Li Yuan stood in the middle of the mountain path, cracked, upturned scorched earth beneath his feet and crooked, burning dead trees behind him. The dark crimson-gold qi and blood around him slowly receded; the lava-like patterns flowing beneath his skin gradually faded, leaving only the crimson gold settled deep in his pupils, two undying sparks in the dusk.
Five Netherworld Cult disciples lay dead on the ground, their bodies twisted in different ways, all horribly charred by extreme heat. The air reeked of burnt flesh mingled with sulfur.
He crouched and searched the body of one who seemed to be their leader. His fingertips touched something cold and hard. He pulled it out: a black bone token, half the size of his palm, its edges carved with intricate Netherworld runes and a half-open, strange eye embossed at its center. The moment it touched his hand, the Crimson Sun deep in his qi sea shuddered slightly, sending him a clear sense of rejection—and a trace of hunger to devour it.
"The Netherworld Soul Chasing Token..." Li Yuan rubbed the bone token's icy surface. The lingering spiritual mark clung to it like a maggot burrowing into bone, firmly locking onto his aura. No wonder they had tracked him down so precisely.
He tried to strike the mark with his Crimson Sun Qi and Blood. The imprint on the token flickered a few times, but did not immediately disperse. It was unusually stubborn.
"Looks like crushing it isn't the best plan." Li Yuan's eyes were cold. Crushing the token might temporarily cut off the tracking, but it would also tell the other side that he had discovered their method, possibly drawing even more cautious and powerful enemies. Better to keep it and turn their trick against them.
He tucked the token into