The strong wind blew.

The iron gate trembled in the cold.

The late autumn leaves were swept up, sharp as knives, scraping against the iron, producing a piercing sound, showing the strength of the wind.

But even so... the fog remained thick.

Even such a strong wind couldn't blow away the dense fog, as if it was confined within an invisible air niche.

Inside the factory, it was all white.

The thick fog enveloped the core area where the "seal" was located... within the dense white fog, there was a dazzling red light, and the ground of this old factory cracked like a volcano, flowing with crimson red lines, crisscrossing like a molten lava pool.

Shi Li crouched at the intersection of the eight red lines.

He took out a sealed iron can from his pocket, and after twisting the lid, the crimson fluid, like blood, slowly poured out from the can.

This blood-like substance was all Transcendent Arche!

And the aura was very strange, as if it had been extracted through some ancient secret method.

Shi Li's movements were slow.

And steady.

He patiently kept the can at the smallest angle, ensuring that the Arche could be poured out. In the white fog, the crimson color formed a faint, continuous line... eventually, all the dripping crimson Arche was poured into the center of the blood-red lines on the ground of the factory, into a square-shaped music box.

The music box was only the size of a palm, but it looked like a Glutton's giant mouth.

A whole can of iron, slowly pouring, all fell into the bottomless pit.

Next, was the second bottle.

The third bottle.

...

...

By the time Shi Li had poured out all five bottles of the blood-red liquid he had brought, nearly half an hour had passed.

He slowly stood up, looking at the small box that was finally overflowing and slowly digesting, revealing a satisfied smile.

"Bang—"

Outside the iron gate, there was a muffled sound.

Although the sound was not heavy, it immediately caught Shi Li's attention.

"Someone!"

Shi Li's expression suddenly turned dark.

He lowered his hat, silently standing in the thick fog of the factory, concealing all his breath...

The whole world fell silent.

As if the sound just now was just an illusion, the person who accidentally touched the fragile iron gate must not have expected that the gate was so fragile.

He also remained silent, and there was no more movement afterwards, probably hoping that the person inside the factory would think it was an illusion.

But it was too bad.

Shi Li didn't think it was an illusion.

Although he had chosen the most remote old city area to "conduct the experiment," it had already been a whole day since the seal had awakened. It was not surprising that he was discovered now.

The fluctuations of the seal were greatly suppressed.

Ninety percent of the power was condensed in this factory.

The diffused fog filled the deserted and uninhabited Yuan Dan Street, and the rest should have spread to the other few blocks... maybe some unlucky person who had wandered into Yuan Dan Street, it was hard to say.

"If it's an ordinary person, then there's no need to worry about him... it won't be long... this person will naturally wither away."

Shi Li frowned.

"But if it's a Transcendent... there's no need to worry about the other party entering this factory. Without a specific 'protective item,' trying to break in would be a death wish."

Every time he came to the old city area recently, he had a feeling of being followed.

"Wait..."

"Maybe... I've been targeted a long time ago. This time, that person followed me to Yuan Dan Street."

Shi Li's expression was calm, with only indifference in his eyes.

Gu Shen guessed right.

The thick fog shielded everyone's vision, and even the long-term Foundation members who released the fog couldn't escape.

It was difficult to track here.

Similarly, it was difficult to detect being tracked.

"Is it because I've been coming to the old city area too frequently?"

After sorting out his thoughts, Shi Li smiled self-deprecatingly. No matter what... the game of cat and mouse had now completely reversed.

In this thick fog, he was the cat.

The other party was the mouse.

He silently walked out of the factory, slowly looking in the direction of the sound... although he couldn't see anything, Shi Li was very sure.

There, stood a person.

The direction he "saw."

On the other end of the dilapidated wall—

About ten meters apart, in the dense fog, there stood a tall figure, holding a motorcycle helmet in one hand and pressing the sunken iron gate of the factory with the other.

Hu Danian controlled his breathing, relaxing his mind, not too tense.

The thick fog was vast.

In the end, he chose to believe in Gu Shen... coming to the factory, exposing himself as the bait.

In this thick fog, sound was the only source of information. The person who made this sound was telling Shi Li... someone had come.

He exposed himself.

And stood in place, waiting silently.

Hu Danian closed his eyes.

In this situation, his eyes were no longer important, because he couldn't see anything, so the only thing he could trust was his intuition, the reaction of life and death in an instant, and... Gu Shen, who had not yet been exposed.

...

...

Shi Li slowly advanced.

He knew very well... the limit of this layer of fog.

One step.

Two steps.

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Three steps.

Stop.

A few more steps forward, and it would be where that guy was standing.

The silent dagger slid out of his sleeve, with a black dragon bone pattern engraved on it. At this moment, the dragon bone seemed to come alive, having its own life, slowly stretching on the blade of the dagger.

