Chapter 43: Gathering of Xu Clan’s Experts

Inside the cultivation chamber of the Xu Clan estate, Patriarch Xu Canghai slowly lowered his bleeding thumb. The violent, purple arcs of the Heavenly Lightning Soul-Seeking Hex pulsed through the air, tethering his late-stage Core Formation soul directly to the spiritual signature miles away.

As the absolute lock established itself, Xu Canghai's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, before a dark laugh erupted from his chest.

"Early-stage? An early-stage Core Formation rat?" Xu Canghai mocked, his booming voice shaking the dais beneath him.

The terrifying monster he had envisioned—a hidden Nascent Soul eccentric or a peerless late-stage vagabond—was completely shattered. The spiritual signature belonged to a cultivator who had quite literally just condensed their Golden Core. The aura was dense, yes, but it lacked the refined, aged stabilization of someone who had spent decades in the realm.