Chapter 605: Ghost Mark

Ye Xuan frowned, waves of invisible Soul Power emanating from his body. Suddenly, he looked at Jiuchen, his brow furrowed.

"Consecrated Jiuchen, I believe you are the source of the problem."

Everyone stared at Jiuchen in astonishment, their expressions shifting dramatically.

Jiuchen was stunned at first, then his voice deepened. "Xuan Ye, do you suspect me?"

Ye Xuan shook his head. "Consecrated Jiuchen, I’m not questioning your loyalty. But I believe there’s a mark on you."

He had just swept his Soul Sense over everyone present and discovered something unusual about Jiuchen.

Jiuchen was startled. He immediately deployed his Profound Sense, searching himself from top to bottom. But after a moment, he found nothing and said, dumbfounded, "There’s nothing here."

Ge Puzi and the others also swept their Profound Sense over Jiuchen, but they too found nothing unusual and couldn’t help but look at Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan took two steps forward and said, "Consecrated Jiuchen, don’t move."

Two beams of invisible light shot from his eyes, and a terrifying Soul Power descended upon Jiuchen. It was so potent that even a Tier Seven Peak Martial Emperor like him felt a tremor of alarm.

As the Soul Power swept over him, Jiuchen suddenly felt something strange on his left shoulder. Turning his head to look, he saw a faint black mark, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, slowly float up before dissipating into the air.

Ye Xuan explained, "This is a Ghost Mark. It’s a type of mark made of Soul Power, extremely well-hidden. Even if it’s attached to someone, it’s very difficult for the average person to detect. However, its ability to transmit information is incredibly strong. The caster can clearly sense its exact location, even from ten thousand miles away."

A chill ran through Jiuchen’s heart. He said grimly, "I know who it was."

"Who?" everyone asked.

Jiuchen said in a cold voice, "It was that mysterious Martial Emperor who broke through the Director’s Array. That person is also a Soul Refiner. This mark must have been placed in my body during the battle at Gale Light Academy. How ridiculous that I never even noticed."

"No, that’s not right." Jiuchen suddenly frowned again. "Even if he did place a Ghost Mark in my body, this Hidden Void Array is supposed to block all Soul Sense fluctuations. I’ve never left this valley, so how did he find this place?"

Everyone else grew puzzled, especially Ge Puzi and the others, who were also frowning deeply.

Back when Director Huangfu Xiuming set up this Hidden Void Array, he had clearly stated that it could shield all fluctuations and prevent them from being discovered. It should be impossible for the enemy to find this place based on the Ghost Mark.

In other words, the Ghost Mark shouldn’t be the reason they were found. Could it be...

Everyone exchanged glances, their gazes turning wary as they looked toward the area where the students were.

"Don’t overthink it..." Ye Xuan shook his head. He was just about to explain when he suddenly looked up sharply and exclaimed, "Oh no, the Hidden Void Array is about to be broken!"

BOOM!

In the void above their heads, countless ripples suddenly appeared, spreading like waves on a lake’s surface. The ripples continued to expand until, like a shattering mirror, the entire space exploded.

The space concealed by the Hidden Void Array was instantly exposed to the outside world, merging with the valley.

At the same time, two experts exuding an overwhelming aura stood proudly and coldly between heaven and earth. One of them held an Array Disc, a faint, mocking smile on his lips.

The Gale Light Academy instructors and disciples resting in the valley were all alarmed by the fluctuation. One by one, they looked up, and upon seeing the two figures in the sky, expressions of absolute terror appeared on their faces.

"It really is those two!"

Jiuchen said through gritted teeth, his eyes bloodshot.

"Hehe, you little brats certainly made us look for you. Hiding in this backwater corner, wasting our time."

The man holding the Array Disc sneered, his tone playful and his expression condescending, as if he already held the lives of everyone present in his hands.

"Damn it."

Jiuchen roared and shot into the sky. Not to be outdone, Ge Puzi and the others followed, standing proudly in the air. In an instant, the dozen or so surviving Martial King Level experts from Gale Light Academy were all hovering coldly in the sky.

Each of them radiated a terrifying kingly aura that stirred the surrounding void.

The two condescending figures couldn’t help but reveal a trace of mockery, sneering, "What do you people think you’re doing? You can’t possibly be thinking of resisting."

"Who are you?"

From the crowd, Su Xiuyi stepped forward coldly, his gaze like lightning as he demanded in a deep voice.

"Eh? There’s actually a Tier Eight Martial Emperor here."

The man with the Array Disc voiced his slight surprise, then a look of realization dawned. "You must be Gale Light Academy’s trump card, right? Tsk tsk, a First Layer Martial Emperor, you’ve got some nerve. Do you have any idea who we are?"

Su Xiuyi’s gaze was frigid. "I don’t care who you are. Get the hell out of here, now."

The man with the Array Disc’s gaze turned icy. "A Tier Eight Martial Emperor. Is that supposed to be impressive? Just for what you said, I can tell you this with certainty: today, you will die."

His gaze was cold, as if he had already pronounced Su Xiuyi’s death sentence.

