By sunset, the western residence had been sealed.
No servants entered.
No guards crossed the outer courtyard.
Even the clan elders had been forbidden from approaching.
Ao Longtian had ordered the doors closed, the windows repaired, and every formation surrounding the residence activated.
From the outside, it looked like a quarantine.
Inside, it was a laboratory.
Longtian sat alone in the center of the ruined nursery.
The floor had been cleaned of blood, but faint red stains remained between the cracks in the stone.
He stared at one of them.
His mind returned to the previous night.
The child.
The demon blood.
The voice.
The fusion.
His fingers slowly curled.
There was something he still didn't understand.
The demon blood had entered his body.
His cultivation had collapsed.
Yet instead of dying, his body had begun changing.
And there was another phenomenon.
The strange pink energy he had sensed around certain people.
He had noticed it years ago.
At first, he had assumed it was merely a type of spiritual energy.
But now that his senses had changed, he could see it clearly.
It wasn't ordinary Qi.
It was something produced by emotion.
Desire.
Longing.
Attachment.
The stronger the emotion, the denser the energy.
And someone in the Ao Clan produced an extraordinary amount of it.
His maid.
A knock sounded.
Longtian looked toward the door.
"Enter."
The door opened.
A young woman stepped inside.
Her name was Mei Lan.
She had served Longtian for nearly three years.
She was quiet, attentive, and rarely made mistakes.
She stopped several feet away and bowed.
"My lord."
Longtian looked at her.
"You came quickly."
"You summoned me."
"I did."
Mei Lan waited.
Longtian studied her carefully.
There it was.
Around her body floated a faint pink mist.
Normally, it would have been invisible.
Now he could see it.
The mist gathered most heavily around her chest and abdomen, flowing slowly through her spiritual channels before escaping into the air.
Longtian stood.
"Do you know why I called you?"
"No, my lord."
"Have you ever noticed anything strange about your spiritual energy?"
She hesitated.
"Sometimes."
"What?"
"After I experience strong emotions, I feel tired."
"How long?"
"A few hours."
Longtian nodded.
"Have you ever seen pink mist around yourself?"
Mei Lan's expression changed.
"No."
"Of course not."
He walked around her.
The pink mist followed him.
Interesting.
"How long have you served the clan?"
"Seven years."
"And me?"
"Three."
"You've never cultivated the Pink Fog Technique?"
"No."
Longtian stopped.
"Then why do you possess its energy?"
Mei Lan's face became confused.
"I don't know."
Longtian didn't believe she was lying.
That made the situation more interesting.
He raised one hand.
A thin strand of crimson energy emerged from his fingertip.
Mei Lan stepped backward.
"My lord?"
"Don't move."
The crimson strand touched the pink mist.
The reaction was immediate.
The mist rushed toward his hand.
Longtian's eyes narrowed.
The energy entered his body.
Warmth spread through his veins.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then his demonic bloodline reacted.
The crimson energy inside him absorbed the pink energy.
His body changed.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
His blood became more active.
Longtian's eyes widened slightly.
So that was it.
The Pink Fog Technique wasn't merely a cultivation method.
It was a method of harvesting emotional energy.
He had discovered the first piece of an ancient inheritance without even entering the clan's cultivation repository.
"Again," he said.
Mei Lan looked frightened.
"My lord, what are you doing?"
"Testing something."
He extended his hand.
The pink mist gathered around his fingers.
This time, Longtian deliberately controlled the flow.
The mist condensed.
A small cloud formed in his palm.
It was beautiful.
Soft pink.
Almost harmless.
But beneath its appearance was an extraordinary concentration of energy.
Longtian smiled.
"So that's what you are."
The mist suddenly vanished into his body.
His bloodline surged.
A crimson symbol appeared briefly across his wrist.
Mei Lan stared.
"What happened?"
Longtian didn't answer.
He closed his eyes.
His senses expanded.
He could feel the energy moving through his body.
The pink energy entered his blood and was transformed.
Then the transformed energy moved toward the strange core forming inside him.
Longtian opened his eyes.
His cultivation foundation was still destroyed.
But something new was taking its place.
He reached toward the air.
A faint black-red glow appeared above his palm.
Demonic Qi.
He had generated it.
Not absorbed it.
Generated it.
Longtian stared at the energy.
"Interesting."
Mei Lan took another step backward.
"My lord…"
Longtian looked at her.
She was afraid.
He understood why.
He had changed.
The person standing before her looked like Ao Longtian, but something about him was different.
His presence felt heavier.
His eyes were colder.
And the energy surrounding him belonged to something she didn't understand.
Longtian noticed the fear in her expression.
"You should be afraid."
She froze.
"Because I don't understand this power yet."
He lifted his hand.
