The terrain inside the valley was more complex than expected. The ground wasn’t flat, but was instead covered in a crisscrossing network of fissures of varying depths. Some of these fissures were several meters wide and seemed bottomless, emitting a faint, dark red glow and an even thicker stench of sulfur.

Some gnarled, low-lying plants resembling scorched black coral grew sparsely along the edges of the fissures. Their leaves were curled, yet they exuded a tenacious Life Force.

Murphy stopped behind a weathered boulder at the valley’s entrance.

He calmed his Qi, which was still fluctuating slightly after the fierce battle.

His Spiritual Power extended outward from his body like invisible tentacles, cautiously probing his surroundings.

The surroundings were dead silent, save for the faint, distant whine of hot wind blowing through crevices in the rock.

The presence of monsters was indeed sparse. Only in the far distance could he occasionally detect the faint fluctuations of one or two small Scorching Beasts, and they were all rapidly moving away. It seemed this area was not their active territory.

This matched his earlier assessment.

This valley was barren of energy and the environment was harsh. Even the native monsters of the Deep Red Wilderness rarely set foot here, making it a perfect place to temporarily hide, gather his thoughts, and plan his next move.

He took out the simple map and intelligence summary that had been distributed before their departure.

The map was extremely crude, marking only their approximate entry point and the directions of a few "topographical anomalies" where the anchor points might be, according to conjectures from the Church Court’s fragmented scrolls. Distance, specific paths, and environmental features were all missing. It was little better than groping in the dark.

The intelligence summary, on the other hand, repeatedly emphasized that an anchor point might emit "abnormal, stable Energy Fluctuations that are out of place in the surrounding chaotic environment," and that it might be "accompanied by spatial distortions or the residue of ancient runes."

Murphy’s gaze swept over the few blurry marks on the map before he looked up at the boundless, treacherous wasteland beyond the valley.

Splitting up to escape had been a last resort, but it also brought a certain degree of operational freedom.

The Temple Knight Commander’s final order was: "Scatter in directions with few monsters, cover your tracks, and await an opportunity to execute the clearance mission."

This meant that as long as the final goal was to destroy the anchor points, how to act was left to each Executor’s own discretion.

This way, he could finally unleash his full strength.

It was far more convenient than sticking with those Great Knights, which would have required silencing them afterward.

’But even so, I can’t just rush in blindly,’ Murphy mused. ’This world is hostile to creatures from the Main World, and its energy environment is completely different. Prolonged exposure will continuously erode and drain my Qi. Not to mention, if some aberrant monster appears, something could go wrong even with my current strength. I have to find a relatively safe path and locate the target as quickly as possible.’

He put the map away, his gaze turning to the depths of the valley.

The crisscrossing fissures seemed dangerous, but they might also provide natural, hidden passages. Moreover, the faint fluctuations emanating from the depths of some fissures might just hide the very traces that were "out of place in the chaotic environment."

He decided to start by cautiously scouting along the edge of a relatively wide fissure.

This fissure stretched diagonally, pointing in the general direction of the nearest "topographical anomaly" marked on the map.

With a flicker of movement, Murphy slipped silently into the valley, hugging the jagged rocks at the fissure’s edge as he advanced.

His steps were feather-light, his breathing long and shallow. With his Qi tightly suppressed and aided by [Thousand-Faced Illusion] and the [Shadow Ring], he practically melted into his surroundings.

The fissure below was bottomless, its dark red glow like the embers of Hell. Occasionally, small bubbles would float up from the depths, only to pop and vanish instantly.

Shimmering waves of heat rose up, distorting his vision.

Murphy’s Spiritual Power acted like a radar, sensing the terrain, Energy Fluctuations, and any potential hidden dangers for dozens of meters ahead.

After advancing about five hundred meters, the fissure began to narrow.

Just as he reached a recess at a bend in the fissure, Murphy’s Spiritual Power detected a slight anomaly.

It wasn’t the aura of a monster. Instead, it was an extremely faint yet abnormally "stable" energy residue, completely different from the turbulent and chaotic energy that was omnipresent in the Deep Red Wilderness.

He stopped at once, pressing himself flat against the rock wall and focusing his perception.

The residue was so faint it was almost drowned out by the ambient energy; if not for his keen perception, he never would have noticed it.

It clung to a relatively smooth, concave section of the rock wall, appearing as an extremely faint silver-gray. It carried a trace of coldness, of order, and even a somewhat sacred resonance. Though so faint it had almost dissipated, its very essence was utterly out of place in the Deep Red Wilderness.

’What is this...’ Murphy wondered.

’The Church Court’s intelligence mentioned "the residue of ancient runes."’

’Could an ancestor from the Church Court, or some other being from the Main World, have passed through here and left a trace?’

He approached cautiously, sending out a fine wisp of Qi to gently touch the silver-gray residue as if with a probe.

HUMMM!

An extremely faint resonance traveled back through the link of Qi. It was tinged with a divine aura that shared the same origin as the power of Saint Cyril Cardinal and the Valkendu Metropolitan Bishop, yet it was far more ancient and vast.

The being who left this trace had continued deeper, following this very fissure.

Murphy mulled it over for a moment.

’Could the anchor point be there?’

’Perhaps not, but it’s a far more valuable lead than exploring blindly.’

After a moment’s thought, he cast aside his hesitation and decided to follow this minuscule clue deeper.