Just then, Jiuchen, his eyes bloodshot, stepped forward. "How did you find us?"

The man holding the Array Disc was momentarily taken aback, then he started to laugh—a sinister laugh. "Was it so difficult? We have an insider among you. Your every move has been within our grasp."

’So it’s true...’

Jiuchen and the others came to a sudden realization; their suspicions were instantly confirmed. Their faces turned ashen as they glanced at each other, their eyes filled with alarm and uncertainty.

Seeing the reactions of Jiuchen and his group, the man with the Array Disc laughed heartily. "So, you should understand now. It’s impossible for you to escape our pursuit. Lay down your weapons and surrender obediently, and I might consider leaving you a path to live."

A smile played on his lips. He thoroughly enjoyed this feeling of controlling the life and death of others.

"Bullshit." At that moment, Ye Xuan suddenly let out a derisive snort, his face full of scorn.

"What did you say?" The face of the man holding the Array Disc darkened, a vicious light flashing in his eyes.

Ye Xuan said exasperatedly, "Everyone, didn’t I just tell you not to let your imaginations run wild? The only reason they found this place is because of that Ghost Mark."

"Huh?" The man with the Array Disc was slightly startled. "You actually know about the Ghost Mark."

Suddenly, his expression froze. He looked at Jiuchen and frowned. "What happened to the Ghost Mark on you? It’s gone. Could someone have broken it? Impossible. How could there be anyone in the Dream Realm Plain capable of breaking a Ghost Mark?"

He was utterly shocked.

Ye Xuan ignored him and continued, "Everyone, the Array Disc in this man’s hand is called a Spirit-Seeking Disc. It’s a treasure specifically designed to find Arrays and identify their weak points. This man’s own attainment in Arrays should be at the Seventh-level Peak. With his cultivation base and the Spirit-Seeking Disc, he could naturally find the general location of this valley by tracking the spatial fluctuations from the teleportation array you used."

"Furthermore, Consecrated Jiuchen, when you sent a message to Vice Director Ge earlier, you must have opened the Hidden Void Array. That allowed him to sense the Ghost Mark’s aura. If I’m not mistaken, these two arrived at the Silver Peak Mountain Range long ago, but they just couldn’t find this valley."

"Then, after we arrived in the valley, Vice Director Ge opened the Hidden Void Array again. This allowed him to sense the Ghost Mark once more, and combined with the effect of the Spirit-Seeking Disc, he was finally able to pinpoint this location."

"So, the reason he was able to find this place is entirely because of the Ghost Mark. It has nothing to do with any so-called traitor or mole."

Ye Xuan’s words made everyone come to a sudden, profound realization.

Even the man holding the Array Disc looked at Ye Xuan in astonishment. "You brat, not only do you know about the Ghost Mark, you even know about the Spirit-Seeking Disc?"

Ye Xuan sneered, "A mere Ghost Mark and Spirit-Seeking Disc? Who in the world doesn’t know about them? Everyone knows how to break them. Only someone from a backwater place like you would make a big deal out of them."

"Bullshit!" The man with the Array Disc was furious. "This Emperor is..."

"Master Liang Yu..."

The middle-aged man in the golden robe beside him suddenly cut him off with a low shout.

The man holding the Array Disc came to a sudden realization. His gaze turned sinister as he said coldly, "Brat, are you trying to bait me into talking?"

"Haha, is there a need?" Ye Xuan laughed disdainfully. "If I’m not mistaken, you two are from Infinite Mountain, aren’t you?"

The expressions of the two men changed instantly, a bone-chilling killing intent erupting from their eyes.

The golden-robed middle-aged man said coldly, "Brat, you seem to know a lot. But haven’t you heard? In this world, the more you know, the more danger you’re in."

Ye Xuan smiled faintly. "Is that so? It’s a shame, but not only do I know you’re from Infinite Mountain, I also know you were looking for a treasure at Gale Light Academy."

The two men’s expressions grew even uglier. "Brat, what else do you know," they said, their voices frigid.

Their gazes were icy, staring at Ye Xuan like vipers.

"No need to be so anxious." Ye Xuan smiled. "I know many more things. For example, that this treasure is related to the reclusive Dongling Xia family of the continent."

Both men’s bodies trembled, and their pupils suddenly contracted.

"Hehe, did I hit the mark?" Ye Xuan smiled faintly, his thoughts racing. "Should I say something even more explosive? For example, that the annihilation of the Dongling Xia family back then was actually the doing of your Infinite Mountain..."

Ye Xuan’s words stopped abruptly there.

But the two men across from him had a huge reaction. The aura around them jolted, their pupils contracting and then suddenly dilating. They looked horrified as they exclaimed, "Brat, what in the world do you know?"

The two men were seething with killing intent, all their initial composure gone. An endless murderous aura condensed in the valley as they stared coldly at Ye Xuan.

If not for Ye Xuan’s extraordinary consciousness, an ordinary Martial King would have found it absolutely unbearable to withstand such killing intent.

His brow furrowed. ’In truth, what I know is very limited. The reason I said all this was to pry information from the two of them.’