Chapter Eighteen: Soul Mark

Su Yi carefully examined the box in his hand. It wasn't large, but it felt rather heavy, likely because it was made from the uncommon, deep-brown mysticwood. Its appearance was simple and unadorned, with no carvings or decorative patterns—just an ordinary box, or so Su Yi had thought at first. Later, he learned there was more to it: this mysticwood chest could store herbs and other perishable items, preserving them for a remarkably long time without spoiling.

In some ways, this function rivaled that of a storage ring—though its capacity was smaller, it was far more affordable. After all, storage rings, which could cost tens of thousands of gold coins, were a luxury few could afford.

“Good thing I grabbed this when I negotiated my payment,” Su Yi muttered as he opened the mysticwood chest, placing the herbs inside. “I’ve heard it also blocks the scent of herbs. That’s not bad—just in case the Lie family has any strange tricks up their sleeve.”

The thought made his heart tremble. He suddenly recalled the mysterious black-robed figure’s mention of a soul mark. From what that man had said, if an item was marked with such an imprint, it could be tracked and found through the soul mark.

It was unlikely these herbs bore such a mark, but his storage card—which, like a storage ring, was an exceptional item—was quite possibly imprinted.

Both storage rings and storage cards were precious personal belongings, and thus prone to soul marks for security. The alchemists who crafted them had devoted a great deal of ingenuity to this feature. After all, leaving a soul mark wasn’t easy for just anyone—without sufficient power, or experience, it was a daunting task.

After storing the herbs, Su Yi turned his attention to the storage card. He picked it up and noticed, in the lower right corner, a “1” followed by five zeros.

A hundred thousand gold coins!

Su Yi drew a deep breath. To the Lie family, this might not be a vast sum, but to him, it was a fortune! The herbs he’d just stored were worth even more, but those were not spendable coin, while the golden card before him held a ready hundred thousand.

In the more than three years since he’d come here, all he’d managed to earn was barely ten thousand gold coins. Now, suddenly, he possessed ten times that amount.

If nothing changed, this was the equivalent of thirty years’ wages for him.

Su Yi shook his head and sighed. For great families, making money was indeed easy—far easier than a guard’s hard labor. After this brief moment of envy, he gripped the storage card tightly, his expression growing serious. The most pressing matter was to erase any possible soul mark from the card, but he had no experience with such things. Success was far from certain.

He focused his mind, using his extraordinary soul-sensing ability to scan the card. Almost immediately, he felt his soul power hesitate as it passed through the card, then, as if drawn by an unseen force, cling gently to a spot.

So there was a trick to it after all, Su Yi thought to himself. He’d used his soul sense to probe many things before, but never encountered this phenomenon. It was said that storage rings and cards didn’t have this ability when they first appeared, but after improvements, they became highly sensitive to soul force, making the marking process much easier.

Su Yi increased his soul power, attempting to penetrate the card, but encountered a foreign soul force resisting him. Yet compared to his own, it was feeble—if his strength was a surging sea, the opposing force was a lone boat tossed in a storm.

As he thought, setting a soul mark was no simple feat. Without true mastery in this field, even with the card’s properties, the mark wouldn’t be very strong.

Gathering his focus, Su Yi poured all his soul power into the card. The resistance vanished, the mark dissolving instantly.

Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Su Yi placed the card in the mysticwood chest, closed the lid, and shuddered at the thought of what had nearly happened. If he hadn’t been cautious, if the Lie family truly could have tracked him, he would have been as good as dead.

On this continent, power was everything. The Lie family had it; he did not. If they said he was guilty, then he was. If they wanted him dead, he had no recourse—he could not resist.

But if one possessed overwhelming strength, even taking from the Lie family in broad daylight, who would dare stop them?

Take, for example, the mysterious expert who had robbed the Lie family. Perhaps they would use other means to save face, but would they dare move against someone so powerful?

The answer was no. Though the Lie family suffered a heavy loss, their foundation remained. To challenge that mysterious figure would be to court destruction, possibly erasing the Lie family from Changling City forever.

Su Yi sighed, a bitter smile on his lips. The might of an Earth-ranked cultivator was truly fearsome—even after such a loss, the Lie family did not dare act rashly.

Yet now all this trouble had fallen on his own head. He wasn’t even a Yellow-ranked cultivator, and the mysterious expert was unlikely to protect him. Keeping these things here was a temporary solution at best.

With these thoughts, Su Yi frowned slightly.

The robbery had happened just last night, and today the stolen goods were in his room. The timing was far too close. There were only two possible windows when the loot could have been placed here: either while he slept, or during the brief period when he had gone out.

If it happened during the day, that was one thing—but if it was at night… The thought sent a chill through him, his hands and feet growing numb with cold sweat.

Even in sleep, his years of combat experience and keen soul sense made him sensitive to changes in his environment. Yet someone had managed to enter silently, place a pile of herbs in his wardrobe, and leave without a trace.

It was terrifying. Su Yi wiped the sweat from his palms. He’d heard that the culprit was likely an Earth-ranked cultivator—a level of strength he could only look up to in the past. No doubt, only someone of such power could account for what had happened to him.

To think he’d become entangled with such a figure… Su Yi gave a wry smile, his spirits dampened. With his current abilities, reaching such a height was a fantasy.

He shook his head, forcing the thought aside. Glancing around his room, he finally moved the bed aside, slid the mysticwood chest with the herbs and card into the gap, and pushed the bed back into place. Satisfied, he let out a long breath, then collapsed onto the bed, unwilling to move again.

“So much happened today,” he murmured, shifting into the most comfortable position he could find. It was true—he had awoken to news of the Lie family’s robbery, then encountered the mysterious black-robed man offering a high-level Mystic combat technique at auction.

After witnessing the fierce bidding, he returned home only to discover he’d been poisoned. Yet, this misfortune proved a blessing in disguise—not only did he overcome the crisis, but he broke through the bottleneck to the seventh stage, a significant hurdle. Elated, he then found the stolen goods in his possession.

Such a whirlwind of events had left him physically and mentally exhausted. His eyes felt as heavy as lead. In his drowsiness, he vaguely recalled the black-robed man—his strength, his mysterious movements. Could he be the one who robbed the Lie family?

Had he attacked Su Yi to keep him silent? After all, the dead keep secrets best…

But Su Yi had only met him today. When had he begun watching Su Yi’s house?

His thoughts faded as sleep overtook him…

Martial Peak, Chapter 18: Soul Mark—End of update.