The pink mist began gathering again.
This time, the extraction was much faster.
The energy flowed toward him in thin ribbons.
Mei Lan suddenly fell to one knee.
Longtian stopped.
Her face had become pale.
"Enough."
The pink mist disappeared.
Longtian stared at her.
"Are you injured?"
She shook her head.
"Just weak."
Longtian frowned.
He hadn't intended to take that much.
He had been testing his limits.
Now he understood the first danger of the technique.
The energy wasn't infinite.
And extraction could harm the source.
Longtian walked toward her.
"I'm sorry."
Mei Lan looked up.
"My lord?"
"You served me faithfully."
She seemed confused by the sudden statement.
Longtian crouched beside her.
"I won't pretend I didn't use you."
She lowered her eyes.
"I am your servant."
"That doesn't make what I did right."
Mei Lan looked at him for several seconds.
Then she smiled faintly.
"You've never apologized to me before."
Longtian almost smiled.
"I've never had reason to."
She laughed softly.
The sound was weak.
Longtian stood.
"Rest."
Mei Lan nodded.
He turned away.
Then stopped.
Something was wrong.
He could feel it.
The pink energy inside his body was changing.
The emotional energy he had absorbed wasn't disappearing.
It was becoming part of him.
His bloodline was converting it.
Longtian looked at his palm.
A faint pink glow appeared beneath his skin.
Then crimson swallowed it.
He understood.
The technique could become a source of power.
But if he wanted to master it, he needed the original cultivation manual.
The Ao Clan's restricted library.
That would come later.
For now, there was another problem.
Mei Lan had stopped breathing.
Longtian turned.
She was lying on the floor.
Her eyes were closed.
The pink mist around her body had vanished completely.
Longtian rushed forward.
He checked her pulse.
Nothing.
He checked again.
Still nothing.
He remained silent.
He had taken too much.
The realization settled over him.
He had killed her.
Longtian sat beside her for several seconds.
There was no dramatic scream.
No anger.
No excuse.
Only silence.
He closed her eyes.
"You should have lived."
He stood.
Then something caught his attention.
A tiny black mark had appeared beneath Mei Lan's collar.
Longtian stared at it.
He reached toward it without touching.
The mark pulsed.
Once.
Longtian's expression hardened.
This wasn't caused by his technique.
Someone had marked her before tonight.
He carefully examined the symbol.
A small circle surrounded by three curved lines.
Longtian recognized it.
The same symbol had appeared on the child.
His blood ran cold.
Mei Lan hadn't been random.
She had been connected to the demon blood.
Longtian stood slowly.
"So you were watching me."
The room was silent.
He looked toward the ceiling.
Then toward the walls.
Then toward the sealed windows.
His senses expanded.
Nothing.
Whoever had placed the mark was already gone.
Longtian looked back at Mei Lan.
For the first time since his transformation, his expression showed genuine anger.
Not because she had died.
Because someone had used her.
Someone had placed a piece of their plan inside his own household.
And Longtian hated being manipulated.
He walked to the door.
"Gu Ren."
The old butler appeared almost immediately.
He looked at Longtian.
Then at the body.
His expression changed.
"Young Master."
"Take care of her."
Gu Ren lowered his head.
"Of course."
"Quietly."
The old butler nodded.
Longtian began walking away.
"Young Master."
He stopped.
"Yes?"
Gu Ren looked at him carefully.
"What happened?"
Longtian glanced back.
"I learned that someone has been preparing for me."
Gu Ren's eyes narrowed.
"And?"
Longtian smiled.
"And now I'm preparing for them."
He walked into the corridor.
Behind him, Gu Ren looked down at Mei Lan.
Then at the faint black symbol beneath her collar.
The old butler's expression became grim.
He had seen that symbol before.
Many years ago.
In a sealed record.
A record the Ao Clan elders had ordered destroyed.
Gu Ren whispered:
"Impossible."
Far above the manor, hidden beyond the clouds, a black bird watched the western residence.
Its crimson eyes reflected the moonlight.
Then its body twisted.
Feathers melted away.
A human figure emerged from the darkness.
The figure looked toward Longtian's residence.
"He found the mark."
A second voice answered from the darkness.
"Then we have less time than expected."
The first figure smiled.
"How much?"
"Three years."
Silence.
Then the second voice corrected itself.
"No."
The figure looked toward the manor.
"Perhaps three months."
Inside the residence, Longtian suddenly stopped walking.
His eyes lifted toward the ceiling.
He could feel them.
Not clearly.
Not yet.
But somewhere beyond the clouds—
someone was watching.
Longtian's mouth curved into a faint smile.
"Three months?"
He didn't know why those words had entered his mind.
He only knew one thing.
Whatever was coming—
he would be ready.