First Encounter

The dark alley was devoid of any passersby, giving Aldrian a desolate impression upon his arrival. He sensed a different kind of energy, even though it was minuscule. Walking toward the source of the energy, still followed by Eleine, he finally stopped at the quiet and dark alley, devoid of activity. Eleine also stopped beside him, feeling a strange sensation in the area. She looked around but saw nothing unusual, only the lack of activity. Aldrian then looked at a door on one of the buildings, where he felt a strange, sinister aura, and decided to investigate.

"Eleine, I feel a strange aura over there. It's sinister but also not at the same time. Let's go check it out." Aldrian said.

Eleine furrowed her brows upon hearing her young master. "Are you sure, young master?" Eleine couldn't sense Aldrian spreading his sense, but she didn't know that inside his domain, Aldrian didn't need to use his 'normal' senses.

"Yes, and it's only a residue left by someone."

"Don't you think it would be better to report it to the city guards? We don't need to involve ourselves in unnecessary trouble."

"You might be right, but since we're already here, shouldn't we at least see the situation first? Also, the energy is almost gone, and by the time the guards arrive, there might be no evidence left." Aldrian said.

Eleine looked at the door he mentioned and spread her sense towards it a few times, but she couldn't feel anything abnormal. She trusted Aldrian and nodded her head. She took out double daggers from her storage ring and readied herself for any sudden changes. They walked toward the door, and Aldrian tried to knock, but there was no answer from inside. He looked down at the doorknob.

"There's some kind of formation." Aldrian said, examining it.

"Please let me see, young master." Eleine examined it for a moment and was stunned.

"This is... it can't be!" Eleine's body trembled.

 "It's one of the formations from the devils! It's a little altered from the original, but I'm sure it's the structure formation that the devils sometimes use!" Eleine found it unbelievable. How did the devils reach Balin City?! With those checkpoints and surveillance, how could the devils reach inside this city undetected?

Aldrian was also surprised and looked at the formation intently.

"This formation can send a signal to the formation maker if someone breaks the formation or, in this case, opens the door." Eleine said. Aldrian kept his focus on the structure of the formation, trying to comprehend it. He tried to remember every detail, every crook, and cranny of this little formation and decipher the process of making it.

He had never really learned about formations, but with this small formation, it was enough for him to try various ways to use this kind of devils' formation if he could decipher it. His mind was working at a very fast speed, doubled with his advantage in his domain, making his senses much more accurate.

He simulated in his head how this formation was made, even trying to use his comprehension of time to see how the formation was created. After a few moments, he touched the formation.

"Be careful, young master." Eleine worried if there was another trap placed by the devils. But not long after—

Click.

The formation opened in some parts. Eleine was surprised by her young master's actions; the formation itself was not broken but opened as if the one who made it had opened it.

"He can decipher the formation that he saw for the first time!" She once again noted how absurd his talent was.

They entered the house and met a dark room. Eleine heightened her senses and circulated her energy, preparing to unleash her technique. Aldrian, who had already sensed the entire building, didn't feel any presence, so they kept walking and checking every room they passed. Strangely, they couldn't find any oddity since they entered the house until they reached the last room, and Aldrian found something.

"The energy around here is distorted and flows toward this direction," Aldrian pointed out inside the room. But when Eleine looked inside, she only saw an empty room. He then used his energy to disrupt the energy flow and make the space wobbly. They were surprised that after the wobbly space disappeared, they could see a kind of circular artifact with diameter of 10 meters and some symbols on it.

"Illusion formation!" Eleine exclaimed, realizing she had been deceived by the formation. She wouldn't have noticed if not for Aldrian.

"No wonder this level of formation is enough to delude the senses of a duke-stage cultivator. This formation also masks the devil energy so that everyone who passes through this alley will not realize it." she said. And also—

"That is the devils teleportation artifact!" Eleine, who hailed from the Rivas family, which bordered Devils' territory and had engaged in battles with them, recognized the artifact immediately. It could teleports devils from different places instantly by using their energy. She remembered encountering similar artifact in previous clashes.

"Now with this, it's confirmed that the devils have already infiltrated Balin City, and their purpose is unknown." Eleine's face turned solemn; they needed to report this to the city guards and mayor to take precautions. Aldrian looked at the artifact, and as usual, he tried to decipher it, learning the concept and how it worked. He found several energy sources within it and observed the accumulation of energy and the artifact's concept.

The energies and the concept intertwined, forming one of the laws of the universe—specifically, this artifact contained space laws. The laws of the universe varied, depending on the cultivator's comprehension and their concept. Thus, even if two people comprehended the same laws, like space laws, they would have different understandings and potentially different concepts for their usage.

He of course already comprehend his own laws and incorporate it to some of his techniques but never had a chance to used it in practical manner only in his training. Aldrian, who could grasp everything easier within his domain, quickly comprehended the space laws of this artifact.

"The concept this artifact uses is to move things through folds in space using the cultivator's energy. The greater the energy, the stronger the connection between two places, allowing the teleporting of stronger individuals or items."

Having grasped the laws of the artifact, Aldrian now tried to check the karma of the artifact. A few moments later, he found a white string connecting to several places within the city.

"They are either the ones who got teleported or the one who operated it, or at least someone connected to this artifact." Aldrian sensed many presences connected to the artifact, scattered throughout the city.

"It's not long since this artifact was used, maybe an hour ago." Aldrian said.

"Then they have already blended into the crowd. It will be difficult to force them out," Eleine gritted her teeth.

"Not necessarily. I can still feel their presence and connection from this artifact."

"Then we need to at least capture one of them as evidence that the devils have infiltrated Balin."

Aldrian nodded, sensing the closest presence was in a tavern beside the main road.

"It will cause panic if we catch them in a place full of people. They might also kill innocents if they are agitated." Despite this, Aldrian wasn't discouraged, he had many cards he could play to catch the devils.

"Let's go before they move further away." Aldrian said. They then dashed outside, moving swiftly toward one of the main roads in Balin.

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Inside one of the tavern, six people in black cloaks sat and ate as if nothing was unusual. Many saw them, but there was nothing strange, so they only thought that this group of people were just some human cultivators. They weren't hiding their faces, so everyone could see they were human.

"How is the food? Is it good?" one of them asked. He had a middle-aged face and a black mustache.

"It's good," answered another, with a young and sleek face.

"The preparations can be hastened. At this rate, in Five years at most, we can deal a heavy blow to the Ivory Empire," the middle-aged man sent a voice transmission to the younger man.

"No worries, I'm here to ensure the preparations move smoothly."

They continued eating and talking when a couple entered the tavern. One was a young man with black hair and a handsome face, and the other was a black-haired woman. They walked in like usual visitors, but the man glanced at the group before looking away.

"Found you."