Chapter 1079: Tracking Mark

Heh heh heh!

Inside his body, it seemed as if the annihilating sound of ice and fire clashing rang out! Pitch‑black poisonous blood continuously seeped from his mouth, nostrils, even pores, scorching tiny black smoke on the snow! The numbness seemed to ease a bit, but it was followed by an even more intense burning pain!

The effect of one Blazing Sun Pill was quickly exhausted. Han Wuxian did not pause at all, grabbed another pill and swallowed it! Then the third!

The domineering potency of the three Blazing Sun Pills erupted completely within his body! Han Wuxian's body trembled violently, the layer of Dark Gold Material on his surface was struck by this raging fire‑element force, flickering uncertainly; the star sigils on the surface spun wildly, seemingly autonomously channeling and suppressing this terrifying energy, while greedily absorbing the scattered pure fire‑element power!

He was as if being roasted on a fire; his skin turned a scorching crimson, steaming thin white vapor, and the surrounding snow melted into a shallow pit from the heat his body emitted. The lethal pitch‑black and the Blazing Sun Pill's crimson clashed madly inside him, annihilating each other; each clash brought heart‑rending agony.

He did not know how long passed, until Han Wuxian felt he was about to be completely incinerated by this raging energy, his consciousness on the brink of sinking at the critical point

Buzz!

The raging scorching torrent inside him, the self‑operating, energy‑absorbing Dark Gold Material on his surface, and his own core that had merged the Earth Vein Heart Will with the Stellar Vein, seemed to reach a subtle balance point!

The star sigils on the Dark Gold Material suddenly lit up, like countless tiny vortices, beginning to crazily draw in the excess Blazing Sun Pill potency and the scattered Stellar Source Power! This absorbed power did not dissipate, but transformed into a warm, heavy energy that slowly flowed into his depleted meridians and damaged organs, beginning a gradual repair!

At the same time, the raging "Bone‑Eating Azure" toxin, under the domineering firepower of the three Blazing Sun Pills and the suppression of the Dark Gold Material, could not be completely eradicated, but its spreading momentum was finally restrained! The pitch‑black hue was forcibly pushed back into his right arm; although the whole arm remained numb, swollen, and jet‑black shining as if dead, at least it no longer eroded the Earth Vein.

"Huh…huh…" Han Wuxian sounded as if he had just been pulled from water, his whole body drenched in sweat, panting violently. The excruciating pain still lingered, but the near‑burning heat and the bone‑deep cold numbness had both greatly lessened, replaced by extreme fatigue and a post‑catastrophe exhaustion.

He struggled to sit up, leaning against a cold rock behind him. The wind and snow still howled, but no longer seemed so bone‑piercing. He lowered his head to look at his right arm; the shocking jet‑black sight tightened his brows. The toxin was only temporarily suppressed, not eradicated. Moreover, although the domineering power of the three Blazing Sun Pills saved his life, it also further injured his meridians and organs; now his interior felt like a broken furnace, with searing pain in bursts.

At that moment, the Jade Box he carried, which had fallen from the Eagle‑Hook‑Nose cultivator and was flashing a dangerous red glow, suddenly began to violently tremble without warning! A scorching aura passed through his clothing to his skin, while a faint yet crystal‑clear mental wave, like an invisible ripple, instantly spread outward!

This mental wave was not directed at Han Wuxian, but rather resembled a…tracking beacon?!

Han Wuxian's complexion changed abruptly! He swiftly pulled out the Jade Box! The mysterious seal symbols on its surface flickered wildly, flashing erratically, and the red glow from within pulsed like a heart; each pulse was accompanied by the spreading of that beacon‑like mental wave!

"Tracking Mark?!" Han Wuxian instantly understood! This was not some trump‑card treasure at all, but a pre‑activated trap used for tracking and locating! The Eagle‑Hook‑Nose cultivator had taken it out before dying, not to sacrifice himself, but to lure companions! Or…more terrifyingly, to lure higher‑rank cultivators from Qinglin Peak!

Damn! Got played!

Han Wuxian's internal alarm rang loudly! Without hesitation, his left hand, wrapped in dim Dark Gold light, clenched the Jade Box hard, trying to crush it!

However, just as his fingers were about to touch the Jade Box

the seal symbols on the Jade Box's surface explosively burst forth a blinding red light!

Boom!!!

A muffled roar! The Jade Box was not crushed; instead it exploded outward! A mass of scorching, blood‑like solidified crimson light shot skyward, instantly piercing the howling wind‑snow, and burst on the dim sky into an extremely conspicuous, spirit‑energy‑radiating crimson firework! The firework's shape was unmistakably a fierce, blood‑dripping hook.

The crimson hook pattern spread slowly across the lead‑gray sky, like the grim grin of death; even amid the raging wind‑snow it remained clearly visible for dozens of miles!

"It's over!" Han Wuxian's heart sank to the abyss! Exposed! And in the most thorough, most conspicuous way possible!

He could not linger here any longer!

That fierce, blood‑dripping crimson hook firework, like death's invitation, blossomed wildly on the lead‑gray wind‑snow canvas, laying Han Wuxian's position bare!

"Go!" Han Wuxian's internal warning screamed, no longer able to mind his body's pain and weakness, nor to deal with the shattered Jade Box fragments! A fierce survival instinct squeezed out the last ounce of strength; he sprang from the snow, no longer crawling, but staggering, stumbling wildly toward the fallen‑star cliff in a desperate sprint!

The wind‑snow, like invisible giant hands, battered him mercilessly, nearly flipping him over. He stepped shallow then deep into the thick snow, each step agonizingly hard. His right arm remained numb and heavy, like dragging a dead snake; the lethal jet‑black, under the suppression of the Dark Gold Material, lay dormant yet constantly emitted a chilling threat. His left side of the body felt as if it had been scorched once by the Blazing Sun Pill's potency, with searing pain in bursts and meridians twitching.

But he dared not stop! Behind him, that crimson firework was a death‑knell! He could clearly sense at least several strands of varying strength, bearing cold murderous intent, coming from the direction of Qinglin Peak, like wolves that smell blood, rushing toward the spot where the firework rose! The nearest few would arrive in less than the time it takes to sip half a cup of tea!

"Faster! Faster!" Han Wuxian roared in his mind, his crimson‑gold eyes fixed on the faint, axe‑splintered, dark‑gray cliff silhouette hidden in the wind‑snow.

Falling‑Star Cliff!

The wind howled in his ears, mixed with distant, ghost‑like piercing whistles! The pursuers were drawing ever closer!

Han Wuxian clenched his teeth, forcibly activating the core that had merged the Earth Vein Heart Will with the Stellar Vein. Though his strength was depleted, the very existence of this core seemed to let him instinctively sense the surrounding earth's pulses and the stars' trajectories. He no longer ran in a straight line, but moved like an injured snow‑fox, constantly changing direction among jagged rocks and dead trees, using the complex terrain and howling wind‑snow to delay time as much as possible and confuse the trackers' perception.