Yin Yang Soul Searcher

Is there no way to continue the investigation? Should I ask the Imperial Advisor to perform a soul search on Yang Yongyuan?

The deputy hall master couldn't help but think to himself, "If that's the case, even if we solve the problem, I'm unlikely to give him the Breakthrough Pill."

"Vice Hall Master, the murderer who killed Yang Yongyuan has been identified."

The deputy hall master nodded indifferently, having given up hope on him.

"What?" The deputy hall master froze, momentarily stunned, wondering if he had misheard. "What did you say?"

"Reporting to the Vice Hall Master, the murderer has been brought to justice." After saying this, Li Zhengshan straightened his slightly bowed back.

"Li Zhengshan, don't talk nonsense. You think you can find out everything in just one day?" Scarface Hall Master was the first to question.

The leader of the Bone and Muscle Hall nodded in agreement, clearly not believing that the Zhengshan Hall, with its small number of men, could bring the murderer to justice in just one day. It's a record-breaking achievement, and it's only been one day!

Master Shimizu had a thoughtful expression on his face, clearly starting to have wicked thoughts.

The deputy hall master regained his composure: "Tell me about it."

Li Zhengshan began to recount the entire case, focusing on how Bai Jueming started the investigation and how he analyzed the direction of the investigation based on the existing conditions. He further deduced from Cheng Yanbing's crafting of magical artifacts and the people queuing to buy medicine that the demon race was harboring a secret conspiracy!

Finally, he revealed the contents of his soul-searching of the lotus pearl and asked his colleagues to analyze whether there were any omissions.

However, his colleagues were clearly not focused on this. In the end, Li Zhengshan placed the scroll on the deputy hall master's table with both hands.

The deputy hall master picked up the scroll and looked at the lifelike images of the two demons on it. A frown and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face behind the mask.

When Master Qingshui heard about Bai Jueming's role, his eyes suddenly lit up. "This is a real talent! Li Zhengshan, if you won't give him to me, then I'll have to find a way myself. We must poach this outstanding talent from Zhengshan Hall!"

The head of the Bone and Muscle Hall was momentarily stunned. The case had been solved in just one day, without any help from his colleagues? His proud 95% case-solving rate seemed utterly worthless!

After injuring the Imperial Preceptor, the demon race infiltrated the capital. What conspiracy are they plotting now? The Vice Hall Master secretly analyzed in his heart. Just two days ago, Li Zhengshan had mentioned the miasma to him; it seemed it was time to send someone to investigate.

Thinking of this, the deputy hall master said, "Hall Master Qingshui, have your people investigate the Tuyun Mountains. Since the demon race uses the miasma there to refine pills, their purpose cannot be simply to kill Yang Yongyuan. There might be other clues."

"Qingshui Hall obeys the order," said the head of Qingshui Hall, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

However, since the demon race has already been exposed in this matter, it's unlikely they'll find any clues in the mountains. The Vice Hall Master thought to himself. But even without clues, an investigation is still necessary to deter the demon race and make them behave themselves. This is the capital, not their great demon kingdom!

"Meridians Hall and Scarface Hall, have your men cooperate with Zhengshan Hall to strengthen patrols in the capital these next few days. It would be best if you could find the demons!" Despite saying this, the deputy hall master knew in his heart that capturing the demons was no easy task; it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

The three of them went ahead to accept the order.

Finally, the deputy hall master picked up the scroll on the table. In the scroll, the man was eerily green, and the woman was alluring and seductive!

The deputy hall master closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then quickly realized the identities of the two demons and spoke.

"The Great Demon King has six powerful demon cultivators under his command, who help him govern the millions of demon cultivators within the Great Demon Kingdom. It's somewhat similar to the human court system. The six demon cultivators come from different races and each has their own unique abilities."

"The man in the portrait glows with green light and exudes an evil aura. He is Yang Liu, one of the six demons, a willow tree spirit. The woman has a charming face and can arouse a man's most primal desires; she is Jinxiu, a fox spirit."

"They've even dispatched demons of such high cultivation levels; it seems the demon race's scheme is quite ambitious this time." The deputy hall master pondered for a moment, then said to Li Zhengshan, "You've done a good job investigating this case. Although the murderer is dead, you've unexpectedly stumbled upon the demon race's conspiracy."

Li Zhengshan was delighted to hear this and quickly said modestly, "Zhengshan Hall is just lucky. It's thanks to the Vice Hall Master's discerning eye that Bai Jueming wasn't brought to justice, which gave him the opportunity to show his abilities."

"It seems you value Bai Jueming highly." The deputy hall master put away the portrait and picked up the monster skull on the table.

"Bai Jueming is meticulous in handling cases. I only discovered the loopholes in the pill case thanks to his reminder. In this case, he was able to analyze so much without even using soul searching. He is indeed a talent our Yin-Yang Hall needs." Li Zhengshan concluded with a sigh, "If only our Yin-Yang Hall could have more Yin-Yang Masters like him, we would never have to worry about solving cases."

"It's no easy feat to find several Onmyoji like this," the Vice Hall Master said calmly. "Do you even remember how you became an Onmyoji?"

Li Zhengshan was taken aback, not understanding why the deputy hall master would ask such a question. Wasn't his record as an Onmyoji already registered? Nevertheless, he still answered respectfully.

