Since that was the case, could this have been a jade slip his master had left behind before going to protect Li Yuyin?
But at that time, he had already entered the Nascent Soul Realm. Though his cultivation had not yet stabilized, if someone had placed something on him, he should have sensed something.
Yet he had been completely unaware of it. Moreover, the other party had deliberately left behind a jade slip of this color, mixing it with the bloodstains. Clearly, they had not wanted to draw anyone's attention.
"Someone did this deliberately!"
Li Yan swept his Divine Sense over the pale-red jade slip at his waist but found nothing unusual.
He reached out and took the jade slip into his hand. Even then, no light flickered from it, and the spiritual aura upon it was nearly undetectable.
He then pressed it against his forehead. As his Divine Sense seeped inside, a somewhat aged voice entered his mind.
Li Yan had heard only one sentence before he stood there in a daze.
"Boy, first, congratulations on completing your Nascent Soul. For Phantom Sect to have such an outstanding rising star as you is the sect's great fortune!
"However, this old man should not have appeared. Though all of you have been guessing whether I still exist, as one century after another passes, people will only gradually come to doubt whether my existence is real.
"Unfortunately, this time there was a reason!
"Your Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation caused an immense disturbance. Yan Longzi, Li Yuyin, Zhao Zhi, and other False Nascent Soul cultivators stuck at bottlenecks might all have been affected—or perhaps it might have been of no use whatsoever.
"When the 'Tribulation Essence Qi' emerged, Li Yuyin sensed much from it, and her bottleneck loosened, yet she still could