Yi Yang crouched beside Ding Xiang's corpse and turned over the remains, which had been severed in two.
He worked carefully, without showing the slightest disgust.
From the pocket closest to Ding Xiang's body, he pulled out a gilded Command Token. It felt smooth and warm to the touch. A hideous demon mask adorned its front, while two characters in ancient seal script were engraved on the back.
"Blood Trace."
The token's craftsmanship was exquisite, several grades above the tokens Yi Yang had once searched out from those Altar Masters.
It was probably the token identifying an Incense Master. It was of little use, but it could serve as proof of Yi Yang's achievement.
Yi Yang wrapped the token separately in a piece of cloth and tucked it into his innermost pocket. This was irrefutable evidence, to be handed over to the Judgment Hall for its records when he returned.
Searching further, he found three sealed jade bottles. He unscrewed one, and the pills inside rolled out.
They were indeed True Pills, used for cultivation in the true astral realm.
Yi Yang rubbed one between his fingertips. The few crumbs that fell away released an astonishing medicinal fragrance. The three bottles held twelve pills in total, and he tucked them all into his robes.
Farther down, he drew a slim, untitled booklet out of the innermost layer. Made from some kind of beast hide, it felt supple in his hands. When he opened it, he found its pages densely covered in cinnabar diagrams of cultivation circulation routes that ordinary people could not decipher.
It was the Soul-Bone Blood Blade, the very technique that had nearly taken his life.
Yi Yang tucked the booklet close to his body. This thing could not be allowed to circulate, nor could anyone know he