Chapter 598: Spirit Palace Investigation

Tian Sang Ling Gong.

The vast blue sky, fluffy white clouds, the serene E Lake, and people strolling about created a picture of perfect tranquility.

"Haha, hee hee hee..."

A sudden burst of laughter shattered this idyllic scene.

Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi floated along the shore of E Lake, walking side by side and occasionally bursting into fits of laughter.

Every time they laughed, the people around them also clutched their stomachs in amusement.

But while Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi laughed freely, those around them struggled to hold back, their faces turning red from the effort.

In the distance, the students of Ling Gong couldn’t take it anymore. After a few hasty greetings of “Hello, Dean!” and “Hello, Elder Qiao!”, they scattered and vanished from sight.

“They’ve all cleared out. Now it’s peaceful again.”

Qiao Qianzhi stopped at the white jade railing, resting one hand on it as he gazed at the plump geese playing in the water, his mind wandering to images of various dishes.

“How long have they been in there?”

As Ye Xiaotian asked, he landed steadily on the ground and looked straight ahead.

But his view was blocked by the white jade railing, so he tiptoed for a better look.

It was no use.

He floated back into the air again.

“Probably about half a month or so.”

Qiao Qianzhi tapped his fingers on the railing and said, “Including the time Old Xiao spent sending those kids over and then bringing them back, plus not knowing exactly when they’ll come out, I’d say another week or two should do it.”

“I think it’s sooner than that.”

Ye Xiaotian disagreed.

“How so?”

Qiao Qianzhi looked up at him.

“See for yourself.”

With a wave of his hand, Ye Xiaotian made the reflection of the calm sky above E Lake disappear, replaced by ripples spreading from falling raindrops.

“Rain?”

Qiao Qianzhi’s eyes flickered as he glanced up at the sky.

It was clear and boundless, with lazy white clouds drifting by.

Where was any rain?

“Yes, it’s rain.”

Ye Xiaotian nodded firmly. “This is rain from inside the Eight Palaces. It only falls within that area and doesn’t affect anywhere else, no matter how close.”

“Artificial rain…”

Qiao Qianzhi sensed something was off. “Who could it be?”

“I’m not sure.”

Ye Xiaotian shook his head, tilting his face upward. “There are too many water-attribute users in the world. At this level, it’s hard to tell who it is. But the problem is already serious.”

“How so?”

Qiao Qianzhi asked again.

What was so serious about a little rain?

“Look again.”

Ye Xiaotian swept his hand, and the image in E Lake changed once more.

This time, it showed a middle-aged man in a light blue robe, with an imposing presence, flowing black hair, and a blue-and-white band tied around his forehead.

A sword with a gold-dust hue was strapped to his back, giving him the air of an exiled immortal—elegant, otherworldly, and standing out among the crowd in white robes.

“This is…”

Qiao Qianzhi’s gaze didn’t linger on the man but shifted to the unassuming group of white-robed figures behind him.

“White Robes!”

Qiao Qianzhi exclaimed in surprise.

How could one person’s presence overshadow the elite of Sheng Shen Dian Tang so completely?

“He…”

Before he could finish, the man in the image seemed to sense something and turned his head.

Boom!

Massive waves surged on E Lake as if a sword aura had struck, startling the flock of geese. They flapped their stubby wet wings, honking chaotically as they flew off.

Whoosh!

Ye Xiaotian quickly retracted the image with a wave of his hand.

Turning back, his face was grave.

“Gou Wuyue?”

Qiao Qianzhi asked.

“Gou Wuyue.”

Ye Xiaotian confirmed.

The two fell silent.

Ripples spread across the lake, one after another, scattering clouds and fracturing the sky’s reflection.

White-bellied spirit fish slowly floated to the surface, carried away and pulled back by the lake’s waves…

“Something’s wrong with Bai Ku.”

After a long pause, Qiao Qianzhi finally spoke.

“Yes.”

Ye Xiaotian’s expression was extremely serious. “The communication jade I refined for those inner academy kids—I can’t sense it at all anymore.”

“Even if they were in Bai Ku and ran into danger, I could still pull them out directly.”

“But now, there’s not a single sign of activity, as if…”

“Everyone’s been completely sealed off!”

“What do you mean?”

Qiao Qianzhi knew about Ye Xiaotian’s abilities.

Space-attribute users were rare across the entire continent.

Even though Ye Xiaotian was only at the Wang Zuo level, his attribute’s unpredictability surpassed most Zhan Dao experts.

To silently block Ye Xiaotian’s connection to the jade was no small feat.

“Unless the inner academy’s Bai Ku trainees all died at the same time, or they all entered some forbidden zone and lost contact?”

Qiao Qianzhi speculated.

“It’s possible.”

Ye Xiaotian didn’t confirm or deny it, offering his own view. “But the chances are slim. I’m more inclined to think that the Bai Ku trainees have already left the Bai Ku space.”

“Then, under Gou Wuyue’s watch, no one can send any messages out.”

“That’s more likely!”

Qiao Qianzhi’s gaze turned serious. “That makes sense, but why would Sheng Shen Dian Tang do this? Once people come out, shouldn’t they notify all the factions and Ling Gong to pick them up?”

