Chapter 914: The Lord of the Four Dragons, The Rift Moves Again

"Uh, so many problematic people."

At the control center in Yunjing World, Yu Zhiwen stared at all the Lingjing screens and identified many abnormal reactions among the trial participants.

The rift in Xukong Island had spewed out a large amount of treasures, attracting not only the Zhan Dao and Taixu stationed near Dongtian Wangcheng, but also the trial participants from the Yunlun Mountains.

Even though these treasures were intercepted by the Shengshen Hall side right away,

the process of the treasure eruption led some trial participants from the Yunlun Mountains to react excessively: they temporarily set aside the Jiulongmai dispute, chose to stay away from the battles, and began to observe.

Yu Zhiwen quickly realized that these people were likely worried that the Jiulongmai dispute would delay their chances of seizing the treasures.

In the end, since the treasures didn't scatter down,

they each decided to continue participating in the trial.

However, their initial choice to observe was problematic in itself.

Apart from the stowaways and those coveting the "Fengsheng Daogi," which normal trial participant would ignore their current affairs and abandon the trial process just because of the Xukong Island rift?

"Seventy-six of them— that's quite a lot!"

Yu Zhiwen tallied up these suspicious individuals.

From the start of the Wangcheng trial, a large batch of stowaways had already been caught.

Throughout the trial process, the enforcers had continued their operations.

Yet, up to this point, there were still seventy-six problematic trial participants who had remained hidden until now.

It had to be said, their ability to conceal themselves was impressive.

But that was probably as far as it went!

Yu Zhiwen organized the Lingjing screens of these people and sent them all to Rao Yaoyao.

Next, it was the enforcers' job to track them down one by one for interrogation and see if they could extract any information.

After finishing her duties,

Yu Zhiwen switched to the Lingjing screen for Xu Shao,

and watched it carefully.

This wasn't spying.

It was her task.

From the standpoint of the Shengshen Hall, Yu Zhiwen knew this battle was extremely important,

especially since the Yibu Shouzu had already perished,

so she naturally didn't dare show any favoritism or bend the rules.

Even though suspicions about Xu Shao being Xu Xiaoshou had been dismissed among the higher-ups in Hongyi,

Yu Zhiwen still trusted her instincts.

She always believed that no two people in the world could act so similarly.

Yet, since she had no evidence to suspect Xu Shao, she couldn't say much.

So, while monitoring Xu Shao, Yu Zhiwen was also trying to find some evidence to prove her capabilities.

But things didn't go as planned.

From the beginning of the trial, Xu Shao hadn't shown any flaws; he was perfect, just like a completely normal person.

Now, with the Xukong Island rift spewing treasures, logically, if he were Xu Xiaoshou, he should have coordinated with the actions on Xukong Island, right?

After all, Ba Zunan was on the inner island of Xukong Island.

All of this might have been his doing.

As a member of the Shengnu, Xu Xiaoshou should have his own hidden tasks to support the operations.

Yet, he didn't!

At this stage, after securing the fourth Longmai, Xu Shao and his group, including his guardians and the various team captains, were frantically assaulting the mountains.

It seemed that in Xu Shao's eyes, nothing in the world mattered more than the Jiulongmai dispute.

This was a normal reaction for a typical Lianling master.

But on Xu Shao, it left Yu Zhiwen baffled.

"He's so normal... and that's exactly what's not normal!"

"But using that as a reason to get the enforcers involved is impossible, especially since he still has the status of a Bansheng successor."

Yu Zhiwen's emotions were complex.

She felt relieved that she hadn't found any obvious evidence against Xu Shao, yet she also doubted herself, wondering, "This person clearly should have issues, so why can't I find any? Is it because I'm not capable enough?"

As the second on the Daobu Tianbang, Yu Zhiwen was very confident in her abilities.

When Rao Yaoyao assigned her the critical task of monitoring the Lingjing screens, others might have aimed just to avoid mistakes.

Yu Zhiwen had thought the same at first.

But after Yisi's death, she couldn't think that way anymore.

