Uninvited Guests, Martial Soul Hall's Pursuit

Li Hao's heart, which had only just slowed its frantic pace after surviving the ordeal, suddenly leaped back into his throat!

Spatial coordinates?

What kind of spatial coordinates!

He scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over himself in his haste.

The hollow, aching weakness in his body was completely washed away by this sudden, chilling terror.

The ecstasy of having just escaped the Rakshasa God's divine sense and hooked a treasure vanished in an instant.

Cailin did not answer immediately; she turned and walked toward the edge of the Paradise Space.

Her purple robes traced a noble arc across the green grass.

Li Hao followed her immediately, his mind a chaotic mess.

The edge of the Paradise was not a solid wall.

It was a vast, boundless region radiating a hazy, faint light, like a thin dimensional barrier separating this small world from the endless void outside.

And right there on that curtain of light, an extremely tiny speck of light was flickering persistently.

It was a black dot smaller than a grain of rice, yet it stubbornly exuded wisps of ominous red light, clashing violently with the pure, peaceful aura of the entire Paradise.

An absurd thought bubbled up from the bottom of Li Hao's heart.

Has a Trojan virus been planted in my private server?

"This is a causal mark."

Cailin's voice carried a hint of annoyance.

"The jade pendant that Soul Saint from the Purple Poison Sect crushed before he died wasn't just a distress signal; it was a tracking beacon."

She seemed displeased with her own oversight.

"I was so focused on completely erasing his existence that I didn't expect the methods of the Martial Soul Hall to be so bizarre."

Li Hao's stomach churned violently.

A causal mark?

"System! Speak human!"

He roared frantically in his mind.

[Target is a high-level Soul Tool: Thousand-Mile Soul-Chasing Seal.]
[An indelible causal mark has been branded onto the soul of the killer.]
[This mark cannot penetrate the dimensional barrier of the Paradise Space, making precise positioning impossible.]
[However, once the marked target leaves the Paradise and returns to the Douluo Continent, the mark will immediately activate, feeding the approximate location back to the holder of the master seal.]

The system's explanation was cold and clear.

It struck Li Hao's heart like a hammer.

He stared blankly at the flickering red dot, a cold fury surging from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

So that was it.

He had been marked.

He was now a red-named player, the kind wanted by the top guild in the entire server.

"In other words, as long as we stay here, we are absolutely safe. But once we go out..."

"We will be like torches in the dead of night, instantly exposed to their vision."

Cailin finished the sentence for him, her expression grave.

A deadly silence spread between the two.

Xiao Wu, who had been awakened at some point, had already run over and was clutching Li Hao's leg again.

She tilted her small face, looking at the ominous red dot, her large eyes filled with fear and confusion.

"Daddy, what is that? It makes me feel... so bad."

The word "bad" was no longer enough to describe it.

This was essentially a death warrant hanging over his head.

Li Hao's chest felt tight and suffocating.

He had only just acquired a perfect home, an absolute sanctuary.

He had even begun to fantasize about living the life of a retired official—fishing, soaking in hot springs, and spending his days with his daughter and his mature beauty, living like a salted fish.

But now, this damned red dot was heartlessly telling him:

Your sanctuary is also your life sentence prison.

"Fuck!"

In the end, he couldn't hold it back and let out a low curse.

Endless frustration and rage made him feel like he was going mad.

He only wanted to be a salted fish!

An ultimate salted fish who lived a life of leisure, free from worldly strife, content with a wife, children, and a warm hearth!

Was that wish really so difficult?

Why did he have to provoke Martial Soul Hall, the number one criminal organization on the continent?

Why force him into becoming a fugitive on the run?

"So, what now?"

Li Hao's voice was dry and raspy.

"Are we just going to hide here for the rest of our lives? Be shut-ins forever?"

Cailin was silent for a moment.

"This is the safest choice."

She analyzed it calmly.

"This space is self-sufficient and rich in spiritual energy. We can cultivate here in peace until we possess the strength to oppose them."

Her logic was impeccable.

But to Li Hao, these words felt suffocating.

Hide for a lifetime?

What about the roasted sweet potatoes in Tiandou City, the spicy fish in Gengxin City, and all the delicacies and scenery he had only ever read about in books?

He hadn't transmigrated just to spend the rest of his life in a cage, no matter how beautiful or safe it was!

That wasn't living.

That was serving a prison sentence!

No.

Absolutely not!

This thought grew wildly in the depths of his heart, becoming incredibly firm.

This problem had to be solved!

But how?

Head-on confrontation?

Martial Soul Hall had Title Douluo as common as stray dogs, and Bibi Dong had already touched the threshold of godhood.

That would be suicide.

Run away?

This Karma Rod mark made running away meaningless.

His thoughts were a tangled mess, and the feeling of despair began to spread once more.

Just then, his hand moved instinctively.

That pitch-black fishing rod, flowing with golden patterns, still lay quietly in his grasp.

Karma Rod.

A bolt of lightning suddenly tore through the fog in his mind.

A crazy, bold idea that made his heart beat uncontrollably began to explode!

Wait.

This rod could fish for something as ethereal as destiny.

It could fish for high-dimensional existences like divine consciousness.

Then...

Something called a karma mark...

Something that literally had the word "karma" in its name...

Wasn't that just a fish waiting to take the bait!

All his despair and frustration were swept away in an instant, replaced by an excitement that bordered on madness!

He looked at the fishing rod in his hand, then at the blinking red dot on the light screen.

The corners of his mouth curled upward, uncontrollably.

Meanwhile.

Deep within the Pope Palace in Martial Soul City, inside a dark and austere secret chamber.

A middle-aged man clad in gold-embroidered red robes, his aura as deep and vast as the sea, slammed his fist violently onto the stone table before him.

BANG!

The Obsidian Compass on the table let out a mournful whine, yet the needle at its center remained deathly still, spinning erratically and failing to lock onto any direction whatsoever.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

The Cardinal roared in fury, his features twisted by rage.

A subordinate knelt trembling before him, his entire body shaking like chaff in the wind.

"Lord Cardinal... the Thousand-Mile Soul-Chasing Seal... it has lost its connection. The target's karma... has vanished... into thin air."

"Vanished?"

The Cardinal's voice was so frigid it could scrape ice.

"A Soul Saint, an entire elite squad from an affiliated sect, wiped out in an instant. The signal flared with brilliant light at the final moment, and then... nothing? And now you tell me it has vanished?"

"It is the truth, my lord! It is as if... as if they were completely erased from this world! Our men searched a hundred miles around Holy Soul Village and found no traces! No spatial fluctuations, no residual soul power, nothing at all!"

The Cardinal paced back and forth, his rage nearly manifesting into physical form.

A shapeshifted spirit beast capable of insta-killing a Soul Saint—what a heaven-shaking achievement this would be!

He had already filed the report, and His Holiness the Pope was personally monitoring the matter.

If he were to lose them on his watch...

He stopped abruptly.

"Erased... from this world..."

He muttered to himself, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his eyes.

"There is no place in this world that Martial Soul Hall cannot find."

He turned to his subordinate and issued a cold, heartless command.

"Pass on my order! Expand the search range to the entire Star Dou Forest and all surrounding provinces! Mobilize every sleeper agent! Even if you have to dig three feet into the earth, you must drag them out for me!"