Under the Moonlight, There Is Nowhere to Hide

This woman was extremely stubborn.

Her name was Hunmei.

She was the youngest daughter of the current patriarch of the Soul Clan.

Although she appeared to be only fifteen years old, she had already spent more than two years inside the Void Heaven Realm.

She had long possessed the ability to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm and enter the second floor.

But she deliberately suppressed her cultivation and remained in her current realm.

The reason was simple.

The first floor of the Void Heaven Realm was the most important stage for laying one’s foundation.

A cultivator could strengthen their foundation here to an extreme level.

If one were to compare foundations—

A weak foundation was like wood.

A stable foundation was wood reinforced with soil.

A stronger one was soil mixed with stone.

Beyond that was stone reinforced with steel.

And at the very peak—

An almost indestructible foundation.

The importance of foundation building could never be underestimated.

At low cultivation levels, its effects might not be obvious.

But the higher one’s cultivation rose, the more important that foundation became.

Because of this, many trial participants who could already break through to the Foundation Establishment realm intentionally remained at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refinement.

Their goal was to push their foundation to its absolute limit.

Hunmei was one of these people.

In fact, she could have broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm during her first year in the Void Heaven Realm.

The Soul Clan was famous for its speed.

They possessed a natural affinity with dark-attribute power.

This dark attribute was a variation of the Yin element.

It was similar to Yin energy, but also fundamentally different.

Dark power was extremely strange.

It excelled in concealment.

It could merge with shadows and darkness.

Because of this, Soul Clan members were natural assassins.

They were perfectly suited for ambushes and stealth attacks.

On the first floor, Hunmei had almost never suffered a loss.

Anything she targeted—whether it was a person or treasure—almost always ended up in her hands.

But today—

Something that should have been hers had been taken by an unknown woman.

In Hunmei’s eyes, Bai Lan had stolen something that belonged to her.

The Soul Clan was known for its powerful soul abilities.

They could remember the unique soul fluctuations of anyone they had seen.

Once a soul aura was recorded in their memory, they could track its location.

Of course, the effectiveness of this ability depended on the purity of one’s bloodline.

When a Soul Clan member’s bloodline reached seventy percent purity, they could awaken their inherited physique—

The Heavenly Soul Sacred Body.

Hunmei’s bloodline purity reached ninety-five percent.

Among her generation, she had the highest purity.

Her physique was a high-grade Heavenly Soul Sacred Body.

Although the Soul Clan was not one of the Eight Ancient Clans of the Eastern Continent, their hidden strength was even more mysterious.

Very few people even knew of their existence.

The Eight Ancient Clans of the Eastern Continent were:

The Stone Clan
The Snow Clan
The Thunder Clan
The Azure Wood Clan
The Wind Clan
The Flame Clan
The Azure Water Clan
The Gold Clan

These eight ancient clans represented the pinnacle of the eight primary attributes of the world:

Metal
Wood
Water
Fire
Earth
Wind
Thunder
Ice

The Snow Clan represented the ice attribute.

However, the Eight Ancient Clans were not permanent.

Many races specialized in specific attributes.

For example, within the Snow Domain there were also the Ice Clan and the Cold Clan.

These two clans had previously held positions among the Eight Ancient Clans.

But just like dynasties changed rulers, no clan could guarantee it would always remain among the Eight Ancient Clans in every era.

The Snow Clan, Ice Clan, and Cold Clan actually shared the same ancestor.

All three were descendants of the Snow God.

According to Xue Yue’s memories:

The Snow Clan descended from the Snow God’s son.

The Ice Clan descended from the Snow God’s daughter.

The Cold Clan descended from the Snow God’s disciples.

In every era, these three clans competed for the position among the Eight Ancient Clans.

Whichever clan had the greatest overall strength would occupy the seat.

Hunmei hid silently in the darkness.

During nighttime, a Soul Clan cultivator was almost invincible.

