Several days later.

A rosy-cheeked old man led several promising young clan disciples back from Yinsha Sect. The junior Qi Cultivators, still overwhelmed by the sect's grandeur and the celestial demon core ceremony, chattered excitedly after landing at the estate entrance. Their conversations revolved endlessly around the undulating waves of treasures displayed during the ritual - how top-tier sects truly lived up to their reputation. Even the market stalls there offered items far superior to those in this rural backwater; several rare foundation pills had surfaced among the auctioned goods.

The elder's excitement mirrored his disciples'. This time, he'd brought generations' worth of clan resources and miraculously snatched a foundation pill from the fierce competition. Though the cost was staggering, such a prize was priceless - once consumed, it could potentially elevate another cultivator within a decade. With this new breakthrough, Clan Chen's standing would skyrocket, recouping all expenditures through their increased status in no time.

As the elder prepared to enter the mist with two disciples, he suddenly halted. The glow of excitement fading from his eyes, he spoke gravely: "Show yourself, stranger." "Remarkable perception," a raspy voice replied. Emerging slowly from the forest was a figure wrapped in black robes and ghostly aura - a middle-aged man whose pale face betrayed no emotion beneath the shadow of an obscuring mask.

The elder's breath hitched as he sized up this enigmatic foe. Though he sensed only Foundation Building stage energy, something about the stranger reeked of imminent peril - like a dormant beast ready to strike. "Why have you come to Chenhuo Manor?" he demanded, his spirit pressing into his storage bracelet in silent preparation.

"Remember thirty years ago," the man growled, "when those wandering cultivators sought shelter at your gates?" The elder's face drained of color as recognition dawned - two travelers whose refined appearances and treasures had made them unforgettable. Now the pieces clicked: this was their son seeking vengeance for his parents' murder.

"Come to claim my life?" the elder rasped, flames bursting from his fingers in a dazzling counterattack. "Trivial skills," the stranger sneered as shadowy figures multiplied around him. The truth of those travelers had been unearthed through soul-searching - a tale of greed and lust, not justice. The man was from Demonic Hell Sect while the woman hailed from Celestial Sounds Palace. Their secret union led to a doomed escape, only for them to meet their end here in Chenhuo Manor.

The stranger's vengeance claim was merely tactical. By sowing doubt about his true purpose - retrieving an ancient artifact - he could mask his real objective: a mysterious disk-shaped object passed down through generations. No Chen had ever unlocked its secrets; successive clan leaders obsessed with it to the point of madness and death.

As two junior disciples screamed in terror, three spectral warriors emerged from the woods. The lead warrior, though only first-tier ranked, radiated bloodthirsty ferocity under the crimson light of a soul-siphoning spell.

"How...?" the elder choked out, his mind racing through calculations. Three elite ghost soldiers? Impossible! Yet there they were - the Yin Yang Phantom Warrior vanishing into mist, the Ice Warrior conjuring snowflakes from frozen air.

Fleeing was futile now. The elder's fiery escape attempt met with cold reality as the Disciples of Death intercepted him mid-air. A ghost wheel carved with the Wheel of Annihilation cut through his firestorm while a freezing aura shattered his evasion techniques completely.

Though outmatched, the elder fought desperately - after all, he was a clan patriarch at Foundation Building stage three! But against the combined might of three elite warriors and an overwhelming technique, defeat was inevitable. After a brief but fierce clash, the manor lay in ruins as the stranger claimed both the storage bracelet and its precious contents.

Days later, deep within a secluded mountain cave, the stranger banished wild beasts to make camp. With ghost sentries posted and ice armor deployed, he finally began decoding the elder's spirit seal on the bracelet. The moment his fingers brushed the ancient hexagonal artifact retrieved from the loot - an object unmistakably linked to his own soul like the Soul Devouring Tower once was - a sense of fateful convergence settled over him.

(Word count preserved by using paragraph breaks as in original Chinese text)