Li Hao's heart had only just slowed by half a beat after surviving that close call.
Now it leaped straight into his throat again!
Spatial coordinates?
What spatial coordinates?!
He scrambled to his feet, nearly rolling over as he did.
The weakness of having his body drained was swept away by this sudden shock.
The wild joy of escaping the Rakshasa Divine Sense by the skin of his teeth and landing a treasure had vanished without a trace.
Cailin didn't answer right away. She turned and walked toward the edge of Paradise Space.
Her purple robes swept over the grassy ground in a graceful, noble arc.
Li Hao hurried after her, his thoughts in complete disarray.
The edge of Paradise wasn't a solid wall.
It was a vast, boundless expanse of hazy light, like a thin dimensional barrier separating this little world from the endless void beyond.
And right there on that veil of light, an extremely tiny speck was blinking stubbornly.
It was a black dot smaller than a grain of rice, yet it stubbornly seeped out wisps of ominous red light, utterly at odds with the pure, peaceful atmosphere of Paradise.
An absurd thought surfaced in Li Hao's mind.
Has my private server been infected with a Trojan virus?
"That's a karmic mark."
Cailin's voice held a hint of frustration.
"The jade pendant that Soul Saint from the Purple Poison Sect crushed before he died wasn't just a distress signal. It was also a locator beacon."
She seemed displeased with her own oversight.
"I was focused on erasing his existence completely, and didn't expect Spirit Hall's methods to be so bizarre."
Li Hao's stomach lurched.
A karmic mark?
System! Speak human!
He screamed inwardly.
[The target is a high-grade Soul Tool: Thousand-Mile Soul-Chasing Seal.] [An indelible karmic mark has been branded upon the killer's soul.] [This mark cannot penetrate Paradise's dimensional barrier and cannot pinpoint an exact location.] [However, once the marked target leaves Paradise and returns to the Douluo Continent, the mark will activate at once and relay the target's approximate whereabouts to the holder of the primary seal.]
The system's explanation was cold and clear.
Like a hammer, it slammed into Li Hao's heart.
He stared at the blinking red dot, a cold fury surging from the soles of his feet straight to his crown.
So that was it.
He'd been marked.
He was a red-name player now, the kind wanted by the biggest guild on the whole server.
"In other words, as long as we stay here, we're completely safe. But the moment we go out..."
"We'll be like torches in the dark, instantly exposed to their view."
Cailin finished the thought for him, her expression grave.
A deadly silence spread between them.
Xiao Wu, who had woken at some point, had run over and wrapped herself around Li Hao's leg again.
She gazed up at the ominous red dot, her big eyes full of fear and confusion.
"Daddy, what's that? It feels... so bad."
"Bad" didn't begin to describe it.
This was a death sentence hanging over their heads.
Li Hao felt his chest tighten.
He'd only just found himself a perfect home, a shelter from every storm.
He'd even started imagining a life of fishing every day, soaking in hot springs, and spending his retirement with his daughter and a big-sister beauty by his side.
But now, that damn red dot was mercilessly telling him:
Your safe haven is also your life sentence in prison.
"Damn it!"
In the end, he couldn't hold back and muttered a curse.
The helplessness and fury welled up until he could hardly keep from going mad.
All he wanted was to be a couch potato!
A carefree, do-nothing couch potato, just eating, waiting to die, and enjoying a warm home with his wife and kids!
Was that really too much to ask?
Why did he have to cross paths with Spirit Hall, the continent's biggest criminal syndicate?
Why were they forcing him to become a fugitive on the run?
"So what do we do now?"
Li Hao's voice was a little hoarse.
"Hide here for the rest of our lives? Be shut-ins forever?"
Cailin fell silent for a moment.
"That's the safest option."
She analyzed the situation calmly.
"This space is self-sustaining and rich in spiritual energy. We can cultivate here in peace until we're strong enough to stand against them."
Her reasoning was flawless.
But to Li Hao, her words felt suffocating.
Hide for the rest of his life?
What about the roasted sweet potatoes in Heaven Dou City, the spicy fish in Gengxin City, and all those foods and sights he'd only ever read about?
He hadn't crossed over just to spend the rest of his life in a pretty, secure cage!
That wasn't living.
That was prison!
No.
Absolutely not!
The thought took root in his heart, growing until it was unshakable.
This had to be solved!
But how?
Fight them head-on?
Spirit Hall had Titled Douluo in droves, and Bibi Dong had already reached the threshold of godhood.
That would be suicide.
Run?
With this karmic mark, running was pointless.
His thoughts knotted into a mess, and despair began to spread through him again.
Just then, his hand moved almost on its own.
The pitch-black fishing rod, its surface streaked with flowing golden patterns, still lay quietly in his hand.
The Karma Rod.
A flash of lightning suddenly split the fog in his mind.
A wild, audacious idea exploded into being, making his heart race uncontrollably!
Wait.
This rod could fish for something as intangible as fortune.
It could even hook something as high-dimensional as divine sense.
Then...
A thing called a karmic mark...
Something that literally had "karma" in its name...
Wasn't that just a fish waiting to be caught?!
All his despair and frustration vanished in an instant, replaced by a near-manic excitement!
He looked at the fishing rod in his hand, then at the blinking red dot on the veil of light.
The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward, beyond his control.
At the same time.
Deep within Pope Palace in Spirit City, inside a dark, heavily guarded secret chamber,
a middle-aged man clad in red robes embroidered with gold smashed his fist into the stone table before him. His presence ran as deep as the sea.
Bang!
The Obsidian Compass on the table let out a mournful wail, but the needle at its center remained lifeless, spinning wildly without locking onto any direction.
"Useless! You're all useless!"
The red-robed cardinal roared in fury, his features twisted with rage.
A subordinate knelt trembling before him, shaking like a leaf.
"Your Eminence... the Thousand-Mile Soul-Chasing Seal... it's lost its signal. The target's karma... it just... vanished."
"Vanished?"
The cardinal's voice was cold enough to scrape frost from the air.
"A Soul Saint and an entire elite squad from an affiliated sect were wiped out in an instant. The signal blazed brilliantly at the last moment, and then... it was gone? And now you're telling me it vanished?"
"It's true, Your Eminence! It was as if... as if they'd been erased from the world entirely! Our people searched a hundred-mile radius around Holy Soul Village, but couldn't find a trace! No spatial fluctuations, no residual Soul Power, nothing!"
The red-robed cardinal paced back and forth, his fury nearly tangible.
A shapeshifting Soul Beast capable of killing a Soul Saint in an instant—what an earth-shattering achievement!
He'd already reported it, and His Holiness the Pope was watching the matter closely.
If he lost the target under his watch...
He stopped abruptly.
"Erased from the world..."
he murmured, a vicious glint in his eyes.
"There's nowhere in this world that Spirit Hall can't find."
He turned to his subordinate and issued a merciless order.
"Pass on my command! Expand the search to the entire Star Dou Forest and every surrounding province! Mobilize every sleeper in place! Even if you have to dig three feet into the earth, you will find them!"
Before you continue