Water droplets continued to fall from the bronze disc, striking out tiny ripples one after another.
Chen Wuya lowered his head to look at the blood script in his hand. The paper was icy cold, its edges gleaming with a dark-red sheen. He had only just steadied himself after rising from the ruins of the Baleful Intent artifact, and the Misaligned Force within him had yet to settle completely. His meridians still burned from the backlash of their reversed flow. Bai Zhi leaned against the stone wall, one hand lightly pressed to her abdomen as the Water-Repelling Pearl gave a faint flash. Mo Feng put away his mechanism device and let out a breath. "We can't stay here any longer."
"We need to find the Snow Demon Clan." Chen Wuya carefully tucked the blood script into his robes. "The token that guardian dropped before leaving bears the same pattern as the guards' tokens. And this blood script isn't an ordinary document. The system says it carries a soul imprint."
Bai Zhi nodded. "We destroyed one Baleful Intent artifact, but they can build more. We have to find out what they're plotting."
The three of them did not linger, proceeding down a narrow passage deep within the ruins. The rock walls gradually became smooth, covered in ancient runes. The farther they went, the colder the air became. Before long, a half-open stone door appeared ahead, carved with a totem of intertwined ice and snow.
Beyond the stone door lay a vast sanctuary. Its dome soared overhead, its floor paved in white jade, and an ice-carved throne stood in the center. Several gray-robed figures stood silently around it. The elder at the forefront slowly turned, his gaze falling upon the corner of the blood script peeking from Chen Wuya's robes.
His steps