Chapter 102

Chapter 102: Demonic Cultivator’s Mark

After three anxious days on high alert, the group finally entered Wanruo City. Their first priority was renting a small courtyard, where each person took a room to rest and recover.

As soon as Yun Xi activated her isolation formation, she brought out her array disk and carefully set it up. Over these past days away from the sect, she’d realized how invaluable high-level array disks were. Once she returned, she planned to study array carving in earnest. Formations were profound and could repel armies if used properly.

Only then did Dian Dian poke its little head from Yun Xi’s arms. Its tiny nose twitched, and it sent a message through its divine sense: “Master, you’ve been marked by those bad people.”

Yun Xi paused mid-counting her spirit stones and quickly pulled Dian Dian from her robe. “Dian Dian, did you smell something strange?”

Dian Dian’s black ears twitched as it bobbed its little head. “Yes, Master. It’s a terribly foul smell.” It wrinkled its nose unhappily.

“Can you find where they put the mark?” Yun Xi asked urgently.

Dian Dian signaled Yun Xi to put it down, then carefully circled around her. Finally, its tiny paw pointed at Yun Xi’s boot. “Master, it’s here.”

Yun Xi immediately scanned her boot with her divine sense and found a tiny black dot no bigger than a green bean stuck to the sole. Without deliberate examination, no one would even notice it; even if they did, who’d pay attention to a speck beneath their shoe?

“What rotten luck!” Yun Xi stood abruptly, tucked Dian Dian back into her robes, and hurriedly left the courtyard, heading directly to Wanruo City’s Treasure Pavilion.

As the attendant approached, Yun Xi wasted no words: “I’d like to purchase a pair of spirit boots.”

“Please come this way, fellow daoist,” the attendant smiled politely and led her into a private room. Moments later, he returned, carrying three pairs of boots.

“These are the best choices available for you in our Treasure Pavilion,” he explained in detail, from their appearances to the materials used, their abilities, and even honestly pointing out minor flaws.

Yun Xi immediately liked the pair named “Ruyi Boots,” crafted from Ghost-Faced Spider silk. Besides the basic effects of dust-repelling and water-and-fire resistance, these boots could also change color to match her robes, even providing a twenty-percent speed increase. The only drawback was their plain appearance—just the most basic women’s boot design, without a hint of decoration.

“Fellow daoist, though these boots look simple, their value is high. A single pair matches any robe. For cultivators like us, practicality outweighs flashy adornments,” the attendant skillfully persuaded.

His words resonated deeply with Yun Xi. She’d always preferred simplicity, and these boots perfectly matched her needs. She promptly spent the two thousand low-grade spirit stones she’d obtained from the demonic cultivator’s storage bag, changed into the new boots immediately, and gestured for the attendant to dispose of the old pair.

Those original boots were sect-issued and had only basic dust-resisting functions, so she felt no loss discarding them—especially if it meant removing the demonic mark.

After setting the boots to a subtle shade of grey to match her robes, Yun Xi returned to the courtyard. She asked Dian Dian to carefully sniff again, only fully relaxing when it confirmed the foul smell had vanished.

“Dian Dian, back then only Senior Sister Mu and I stepped outside the formation. Could that have been when we were marked?”

“That seems likely,” Dian Dian agreed.

“These demonic cultivators have truly wicked methods.” Yun Xi frowned thoughtfully.

“Master, tomorrow you should let Dian Dian sniff Senior Sister Mu too. If she’s also marked, removing yours alone won’t help—they’ll still track you both,” Dian Dian cautioned, tail flicking anxiously.

“You’re right; we must be careful. But I worry even more about those two from Hundred Flowers Pavilion.” Yun Xi’s brow furrowed deeper. Those two had engaged the demonic cultivators constantly. They were far more likely marked, especially Liu Hao Tian, who’d even been injured by the enemy.

Although she wasn’t close to them, Yun Xi felt responsible as fellow righteous cultivators. She took out a transmission talisman and sent a message of warning to Yu Qing Cheng. Whether or not they believed her wasn’t her concern anymore.

When Yu Qing Cheng received Yun Xi’s talisman, she was surprised that the Grand Righteous Sect disciple had contacted her so soon. After hearing the message, her face changed dramatically. Without hesitation, she knocked urgently at Senior Brother Liu’s door.

Liu Hao Tian had just expelled the lingering traces of demonic qi from his wounds and was refining a recovery pill. When he sensed the knock, he stopped cultivating and opened the door to see his worried junior sister.

“Junior Sister Yu, what’s wrong?”

“Senior Brother Liu, we must leave Wanruo City immediately. It’s best if we teleport straight back to Hundred Flowers Pavilion. We might have been marked by those demonic cultivators.”

“That can’t be—I’ve already driven out the demonic qi,” Liu Hao Tian said, puzzled.

“It was a warning from the fellow daoist from Grand Righteous Sect. She said she was marked under her boot. If not for her spirit pet’s keen senses, she would never have discovered it.”

“Under her boot?” Liu Hao Tian instinctively lifted his foot, examining his boots with divine sense, but noticed nothing unusual.

Yet Yu Qing Cheng persisted, “Senior Brother Liu, those demonic cultivators have cunning tricks. Think about it—we shook them off with a random teleportation talisman, yet they found us again within a day. That’s no coincidence. Besides, the cultivators chasing us kept increasing in strength, ending with foundation establishment late-stage experts. Clearly, they intended to capture us alive.”

Liu Hao Tian’s expression darkened; he trusted his junior sister completely. If Yu Qing Cheng hadn’t fought fiercely to protect him, he would already have fallen into their hands.

“Let’s leave right now.”

After vacating their rooms, they swiftly reached Wanruo City’s teleportation hall. With Treasure Blossom Range nearby, most cities in the region had teleportation arrays. Following recent strange events at Treasure Blossom Range, large numbers of cultivators had flocked there. Yet departures were fewer, so Yu Qing Cheng and Liu Hao Tian didn’t have to wait long before entering the teleportation hall. After paying the required spirit stones, they immediately teleported to the nearest city to Hundred Flowers Pavilion.

Shortly after the pair departed, two figures clad in black hurried into the teleportation hall, only to realize they had arrived too late.

“We let them slip away!”

“Xue Ao said they found allies. But he marked them. Shall we continue pursuit?”

After a moment of hesitation, his companion replied, “They have a Nascent Soul cultivator protecting them. It’s too risky for us to expose ourselves now. As long as that little disciple leaves the sect again, we’ll easily find her trail.”

“Understood.” The second figure’s tone was filled with frustration. Their prey had escaped, and worse still, they had lost three late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators chasing them—utterly humiliating.

In dark silence, they left the teleportation hall, their faces grim.

Meanwhile, Yun Xi had already brought Dian Dian to see Mu Ning Zhu. Sure enough, Dian Dian quickly located the demonic cultivator’s mark on Mu Ning Zhu.

Unfortunately, it was hidden in her hair—leaving Mu Ning Zhu so furious that her face turned green with rage.