Before the Compass shattered, a revelation seared itself into his mind.
"Ji Chen!"
Old Ancestor Cangwu and the others were startled. They rushed forward at once and caught his collapsing body.
He was icy cold to the touch, with barely any life left in him.
Ji Chen could no longer speak. With the last of his strength, he lifted his blood-covered hand and painstakingly traced a few bloody words onto Old Ancestor Cangwu's open palm.
After finishing the last word, his hand dropped, his head tilted, and he lost consciousness completely.
The Stone Chamber fell deathly silent.
Old Ancestor Cangwu froze. He slowly lowered his head and looked at the bloody words rapidly fading from his palm.
The next instant, his pupils contracted.
His mind rang, and an indescribable feeling surged through him, more terrifying than when he had seen that adjudicator. Even he, a Sword Dao Old Ancestor, began to tremble.
He stared fixedly at those words.
"How is this possible..."
His voice was dry and hoarse.
"The antidote..."
"Is actually..."
"...in... the mark..."
Old Ancestor Cangwu stood utterly motionless, staring at the bloody words swiftly dissolving from his palm.
The antidote... was in the mark?
Which mark?
He raised his head and fixed his gaze on the Platinum Scales brand on Zhou Xuan's chest as he lay on the stone bed, radiating an ominous glow—the Divine Punishment Mark!
With a ringing in his ears, Old Ancestor Cangwu's mind went blank.
The bloody words vanished completely.
"Cangwu! What... what exactly did the Pavilion Master divine?!"
Emperor Jiang Wu strode forward, his voice urgent.
The Stone Chamber instantly fell quiet, and Old Ancestor Xuanming also looked over anxiously.
His throat painfully dry, Old Ancestor Cangwu moved his lips. With difficulty, he raised a hand and pointed at Zhou Xuan's chest,