When the dragon bone moved, Shi Li moved too.

In an instant, he stepped into the extreme range of visibility in the thick fog, and what he saw was indeed a towering figure standing against the wall, but the man stood silently like a stone sculpture, as if waiting for him to come.

Was it an ambush?

Shi Li had only a moment to think.

He stabbed indifferently... so what?

The dagger reflected a cold light, and in that instant, its speed skyrocketed, even the fog that couldn't be blown away by the strong wind was now being driven by his extreme speed, showing signs of spreading to the surroundings.

Accompanied by the sound of a sonic boom.The dagger plunged into something hard and bulging.

Hu Danian's eyes snapped open for the last time, fierce as a wrathful Buddha, as he hurled his helmet with all his might. The alloy helmet was pierced by the dragon bone dagger, but the red silver lining immediately poured out. The dragon bone pattern within the dagger erupted with an angry, piercing wail as the Transcendent power encountered a strong logical material, like lava meeting liquid nitrogen.

Having traveled far and wide for half his life, this helmet was a treasured possession Hu Danian had cherished for years. Once its lining was punctured, the red silver would flow out. Wherever he went, with this helmet, he had an extra container for sealing and containing objects.

The dagger's entry into the helmet triggered two completely opposite forces, reacting violently with each other—

With a "boom"!

The helmet exploded abruptly, red silver splattering everywhere. The bone dragon within the dagger roared furiously, its cold light reflecting Shi Li's icy gaze. In this small dagger, a section of bone actually disjointed and rose up—not a carved pattern, but a real, sharp bone spur, twining around and growing from both sides of the dagger. In an instant, the short weapon transformed into a trident arrowhead that slipped from the sleeve and was thrown!

Hu Danian's pupils contracted as his cheek was pierced by the dragon bone, his blood clearly defined as it sprayed through the air.

In the blink of an eye.

He seemed to see... at the end of the arrowhead dagger, a chain-like bone rope.

"Whoosh!"

Shi Li pulled back his hand, the open bone spurs taking the shape of barbed hooks, like eagle claws, retracting from the back of Hu Danian's head... The trembling sound of the wind reached Hu Danian's ears, he quickly dodged to the side, but it was too late. Another spray of blood was drawn out, half of his neck's flesh scraped away by the bone spur!

Hu Danian clutched his neck forcefully, his face extremely pale.

He felt dizzy.

Blood kept gushing from his neck... pressing hard, but to no effect.

It all happened too fast.

From Shi Li's move to the dagger's transformation... this guy's ability was related to his own bones, the bone spurs that unfolded from the dagger, and the bone rope connected at the end, were likely extensions of his own skeleton.

"Sincere Society, Beitang, Second Group, Hu Danian."

Shi Li looked at the weakened man before him, recognizing Hu Danian's voice, and said with a faint smile, "You're investigating me... Who's behind you, Lu Nanzhi, Cui Zhongcheng?"

Hu Danian laughed weakly, "That's an interesting question."

Shi Li subconsciously didn't mention Zhao Qi.

Although Zhao Qi, the Duke's son, had a hollow reputation... he was still a major face of the Zhao family, enjoying the resources and privileges of a future heir in many matters.

"..."

Shi Li also realized his mistake.

But he didn't care, calmly saying, "On the brink of death, you should think more about yourself."

Even if he didn't make a move.

Hu Danian was doomed to die... with such severe injuries, in the mists of Yuandan Street, he wouldn't live long.

"Before I die... may I ask you a question?"

Hu Danian smiled.

He pointed at the mist and asked softly, "What's in this room?"

Hu Danian didn't know when Gu Shen would make his move.

But he knew... this kid was a psychic Transcendent, and Shi Li's mind was laced with long-standing Foundation's psychic threads. Even if he succeeded, the secret of this great fog would remain unknown.

"What a dutiful dog you are..."

Shi Li looked at the bloodied Hu Danian, shook his head with a smile, and said softly, "After you die, I'll tell you."

He leaned forward again.

At that moment, Shi Li's pupils contracted as he "slowly" looked down.

The shattered helmet fragments and the red silver liquid, unbeknownst to him, had already moved and converged under his feet, as if irrigated and constructed by some mysterious force, solidifying into a fortress welded to the ground.

This red silver fortress locked his feet in place.

Thus, as he tried to step forward, his body uncontrollably fell forward.

"...What?"

Shi Li looked bewildered.

Had the explosion of the helmet been Hu Danian's intention?

To wait for him to let his guard down and then trap him... but what use was it to trap him?

Immediately after, a sharp gust of wind whistled past his ear.

A flash of silver light blossomed before Shi Li's eyes.