fighters loot it, or disciples scout?”


    “Disciples,” Yuan Fang answered. “It’s uncharted down there, plus wild beasts. We need the lay of the land first.”


    The nine factions could stomach losing Visceral Realm fighters, but Bone Refiners or Day Roamers? Too valuable to risk lightly. The Huang Family was proof of that.


    “Underground beasts, huh? Sounds fun,” Han said. “What’s turned up so far?”


    “Spirit plants, rare materials, rotted weapons, beast corpses,” Yuan Fang listed off, clear and concise. “Also a token—one touch and it crumbled to ash. But its shape got noted. County Ghost God folks think it’s Destiny Sect-related.”


    “Hard to wrap your head around—linked to the legendary Destiny Sect,” he added. With Tianxu County next door, Tianzhou’s upper crust knowing about Destiny Sect wasn’t odd.


    “Can we head down now?” Han asked.


    “Yeah, it’s open season—everyone’s agreed to explore and take what they can.”


    Han and Bai Ruoyue dropped in, landing amid seven or eight tunnels. They picked one at random. It was pitch-black, but Visceral Realm martial artists could see fine at night—no big deal.


    The passages were wide. Han pressed a hand to the dirt wall, pushing lightly. A clear imprint formed.


    Bai Ruoyue blinked. “That’s tough.”


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Han nodded. “Yup—sturdy enough for a full-on brawl without caving in.” Crucial detail—if it were flimsy, any fight below would bury them alive.


    A few steps in, a tremor rippled from the left tunnel.


    “Beast incoming,” Han said.


    Sure enough, one charged out—Sinew Meridian strength, round-bodied, scaled, stubby-limbed. Bai Ruoyue dispatched it with a flick of her wrist. Nothing special compared to surface beasts.


    They pressed on, soon hitting a layer of mist. Han’s spirit dipped in—fuzzy, blind, sensing zilch. Per Yuan Fang’s tests, entering was safe but disorienting: no direction, no sight, no perception. Wander all you like—you’d loop back to the start. Weird stuff.


    Han stuck a hand into the mist. Even thinned out, it swallowed his hand from view, though he could still feel his arm. “Pretty wild.”


    “Wanna step in and test it?” Bai Ruoyue asked.


    “Nah,” he shook his head.


    They checked other tunnels, bumped into more beasts, but scored no loot. The outer zones had been picked clean by countless scavengers—nada left, not even scraps.


    Back topside, Han chatted with Yuan Fang, scoping out the crowd. Familiar faces popped up: Heavenly Dragon’s inner disciples (no surprise), the Huang brothers—Mingnian and Mingri—plus Golden Dragon’s Jin Shui and Spirit Profound’s top disciple, Cao Qu.


    What caught Han off guard was the Spirit Profound Temple disciple beside Cao Qu—kept glaring his way, eyes dripping with hate.


    “That’s Gao Tong,” Bai Ruoyue whispered. “Told you about him before.”


    Oh, him. Han shrugged inwardly. Run into him down there, and he’s toast.


    “What about Moonview Mountain?” Han asked Yuan Fang. “Huang Family check it out after?”


    “After the cavern popped up, clan experts scoured it—nothing off,” Yuan Fang said. “But with the cavern in play, we didn’t want Huangs holding secrets or digging in. So it’s not theirs anymore—technically joint-managed by the other eight of us now.”


    Han’s expression twitched. Huang Family, booted just like that? Without the cavern, they’d have clung to partial ownership, ceding some profits—four-way split at worst. You don’t corner a desperate dog. But this cavern flipped the script—they lost everything.


    Rough break, Han thought, biting back a smirk.