"New home?" Wei Changshou looked confused. He didn’t really understand what his mother Mei Zhen meant. After all, he was only seven or eight years old, still a child.

"Wherever Mother likes, I like too," Wei Changshou replied sweetly.

"Mother, why has Grandpa been holding that glowing jade pendant ever since we left Cuiping Valley?"

At that moment, Wei Changshou stared curiously at the Phoenix-patterned jade pendant in Wei Tu’s hand, which shimmered with a faint spiritual light.

"That jade pendant…"

Mei Zhen paused, then whispered, "That’s a Heartbound Jade. Your father and I… have a matching pair too."

She was puzzled as well.

Why was the Heartbound Jade in Wei Tu’s hand designed for a female cultivator and not a male?

Usually, Heartbound Jade came in pairs, one Dragon-patterned jade for the man and one Phoenix-patterned jade for the woman.

However, fearing the status of this Golden Core elder, she dared not ask.

"This belonged to a departed old friend. Earlier, I used this Heartbound Jade to sense the presence of her Dao companion," Wei Tu explained with a smile after overhearing their conversation.

The jade in his hand was the same one he had bought decades ago from Tong Peipei.

This Heartbound Jade contained a drop of blood essence from Helian Xiong, the Dao companion of Tong Peipei.

Because the Shuyun Alliance had once collaborated with the Heavenly Maiden Sect, and Helian Xiong was part of the Shuyun Alliance, Wei Tu had kept this jade for emergencies.

He hadn’t expected it to come in handy now.

Earlier, as they left Cuiping Valley, he had accidentally sensed the presence of an unfamiliar Foundation Establishment aura outside the valley.

That aura felt strangely familiar.

Without hesitation, Wei Tu had used Know Heaven Crossing, his top-tier perception technique, to scan the surrounding area.

Sure enough, he had detected Yang Xiang and Helian Xiong hiding nearby.

It didn’t take much to figure out why they were here.

They had likely been sent by the Heavenly Maiden Sect to keep an eye on Wei Xiuwen.

But Wei Tu didn’t make a move against them.

Killing Yang Xiang and Helian Xiong would be easy, but doing so would mean no one would report back to the Heavenly Maiden Sect that Wei Xiuwen’s family had already left Cuiping Valley.

If that information wasn’t passed on.

Once Zheng Kingdom fell to the demonic sects, the Mei Clan would be the first to suffer.

For the Mei Clan’s sake, he suppressed his killing intent and spared the two of them—for now.

The reason he had been holding the Heartbound Jade was simple.

Combined with Know Heaven Crossing, it allowed him to pinpoint Helian Xiong’s exact location more precisely.

"An old friend?" Wei Xiuwen frowned slightly and said, "If it were truly an old friend, they would have sent a formal greeting to meet us. Since they’re sneaking around, they must have been sent by the Heavenly Maiden Sect to watch over me, right?"

He analyzed the situation step by step.

Even in his youth, Wei Xiuwen’s intelligence had never been low. Otherwise, Wei Tu wouldn’t have once described him as someone teetering between great ambition and wasted talent.

After a century of honing his skills in the Mei Clan, Wei Xiuwen had become sharper and more capable.

It didn’t take him long to see through the hidden message in Wei Tu’s words.

"Bringing you along on this smuggling trip wasn’t a waste after all," Wei Tu said, his eyes showing a trace of appreciation.

At this moment, he felt that Wei Xiuwen’s decision to marry into the Mei Clan might not have been such a bad thing after all.

After years of tempering, Wei Xiuwen was no longer the green rookie he had been a century ago. He now carried the air of someone capable of standing on his own.

With such a worthy son by his side.

There was no need for him to take on disciples.

After all, no disciple could ever be more trustworthy than his own son.

…

Leaving Zheng Kingdom went smoothly.

None of the cultivators at the border dared to stop a Golden Core True Lord’s flying boat.

However, when they reached the area near the secret passage, they ran into a group of Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators, causing Wei Tu to frown and halt his boat.

"Senior, the area ahead belongs to Heavenly Extinction Demon Palace and Hehuan Sect. No entry is allowed without permission," the leading Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator politely blocked their path.

"Territory?" Wei Tu raised an eyebrow and immediately thought of the underground palace entrance not far from the secret passage.

Entering through the underground palace would allow him to follow the tunnel dug by Ren Yifeng and enter the outer domain of Great Void Realm.

"Could it be that in the inner domain of Great Void Realm, Gui Luo the Demon Lord and Venerable Nengyan were the victors? Did they seal off the underground palace after coming out?" Wei Tu speculated.

"If this is the territory of Heavenly Extinction Demon Palace and Hehuan Sect, then I won’t intrude."

Wei Tu showed a hint of wariness on his face. He cupped his hands slightly, then turned the Huangyan Boat around and headed off in the opposite direction.

