The room had no windows.
No light.
No sense of time.
Only a long table carved from black stone and a single dim glow hovering above it like a dying star.
Three seats were occupied.
One remained empty.
At the far end sat the man who had given the orders before—the one who sent the assassins.
He didn't speak immediately.
Because in front of him…
Two lights had gone out.
Not dimmed.
Not disrupted.
Extinguished.
"They're both dead."
The voice came from the left.
Calm.
Measured.
A woman, her face hidden behind a veil of thin darkness that never quite revealed her features.
Across from her, another figure leaned back slightly.
A man.
Older.
His presence heavier, more grounded.
"Two Foundation Establishment operatives," he said slowly. "One mid-stage. One peak."
A pause.
Then—
"Gone."
Silence stretched across the table.
The man at the head finally moved his fingers slightly.
"Report."
A faint projection appeared above the table.
Not a recording.
Not visual memory.
Something else.
A reconstruction.
The last traces of energy left behind at both scenes.
First—
The Su Residence.
A figure collapsed instantly.
No prolonged struggle.
No extended clash.
Just… suppression.
Clean.
Absolute.
Then—
The corporate tower.
Another collapse.
But this time—
Different.
The energy didn't explode.
Didn't shatter outward.
It folded.
Collapsed inward.
As if something had cut off its structure at the root.
Silence followed.
Longer this time.
Then the woman spoke.
"…That's not normal."
The older man exhaled slowly.
"No."
He leaned forward slightly.
"The first one—"
His gaze fixed on the projection from the Su Residence.
"That is overwhelming force."
A pause.
"Something stronger crushing something weaker."
His eyes shifted to the second scene.
"But this…"
His voice lowered.
"…this is control."
The man at the head finally spoke.
"Two different methods."
"Yes," the woman replied.
"Two completely different systems."
She tilted her head slightly.
"But both resulted in the same outcome."
Death.
Instant.
Unavoidable.
The older man tapped lightly on the table.
"Let's break it down."
He pointed to the first projection.
"The Su heir."
"Reported as useless. No cultivation base worth mentioning."
A pause.
"Yet he suppressed a Foundation Establishment cultivator like it was nothing."
He looked up.
"That's already an anomaly."
The woman nodded slightly.
"Not just suppression."
She gestured toward the projection.
"Look closer."
The energy trace shifted.
Revealing something deeper.
"The target's energy didn't scatter."
"It didn't destabilize."
"It collapsed."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"As if something… superior forced it to submit."
The room went quiet again.
Because that detail mattered.
A lot.
The man at the head leaned back slightly.
"Continue."
The older man shifted his attention to the second projection.
"The woman."
"Lin Yanyan."
"Non-cultivator. No known training. No family background tied to cultivation."
A pause.
"Yet she neutralized a Foundation Establishment Peak operative."
He exhaled slowly.
"Without visible force."
The woman's voice cut in.
"That's the part that concerns me."
She stood up slightly.
Walked closer to the projection.
"Power can be measured."
"Strength can be estimated."
"But this—"
She reached out toward the floating image.
"This isn't power."
"It's… interference."
The projection shifted again.
Zooming into the moment before the assassin collapsed.
His energy flow.
His internal structure.
Then—
A disruption.
Not external.
Internal.
Something had altered the way his body responded to his own energy.
Not by force.
But by precision.
The woman's voice dropped.
"She didn't overpower him."
"She undid him."
Silence.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
The older man leaned back again.
"So we have two targets."
"One uses overwhelming dominance."
"One uses absolute control."
He looked toward the man at the head.
"And both… don't fit into the system."
The man at the head didn't respond immediately.
Instead, he looked at the empty seat beside him.
For a brief moment—
Something like thought passed through his eyes.
Then he spoke.
"Bring in the archives."
The room shifted.
The black stone table lit up faintly.
Ancient records surfaced.
Fragments.
Broken texts.
Names that no longer existed in the current world.
"Search for anomalies beyond Saint Realm classification."
The woman's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You think they're… beyond the system?"
The man at the head answered calmly.
"I think they don't belong to it."
The search results flickered.
Most entries were incomplete.
Lost.
Destroyed.
But a few remained.
The older man leaned forward.
"…There."
A fragment appeared.
Old.
Damaged.
Barely readable.
"'Those who carry bodies that predate cultivation… do not follow its rules.'"
The woman's gaze sharpened.
"Primordial classification?"
"Possibly."
The man at the head continued reading.
"'They do not cultivate. They awaken.'"
Silence.
The older man looked at him.
"You think the Su heir is one of these?"
A pause.
Then—
"Yes."
The woman crossed her arms.
"And the woman?"
Another silence.
Longer this time.
Because she didn't fit.
Not into any known category.
The man at the head finally spoke.
"She's different."
A pause.
Then—
"But just as dangerous."
The older man frowned slightly.
"We can't classify her."
The woman added quietly:
"Which makes her unpredictable."
Silence returned again.
But this time—
It wasn't uncertainty.
It was realization.
Two anomalies.
Two unknowns.
Connected.
The man at the head tapped the table once.
Decision made.
"Escalate."
The older man's eyes narrowed.
"You're sending higher-level operatives?"
"No."
A pause.
Then—
"Something more appropriate."
The woman tilted her head slightly.
"A test?"
The man at the head's lips curved faintly.
"An observation."
The projections faded.
The room returned to darkness.
"Watch them."
"Don't interfere directly."
"Not yet."
The older man frowned.
"You're holding back?"
The answer came calmly.
"No."
A pause.
Then—
"I'm waiting."
Far away—
In the city that never noticed what moved beneath it—
Two people stood under the same sky.
Unaware that they had just been placed on the same level.
Not as targets.
Not as threats.
But as something else entirely.
Variables.
At the Su Residence—
Su Chen opened his eyes slowly.
A faint shift passed through his body.
The Primordial Core pulsed again.
Stronger than before.
He looked toward the distance.
"…They noticed."
At the same time—
In her office—
Lin Yanyan paused mid-step.
Her fingers tightened slightly.
A faint feeling passed through her.
Not danger.
Not fear.
But attention.
Her lips curved faintly.
"So now you're looking at me too…"
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them reacted.
But both of them understood—
Something had changed.
And somewhere in the dark—
Something had decided…
To stop testing.
And start watching.