If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

The valley was eerily quiet at night.

The wind blew, stirring up the ashes on the ground. The air was filled with the smell of blood and burnt food, as if some living thing had been thrown into the fire.

Zhou Yang leaned against a rock about half his height, his chest still heaving.

That last strike had taken a lot of his strength.

The woman who had chased after him was quite powerful. He had shattered her True Essence Weapon, but he hadn't fared any better. His left arm wound was still bleeding and burning with pain.

He wasn't in a hurry to leave.

This is where the Holy Envoy died, and also where that woman launched her sneak attack. The Heavenly Principle Cult could arrive at any moment.

But he has to wait.

Waiting for an opportunity, or waiting for a reward.

He touched his chest. The newly acquired dragon spine fragment, even through his skin, sent a chill through him. It felt like a piece of ice pressed against his heart.

This is the most important thing.

He looked down, his gaze sweeping over the envoy's corpse not far away. The body had already begun to stiffen, and black corpse poison seeped from under the skin, staining the soil beneath it.

Zhou Yang frowned.

He walked over, his movements very light, like a cat on the night.

He did not touch the corpse, but merely used his toes to part the clothes around the saint's waist.

A black token fell out.

The token was heavy and cold to the touch. Engraved on it was a ferocious scorpion, its tail raised high, pointing towards a point of starlight. It was the same token he had seen before—the vice-leader's token.

Why would the Holy Envoy be carrying this?

A question popped into Zhou Yang's mind.

Above the Holy Envoy are the Left and Right Protectors, and above that is the Vice Leader. How could a Holy Envoy possess the token of a Vice Leader?

He turned the token over. There was no pattern on the back, only a shallow groove, the shape of which subtly echoed the scorpion on the front of the token.

Zhou Yang shifted his gaze from the token to his surroundings.

The valley was a scene of devastation. Rocks collapsed by the True Yuan Soldiers, trees were charred, and there were huge remnants of an array on the ground.

Everything seemed normal.

But his intuition told him that something was wrong.

The words the Holy Envoy uttered before his death echoed in his ears again: "The fragment... is mine..."

He came here not just to hunt me down.

Zhou Yang held the token and began to walk around in the valley.

His steps were slow, his eyes like an eagle's, scanning every inch of land and every rock.

He walked to the end of the valley. There was a steep rock face, covered in moss and damp. At the foot of the face, there were some loose stones, as if they had just collapsed from above.

He stopped in his tracks.

The rubble here is piled up too neatly.

It didn't seem like it rolled down naturally; it looked more like it was intentional.

He reached out and peeled back the top layer of stones. The stones were loose and rolled away at the slightest touch. Below, instead of soil, lay a massive slab of stone.

The stone slab was almost the same color as the surrounding rock face, and the seams were filled with moss and mud. It was almost invisible unless you looked closely.

Zhou Yang's heart skipped a beat.

He used the tip of his dagger to clean away the dirt and moss from the seam. A clear crack was revealed. The crack was a perfect circle.

He remembered the token in his hand.

The groove on the back of the token.

Without hesitation, Zhou Yang aligned the groove on the back of the token with the circular gap on the stone slab.

Not too big, not too small, just right.

He pressed down hard.

"Click."

A soft sound, like the sound of a mechanism being triggered.

The stone slab beneath his hand trembled slightly. Then, an ancient, long-sealed aura wafted out from the crack.

The smell was peculiar, like an old book scroll, or dried herbs, with a hint of metallic rust.

Zhou Yang took two steps back and gripped the dagger tightly.

The stone slab did not flip upwards as he had imagined, but instead slid slowly to one side, revealing a dark hole.

The entrance to the cave was small, just big enough for one person to bend over and enter. Inside, it was pitch black and bottomless.

Zhou Yang stood at the cave entrance, not going in immediately.

He listened intently. Apart from the sound of the wind, there was no other sound.

He took a tinderbox from his pocket and blew on it. The orange light dispelled the darkness at the cave entrance.

He bent down and went inside.

Inside was a narrow stone path leading downwards, with steep steps covered in a thin layer of dust. His feet left clear footprints as he stepped on them.

The stone path wasn't long; after walking about twenty or thirty steps, the view opened up before us.

This is a small stone chamber.

There was no gold or silver treasure, nor any rare or exotic animals.

The walls of the stone chamber are inlaid with pieces of faintly glowing crystals. The light is so dim that one can just make out the scene inside.

Three rows of neat wooden frames stretched from the ground to the ceiling.

On the shelf were neither martial arts manuals nor any divine weapons.

Instead, they were rolls wrapped in oiled paper and wooden boxes sealed with tape.

Zhou Yang walked to the nearest row of shelves.

He picked up a scroll and unwrapped the oiled paper. Inside was a yellowed parchment covered with writing in cinnabar.

His pupils contracted after just one glance.

