Reverse Tracking Art

"You’ve always been thick as thieves with Sean Shaw! I only used you to spy on his movements—and it actually worked!" Henry Xiao raised an eyebrow at Adrian, radiating pure 'Come at me, bro' energy.

Adrian glared at him furiously, but instead of throwing a punch, he suddenly lunged at Brandon Xiao, crying out, "First Prince! I’m not a criminal, so why slap a surveillance talisman on me? Aren’t you going to say something about this?"

Brandon Xiao frowned and turned to Henry Xiao. This was definitely out of line.

But... he knew his fourth brother well. Henry was fundamentally a good guy—no real malice in him.

Adrian, seeing the First Prince stay silent, grabbed Henry Xiao again. "He put a surveillance charm on me—if it was just to monitor Fifth Highness, fine! But he obviously did it to frame me! I say he’s the real thief here!"

"Who’s framing you?" Henry Xiao snapped, annoyed at being grabbed. "What’s it to you? Nobody said you did anything!"

"If you’re not framing me, then you’re framing Baxa?" Adrian yanked Henry’s collar even harder.

"Exactly! Anyway, it’s none of your business! Stop making a scene!" Henry Xiao snapped, thoroughly irritated.

Adrian finally let go and turned to Brandon Xiao. "First Prince, did you hear that? He said 'Exactly!' He’s framing Baxa and Fifth Highness, so he’s the real thief here."

"You—you’re twisting my words!" Henry Xiao’s eyes widened. "I meant Baxa stole it, not you!"

"You just admitted it! I asked if you were framing Baxa, and you said 'Exactly!' Now you want to change your story?"

"I—"

"Enough!" Brandon Xiao cut off their bickering and turned to Lily Bai. "Lily, you claim you can prove Baxa didn’t steal the Thunder-Heaven Void-Breaking Chain just because of the talisman in Adrian’s body? That doesn’t seem like solid evidence."

"That’s just the first part," Lily replied. "The real key is the second point—I can actually find out where the chain is."

"Oh?" Brandon Xiao was puzzled. "How?"

"Reverse Tracking Art," Lily said. "As you all know, us Rune Masters can track a person by using objects they’ve touched. Now, I can flip that logic—by using a person, I’ll track down the object instead."

Brandon Xiao was skeptical. "I’ve never heard of any Reverse Tracking Art. Has anyone here?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Lily asked, "Does anyone here actually know the real principle behind tracking arts?"

Most people shook their heads, indicating they had no idea.

To most of them, this stuff was still shrouded in mystery.

But apparently, a few people did know.

Gavin Yuan spoke up, "From what I know, tracking arts use a person’s frequently used items, but the most effective method is to use things that fall off the body—like hair or scales."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Gavin continued, "It sounds mysterious, but honestly, it’s pretty similar to bloodline tracking arts. You use something from the person to trace back to their actual body."

The River Drake Lord asked, "But hair and scales make sense—how do everyday items count as part of a person?"

Gavin explained, "Why use everyday items? Because things you use often pick up your sweat, skin flakes, and all sorts of microscopic stuff you can’t even see. It’s basically the same principle."

The gods all had a sudden moment of clarity.

Lily smiled. "I hear the River Drake Young Lord has a Rune Master as his servant. No wonder he’s so well-informed."