Killer Blood Crystal, Wuchen Cleverly Breaks the Maze

The night wind whistled through the alley entrance, rustling the cloth banners hanging under the eaves. I stood by the inn window, staring at the cart parked outside. The driver still had his back to me, his hat pulled low, unmoving like a clay statue.

But I saw it—his right thumb tapped the cart shaft three times.

It was the signal.

I grabbed the bronze token and tucked it into my sleeve, then took off my outer robe and draped it over my arm. Pushing open the window, I climbed out. My Cloud-Treading Boots made no sound on the roof tiles. I lowered my body, rolling into the shadows behind the building. The cart was parked at the end of the alley, a few steps further leading to the deepest, darkest passage in the black market, a place for transactions that shunned the light.

I crept along the wall, circled around to the roof of the opposite building, and crouched down.

As expected, in less than half a cup of tea's time, two figures in black cloaks emerged from the alley's depths, their footsteps unnervingly light. One had an empty left sleeve, clearly missing a hand; the other's neck was stiff, and when he spoke, his throat didn't move, as if he were using ventriloquism. They stopped by the cart and began to converse in low tones.

"Where is it?" the one-armed man asked.

"Waiting for the token," the ventriloquist replied.

The driver finally turned, lifting the edge of his hat to reveal half a face covered in scars. He pulled a blood-red crystal from his robes and held it in his palm.

The crystal was no bigger than a fingernail, yet it pulsed with an eerie red light, like a solidified drop of blood that was still beating.

I held my breath.

This wasn't just a marker, nor was it an ordinary Demonic Dao token. It shared a source with the brands on the back of the neck of the death warriors, perhaps even... purer.

As they were exchanging it, I made my move.

A broken tile, flicked by my fingertip, flew diagonally towards the lantern frame on the other side of the alley entrance. With a crisp "crack," the lantern swayed, and its flame flickered violently.

All three looked up simultaneously.

In that instant, I had already leaped from the eaves, my toe pushing off the wall. I moved like a shadow, pouncing on the ventriloquist. He had just received the Blood Crystal and hadn't had time to put it away when I seized his wrist. With a twist, his joint popped, and the crystal flew from his hand. I caught it with my other hand, retreated, using the cart for cover, and was back in my original position in the blink of an eye.

The entire process took no more than two seconds.

No one saw who I was.

By the time they recovered, I had already vanished into the blind spot of the eaves above. The one-armed man roared and shot a stream of black smoke, while the driver suddenly drew his saber and swept it horizontally, but it only sliced through empty air.

I crouched on the back of the roof ridge, my fingers tightly gripping the Blood Crystal.

My palm suddenly burned, and the crystal melted on its own, turning into a thin, scarlet stream that burrowed into my skin. A violent surge of energy rushed up my meridians, as if countless needles were churning in my bones.

The Pseudo-Primordial Body immediately activated, forcefully channeling the blood energy into the Heaven-Slaying Origin circulation. The System responded silently—

[Obtained clue to a fragment of the Blood Demon Sect's 'Soul Devouring Acupoint Refining Technique']

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the Origin slowly digest this foreign power. Seven down, nine-tenths complete, just one tenth away from forming the Heaven-Slaying Dao Foundation. But this wasn't the time to break through.

Urgent footsteps echoed from the alley below; the other party was clearly going to search the nearby rooftops. I slowly stood up, preparing to withdraw.

Just then, someone appeared at the alley entrance.

The moonlight illuminated her shoulder, the corner of her Black Cloak lifting slightly.

Ye Qingwan.

She had arrived at some point, carrying a medicine box, her jade medicine pestle tucked into her waist. Her gaze was fixed directly on my hiding spot.

I didn't move.

She didn't move either.

After a few breaths, she stepped forward, her footsteps light, as if afraid of disturbing something. She walked into the alley and stopped, resting her left hand on the edge of the medicine box, and said in a faint voice:

"Young Master Ji, what a pleasant surprise, coming to the black market for medical treatment?"

Her voice was as cold as frost.

I leaped down from the eaves, landing three steps in front of her. I brushed some dust off my sleeve, a slight smile on my lips: "Miss Ye, aren't you also looking for a medicinal ingredient? There are many strange things in this place, making it easier to dig up true treasures."

She stared at me, her eyes not leaving mine: "There's residual blood energy on you."

"Just dealt with an obstacle on the way," I shrugged. "Black market rules, it doesn't count as a proper start without someone dying."

She sneered: "So, you plan to get away cleanly now?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I took a step forward and placed my hand back on the back of her hand resting on the medicine box. She tried to pull away, but it was too late.