With his strength, combined with the Wind-Cleaving Eagle and the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth, wiping out this group of Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators would be easy.

But it was obvious that Golden Core demonic cultivators must be guarding the area around the underground palace.

If he provoked a Golden Core demonic cultivator, he could still run, but Wei Xiuwen and his family wouldn’t make it.

After Wei Tu left, the leader of the demonic cultivators let out a long breath of relief.

Demonic cultivators were usually arrogant and brutal.

There were plenty of them who didn’t respect Golden Core rogue cultivators from major sects.

If Wei Tu had killed him earlier, even if reinforcements had arrived in time, by the time their sect’s Golden Core cultivator showed up, he would have already been dead.

…

Once they were clear of the demonic cultivators’ patrol range, Wei Tu thought for a moment, then temporarily settled Wei Xiuwen’s family elsewhere before returning alone to their former location.

He slapped his Beast Pouch, releasing the Wind-Cleaving Eagle.

He whispered a few words into the eagle’s ear. The Wind-Cleaving Eagle let out a sharp cry, flapped its wings, and flew toward the direction of the underground palace.

Golden Core cultivators had a limited range of perception.

With the Wind-Cleaving Eagle’s altitude, it could easily avoid detection from most Golden Core cultivators.

A quarter of an hour later, the eagle returned.

“This is trouble,” Wei Tu muttered after extracting the eagle’s memories. “These demonic cultivators not only surrounded the underground palace entrance, they also sealed off the entire area where the secret passage is located.”

“But the good news is, they haven’t found the secret passage yet.”

Wei Tu frowned at first, then relaxed slightly.

As long as the secret passage remained undiscovered, there was still a chance for him and Wei Xiuwen’s family to escape.

“If I were alone, I could use a Tunneling Talisman and hide my aura. But with Xiuwen, Mei Zhen, and Changshou…”

Wei Tu quietly muttered as he weighed their options.

At that moment, Bai Zhi reminded him, “Wei Daoyou, don’t forget you and Bao Siyan killed Gui Luo the Demon Lord’s men, including Wei Tai. Didn’t you take their Shadow Cloaks?”

“The Shadow Cloak was specially crafted by Gui Luo the Demon Lord using Ghost Luo Silk, designed to block spiritual sense—even effective against Golden Core cultivators.”

“When Gui Luo learned you had killed Wei Tai and the others, he was furious and hunted you down. That was largely because of these Shadow Cloaks.”

“Shadow Cloak?” Wei Tu was stunned for a moment, then recalled what Wei Tai had said back when they fought.

After Wei Tai and the others killed Sun Yu and his enforcement team, he had handed out black cloaks to his companions, saying, “The Demon Lord foresaw we might run into righteous cultivators.”

After they put on those black cloaks, even the spiritual sense that Wei Tu had left on the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth could no longer track them. He could only follow them visually through the moth’s eyes.

More than thirty years had passed since then, and Wei Tu had long forgotten about it.

At the time, he was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm, so it wasn’t surprising that a black cloak could block his spiritual sense.

Later, after he and Bao Siyan killed Wei Tai and the others, they had split the loot from their storage bags, but because they were being pursued, they hadn’t had time to check thoroughly.

After leaving Great Void Realm, Wei Tu had been busy.

First, he had gone to Jing Kingdom to bury the remains, then studied the Ling Yin Chaizhou soul art.

In his spare time, he had also been delving into the Talisman Dao legacies from Che Gongwei and Ren Yifeng.

As time dragged on, Wei Tai’s loot had just been left untouched.

Now reminded by Bai Zhi, Wei Tu immediately pulled out a storage bag and retrieved four black cloaks from it.

“Exactly four,” Wei Tu murmured, feeling somewhat lucky.

Back then, seven Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators had entered the outer domain of Great Void Realm. After he and Bao Siyan killed them, Wei Tu had taken the lion’s share, ending up with four Shadow Cloaks.

And now, including himself, Wei Xiuwen, Mei Zhen, and Wei Changshou, there were exactly four people—just enough for each to have one cloak.

“Strange, after putting it on, I don’t feel like it’s blocking spiritual sense at all,” Wei Tu muttered as he draped the cloak over his shoulders and tested it, finding no effect.

“Try this incantation,” Bai Zhi replied, pausing for a moment before softly reciting a series of obscure spells.

Wei Tu silently repeated the chant and activated the cloak again.

In an instant, his spiritual sense could no longer detect his own presence.

However, to the naked eye, nothing had changed.

This was completely different from the Phantom Crystal Bag.

The Phantom Crystal Bag became invisible to both sight and spiritual sense, only detectable by touch.

“The Shadow Cloak is a Heavenly Extinction Demon Palace artifact. It requires a special Artifact Activation Mantra to work,” Bai Zhi explained, relieved to see that Wei Tu had successfully activated it.

