Where the blood had fallen, the crack in the stone slab widened by a hair, as though an invisible hand had gently pried it apart. I stared at it, the burning in my palm still unsubsided, while the Heaven-Slaying Origin within me slowly devoured the violent aura seeping out of the Blood Crystal. Seven wisps and nine-tenths—just a thread more, and I could condense the Heaven-Slaying Dao Foundation.
But I could not break through now.
The red light at the mouth of the alley was still flashing in a chaotic rhythm, like some emergency signal. I knew I could not linger, yet just as I moved, an exceedingly faint ripple of spiritual pressure came from the street corner behind me. Light as falling dust, it nevertheless made my back tense.
Someone was following me.
Not someone from the Blood Demon Sect. This presence was concealed too deliberately, carrying the suppressive cadence unique to the authorities. Every step fell into the gaps between the crowd's clamor, drawing no notice while never falling behind.
Yan Jiuxiao.
I did not look back. I merely withdrew my left hand into my sleeve, my fingertips lightly rubbing the copper coin I had just exchanged for. It still carried the warmth of the apothecary stall owner's hand, and a faint talisman inscription was carved into its surface—the proof of purchase for a fragment of the Nine Revolutions Profound Art. I deliberately slowed my pace, passed two small stalls selling Talisman Paper, and stopped in a dim corner, pretending to browse the old books spread across the ground.
The person behind me stopped as well.
A faint smile tugged at my lips. I picked up a tattered booklet and asked its price, casually handing over the copper coin. The stall owner's expression changed slightly upon seeing it. He hurriedly lowered his head, rummaged through the bottom of a chest, and took out a yellowed bamboo scroll.
"Your item... is here."
I accepted the bamboo scroll. It felt heavy in my hands, and several blurred words were written on its cover: "Nine Revolutions Profound Art: Third Revolution." I turned to the first page. Most of the text was incomplete, yet one segment of the circulation route perfectly matched the path the Blood Crystal had traveled through my meridians as it melted.
So this really was the key.
I tucked the bamboo scroll into my robes and turned into a narrow alley. The footsteps behind me hesitated for an instant before following. I let him close in until I turned through the back entrance of an abandoned apothecary, then abruptly stopped.
"City Lord Yan, aren't you tired after following me all this way?"
The moment the words fell, the alley became silent as death.
Three steps away, a man in black robes slowly emerged. His features were stern, his short beard neatly trimmed, and a dark jade seal hung at his waist—the Northern Wasteland City Lord Token. His gaze was steady. He did not deny it, merely saying flatly, "When did Young Master Ji discover me?"
"From the first time you adjusted your breathing rhythm." Leaning against the wall with my arms folded, I said, "Ordinary cultivators suppress their aura when tracking someone. Yet you deliberately maintained a steady rhythm, terrified that others would notice 'you were hiding something.'"
His gaze flickered, but he said nothing.
I continued, "You did not come to the Black Market simply to investigate the Chaos anomaly. What truly made you unable to sit still was that your City Lord Token had appeared somewhere it never should have."
His pupils abruptly contracted.
I took a token from my robes and lightly placed it on the stone pedestal beside me. Its lacquer was mottled and its edges scratched. It was precisely the token Yan Jiuxiao had dropped when he left the Ji Clan that day. I had quietly taken it amid the chaos in the Hall of Punishment and had never returned it.
"It appeared last night at a secret Blood Demon Sect trading site," I said. "Right when they were preparing to use Ye Qingwan as a sacrifice."
Yan Jiuxiao jerked his head up. "What did you say?"
"I said your token became the proof used by evil cultivators to convey orders." I looked at him. "Either there is a traitor by your side, or... you yourself have gotten involved in something you should never have touched."
His face turned iron-blue. He stepped forward and snatched up the token, clenching it tightly. "How do you have this?"
"I can make it disappear too," I said calmly. "As long as you stop following me."
He sneered. "You think one token is enough to threaten me?"
"I am not threatening you." I turned to leave. "I am only reminding you that what you are investigating now is not the source of the anomaly, but whether you yourself can get away unscathed."
He stood where he was, his knuckles clenched white.
Without looking back, I walked deeper into the alley. Not far ahead stood the ruined temple where I was temporarily staying—a Mountain God Shrine with half its structure collapsed, its roof caved in, its altar table crooked, and its incense burner overturned. It had long since been abandoned. I pushed open the door, traced a hidden talisman inscription across the threshold with my backhand, then took three pale-gold crystals from my sleeve and embedded them into cracks in the beams and pillars.
This was the most basic sensing formation. It could not form a killing trap; it was only meant as a warning.
After finishing, I leaped onto a crossbeam and sat down cross-legged. The Pseudo-Primordial Body silently circulated, pressing the remaining Blood Qi within me completely into the cycle of the Heaven-Slaying Origin. The system responded without a sound—
[No life-or-death crisis, Origin +0.01 wisps]
Only a thread remained before eight wisps.
The night wind blew through the temple, sending the tattered banners flapping loudly. About half an incense stick later, footsteps sounded outside the door.
They were soft, yet every step landed with uncanny precision, avoiding every loose floor tile and broken roof tile.
Yan Jiuxiao had come.
He pushed open the door and entered, his gaze sweeping across the empty hall before finally settling on the altar table—where his City Lord Token lay quietly.
His expression darkened in an instant.
"Ji Wuchen!" he shouted. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
I leaped down from the beam, the tip of my foot lightly striking the edge of the token with a crisp chime.
"I want to ask you the same thing," I said. "You followed me to confirm whether I truly have anything to do with the anomaly, or because you fear I will expose your dealings with the Blood Demon Sect?"
"Insolence!" He glared at me. "I am the City Lord of Northern Wasteland City. How could I collude with the demonic path?"
"Then explain why your token appeared at the trading site." I stared at him. "And its holder was not a subordinate, but a Blood Demon Sect death warrior."
He fell silent for a moment, his voice dropping several degrees. "...I do not know either."
"You do not know?" I sneered. "Then have you investigated which outsiders those around you have recently come into contact with? For example, some adviser who is always entering and leaving the city defense office in the dead of night? Or some personal guard who was suddenly transferred to command the guards three months ago?"
His brows knitted tightly. He was clearly already considering it.
I took a step closer. "You suspect me because I carry the lingering aura of the anomaly. But have you considered that the thing truly attracting the anomaly is not me, but the underground altar you are excavating?"
He abruptly looked up. "How do you know about the altar?"
I smiled.
So I had guessed correctly.
"Not only do I know about the altar, I also know which ancient vein it connects to," I said. "And what you dug out was not merely stone, but the remnant souls of living people sealed within."
His breathing caught.
"If you still want to keep your position as city lord, you had best withdraw every investigation team immediately." I looked at him. "Otherwise, when the Blood Demon Sect activates the ritual, the first one to be sacrificed will be you, the city lord who 'knew but failed to report it.'"
He stared at me fixedly. The anger in his eyes had not faded, but a trace of wavering had appeared.
"Who exactly are you?" he finally asked.
"Someone who understands where the danger lies better than you do," I said. "And the only person who can help you get away unscathed before things spiral out of control."
He gripped the token tightly and remained silent for a long while.
Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded in the distance outside the temple, mixed with shouts and the clash of weapons.
Someone was fighting.
Yan Jiuxiao immediately became alert and turned to leave.
But I did not move.
Because I knew that fight was no accident.
It was aimed at this ruined temple.
Before you continue