She was a Shengnv of the Shengshen Hall.

The Shengshen Hall had invested massive resources in nurturing talents, so how could they be satisfied if the people they trained only achieved the same results as average individuals?

It wasn't enough to just avoid errors; she had to achieve results!

That was the pressure Yu Zhiwen felt.

In the Shengshen Hall, the incompetent couldn't survive.

Especially in the competition among the Shengnv and Shenzi, it was survival of the fittest.

Yu Zhiwen didn't want to disappoint her master; she had to accomplish something.

Being mediocre would let down everyone who had placed such high expectations on her.

"It's so hard..."

Yu Zhiwen stared at the Lingjing screen, feeling exhausted.

She hadn't rested in a long time.

But as soon as she let her guard down, she immediately adjusted her mindset.

Yisi's death had taken an entire night, and even Rao Yaoyao hadn't found key evidence yet, which only proved how formidable the opponent was.

Difficulty was normal.

If it weren't difficult, that would be strange.

"I can't slack off; I have to keep watching!"

Yu Zhiwen stared at Xu Shao on the Lingjing screen for a long time, and suddenly, a flash of insight made her realize her earlier speculation might be correct.

"He's too normal."

"Normal to the point where he doesn't 'seem' like Xu Shao, but 'is' the real Xu Shao, completely losing the behavioral style of Xu Xiaoshou."

"If Xu Xiaoshou were truly focusing on the Jiulongmai dispute, even to clear his suspicion of killing Yisi, he wouldn't have enough time for other Shengnu operations, so this just doesn't make sense."

Yu Zhiwen pondered.

She was thinking about what she would do if she were Xu Xiaoshou, as a member of the Shengnu who had participated in the killing of Yisi.

All these guesses were based on the unfounded premise that "Xu Shao is Xu Xiaoshou."

But Yu Zhiwen wouldn't dismiss this premise outright; she had worked with Xu Xiaoshou before and knew how clever he was.

To reason about Xu Xiaoshou, she couldn't start with normal thinking.

She had to match his wild imagination and the way his seemingly absurd actions hid real secrets.

"If I were Xu Xiaoshou..."

"Back in Dongtian Wangcheng, I could have used Xu Shao's identity to hide myself, and now I could pull another switch, swapping identities again and hiding behind Xu Shao..."

"Switch with someone else?"

Yu Zhiwen furrowed her brow, hesitating as she thought. Gradually, her eyes flashed with incredulity.

She didn't immediately deny it but followed her suspicion, pulling up the screens of everyone around Xu Shao and observing them carefully, leaving no one out.

Yet, for anyone of the same age, gender, cultivation level, and similar appearance who could potentially switch places...

She thoroughly examined every expert whose temperament and abilities might match enough to swap with Xu Shao, going over them more than once, but still found no flaws.

"It should be impossible."

"Xu Xiaoshou can turn into others—he's skilled enough—but if that's the case, who would he use to impersonate Xu Shao?"

"After all, Xu Shao's abilities, cultivation, and intellect are all top-notch; not just anyone can pull off impersonating him..."

Yu Zhiwen's head throbbed with pain.

She felt like she was on the verge of grasping something,

but Xu Xiaoshou always seemed destined to slip away from her, vanishing into the vast sea of people without a trace.

Yu Zhiwen hugged her knees, her eyes filled with confusion, her spirits a bit downcast.

She wondered if, back at Bai Ku, if she had been a little more resolute, a little more sincere, and directly presented all the information from the Shengshen Hall about their interest in him, forcing the olive branch into his hands,

would the outcome be different now?

Yu Zhiwen zoned out.

She thought about all the past events and Xu Xiaoshou's history.

From the beginning, Xu Xiaoshou had been firmly grasped by Shengnu Wuxiu, and she had appeared too late in his life, like a fleeting passerby, seemingly fated to be... connected by fate but not destined to be together?

At that thought, Yu Zhiwen lowered her head, hugging her knees and curling up like a little cat, letting out a long sigh.

"It's really so hard..."

On the fourth Longmai,

"Move out."

Gu Yan.