Ancient Sage Mo Ling’s body froze on the spot as he swiftly rose into the air with his massive soul to assess the surroundings. However, the various buildings around the area were completely silent, and the formations in the area did not seem like they had been touched at all.
It was as if no one had been there in the first place.
Has he escaped?
Ancient Sage Mo Ling’s eyes narrowed menacingly as a frighteningly cold aura drifted from him.
As the strongest expert of the soul oracles, he possessed extraordinary cultivation. He had thought that he would be able to capture the other party easily, but who could have known that despite having drawn his soul out of his body, the other party would still manage to escape his sight?
This was as good as a crisp slap on his face!
There’s no way he could have gotten far away from here, Ancient Sage Mo Ling thought.
With a thought, he activated the formations all around Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace.
The other party might have managed to escape through the dimension rift, but with the immense pressure exerted from his soul energy earlier, there was no way that the other party would have been able to get too far. At the very least, he was definitely still in the palace!
Furthermore, based on his understanding of souls, the other party’s main body was certainly in the area. Otherwise, he would have detected the other party’s presence much earlier.
Huala!
Ancient Sage Mo Ling brought his soul back into his body before opening his tightly shut eyes once more.
“Just who in the world is he? His aura didn’t seem to have the slightest yin aura to it, and he was able to escape even under my pressure…”
He knew all of the living soul oracles in the world, and even Ancient Sage soul oracles would be unable to escape from him in such a manner. He could not believe that someone had actually managed to slip past him.
Ancient Sage Mo Ling pondered for a moment but was unable to come to a conclusion. Thus, he turned around and shouted, “Men!”
“Ancient Sage Mo Ling!” A black-armored middle-aged man walked out from the shadows.
“Have any suspicious individuals entered the palace recently?” Ancient Sage Mo Ling asked.
“Reporting to Ancient Sage Mo Ling, ever since Sovereign Chen Ling’s return, the palace has been completely sealed. Over the past month, the only ones who have been able to enter the palace are the appraisers. There is a total of 232 of them, and I haven’t allowed a single one of them to leave the premises yet!”
“Appraisers?” Ancient Sage Mo Ling harrumphed coldly. “That fellow has to be among them. Bring all of their information to me!”
“Yes!” The middle-aged man nodded.
Just as he was about to take his leave, Ancient Sage Mo Ling’s voice suddenly sounded once more. “Wait a moment. I’ll go with you. I shall investigate this matter personally and root out that fellow with my own hands!”
…
Returning into his body through his glabella, Zhang Xuan’s eyes shot open, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
That was a close call!
He did not think that he would encounter a soul oracle Ancient Sage. Due to the incredible sensitivity that soul oracles had toward pulsations of soul energy, the other party had noticed his presence in an instant.
It was fortunate that he had managed to exploit the other party’s flaws, or else he would have died before he even knew it.
It was no wonder Sovereign Chen Yong, Liu Yang, and the others said that Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace was fraught with danger. It seemed like he had really underestimated the forces that Sovereign Chen Ling had under his command.
Due to the elusive nature of soul oracles, they had an intrinsic advantage when it came to scouting ahead and escaping enemies. Nevertheless, that was not to say that their means were infallible.
Given that the elderly Ancient Sage has noticed my presence, it’s very likely that he’ll start investigating the appraisers. Should I play it safe and leave right away?
A conflicted look surfaced on Zhang Xuan’s face.
Since the only guests that Sovereign Chen Ling had invited in recent days were the appraisers, the chances of the intruder being one of the appraisers were extremely high. If Zhang Xuan was in the other party’s position, he would start investigating from the appraisers as well.
At this rate, it would not take long for the elderly Ancient Sage to get to him.
If he wanted to escape, he would have to quickly make up his mind.
Every second of delay meant a lower probability that he would be able to make a safe getaway.
But once I leave Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace, the chances of me being able to return to the area are near zero…
It had not been easy for Zhang Xuan to pass off as an appraiser to get in there; this was a rare chance for him to find the Blood Lake and raise his fighting prowess swiftly. He was reluctant to leave empty-handed!
“Appraisers, step out of your room and gather over!”
As Zhang Xuan was still hesitating over the matter, he suddenly heard a bellow outside. Following which, countless footsteps filled the air, and it seemed like a guard was stationed outside each of the room.
It’s already too late to escape now… Zhang Xuan heaved a deep sigh as he got to his feet.
The elderly Ancient Sage was far more efficient than he had expected. He had managed to put the clues together and determine the next course of action in just a few moments.
