Chapter 512: Seeing Through

Chapter 512: Chapter 338: Seeing Through

“Si Snake’s Life Fire has been extinguished.”

Jin Ce spoke softly. With a flip of his hand, a Jade Token appeared in his palm. The token’s glow was dim, and cracks were even beginning to form on its surface.

Hearing this, the expressions of Yang Zhongyuan and Ten Thousand Laws Inference hardened slightly. An extinguished Life Fire meant that Si Snake was dead.

“Si Snake was on a solo infiltration mission. While her strength wasn’t overwhelming, to be chosen for the Twelve Earthly Branches, she had to be at least an Innate Martial Artist. She also had numerous life-saving measures. If it were a typical crisis, it’s unlikely she would have been unable to send us even a shred of intelligence before her death. It seems highly probable that she stumbled upon a critical clue, touched upon some of the enemy’s core secrets, and encountered some of the powerful figures behind this organization.”

Ten Thousand Laws Inference said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“Can we use the Life Plate to locate Si Snake’s position?”

Yang Zhongyuan asked in a low voice. The members of the Celestial Net Department’s Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches were all rare talents, yet one had died here without a sound.

“Of course.”

Jin Ce nodded slightly. All members of the Celestial Net Department’s Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches left behind a Life Plate. These plates contained information from their True Spirit of Destiny and could be of great use in the hands of an expert.

This was also the reason why Nine Yin and Cold Mountain had left the corpse of the Innate Martial Artist Ning Qiyang untouched, not daring to use it as blood-fodder.

「Rong City. No. 13, Beiyuan Street, Class C—the Lucky Inn.」

CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER!!

A series of hurried footsteps rang out at the entrance of the Lucky Inn. On the ground floor, a waiter was wiping down tables and chairs with a rag. Hearing the footsteps, he didn’t think anything was amiss. Without even looking up, he called out by rote, “Stopping for a bite or staying the night?”

WHOOSH!!

Before he could react, a gust of wind whistled past as an iron-like hand seized him by the neck and threw him aside.

The waiter crashed into someone behind him. Before he could even process what was happening, ropes were thrown over him, immobilizing him completely.

Dazed and disoriented from the fall, he finally got a clear look at the newcomers.

The group was dressed in black robes with sabers at their waists. Embroidered on their robes were crimson or orange xiezhi patterns. The fierce eyes of the xiezhi stared at him, filling him with an immense sense of pressure.

‘The… the Celestial Net Department?!’

The waiter felt his heart stop. He was so terrified he nearly fainted on the spot.

“Lock down the inn! Don’t let a single guest escape. Take them all back to the Celestial Net Department for questioning!”

The brawny man who had just tossed the waiter aside spoke in a gruff voice. He wore a yellow Xiezhi Robe, clearly the leader of this group from the Celestial Net Department.

The members of the Celestial Net Department were well-trained and moved swiftly, fanning out to control the other people inside the inn. Meanwhile, the man in the yellow Xiezhi Robe led four or five subordinates straight toward one of the guest rooms.

Human-Class Room 13.

BAM!!

He threw the door open, and the scene inside made his breath catch in his throat.

A hunched corpse in a black, tight-fitting outfit was curled up on the floor. Its skin was wrinkled, its clothes old and faded, its hair dry and falling out. Yellowish pus continuously seeped from its body, a truly nauseating sight.

‘This is the person they were looking for?!’

‘A member of the Twelve Earthly Branches, a figure they could normally only look up to?!’

“Secure the scene! Don’t touch anything. Report the intelligence to the Garrison Command immediately!”

The man in the yellow Xiezhi Robe ordered in a low voice.

In less than ten minutes, a detailed intelligence report had reached the three men.

“Soiled clothes, a withered crown, sweat from the underarms, a foul-smelling body, and restlessness in one’s seat… The Five Signs of Decay of a Celestial Being? This is the work of someone at the Divine Techniques realm, at least. As expected, a high-level figure from behind the scenes has made their move.”

Ten Thousand Laws Inference said.

“It seems I’ll have to take action.”

Jin Ce said with a sigh.

“Reversing life and death? Will it affect your condition for what comes after? This opponent doesn’t seem to be simple.”

Ten Thousand Laws Inference asked, looking at him.

“No. With His Majesty’s Dragon Qi to protect me, and since Si Snake’s own strength wasn’t that great, it won’t affect my condition.”

Jin Ce said.

“Should I have someone bring the body here as soon as possible?”

Yang Zhongyuan, who seemed to have heard of Jin Ce’s incredible ability, inquired.

“There’s no need. The longer we delay, the greater the price to seal ‘death.’ With her Life Plate in hand, containing a sliver of her True Spirit, it is enough.”

BZZZT!!

As they spoke, Yang Zhongyuan felt as if the entire world within the room was trembling slightly. A change came over Jin Ce’s body.

Strange golden patterns, as if alive, surfaced on Jin Ce’s skin. They were dense and numerous, like some kind of golden tattoo, and for a moment, they transformed the dandy-like Jin Ce into a figure with the strange and imposing majesty of a Ghost God.

Then, Jin Ce extended a finger toward the dim, cracked Jade Token.

By this point, his entire hand was covered in the golden patterns. The moment his finger touched the Jade Token, the accumulating patterns seemed to find an outlet, flooding madly into the token.

Some kind of terrifyingly powerful Sealing Technique was taking effect.

The cracks on the Jade Token began to disappear. It flickered with an unstable light until finally, a flame within it seemed to be reignited. The entire Jade Token started to emit a soft, jade-like glow, radiating vitality.

Nine Seals of Heaven and Earth—Seal of Life and Death!

This was one of the Sealing Ultimate Skills mastered by Marquis Xuanping, Jin Ce.