Li Yuan left the Netherworld Ghost Market.
He followed the same sloping blue-brick passage he had taken on the way in. Behind him lay its bizarre sights and hushed whispers; before him stretched the desolate, deathly quiet night of Wangfeng City's western district. The dry well in the abandoned funeral home was like a forgotten wound, swallowing the city's darkness and breathing it back out.
His pace seemed unhurried, but within him, his Dark Crimson Gold Crimson Sun Qi and Blood circulated faster than ever before, like subterranean fire surging through the earth. It silently tempered every inch of his sinews and bones, helped him digest the insights gained from clashing head-on with that Netherworld Cult expert, and completely fused the pure energy refined from the curse power into his body. The numbness in his arms had long since faded, and the trembling of his internal organs had settled. Even the Crimson Sun in his sea of qi seemed a little more solid after that fierce battle and devouring, the spot of crimson gold at its center burning ever brighter.
Though he had been at a disadvantage in that battle, it had given him a deeper grasp of his own strength and a better understanding of the word "smelting" in the Crimson Sun True Scripture. The peak of the Aperture Opening Realm... wasn't invincible.
Mr. Ge of the Hundred Information Pavilion's words echoed in his mind: the "key" was a source of power, and the Netherworld Cult believed it was in Wangfeng City.
The words were like a boulder dropped into a deep pool, sending ripples across his heart. If Crimson Sun Qi and Blood truly was the key, or was connected to it, then he was truly guilty of possessing a treasure. The Netherworld Cult would never let the