“Theoretically, yes.”

Ye Xiaotian floated a bit higher, slowly rotating in the air.

“But if there’s an incident in Bai Ku, like some major suspects entering, then before things are settled, those trainees would all be under suspicion.”

“Of course, they couldn’t send messages out then.”

“And Gou Wuyue leading so many White Robes to Bai Ku—we all thought it was just to help seal the ghost beasts, but now that seems ridiculous.”

Ye Xiaotian clasped his hands behind his back, pondering for a moment, his eyes showing hesitation as he spoke slowly:

“If they were chasing the storyteller from Zhong Yu and lost the trail midway, then Gou Wuyue’s target is probably still the Sheng Nu.”

“So, it’s possible the storyteller entered Bai Ku, along with the Sheng Nu, and likely quite a few others.”

“That would explain why Gou Wuyue alone wasn’t enough and needed reinforcements.”

“Reinforcements?”

Qiao Qianzhi was stunned.

“Yes.”

Ye Xiaotian chuckled lightly.

“Otherwise, why would I show you that rain?”

“Does that place in the Eight Palaces even get rain?”

He pointed to E Lake. “I’ve had this image linked to my spiritual site, and it suddenly changed a couple of days ago. I knew something was off.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

Qiao Qianzhi urged, “Those are just kids! We need to go find them!”

“Wait a bit longer.”

Ye Xiaotian remained unmoved, hands clasped behind his back, his gaze fixed in another direction.

Qiao Qianzhi followed his line of sight.

They didn’t have to wait long.

After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, a young man came running toward them, panting heavily, his chest bare and a carefree grin on his face.

He had a blade of grass clamped between his teeth.

In one breath, he dashed from afar right up to the two of them.

“Dean, Elder Qiao… Whew!” He leaned on his knees, gasping for air.

“Zhao Xidong?”

Qiao Qianzhi raised an eyebrow. “You’re back?”

Ever since that last assignment in the small thatched hut, Zhao Xidong had been rushing around, gathering evidence from all over.

They hadn’t seen him in quite some time.

And now he was back…

“Have you collected everything?”

Ye Xiaotian asked.

“Gulp.”

Zhao Xidong swallowed hard, his throat dry as he opened his mouth, but no words came out at first.

Qiao Qianzhi tossed him a water flask. Zhao Xidong caught it and took a few big gulps, then sighed in relief. “I’ve got it all, but the intel is explosive. You two better brace yourselves.”

Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi’s expressions tightened, their hearts racing.

They knew Zhao Xidong’s trip would bring something big.

And if it matched their earlier suspicions, then that old Sang guy…

“This, this, and this…”

Without further ado, Zhao Xidong waved his hand, and a dozen jade slips appeared in the air.

He puffed out his cheeks to steady his breath, then said, “These are all the materials I found about the former vice dean’s travels. I’ve sorted them out—you can take a look.”

“Then, let me summarize first.”

Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi each picked up a jade slip, pausing with their hands in mid-air as they turned their attention to him.

Zhao Xidong felt the pressure mounting. He shook his head to clear it, then began:

“Sixteen years ago, Gou Wuyue led a group of White Robes to raid a massive dark organization base in Zhong Yu. We don’t know the exact organization or who they fought, but from the intel I gathered, Gou Wuyue was injured in that battle.”

“The leader of that base seemed to be a fire-attribute user, suspected to have Jin Zhao Zhi Li, known as Wu Xiu. If I’m not wrong, he was the second-in-command of the Sheng Nu.”

The jade slip in Ye Xiaotian’s hand cracked under his grip.

He paused, then pressed the jade slip to his forehead.

After a quick scan with his spiritual sense, the jade slip shattered into dust with a snap.

Qiao Qianzhi’s pupils trembled.

He hadn’t expected the first piece of intel to be so shocking. He carefully set his jade slip down and said, “Go on.”

“Mm.”

Zhao Xidong glanced nervously at the dean’s face but didn’t dare look further, continuing on his own: “At the same time, Ling Gong here was still in its early stages, and the vice dean was the first dean.”

“Theoretically, he wouldn’t have had much time to leave Ling Gong.”

“I didn’t think about it at first, but later when I looked into it, in the months around that time, the vice dean was away from Ling Gong multiple times.”

“And right around when Gou Wuyue raided the Sheng Nu base in Zhong Yu, he was gone for a long stretch.”

“You two should know this better—back then, Ling Gong’s approval process was strict, with all sorts of procedures, so the dean at the time—the vice dean—had to go to Sheng Shen Dian Tang headquarters in person.”

“And that headquarters is in Zhong Yu.”

Zhao Xidong stopped there.

He looked up to see the two men’s faces unchanged, calm as ever, and couldn’t help but think they had incredible composure.

They’d only flinched for a split second…

“Go on.”

“Uh-huh.”

Zhao Xidong didn’t add his own speculation.

He knew his job was just to lay out the intel he’d gathered.

“After that period, the vice dean’s temperament… well, how to put it—he was already pretty hot-tempered… cough, I’ll just say it straight, okay?”

“Go ahead.”