“But you should also be careful, Wei Daoyou. These cloaks are made from Ghost Luo Silk, which grows in the Ghost Domain. Prolonged use can corrupt your spiritual body…”

“Moreover, the Shadow Cloak can block a cultivator’s spiritual sense, but it won’t fool those who cultivate specialized Divine Eye techniques,” Bai Zhi added thoughtfully.

The skilled swimmer drowns in water. The fierce warrior dies in battle.

Now that her fate was tied to Wei Tu’s—if he rose, she rose; if he fell, she fell—she had no desire to see him get reckless just because he had acquired such a treasure.

Wei Tu heard her words and smiled slightly, but said nothing.

Once Bai Zhi spent more time with him, she would come to understand his steady and cautious nature.

…

Several days later.

Using the Shadow Cloaks and Tunneling Talismans, Wei Tu’s group of four successfully infiltrated to within one hundred li of the underground palace, reaching a cliff over one hundred zhang tall.

“This is the place.” Wei Tu, carrying Wei Changshou, flew to a dark cave halfway up the cliff face.

This cave was the secret passage Zhao Jiangwu had pointed out to him several years ago.

Walking into the dark cave, Wei Tu felt around the rock wall and pressed a protrusion shaped like a swimming fish.

The wall sank inward, revealing a steep stone staircase leading downward.

The staircase extended deep underground, its end shrouded in darkness.

“To think that there’s a hidden passage here on the Southern Desolate Wastes, leading straight to Kang Kingdom. And just like Great Void Realm, this place is protected by formation barriers,” Bai Zhi couldn’t help but exclaim as she watched the stone wall shift.

Since ancient times, the Five Demonic Sects had long sought to invade the righteous nations of the Inner Four Kingdoms, but the long borders and countless natural barriers had kept them at bay.

If they discovered this hidden passage, they’d surely go mad with excitement.

“Bai Daoyou, the outcome of the war between the Five Demonic Sects and the Righteous Alliance of the Seven Nations isn’t something a single little tunnel can decide.”

Wei Tu smiled faintly.

Compared to this passage, the teleportation array from the Qi Yue Zhao Clan to Xiao Kingdom’s Zu Clan was far more efficient and reliable.

If the demonic sects were truly determined, building a long-range teleportation array in the Inner Four Kingdoms would be far more impactful than this hidden passage.

“You have great foresight, Wei Daoyou,” Bai Zhi quickly realized this as well and couldn’t help but praise him.

Passages like these were useful only for surprise attacks. In large-scale battles, they couldn’t replace the defensive strength of the borders.

Demonic cultivators sneaking into the Inner Four Kingdoms would likely end up trapped and slaughtered.

With proper coordination among higher-level cultivators, even lower-level cultivators could swarm and take down stronger enemies.

Thus, large-scale surprise invasions were unrealistic and nearly impossible.

Unless a massive force of high-level demonic cultivators banded together and fearlessly stormed the Inner Four Kingdoms…

But that was nothing more than a fantasy.

After all, no high-level demonic cultivator would willingly throw their life away for the so-called Demonic Path’s grand cause. Anyone willing to do that wouldn’t truly be a demonic cultivator in the first place.

“It’s not foresight. I used to be a military officer back in the mortal world. I learned a thing or two about battlefield tactics,” Wei Tu replied casually.

With that, he released several spider puppets to scout ahead while leading the way.

Wei Xiuwen and his family followed behind under his protection.

They descended the stone staircase for about five or six hundred zhang until they reached the end, where a gray stone pavilion stood.

Apart from the path they had taken, three wide tunnels extended from the pavilion.

Each of these tunnels was sealed by spatial formation barriers, and beneath both the pavilion and the tunnels yawned a seemingly endless abyss.

From deep below, the sounds of howling ghosts and hissing beasts echoed eerily.

With the information provided by Zhao Jiangwu, Wei Tu didn’t hesitate. He immediately led the group onto the eastern tunnel.

Choosing the correct path was the first checkpoint of this hidden passage.

According to Zhao Jiangwu, this secret route had been built by the Zhao Clan of Shengya Mountain and several other families and sects.

Its purpose was to provide a fallback route in case the teleportation array deeper in failed.

But to prevent accidental intrusions or intentional probing, they had set up multiple deadly checkpoints to guard its secrets.

However…

While the traps were easy enough to overcome, the monsters lurking in the passage were another matter.

After all, this passage had been constructed ten thousand years ago.

No one had cleaned out the monsters within for ages.

Fortunately, the passage’s resource limitations and formation restrictions kept those monsters from growing too powerful, with the strongest capped at the Golden Core Realm.

This was the biggest risk Wei Tu had considered before deciding to use this passage.

“Keep your Shadow Cloaks on. They’re still useful in here,” Wei Tu reminded the group via voice transmission.