The white lines and the plain rippled like the surface of a lake when the drop of blood came into contact with it. That red drop seemed to sink below the plain as it burrowed into one of the white lines.
It rapidly crisscrossed along the white lines like it was a pathway guiding it to something. The faster it moved, the brighter Yang Qing's white light and the grey flame flashed. The rapid crisscrossing went on for almost ten minutes before it finally settled down in on a white line that was in the northwestern part of the plain.
"Ignite,"
Yang Qing muttered from within the white cloak once he saw the blood drop finally settle down. The drop ignited in a deep blue flame. The peach wood which was the only object that had remained unused during the whole thing, darted towards the blue flame.
"This is it, I hope it connects."
Yang Qing muttered to himself as he slowly watched the peach wood produce pink smoke chains that attached themselves to the blue flame as it was being burnt down.
The peach block of wood was rectangular shaped, about six inches long and three inches wide. When it fell into the flames it reduced by half in an instant and then its rate of decrease stagnated almost as if the latter half was immune to the blue flames.
"Move, please move," Yang Qing nervously said once he saw the situation had remained unchanged even after five minutes had lapsed.
As if in response to Yang Qing's plea, the rectangular block of peach wood was reduced by an inch with more pink smoke chains forming every time it burned. Yang Qing's expression eased once he saw the movement.
Even though the progress after was slow, there was no stagnation like before. The blue flame slowly ate away at the peach block as it produced more chains that wrapped themselves around the blue flame like a ball.
This went on for almost an hour till finally the last chip of the peach wood had been burnt away. All that was left behind was a ball of cloudy pink chains that was snuffing out the last embers of the blue flame.
"Yeeeeeees!" Yang Qing shouted in glee when the chains combined to form a peach flower which then dissolved into the location the blood drop had been in.
Seconds later, the plain disappeared along with the grey flame. Even Yang Qing's white cloak faded, revealing a faintly exhausted face with a triumphant smile hanging on it.
His hair, his skin along with his eyes, went back to his normal look of green hair and green eyes. The only thing that didn't return to normal immediately was his skin tone which was a bit paler than before, however it gradually returned to its normal composition with every inhale and exhale he took. In just a few minutes his skin tone was normal however there was still a sense of fatigue hidden within the depth of his eyes.
As for the items he had taken out, the flames from the talismans above him had already faded, however, the roof had been protected. The white raven above him was fainter and smaller than before, but the fog still remained dense as it was before. The grey candle along with the high-grade spirit stones had disappeared.
"Even with the help of the spirit-strengthening wicker candle, the top-grade gold art; Five thousand cardinals of the incendiary flame of the blighted plain, still took its toll. Karmic spells are really not my forte, I wonder how Yu Huifang handles them," Yang Qing muttered as he alternated his gaze to where the candle was and the plain.
The art had drained almost half his qi reserves and his soul essence when he cast it to completion. The former didn't worry him too much since he could recover qi much faster than most people because of his special peerless jade physique. High-speed qi regeneration and huge qi reserves were among its special attributes. But when it came to soul essence, even if his recovery was faster than most people, it would still require a day to fully recover.
If he didn't use the spirit-strengthening wicker candle, the drain on his soul essence would have been many times higher than what it was.
"You can erase your memories but even that action leaves clues. Luckily the person who helped you cover your tracks and gave you the red pearl was one and the same person. The qi he left on the pearl and you, were sufficient to form a connection.
Now for the last part," Yang Qing tiredly muttered as he took out his communication talisman.
"I'm not reducing the evaluation numbers on your list, Yang Qing," a curt voice sounded on the other end of the call the moment it connected.
"I'm not calling for that, though supervisor Lei Weiyuan don't you think it's unfair to spring those evaluations on me without giving me ample time to prepare," Yang Qing answered with aggrievement in his tone
"Blood, sweat, and tears Yang Qing wouldn't want that. I was just respecting his wishes as a caring supervisor. So why are you calling? if it's not to complain and ask for less work,"
Yang Qing gnashed his teeth as he breathed in and out to center himself. Lei Weiyuan had the same skills as Ellie when it came to riling him up. Atleast when it came to Ellie, he could throw a punch or fifty but with Lei Weiyuan, he was always on the receiving end of some form of workplace beating.
"Someone from the Dark helminth ghost sect attacked me during my evaluations in Summerfield kingdom..,"
"Attacked?... Again? weren't you just in a fight with someone from the Golden bamboo pavilion a few hours ago? How much bad luck can one person have?"
Isn't this all happening to me because you sent me on these damn evaluations. It's all your fault, old geezer.
Yang Qing chose to ignore Lei Weiyuan's interruption and hurtful remarks as he went on with his report.
"The attacker is dead, but I managed to use the 'Five thousand cardinal of the incendiary flame of the blighted plain' art to mark the location of one of his backers who handed him a monarch-grade artifact for his operation.
Considering the effort I went through to get a lock on him, the backer should be someone in the palace realm. I managed to tag him with the treading cicada peach wood. Those from the special inquisition should be able to track him easily from its scent," said Yang Qing as he winced at the loss he had made with the treading cicada peach wood.
The treading cicada peach wood he had on him, was from a saint-grade tree. It had many uses, one of which was in tracking someone. It could mark someone's body and soul with its scent. Once it connected, the scent could only be washed away by using another saint-grade treasure or a high-tier art that was at least in the gold grade.
The duration the scent lingered on someone, depended on the size of the wood used.
"How long?" Lei Weiyuan.
"About 20-30 days,"
"That should be more than enough time for the special inquisitors to track them. I will inform their deputy director and also have your merits recorded for this,"
"Umm, supervisor Lei Weiyuan, could I maybe get a refund for the...."
Just before Yang Qing could finish his statement the call disconnected.
"You old geezer!!!! just wait, when I become your boss, see how I take care of you," Yang Qing angrily said as he punched and kicked the fog a few times.
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