"Reporting to the Vice Hall Master, in the twelfth year of the Taikang era, I served as a soldier on the border of Liangzhou. It was also in that year that the Grand Preceptor launched an attack on Beichen in order to seize the Leiyun Cave Heaven in Beichen Township. In that battle, many of the elite Yin-Yang Masters of the Great Xia were wiped out, and the Yin-Yang Hall of Beichen suffered even greater losses, with all the Yin-Yang Masters of the upper three ranks dying. Only the Grand Preceptor of Beichen, who had the highest cultivation level, survived, but he was almost killed by our Grand Preceptor."

It was during that battle that I gained a sliver of soul power, and with Master Shen's help, I became an Onmyoji.

"I remember Master Shen once told me that the only way to become an Onmyoji is to go to a place filled with the deathly aura of bloodshed and slaughter. And a battlefield teeming with corpses is the best choice."

If one is lucky, an ordinary person can sense a trace of soul power in the world. With this trace of soul power as a foundation, one can be mentored by a skilled Onmyoji and become an Onmyoji.

However, very few people can sense that trace of soul power; otherwise, our Great Xia and Beichen would not have produced so few Yin-Yang Masters in so many years.

Regardless of whether it's in Daxia or Beichen, those who become Onmyoji on the battlefield are registered, and a wisp of their soul power is extracted and placed into the Onmyo Palace for easier management.

"Not bad, you remember it very clearly." The deputy hall master said calmly, "The soul power that each Onmyoji is born with is unique. And those who become Onmyoji need to extract a wisp of their own soul power and put it into the soul lamp of the Onmyo Hall. This is both to facilitate the management of Onmyoji and to prevent Onmyoji from doing evil."

If an Onmyoji commits evil, they can use their soul-searching technique to destroy all the memories in a corpse's head, which would greatly hinder the Onmyoji from solving the case.

However, after extracting a trace of soul power, no Onmyoji would dare to do so, because an Onmyoji's unique soul power would leave a trace, and the Onmyoji's identity could be found through that trace of soul power!

Logically speaking, it's impossible for an Onmyoji to be born in the mortal realm. The conditions are too demanding. To comprehend even a trace of soul power, one not only needs to find it amidst a battlefield of tens of thousands of corpses, but also requires guidance from a highly skilled Onmyoji.

A battlefield with tens of thousands of corpses—aside from large-scale wars between nations, there are almost no other places like this! And any Onmyoji with sufficient cultivation will not give you guidance unless they guarantee you will serve the Onmyo Palace, for fear of bringing trouble upon themselves.

A person who has been guided to become an Onmyoji can find the person who guided them through the trace of soul power within their body.

At this point, the deputy hall master's gaze sharpened beneath his mask: "However, this Bai Jueming is an exception!"

"I once sent people to investigate his background. His father followed the army to the battlefield in his early years and died in Beichen. His mother died after giving birth to her last child. He grew up under the care of his sister all these years, and there was no way he could have had the opportunity to go to the battlefield, let alone comprehend a trace of soul power!"

"I once took a wisp of Bai Jueming's soul power to compare with the soul lamp of the Yin-Yang Palace, but I couldn't find the person behind his guidance!"

Li Zhengshan stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief. Bai Jueming's identity as an Onmyoji was so complex. When he first captured Bai Jueming, he himself had wondered about his identity—how could someone so young become an Onmyoji?

However, he hadn't thought much of it at the time, as he was overwhelmed by the pill case. Moreover, the Vice Hall Master had asked him to give him a chance to investigate, which meant the Vice Hall Master must have discovered his background to be giving him that opportunity. Who would have thought the Vice Hall Master still didn't know!

How exactly did Bai Jueming become an Onmyoji? Li Zhengshan asked the question that had been bothering him.

"That's what I can't understand either. I once reported to the Imperial Advisor that I couldn't find the soul lamp of the person who guided Bai Jueming."

"The Imperial Advisor seemed indifferent, saying that since the person was so well hidden, there was no need to continue searching. But I eventually persuaded him, and he agreed to let me continue the search."

The deputy hall master stood up, stroking the monster skull. "Later, after I informed the Grand Preceptor of what I had learned about Bai Jueming, the Grand Preceptor pondered for a long time and finally told me that three conditions are required for someone like Bai Jueming to become an Onmyoji."

"Three conditions?"

"First, one must be born with a primordial yang body on an extremely yin day."

Li Zhengshan understood that meeting this condition wasn't difficult. The only difficulty was that the day of extreme yin was rare. A cycle of sixty years is called a Jiazi, and there's only one such day in a Jiazi cycle. In other words, Bai Jueming's birthday was the day of extreme yin! The "primordial yang body" meant that the newborn baby was male, and this condition was quite simple.

The Great Xia Dynasty ruled over all the lands and regions, with countless people numbering in the millions. The number of infants meeting this condition was in the tens of thousands, utterly insignificant.

Then the deputy hall master stated the second condition: the child must have experienced a near-death state. If he could survive that near-death state, then a trace of soul power would naturally be generated within his body!

"Near-death state?" Li Zhengshan frowned, his brows furrowing like black maggots. This condition wasn't easy to achieve... Newborn infants are extremely vulnerable, unlike cultivators who can withstand near-death states through their cultivation. This Bai Jueming has such great willpower; he can withstand near-death states from infancy? Impressive!

Before Li Zhengshan could figure it out, the deputy hall master stated the final and most important condition: the Yin-Yang Master who would mentor Bai Jueming must possess a strength of at least the third rank!

"Rank three or above?" Upon hearing this, Li Zhengshan exclaimed, "How is that possible?"