Ye Xiaotian didn’t mind. Right now, he was only focused on what the old Sang had been up to all those years.

“Mm-hmm.”

Zhao Xidong went on: “He was always pretty hot-tempered, but not to the point of breaking his own rules.”

“But from that time onward, there was a clear change in the vice dean’s temper.”

“The most obvious sign was him breaking Ling Gong’s rules multiple times and ignoring Sheng Shen Dian Tang’s notices.”

“And finally, after injuring an unruly inner academy disciple…”

Zhao Xidong winced a bit as he said it, but pressed on: “He became the vice dean for real.”

“Mm.”

Ye Xiaotian nodded impassively.

He was there for all of that—just a quick recollection pieced it together.

“Then what?”

Qiao Qianzhi asked.

Zhao Xidong said, “After becoming vice dean, he focused mostly on alchemy. During that time, he built up Ling Gong’s Spirit Medicine Pavilion really well and got unanimous praise from the elders.”

“But from what I investigated, in that long stretch, the failed pills in the Spirit Medicine Pavilion were mostly high-grade healing medicines, and nearly all of them were top quality!”

“The vice dean even took on the title of vice president of the Tian Sang City Alchemists Association and worked with Shi Ti on refining pills multiple times.”

“The most direct results were perfecting the ‘Fu Qu Dan’ and developing the healing pill most revered by fire-attribute spirit refiners—the Chai Yan Dan.”

Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi both nodded.

They knew about Chai Yan Dan—it was a sixth-grade healing pill, at the master level.

It wasn’t expensive.

But even for fire-attribute spirit refiners at the peak of Wang Zuo, it had excellent healing effects and great value for the price.

They remembered that Tian Sang Ling Gong had solved its early funding issues through the release of this pill and its collaboration with the Alchemists Association, raking in huge profits.

But what did a sixth-grade pill prove?

Zhao Xidong knew what they were thinking and said, “The evolved version of Chai Yan Dan is the third-grade ‘Zhao Yang Dan’.”

“Zhao Yang Dan is rare because no one knows its formula.”

“But I used the vice dean’s name to talk to President Shi Ti, and with some subtle probing, he indirectly admitted it.”

“The main ingredient in Zhao Yang Dan includes a rare substance found nowhere else—Jin Zhao Liquid!”

Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi froze.

Jin Zhao Liquid was something produced only in the brains of the white skeletons unique to Bai Ku.

And Bai Ku had only opened a few years ago.

The timing of Zhao Yang Dan’s appearance was way too early.

That didn’t add up at all!

Zhao Xidong took a deep breath and said slowly, word by word: “Jin Zhao Prison Sea.”

Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi stiffened.

“Dean, Elder Qiao, you should know.”

“The vice dean grew because of a word from his master in Sheng Gong and his own venture into Jin Zhao Prison Sea.”

“And from what I investigated, Bai Ku is basically a weakened version of Jin Zhao Prison Sea.”

Zhao Xidong clicked his tongue, still shaken by the shocking materials he’d first seen. After a moment, he said, “I won’t go into details—it’s all carved into the jade slips. You can check it later.”

“In short, after the battle between Zhong Yu’s Sheng Nu second-in-command Wu Xiu and Gou Wuyue, it was like a butterfly effect. All the way in Dong Yu’s small Tian Sang Ling Gong, the vice dean started advancing his healing pills.”

“But that still doesn’t prove anything.”

“Except for one more thing…”

Zhao Xidong watched their reactions carefully and said cautiously, “You’ve probably heard about Gou Wuyue being attacked in Qing Long County a while back, right?”

“Mm.”

Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi responded together.

Qing Long County was far away, and they hadn’t paid much attention, so they didn’t know the details.

But now that Zhao Xidong brought it up…

The implications were huge.

“Is there a connection?”

Qiao Qianzhi asked eagerly.

“Yes, a big one!”

Zhao Xidong took another swig of water and said, “The one who attacked Gou Wuyue in Qing Long County had an accomplice providing support.”

“The latter we’ll set aside, but the attacker showed incredibly strong fire-attribute abilities.”

“I went to the scene myself. The traces were wiped clean, but that Jin Zhao scent—I experienced it deeply back in the inner academy, and it doesn’t fade.”

“—It’s like an enhanced version of the vice dean!”

Zhao Xidong’s voice was firm: “Not many in the world have Jin Zhao Zhi Li, and Xu Xiao Shou couldn’t reach that level in Bai Ku.”

“The vice dean isn’t that strong either.”

“So, only one person left—Sheng Gong’s Jin Zhao Ban Sheng, the vice dean’s master!”

Ye Xiaotian and Qiao Qianzhi were both stunned.

“You’re kidding!”

Qiao Qianzhi blurted out, “Jin Zhao Ban Sheng attacking Gou Wuyue? What nonsense is that?”

Zhao Xidong wiped the spit from his face with a painful expression and sighed, “I know it’s impossible, so there’s only one conclusion.”

“The attacker is the one we all thought was just at Wang Zuo level, but who’s actually recovered to his former glory in Zhong Yu—the Tian Sang Ling Gong vice dean, the Sheng Nu’s second-in-command—Wu Xiu!”