However—

This invincibility was not absolute.

Tonight, the moon was especially bright.

It hung high in the sky like a mirror.

As Hunmei slowly approached Bai Lan’s location, Bai Lan suddenly stopped cultivating.

The moon-shaped mark on her forehead began to glow faintly.

Bai Lan seemed to sense something unusual.

She slowly opened her eyes.

Then she looked up at the bright moon.

‘Strange…’

‘Why do I feel uneasy?’

‘The Moon Goddess Mark on my forehead seems to be warning me.’

She touched her forehead.

Then she stood up.

Ziyun, who was nearby, noticed her movement and opened her eyes.

“Sister Bai, what’s wrong?” Ziyun asked.

“I’m not sure,” Bai Lan replied calmly.

“I’ll check the surroundings.”

“There might be demonic beasts or something else nearby.”

After saying that, she stepped outside the defensive formation.

Her gaze swept across the surrounding area.

But she saw nothing unusual.

However—

The mark on her forehead pulsed more and more frequently.

The feeling of danger grew stronger.

Bai Lan was certain that something was nearby.

Something she could not see.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

After awakening her abilities, Bai Lan felt an incredible connection with the moon.

It was as if she could draw power from it.

She tried communicating with the moon.

A moment later—

Rings of brilliant moonlight spread across the sky.

Under Bai Lan’s guidance, these rings of light illuminated the entire surrounding area like massive searchlights.

Hunmei, who had been hiding in the darkness, was instantly forced out.

The moment she appeared—

Bai Lan immediately sensed her presence.

“What…? Impossible!”

“What just happened?”

“How did my power get broken?”

Hunmei stared at the bright surroundings in shock.

The area now looked almost like daytime.

Just as she was stunned, Bai Lan’s voice rang out.

“Hmph.”

“So I was right.”

“You’re the mysterious black-robed figure who stole my teammates’ treasure earlier today, aren’t you?”

Bai Lan stood about a dozen meters away from her.

Hunmei was startled.

Her stealth techniques had never failed before.

But today they had been completely exposed by this unknown woman.

“Damn you! Who are you?!”

“How did you break the techniques of the Soul Clan?!”

Hunmei shouted.

Her voice carried both anger and panic.

In her agitation, she even revealed her identity.

“A member of the Soul Clan?”

Bai Lan paused slightly.

She knew about the Soul Clan.

It was one of the most mysterious ancient clans on the Eastern Continent.

“No wonder my teammates couldn’t detect you.”

“So what are you doing sneaking around my camp in the middle of the night?”

Bai Lan asked sharply.

This woman clearly had ill intentions.

If she had simply been passing by, she would not have approached them stealthily.

And Bai Lan knew the Soul Clan’s fighting style well.

“You… you actually know about the Soul Clan?”

Hunmei was surprised.

“Which ancient clan do you belong to?”

“Your power is very strange.”

“In my memory, aside from the Flame Clan’s power having some suppressive effect on us, no other ancient clan’s power can restrain the Soul Clan.”

Under the moonlight, Hunmei’s concealment ability was completely neutralized.

Her power had nowhere to hide.

“Who I am isn’t important to you.”

“Tell me.”

“What do you want, sneaking up here like this?”

Bai Lan asked again.

Hunmei became even more furious after hearing Bai Lan’s cold tone.

Having her abilities suppressed like this for the first time was something she simply could not accept.

“What do I want?”

“You’re that silver-haired woman from earlier today, aren’t you?”

“You stole something right under my nose.”

“This is the first time something like this has happened since I entered the Void Heaven Realm!”

“You’re finished!”

As soon as she finished speaking—

Hunmei suddenly attacked.

Her body turned into a shadowy blur as she rushed toward Bai Lan.

In normal darkness, such an attack would have been almost impossible to detect.

But under the bright moonlight, her power was fully exposed.

Although her concealment ability was weakened—

Her speed was still incredibly fast.