[A divine edict, in the autumn of the Gengzi year: An imperial envoy from the Southern Region is ordered to travel to the coast of the East Sea to search for the first fragment of the 'Dragon's Spine.' There must be no error.]

This is an internal order from the Heavenly Principle Sect!

Zhou Yang then picked up a wooden box next to him. The seal on the box was intact, but through the gaps, he could see that it seemed to contain a fragment of a map.

The question in his mind was answered instantly.

This is a secret stronghold of the Heavenly Principle Sect. It is used to store imperial edicts from past dynasties, and most importantly—clues and intelligence regarding the Dragon Spine Fragment.

The holy envoy came here to update intelligence or receive a new mission. And I just happened to run into him.

The vice-leader's token in his hand is the key to opening this secret room.

Zhou Yang's gaze quickly swept across the entire stone chamber.

Time was running out. The threat of the Starry Soul-Locking Array remained, and the Heavenly Principle Sect's pursuers could arrive at any moment. He didn't have time to look at everything.

His goal was very clear.

Dragon Spine Fragment.

He strode to the third shelf. The scrolls on this shelf were noticeably newer than the other two. The seals on them were also brighter in color.

He flipped through the pages one by one.

Most of these are personnel changes within the cult or intelligence gatherings from various locations. They have nothing to do with the Dragonspine fragments.

Just as he was about to lose his patience, his fingertips touched a cold metal box.

This metal box stands out starkly against the surrounding wooden boxes.

The box was small, only about the size of a palm, and was made entirely of black iron. It had no lock, only a scorpion-shaped mark.

Zhou Yang held the box in his hand. It was quite heavy.

He tried to open the box.

The lid popped open with a "snap".

There was no paper or roll inside.

There was only a thin map, made of some kind of animal hide.

The way maps are drawn is very ancient, using mountains and rivers as references and marking them with strange symbols.

His gaze was drawn to a red circle in the center of the map.

The location circled in red is the valley where he is currently standing.

Next to the red circle, there is a small mark with a scorpion tail drawn on it, exactly the same as the design on the vice-leader's token.

It seems this is one of the secret strongholds known only to those at the vice-leader level.

Zhou Yang's gaze followed the route on the map as he began his search.

He quickly found another marker in the northwest corner of the map.

It was a vast area painted dark red. Two hastily written characters were on it.

"Blood River".

Next to the words "Blood River," there is an even smaller character written in blood-red ink, with sharp strokes, as if it had been forcibly pierced by something.

"north".

Blood River in the Northern Desert.

Zhou Yang's breathing suddenly became rapid.

The location of the next fragment!

He finally found it!

This map contains all the known clues to the Dragon Spine Fragments! And the Northern Desert Blood River is the next target.

He didn't have time to study other locations.

He had to get his hands on this intelligence immediately.

He couldn't take the map with him. Such an important item, if it went missing, would inevitably lead the Heavenly Principle Sect to suspect that the vice-leader's token had been stolen, thus blocking all clues and launching a thorough search.

He could only copy.

He patted himself down; he had no paper or pen.

He glanced at the dust on the ground.

I have a solution.

Zhou Yang tore off a corner of his shirt, the fabric still stained with his blood. He walked to the map and dipped the tip of his dagger into the still-wet blood on his arm.

Blood droplets fell onto the cloth and quickly spread.

He crouched down, laid the cloth on his knees, and began to carve on the cloth with the tip of his dagger.

His movements were steady and quick.

He didn't draw the complete map, only the key parts.

The route from the current valley to the Blood River in the Northern Desert, and several landmarks along the way that can serve as transit points.

The tip of the dagger grazed the fabric, making a soft "shh" sound. Blood seeped into the fabric, turning into dark red characters.

He finished in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

He carefully folded the cloth and tucked it into the innermost part of his body. Then, he stood up, closed the metal box, and put it back in its place.

He cannot leave any trace.

He blew out the tinderbox.

The stone chamber was instantly plunged into darkness.

He turned around and, relying on his memory, quickly walked out of the stone path.

It was already darker outside than when he came in.

The moon was obscured by dark clouds, and the valley was pitch black.

Zhou Yang did not linger.

He closed the hidden door and used his hands to cover the surrounding rubble and dirt back up, restoring it to its original state.

Having done all this, he immediately got up and walked towards the other side of the valley.

He did not take the original route.

He is going to the Northern Desert.

Now, immediately, right away.

The threat of the Starry Soul-Locking Array and the pursuit by the Heavenly Principle Sect became secondary. Only by obtaining more fragments and repairing the Dragon Spine could he truly take control of his own destiny.

Or rather, to take control of one's remaining lifespan.

His figure quickly disappeared into the night.

In the valley, only the sound of the wind remained, still telling the story of what had happened not long ago.

The stone slab, now covered again, lay quietly at the foot of the cliff, as if its existence had been unknown to anyone since the moment it appeared. It held a secret, a clue that could drive the entire martial arts world mad.

This clue was being carried by a wounded man towards the desolate northern desert.