Where the cave had once stood, there was now only a massive, jagged, empty hole, a scar where something valuable had been violently ripped from the earth.

"We need to leave this area immediately," Baishe warned, sensing the shifts in the wind.

"What? Why the rush?" Bai Xifeng asked, her voice weak.

"Several groups of people are heading in this direction, drawn by the commotion. Do you really want them asking questions about how a cave vanished? I bet you do not want the world to know that you literally robbed the mountain of its treasure." Baishe stated.

"What? We can just kill them all and be done with it." Heishe replied nonchalantly.

Baishe and Bai Xifeng automatically turned to look at Heishe with flat, unimpressed expressions.

"What?" Heishe asked, feeling self-conscious.

"I am far too exhausted for a massacre. Can you just take me away from here?" Bai Xifeng begged.

"Fine." Baishe agreed.

"Heishe, Tao-chan, return now." Bai Xifeng ordered.

Heishe retreated into the Mirror World, and Tao-chan shrank back down, returning to the contracted beast space. The moment they vanished, Baishe immediately activated his spatial skills, teleporting the two of them kilometres away in the blink of an eye.

They were incredibly lucky, for the moment they vanished, the first wave of explorers arrived at the scene. They stood at the edge of the crater, completely shell-shocked.

"What in the world happened here?" One of the newcomers asked, his voice full of awe.

"I have no idea. We just arrived ourselves."

"I definitely sensed a powerful, divine aura coming from this exact spot."

"It was not just one... I think there were at least three distinct, overwhelming presences."

"Were they fighting each other?"

"Probably. This massive crater must be the devastating result of their battle."

"Wait... what was this place supposed to be?"

"I believe this was the location of the Xien Stone Cave."

"What? Are you saying they blew up the entire cave just like that? There is nothing left!"

"A priceless resource, gone in an instant. The Armament Master Guild will be in mourning when they hear about this."

Zou Weizhe and his followers finally arrived at the scene. The people around recognised them because they were wearing the uniform of Tianlong School.

"Excuse me, sir. May I ask what occurred here?" Zou Weizhe asked politely, addressing a seasoned-looking cultivator nearby.

The man shared the popular theory that had already begun to circulate.

"You mean to tell me that beasts fought, and the entire Xien Stone Cave was destroyed in the process?" Zou Weizhe could hardly believe his ears.

"We do not know the exact details. However, that is the only logical assumption. You felt that monstrous aura earlier, didn’t you? That kind of power does not belong to any human." The man said, pointing toward the void. "You can see the hole for yourself. Just be careful not to fall in. It is deep enough that it might be a real trouble to climb back out."

Zou Weizhe and his followers approached the edge of the void. It was a terrifying sight, a deep, jagged crater where a mountain of wealth should have been. They could only stand there in silence, wondering just how god-like the battle must have been to leave such a haunting scar upon the world.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, Zou Weizhe suddenly remembered a crucial detail that had been buried under the shock of the scene.

"What exactly was Bai Xifeng’s assigned quest?" Zou Weizhe asked, his voice tight with a sudden, growing apprehension.

His followers looked at each other with uncertain expressions, trying to recall the details of the mission board. Finally, one of them spoke up, his voice hesitant.

"I believe her objective was to venture out and collect Xien Stones, Your Highness." The follower stated.

"Then..." Zou Weizhe’s voice trailed off as a horrifying realisation began to dawn on him.

His expression shifted instantly, his face draining of colour as pure shock took hold. Without a second’s delay, he turned back to the man he had been questioning earlier, his movements frantic.

"Sir, please, may I ask you just a few more questions?" Zou Weizhe pressed, his eyes searching the man’s face for any sign of hope.

"Sure. What’s on your mind?" The man asked, surprised by the student’s sudden change in intensity.

"When you first arrived at this location, did you see anyone at all? Perhaps a young girl, travelling alone?" Zou Weizhe asked, his heart hammering against his ribs.

"No... No one was here when we first arrived at the crater. Why? Is one of your friends missing?" The man’s curiosity was piqued by the boy’s visible distress.

"Yes... Our fellow schoolmate’s quest was to harvest Xien Stones from this specific cave. By all accounts, she was supposed to be here at this very time today." Zou Weizhe explained, his gaze drifting back toward the empty, jagged hole in the earth.

"Well, if that’s the case, you had better pray that she had not reached the cave yet when the incident occurred. Looking at the sheer scale of the destruction, I do not think a lone cultivator would have had any hope of surviving such a disaster." The man replied grimly.

While Zou Weizhe was consumed by worry for Bai Xifeng’s safety, Jin Zhilan stood slightly behind him, secretly smiling to herself behind her hand. She was absolutely delighted to hear the news that Bai Xifeng might already be a corpse buried under the rubble. In the cold depths of her heart, she felt that Bai Xifeng truly deserved such a wretched outcome. She believed with absolute certainty that, given enough time, Zou Weizhe would eventually forget all about that bitch and return his attention to her.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko*