Chapter 388: Blood Soul Tracking Arrow

An invisible cultivation aura appeared between the mountains and forests.

The ground showed faint signs of broken trees and explosion craters, but no bloodstains, fabric remnants, or lingering qi—cleared multiple times.

"Very professional."

Jiang Ding muttered.

A faint glow from his Storage Jin Pei summoned a black-and-red arrow, a foot long, encircled by countless malevolent energies and the wails of yin spirits—a standard Mo Dao Fa artifact.

Blood Soul Tracking Arrow!

Seized from Bai Gui Laozu, it was a pursuit artifact of the Liu Dao Sect's Punishment Hall; as long as a trace of qi remained, it could track targets within a thousand li.

Magic power surged into it.

The black-red arrow vibrated, spreading a vast expanse of black-red light over several kilometers, lasting a full quarter-hour.

The black-red light faded, revealing three or five faint specks—places where qi residue might still linger.

"Foundation Establishment cultivators, with their lineage and spiritual sense and magic power—even after cleaning, if a high-level cultivator expends great effort, they can still find traces."

Jiang Ding muttered, thinking of Bai Gui Laozu.

Back when he was a mortal, the qi residue he left in Dongling City was still found by Bai Gui Laozu after decades, at great cost of time and energy.

Of course, after he reached Foundation Establishment, it was entirely different.

Even if he stood face-to-face with Bai Gui Laozu, his Blood Soul Tracking Arrow could not detect him—he had always been careful to eliminate residual qi in daily life and combat.

Confident, even a Nascent Soul cultivator could not lock onto him across vast distances via qi.

With a flick of his spiritual sense, soil, wood, and stones from the three or five spots flew toward him, melted by a Foundation Establishment heart-fire—turning to ash that fell softly and scattered with the wind.

A twisted, shifting gray qi emerged, faint whispers audible within it.

"Quite a few people."

Jiang Ding's expressionless face formed a spell hand-seal, drawing in the writhing gray qi and feeding it into the Blood Soul Tracking Arrow.

"Go!"

The Blood Soul Tracking Arrow flared with black-red light, forming a giant blood-demon mouth that swallowed the qi whole—chewing and shrieking cries echoed from within, the black-red glow gradually fading.

Shh!

The Blood Soul Tracking Arrow shot off like lightning into the distance.

Jiang Ding concealed his form and followed the arrow in flight, passing through forests, crossing the desert and the border of the Demon Kingdom's woods, entering the endless yellow sands of the Spiritless Desert.

……

In a desert valley, cheers erupted.

"We hit it! We hit it!"

"Hah! I told you these Enforcement Hall cultivators are rich—this one job, I won't worry about cultivation for decades!"

A burly man with nine skull beads hanging from his neck laughed wildly, hugging piles of spirit stones and top-grade artifacts, occasionally licking his tongue over them.

Around him, over thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators—ranging from early to mid-stage—radiated dense demonic qi and bloody aura, surrounded by zombies and vengeful ghosts, including recently slain Enforcement Hall cultivators barely transformed into walking corpses.

Any outsider arriving here would instantly believe they had stepped into a demon's hell.

"So many spirit stones and artifacts..."

The demonic cultivators stared hungrily but dared not move, not even daring to look long—glancing once, they quickly looked away, fearing to provoke the man.

Number One on Master Tushan Xiancheng's Most Wanted List: Nine Skull Liuzhi Laomo!

Rumor had it he had repeatedly raided near Master Tushan Xiancheng, ambushing passing cultivators; few escaped alive. The Xiancheng Enforcement Hall had tried to capture him many times—all failed. His name struck terror.

"Red Mo, this time thanks to you."

After playing with the pile for a long while, Nine Skull Liuzhi Laomo finally stored the spirit stones, artifacts, and rare treasures, then turned to a red-clad woman nearby and laughed: "If not for your inside man in the Enforcement Hall, we wouldn't have dared such a bold move."

"How's my big bird, huh?"

"You defected from the Xiancheng, left with nothing—I feel bad for you."

His eyes roamed unrestrainedly over her curvaceous body, drooling: "Why not become my Dao Companion? I'll let you manage my eighteen concubines—if you dislike them, kill them outright."

"Your cultivation is too weak."

Red Mo glanced at him coolly: "If you could reach Jin Dan, maybe."

This person,

Was none other than the defected former Enforcement Hall Hall Master, the cultivator Liu Hongchao!

To many free cultivators, demonic cultivators, bandits, and benevolent cultivators were one and the same—depending on time, place, and circumstance, they could switch identities at will; now, she had returned to her old trade.

"Jin Dan?"

Nine Skull Liuzhi Laomo didn't anger; he chuckled: "If I could reach Jin Dan, why would I even look at you? Pure, virtuous Daoist maidens would throw themselves at me."

Liu Hongchao's face darkened.

It reminded her of past misery—same offense, yet Li from Xiang Qiyu Sect was merely exiled, while she was sentenced to death without mercy, treated worse than a dog.

"By the way, you were doing fine as Enforcement Hall Hall Master—why defect?"

Nine Skull Liuzhi Laomo asked curiously: "The Enforcement Hall's benefits—I'd envy them even I'm a demon. You serve under a Jin Dan master. If not for Master Tushan Xiancheng's hatred of demonic cultivators—killing on sight—I might've joined them myself."

The surrounding demonic cultivators turned to look, hiding smug, gleeful glances.

In the past, this woman had been a towering figure to them—chasing them across heaven and earth, killing countless comrades.

"It's that pretty boy!"

"Just return the spirit stones—that's all it was."

Liu Hongchao's heart stabbed with pain; her face twisted with hatred: "Back then, Master Tushan Demon Kingdom was primitive, swarming with demonic beasts and cultivators—without us, where would Master Tushan Xiancheng's prosperity come from? The spirit stones we received annually were less than one ten-thousandth of the Xiancheng's total."

"I can't bear it!"

"Hah!"

"I get it."

The Nine-Skull Old Demon laughed heartily: "You coveted the Golden Core Old Fiend's spirit stones and kept them for yourself. Correct. Without us, where would the Golden Core Old Fiend's vast hoard of spirit stones come from? They should all be ours!"

The Foundation Establishment cultivators around them suddenly understood.

In their hearts, however, they felt a certain disdain.

With the power of the Golden Core Old Fiend, mere Foundation Establishment cultivators could at best add flowers to brocade; truly speaking, they had no great effect.

Collecting a salary was perfectly appropriate.

Coveting the Golden Core Old Fiend's capital, however, was a bit greedy.

"You damned demonic path demons!"

Liu Liu Hongshao understood the change in expression on the faces of those around her. Anger rose in her heart, yet she could not make a scene before so many people. She noted down several names and auras, then said coldly, "Since the treasure has been divided, this old lady will leave. The Golden Core has been in seclusion for many years; the possibility of him emerging is slim. This matter might attract the attention of that little white face. You had better take care of yourselves."

Having spoken, she transformed into a streak of pink escape light and flew toward the sky.

"Just a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator..."

The Nine-Skull Old Demon and the other demonic cultivators did not take it seriously, yet their movements were faster than anyone else's. They gathered the treasures and left the Gobi valley.

Suddenly,

the pink escape light that had gone out first stopped. The demonic cultivators around who were about to fly out also showed expressions of terror, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

The figure of a youth in green robes appeared in the sky.

A faint intent of destruction from the sword spread in all directions, locking onto every demonic cultivator present.

(End of this chapter)