A faint golden halo flashed and disappeared.

Her pupils contracted.

"Your Blood Phoenix Fire is restless. If it's not unsealed soon, it will eventually burn your meridians and sever your pulse," I said, withdrawing my hand, my tone flat. "I can cure this illness."

Her expression finally changed.

Not from pain, but from shock.

She looked down at her hand. A faint, extremely thin red mark flashed beneath the skin of her palm before disappearing. It was her sealed bloodline responding to the touch of some power.

"When did you find out?" she asked.

"The day you changed my dressing at the Ji Family's pharmacy," I said. "Your fingertips were burning, yet you refused to touch my wound. An ordinary doctor wouldn't be afraid of blood, unless their own blood was more dangerous than others'."

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a cold laugh: "So you're trying to fob me off with this? A useless young master who can't even stand steady, capable of resolving the predicament of an ancient bloodline?"

"I'm not a useless young master," I looked at her. "I just haven't made a move yet."

She narrowed her eyes: "Then what have you taken now?"

"Just a little trinket." I opened my palm, revealing only a shallow red mark, like a burn scar. "Enough for me to know how the Blood Demon Sect refines people, and enough to find their roots buried in the black market."

She stared at the mark, then suddenly asked, "Aren't you afraid they'll hunt you down?"

"I am," I replied. "That's why I won't be staying here waiting for them to find me."

She nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait." I called out to her.

She turned back.

"You shouldn't have come here tonight," I said. "They aren't just after me; they're after anyone who can awaken the Blood Phoenix Body. You're one of their targets."

She sneered, "I don't need your reminder."

"Then why did you come alone?"

She paused, not answering.

The sound of chains dragging on the ground echoed from a distance; someone was patrolling. The black market guards were changing shifts.

I looked at her. "Go back and burn that Crimson Heart Grass in your medicine box. It's been tampered with; taking it will cause an internal fire backlash."

Her brow furrowed. "How did you know I had it?"

"Because you need to suppress your bloodline, and Crimson Heart Grass is one of the few herbs that can temporarily calm it." I turned and walked towards the end of the alley. "But the Crimson Heart Grass now is poison."

She stood still, her voice turning cold. "Who exactly are you?"

I didn't look back.

"The only reason you'll live to see tomorrow."

The wind suddenly picked up, swirling scattered papers and ash on the ground. I reached the alley entrance, about to turn onto the main street, when her voice came from behind me:

"If you can really cure it, why not do it now?"

I stopped.

"Because healing requires a price," I said slowly. "You have to pay something, and I have to take a risk. It's not the right time yet."

She didn't ask further.

I continued walking forward, my steps steady. In the alley behind me, she remained standing, twirling the medicine pestle between her fingers before tucking it back into her waist.

I knew what she was thinking.

She was weighing whether I was a madman or... someone who truly possessed a power she had never seen before.

And I knew clearly in my heart that this game had only just begun.

The information from the Blood Crystal was more than just clues to secret techniques; it included a sequence of numbers and runes, like the key to some ritual. It pointed not to a location, but to the arrangement of acupoints within the human body—this was the 'Soul Devouring Acupoint Refining Technique' the Blood Demon Sect used to refine people into puppets, transforming the dead into vessels carrying secret arts.

What I had obtained was the core medium.

With just one more opportunity to encounter a similar undead soldier, I could piece together the complete path.

As I pondered, a red light flashed at the street corner ahead.

I stopped immediately.

That was the warning light for the black market's eastern district. It usually only lit up for major transactions or emergency evacuations. Now, it flickered erratically, as if deliberately triggered.

I didn't want to go there.

But my feet involuntarily shifted direction.

Because I recognized the color of the light—it was exactly the same as when the Blood Crystal melted.

I moved along the wall, bypassing two stalls, and hid behind a pillar at the back door of a gambling den. Ahead was a closed-off courtyard, with two guards at the entrance, both wearing the same blood-colored crystal on their chests.

Someone inside was speaking.

"...The token is lost, we must initiate the backup plan."

"That woman is already close to the sealing point; we can't wait any longer."

"Then let her become the sacrifice."

I clenched my fist.

The woman they were talking about could only be Ye Qingwan.

I slowly retreated, preparing to leave the scene, when I suddenly felt a heat in my palm.

Looking down, the red mark was oozing a thread of blood, so fine it traced a path down my fingers.

I raised my hand, examining it under the moonlight.

A drop of blood fell, hitting a stone slab etched with runes on the ground, and was instantly absorbed.

A crack appeared in the center of the stone slab, shaped like the outline of a door.