The elder behind him swallowed unconsciously.

Even the surrounding fighters could feel it now.

Pressure.

Not the kind created by brute strength alone, but something heavier, more refined. The air itself seemed to tighten around Fuing as he slowly adjusted his stance.

His breathing steadied completely.

One hand lowered to his side.

The other curled lightly into a fist.

Across from him, Vayne remained motionless for a brief second, hollow eyes locked forward. Then he stepped in again, sword lifting for another strike.

Fuing watched him calmly.

"...You really don’t stop," he murmured.

The sword came down, fast, and sharp.

A clean overhead strike aimed directly at his head.

This time, Fuing didn’t move immediately.

He stood there until the blade was only a breath away.

Then, he shifted. A single step, small, and precise.

The sword missed him by inches, slicing through empty air as Fuing moved inside Vayne’s reach.

Too close for the blade to properly turn.

Vayne reacted instantly, abandoning the strike midway and twisting his body to elbow forward instead.

Fuing’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Good instincts."

His hand moved, not fast in appearance.

But no one nearby could follow it clearly.

He caught Vayne’s arm mid-motion.

The impact alone cracked the stone beneath their feet.

Then the pressure changed again.

The air around Fuing stirred harder, dust lifting around him in spiraling currents as the force gathering in his body became visible even to ordinary people.

The nearby fighters stared wide-eyed.

"What is this..."

"Is Sect Master using his full strength?"

"No... I’ve never seen this before..."

Fuing’s robe fluttered slightly despite the lack of wind.

His muscles tightened beneath the fabric, not swelling wildly, but condensing with frightening control. Every bit of strength in his body felt compressed into a single point.

Even from the rooftop, Aiden’s expression changed slightly.

"...Crap."

For the first time that night, danger truly registered in his mind.

He could feel it instinctively. That attack would destroy him.

Below, Fuing looked directly into Vayne’s hollow eyes.

"You’re strong," he said calmly. "Even compared to other peak body tempering practitioners."

His grip tightened around Vayne’s arm, holding the undead firmly in place.

Then he struck.

A straight punch, nothing fancy, and no exaggerated movement.

Just a single fist driving forward into Vayne’s chest.

The moment it landed.

Boom.

The street exploded beneath them.

A shockwave burst outward hard enough to throw nearby skeletons apart instantly, their bones scattering across the road like dry leaves caught in a storm.

The people closest staggered backward in panic.

Some nearly fell.

Dust and shattered stone erupted into the air.

And at the center of it, Vayne’s body broke apart. Not cracked, or damaged, but destroyed.

The reinforced body shattered from the impact, fragments exploding outward as the force tore completely through him. His sword snapped in half. His ribcage collapsed inward before the rest of the body disintegrated under the remaining force.

The entire attack lasted less than a second.

Silence followed.

Heavy silence.

Dust slowly drifted through the street.

Fuing stood at the center of the crater-like impact point, his fist still extended slightly forward.

Then he exhaled.

The pressure surrounding him faded immediately afterward, like a storm disappearing as suddenly as it came.

"...Done," he said quietly.

Around him, people stared in complete shock.

One man looked down at the shattered remains scattered across the street and swallowed hard.

"T-That thing..."

"It got destroyed in one hit..."

Another cultivator stared at Fuing with open admiration.

"As expected of Sect Master Fuing..."

"No wonder he’s the strongest in the city..."

The elder from the Clear Water Sect stepped closer, still visibly tense from what he had just witnessed.

"Sect Master," he said carefully, "what exactly was that thing?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Fuing’s eyes rested on the broken remains for a few moments before answering.

"...I don’t know."

That answer surprised them more than expected.

Fuing slowly crouched down, picking up one of the broken bone fragments from Vayne’s body. He examined it briefly, his brows faintly furrowing.

"It fights like a human," he said. "Uses martial skill. Knows timing. Knows pressure."

His gaze darkened slightly.

"But there’s no life in it."

He crushed the fragment lightly in his fingers.

"And yet it moves."

Behind the shadows of the rooftop, Aiden stayed completely still.

His mana was nearly empty now.

And Vayne...

Gone.

Aiden stared silently at the scene below before letting out a slow breath.

"...So this is the level of someone close to Qi Sense Stage."

Then his gaze shifted toward Fuing once more.

And this time, there was caution in it.

Aiden didn’t stay any longer after that.

The moment the attention below shifted completely toward Fuing and the remains of the undeads, he quietly stepped back from the rooftop and disappeared into the darkness between the buildings.

No one noticed him leave.

The city was too distracted.

