The Spirit Road Was Safer After All

The ruins they had visited earlier on the Spirit Road.

Yun Mo and the other three emerged from the void. They were just about to leap up when they realized there was no trace of spiritual energy here, and even their cultivation had vanished.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."

"I... pfft... cough, cough."

Wu Ling hit the ground first, face down. Of those who landed on top of him, Yun Mo came second, Wen Qingxuan third, and Wu Yingying fourth.

"Thank goodness we had Wu Ling to cushion our fall. None of us got hurt." Wu Yingying hurried to her feet, then helped Wen Qingxuan up.

Wen Qingxuan covered her lips and glared at Yun Mo. She had struck something just now, and a trace of blood had actually appeared there.

Yun Mo likewise covered his face as he stood up. He seemed to have bumped into something too, though it had not hurt much.

"Cough, cough." Wu Ling was already feeling utterly miserable. Hearing Wu Yingying's words made him cough again. "You little... hurry up and help me up."

But Wu Yingying acted as though she had not heard him. She surveyed the surrounding ruins and sensed the world around her, growing steadily more excited. "Are we back on the Spirit Road? Am I dreaming?"

"It does seem we're back on the Spirit Road." Wen Qingxuan also raised her eyes and looked around. This was precisely where they had followed the Nocturnal Bees into the Wu Clan Ancestral Land.

"Waaah... finally, we're finally back!"

Wu Yingying's eyes reddened slightly. Only they knew how much pressure they had endured.

One wrong step, and they would probably have become sinners condemned by the entire Great Thousand World.

Wu Ling also stood up, baring his teeth in pain, his delicate face filled with lingering fear.

The feeling of surviving a brush with death was simply wonderful. "The Spirit Road is where we belong."

They all felt that way, except Yun Mo. He touched the space between his brows, his expression utterly grim. Though he too felt the relief of having escaped death, he could sense even more clearly the Heavenly Eye Rune between his brows. "Qingxuan, have you ever seen this mark on my forehead?"

The Heavenly Eye Rune was silvery white, slender and elongated. It gave his face a slightly uncanny look, along with an indescribable charm.

"I never noticed before, but Captain Yun Mo is actually rather good-looking," Wu Yingying interrupted. Right now, she only wanted to vent all the gloom in her heart.

In the Ancestral Hall, she had not dared say a word more than necessary. But now that she was back on the Spirit Road, she had returned to her original self, somewhat spoiled and willful.

Yet a closer look would reveal an almost imperceptible change in her willfulness, a newfound hint of heaviness.

"Shoo. Go shout a few times, or pick a fight with your brother. Don't bottle it all up until it makes you sick." Yun Mo waved her away, then looked at Wen Qingxuan.

He could not shake a sense of foreboding.

Wen Qingxuan studied the silvery-white Heavenly Eye Rune, her graceful brows knitting slightly. When she tried reaching out to touch it, an utterly frigid hatred emanated from it.

She hesitated, then parted her red lips and slowly said, "According to the records, this seems to be the Extraterritorial Evil Clan's... Hate Mark?"

"Hate Mark? What's that?" Wu Ling had heard the term too and was rather startled.

"You can think of a Hate Mark as a kill order issued within the Extraterritorial Evil Clan. Any member of the extraterritorial blood clan who senses it will kill its bearer at any cost. But why is it silvery white?"

With every sentence Wen Qingxuan spoke, Yun Mo's expression grew darker.

"Perhaps because... this Hate Mark was planted by a Demon Emperor of the Extraterritorial Evil Clan?" Wu Ling studied Yun Mo's forehead. At the very moment of their final teleportation through space and time, they had all seen this mark enter the space between his brows.

"Doesn't that mean Captain Yun Mo will be targeted by the entire Extraterritorial Evil Clan? Even those Demon Emperors would probably attack him if they saw it, wouldn't they?" Wu Yingying said.

After hearing this, Yun Mo smiled and composed himself again. "Can it be removed?"

His calm demeanor astonished the other three, leaving them marveling at his composure.

But only Yun Mo knew that his heart was twitching wildly right now, and that he wished he could tear his own mouth off.

It was all over, so why did I have to provoke those Demon Emperors? Once the Spirit Road ended, couldn't I just go back to Azure Wood Academy and live like a rich country landlord? Why did I have to spout all that damned nonsense? I...

"I'm afraid that would be very difficult. I suspect those Demon Emperors joined forces to place this Hate Mark. Remember, that was the work of nearly twenty Demon Emperors. It probably can't be removed unless someone has power exceeding all twenty of them.

"Actually, what we're more curious about is why those words of yours made the Demon Emperors of the Extraterritorial Evil Clan hate a mere ant like you so much. Why did you call them dogs driven from their homes?"

Curiosity flickered in Wen Qingxuan's and the others' eyes. Judging by the Demon Emperors' reactions, what Yun Mo had said seemed to be true.

"Heh."

Yun Mo tugged at the corners of his mouth and offered no explanation. His heart, however, was bleeding.

Seeing that Yun Mo would not speak, Wu Ling did not press him. But then he suddenly remembered something. "That Stone Spirit Elder shot a drop of pitch-black blood essence at you. What was that?"

"Right, we all saw it. That drop of pitch-black blood essence seemed extraordinary too," Wu Yingying said.

Yun Mo looked at them and did not hide it. "It contained three legacies of the Wu Clan."

Only when he thought of that drop of blood essence did he finally find some consolation.

"The Wu Clan's legacies!" Wu Ling and Wu Yingying stared wide-eyed. Even Wen Qingxuan pursed her lips as she looked at Yun Mo.

Yun Mo nodded lightly. "I'll write out the Wu Clan's body-tempering scripture and pass it on to you. According to the information in the blood essence, the Wu Clan also wanted to find successors. They didn't want to vanish from the Great Thousand World."

"What are the other two?"

"One is the Twelve Capital Gods and Demons Formation, and the other is the primordial heavenly demon body. But giving you those two wouldn't do much good. Leaving aside the Twelve Capital Gods and Demons Formation...

"As for the primordial heavenly demon body, one of the materials needed to form it is that drop of blood essence inside me, so giving it to you would be useless. And although I've heard of the other materials, I've never seen them."

Yun Mo smiled wryly. The only truly useful thing was the body-tempering scripture. The others were far too distant.

"What materials do you need? Tell us. Perhaps we can help," Wen Qingxuan said.

"Four kinds. I already have the blood essence. The other three are desolate ancient gold, heavenly demon grass, and flowing flame."

Wu Ling heard what he said.

Yingying's eyes, however, lit up. "Martial Spirit Academy has desolate ancient gold. Although it's very precious, it isn't difficult to obtain."

Wen Qingxuan also smiled. "As for flowing flame, my family has some."

Yun Mo blinked, then could not help laughing. "Sure enough, there was a reason our team came together."

"Hmph! Now that we've told you all this, shouldn't you offer something in return?"

"The desolate ancient gold isn't yours. What am I supposed to offer? Speaking of which, how do you know about Martial Spirit Academy?"

"Just look at my brother's name. We grew up in Martial Spirit Academy, you know."

"Well, well. Martial Spirit Academy actually took in a wild girl like you. That can't have been a good thing."

"Drop dead!"

Just as they set out on the Spirit Road again, an ancient voice rang out from the Mirror of Judgment in the void through the Blood-Colored Token.

"Mu Chen has violated the rules of the Spirit Road and is hereby expelled! In one month, a selection will be held at the third Guardian Land on each road. The top one hundred participants in the Spirit Road Trial will enter the final stage!"