.


    At the next table, Luther and Grace sat close together, speaking in low voices about something between themselves.


    Evelyn leaned against the window, bored out of her mind, watching the stream of people moving along the street below.


    "Young Master Chance, when are we going to the Celestial Basilica?" Evelyn turned back and asked in a low voice.


    Jared set down his teacup.


    "No rush."


    Evelyn pressed her lips together and was just about to say more when Luther suddenly spoke up.


    "Mr. Chance, I just went out and made a round. Something''s off."


    Jared looked at him.


    Luther lowered his voice.


    "The Celestial Basilica''s gone into top-level alert. Saintlight Peak is sealed off, the Mountain-Guarding Grand Array is fully activated, and there are patrol disciples all over the mountain foot. Forget going up the mountain. If anyone gets within 10 miles, they''ll be stopped and questioned."


    "Top-level alert?" Lydia''s brow lifted slightly. "What is the Celestial Basilica trying to do?"


    Luther shook his head.


    "No idea. But there are all kinds of rumors outside. Some people are saying the demon are about to attack, and some are saying..." He nced at Jared and let the rest hang there.


    "Saying what?" Jared asked.


    "Some are saying it''s because we wiped out the Hallowmere Order. The Celestial Basilica is afraid we''lle for them next, so they''re preparing in advance."


    At that, the corner of Jared''s mouth lifted a little, drawing out the faintest trace of a smile.


    "Because of us?" He shook his head. "Impossible."


    "Why?" Luther asked, not following.


    Jared lifted his teacup and took a small sip. Then he said, unhurried, "What kind of ce is the Celestial Basilica? One of the oldest powers in the ominous Sanctuary. Theyve stood for tens of thousands of years, and they see themselves as the true orthodox line of the celestials. Their arrogance isn''t something they put on. It''s in their bones."


    He set the cup down and looked ahead, steady and calm. "To them, we''re nothing more than a few wandering cultivators in the High Immortal Realm. Ants. Even if we wiped out the Hallowmere Order, in their eyes that would just be dogs tearing at each other. Not enough to make them act like they''re facing a great enemy."


    Luther nodded slowly, like the pieces were starting to line up.


    "If the Celestial Basilica went into top-level alert, then something must have happened that they see as a deadly threat.


    Something huge."


    Jared rose from his seat, walked to the window, and looked out toward Saintlight Peak in the distance.


    "Then what do we do?" Evelyn asked. "Are we still going to trouble the Celestial Basilica?"


    Jared went quiet for a moment before he said, "We are. Just not now. First, we find out what they''re actually afraid of."


    He turned and looked at Luther. "Luther, go dig around a little. See if anything unusual has happened at the Celestial Basilicately. Especially..." He paused. "Anything connected to the demon."


    Luther froze for a beat. "The demon?"


    Jared nodded, then looked at Evelyn. "Do you remember those monsters we ran


    into when we were hiding from the Hallowmere Order after entering that huge forest?"


    The color shifted in Evelyn''s face.


    Of course she remembered those monsters born from the fusion of celestial and demon bloodlines.


    Those twisted shapes. Those crazed eyes. Those bizarre things giving off twopletely different auras at the same time. Even now, when it came back to her, a chill still ran through her.


    "Young Master Chance, you mean..."


    "Those monsters couldn''t havee into being on their own."


    Jared spoke in that same even tone.


    "Someone had to be behind them. And in the Luminous Sanctuary, there are only a handful of forces with both the ability and the nerve to pull something like that off."


    "Mr. Chance, what monsters?" Luther asked.


    Jared told them about what happened the first time he came to the Luminous Sanctuary.


    He went over those creatures he had run into back then, those things that were neither fully human nor fully ghost, andid it all out for the others.


    Luther sucked in a sharp breath.


    "Something like that actually happened?"


    Jared gave a small nod.


    "Go look into it. Be careful. Don''t alert them."


    Luther nodded hard, then turned and left.


    Grace hesitated for a moment, then followed after him.


    Lydia watched Jared''s back and spoke softly.


    "You think the Celestial Basilica is behind this?"


    Jared turned to look at her.


    "If the Celestial Pce could use cultivator bloodlines to revive a Ghost n Venerable, why couldn''t the Celestial Basilica do something even crazier?"


    Lydia fell quiet for a moment, then slowly nodded.


    That was the truth.


    These so-called righteous factions looked polished and spotless on the surface, but


    the things they did in the dark were often filthier than anything the demon ever touched.


    "I''ll go do some digging too."


    Lydia rose to her feet.


    "The Ghost n doesn''t have much influence in the Luminous Sanctuary, but


    finding a few eyes and ears shouldn''t be a problem."


    Jared nodded.


    "Be careful."


    After Lydia left, only Jared and Evelyn remained in the teahouse.


    Evelyn leaned against the window and watched the people moving through the


    street below.


    After a moment, she spoke in a low voice. "Young Master Chance, do you think...


    the Celestial Basilica would really do something like that?"


    Jared looked at her and said nothing.


    Evelyn turned back, a trace of confusion still in her eyes.


    "When I was still in the Hallowmere Order, they always said they were


    the righteous path. They said they were the Wardens of the Luminous Sanctuary. But what they did to me... there wasn''t anything bright about it.  sw?ovels


    "After I escaped, I thought every so-called righteous faction in the world was the


    same.


    But you''re different, Young Master Chance. Lydia is different. Luther and Grace are


    different too. So I started thinking... maybe there really are good people on the righteous path."