People were shouting again below, but this time it wasn’t panic.

It was excitement.

Relief.

Sect Master Fuing had appeared and crushed the strongest monster in a single strike. For the people of the city, that alone was enough to calm their fear.

Aiden moved across the rooftops in silence, his robe blending with the night as he made his way back toward the inn.

His mana was drained dry now. Even moving continuously left a faint heaviness in his body.

Still, his thoughts remained active.

"That guy is really strong," he admitted quietly to himself.

He replayed the fight in his mind while jumping across another narrow alley.

The way he compressed all his strength into one attack.

Even now, Aiden could still remember the moment Vayne shattered apart.

A clean kill.

No wasted motion.

Aiden exhaled softly.

"But..."

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"...I still think I can kill him."

Not in a direct fight.

Not alone.

But with everything he had?

That was different.

If he summoned all his undead at once, surrounded Fuing from every direction, forced him into a prolonged battle...

Then maybe.

Aiden glanced at his own hand briefly.

"Even monsters like him get tired eventually."

That was the advantage of the undead.

They didn’t fear death.

Didn’t hesitate, and most importantly. Didn’t lose morale.

By the time Aiden returned to the inn, the streets farther from the red-light district had already calmed somewhat. People were still awake, gathered in small groups outside shops and taverns, whispering nervously about what happened.

Aiden entered quietly and went straight to his room.

Tonight had already given him enough information.

There was no need to push further.

----

The next morning, the entire city was talking about the events from the night before.

Every shop, market, and tavern.

The same topic spread everywhere.

"The skeleton monsters!"

"I heard they were unstoppable!"

"And Sect Master Fuing destroyed them all himself!"

Stories traveled fast.

Exaggerated stories traveled even faster.

Inside one crowded tavern, a large man slammed his cup down dramatically.

"I’m telling you," he declared loudly, "Sect Master Fuing only threw one punch!"

The people around him leaned in.

"One punch?" someone repeated skeptically.

The man nodded firmly.

"One! All the skeletons exploded instantly! The whole street shook!"

"That’s impossible."

"I swear on my life!"

Another man snorted from the side.

"You were drunk last night."

"That’s not the point!"

Laughter spread briefly through the tavern, though the tension underneath never fully disappeared.

Because no matter how exaggerated the stories became...

One thing remained true.

Something unnatural had appeared in the city.

And no one understood it.

That uncertainty was what truly made people uneasy.

Not the skeletons themselves.

Most of the fighters who faced them already confirmed the same thing. Individually, the creatures were weak. Slow. Fragile. Even ordinary guards could destroy them if they kept calm.

But the problem was different.

Where did they come from?

And who created them?

That question spread through the city faster than the actual attack did.

Near the eastern side of the city, an old man carrying vegetables stopped beside a tea stall where several people were gathered around talking in low voices.

"I heard they crawled out of the ground," one man whispered.

Another immediately shook his head.

"No, no. That’s just impossible."

"That’s what I’m saying!"

The table fell quiet for a moment.

Nobody laughed.

Because after last night, even ridiculous ideas no longer sounded impossible.

Meanwhile, near the cemetery itself, the situation was far worse.

The guard assigned to watch the cemetery arrived late for duty, still rubbing sleep from his eyes as he carried a small wooden lunch box under his arm.

He yawned while approaching the gates.

The moment he pushed the rusted gate open.

"...What the hell?"

The cemetery was ruined.

Graves had collapsed everywhere. Dirt was overturned in massive patches, broken coffins scattered across the ground, some completely shattered open from the inside.

The guard froze.

His face slowly turned pale.

"No..."

He stumbled forward a few steps, looking around wildly.

Graves are destroyed, dozens of them. No... Thousands, some coffins were empty.

Completely empty.

The guard’s breathing became uneven.

"T-The bodies..."

His voice shook.

"The bodies are gone..."

A cold feeling crawled up his spine.

At first, he thought grave robbers did this.

But no grave robber would dig up this many graves overnight.

And certainly not without taking valuables.

Most burial jewelry and offerings were still there, scattered in the dirt untouched.

Only the corpses were missing.

The guard suddenly remembered the stories from last night.

His face lost all color.

"It can’t be..."

He turned and ran immediately.

By noon, the news had spread through the city.

And this time, it caused real fear.

Inside another crowded tavern, people who had laughed earlier no longer looked so relaxed.

"You’re telling me the dead bodies disappeared from the cemetery?"

"That’s what the guards said."

"All of them?"

"Not all. But a lot."

A man near the corner lowered his voice nervously.

"...Then those monsters last night..."