However, this did not necessarily spell the end.
Unlike ordinary soul oracles, Zhang Xuan’s soul was fully compatible with his physical body, making him appear no different from other Otherworldly Demons on the surface. Furthermore, his identity was clean. As such, the chances of the elderly Ancient Sage rooting him out were not high.
Walking out of the room, Zhang Xuan was welcomed by an army of cold-faced guards. One of them walked up to him and forcefully ordered him, “Get over here!”
With the escort of the guard, he was quickly taken to a hall that had soldiers standing at alert all around. The Sempiternal realm consummation middle-aged man and Ancient Sage Mo Ling were standing at the very center of the room, eyeing each and every one of the appraisers sharply.
Allowing a hint of confusion and apprehension to appear on his face, Zhang Xuan entered the hall behind the other appraisers.
As soon as he entered the room, he felt Ancient Sage Mo Ling’s piercing stare falling on him, seemingly attempting to see through his soul. In response to the piercing stare, he continued walking forward as if he had not noticed anything at all. A short moment later, the latter retracted his gaze.
In less than five minutes, all two hundred or so appraisers had been brought into the hall.
The Sempiternal realm consummation middle-aged man presented a scroll to Ancient Sage Mo Ling.
Ancient Sage Mo Ling swiftly scanned through the scroll with his Spiritual Perception, and it did not take him long to finish browsing through its contents.
“We have done a thorough background check on every single one of these appraisers before bringing them in. They are reputable individuals in the region that they reside in, and there’s nothing suspicious about their backgrounds. Also, we found no association between Sovereign Chen Yong and them. According to the intelligence that we have gathered so far, it doesn’t seem like any of them are soul oracles…” The middle-aged man quickly summarized the report for Ancient Sage Mo Ling.
“There are no soul oracles among them? Are you telling me that the fellow from earlier appeared out of nowhere?” Ancient Sage Mo Ling sneered coldly.
He knew just how secure the defenses of Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace were. Even Ancient Sages would not dream of being able to sneak into the palace without drawing anyone’s attention.
Over the past month, other than those appraisers, there was no one else who had entered Sovereign Chen Ling’s palace.
In other words, the soul oracle who had just escaped from him was definitely among the group of people before him.
The middle-aged man hurriedly clasped his fist and replied, “I apologize for my failure! It is possible that the culprit has concealed their identity as well!”
The two of them turned their gazes toward the appraisers before them once more.
There were confused and fearful looks on the faces of the appraisers. None of them seemed to have any idea why they had been summoned there in a hurry, and they seemed to be afraid that they had unwittingly done something that had incurred the wrath of Sovereign Chen Ling.
With a cold sneer, Ancient Sage Mo Ling spread his powerful soul energy across the area to enshroud all two hundred or so appraisers.
The next instant, Zhang Xuan felt as if his body had been shackled by an invisible rope. His zhenqi instinctively jolted in an attempt to retaliate against this aggression, but fortunately, he managed to suppress it in time.
Tzzzzzz!
Ancient Sage Mo Ling’s soul threads crept into his acupoints and traversed through his meridians, seemingly heading for his soul.
Zhang Xuan could tell that this was a technique that allowed one to discern the very essence of one’s soul. He knew that it would not cause him any harm, so he chose to remain still.
As someone who had comprehended Soul Quintessence and cultivated the Heaven’s Path Soul Art, he was capable of altering the aura of his soul at will. He knew that the other party had sensed his soul aura, so he had made sure to disguise it as soon as he returned to his accommodation. No matter how Ancient Sage Mo Ling searched, there was no way that he would find anything that would suggest that he was a soul oracle.
Just as he had expected, after circulating through his meridians, the soul thread was extracted from his body.
“Ancient Sage Mo Ling…” The middle-aged man looked over with a concerned look on his face, wanting to know the results of the other party’s inspection.
Ancient Sage Mo Ling replied with a shake of his head. There was a deep frown etched on his forehead, indicating his disbelief toward the results of his search.
He had thought that he would be able to root out the culprit swiftly through searching the souls of the appraisers. After all, there was a fundamental difference between the souls of ordinary cultivators and soul oracles! Who could have known that the results would be a negative for all of the appraisers!
Ancient Sage Mo Long closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. Soon, a thought emerged in his mind, and he opened his eyes once more. “Which appraisers arrived today?”
Gedeng!
Zhang Xuan’s heart skipped a beat.
