Yin Yang Soul Searcher

After Bai Jueming entered the Yin-Yang Tower, a minor official appeared, partly to guide him and partly to supervise him, ensuring that he could not enter places he was not supposed to.

Upon arriving at the eighth floor, one sees the deputy hall master sitting in the main seat, holding one document after another.

After leading the person to the back, the minor official took his leave. Bai Jueming stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Vice Hall Master."

"Hmm, how did you find out about the Craftsmen's Hall?" the deputy hall master asked directly, his tone neither cold nor indifferent.

"Replying to the Vice Hall Master, Tang Weiwei from the Craftsmen's Hall came by and told me about it," Bai Jueming replied.

"She told you? You and her?" The deputy hall master was a little confused.

Um, don't get me wrong, she hasn't pursued me yet, so I won't agree!

"Yes, because she doesn't know any other branches, and Branch Master Li just happened to be away..." Bai Jueming began to recount everything Tang Weiwei had told him.

Meanwhile, the Tokuun Mountains.

The mountains are densely forested, and the continuous mountain ridges lie dormant on the earth like a reclining dragon. Miasma lingers here all year round, obscuring the mountains and giving people a sense of a fairyland in the mist.

After Yang Liu's efforts, the miasma was reduced by half, which at least ensured that some ferocious beasts could survive in it for a short period of time.

At this moment, the lush green willows and the alluring Jinxiu stood in a forest, with many ferocious beasts lurking behind them, their eyes glowing red and emitting low roars.

Jinxiu looked at the ferocious beasts lurking behind her and teased, "I didn't expect you to actually let them survive here?"

"Is this so difficult? We'll clear out half the miasma, then use a secret technique to forcibly enhance their physical strength, turning them into a pack of mad dogs, beast-shaped explosives. We have no help, so we can only resort to this clumsy method. Even if they don't need to charge into battle later, they won't survive." Yang Liu stared ahead with a gloomy look in her eyes.

"Isn't this too cruel to our own kind? After all, we are also beasts who cultivated themselves." Although Jinxiu said this, there was not a trace of pity in her eyes.

The demon race believes in the supremacy of the strong. If someone is eaten by their own kind, they can only blame their own weakness and have no compassion.

"You are of the same kind as me, not me. I am a tree spirit, not a ferocious beast," Yang Liu replied.

"Tch~" Jinxiu rolled her eyes.

In front of them was a naturally formed stone cave. At this moment, the trees and weeds in front of the cave had been crushed into pieces and scattered all over the ground.

Inside the cave, Master Qingshui, looking disheveled, leaned against the back wall, bloodstains on the corner of his mouth and bloodshot eyes.

Beside him were two equally disheveled Onmyoji, both with injuries, and two warriors lying on the ground, already lifeless.

"How much longer can we hold out?" Master Shimizu asked the Onmyoji beside him with difficulty.

"At most, it will last until sunset, at which point the formation will completely fail," the Onmyoji said with a grave expression.

"It seems there's no hope." Master Shimizu chuckled self-deprecatingly. He never expected to fail here.

Two days ago, he was ordered by the deputy hall master to investigate the miasma in the Tu Yun Mountains. As soon as he entered the Tu Yun Mountains, he discovered the ferocious beasts hiding there.

These ferocious beasts were forcibly infused with large amounts of vital energy, causing their eyes to glow red and their minds to become clouded. Upon seeing people, they would charge at them recklessly, tearing at them without hesitation.

If it were just biting, it wouldn't pose any threat to him, who was only at the fifth rank of cultivation. But the terrifying thing about these ferocious beasts was that they could self-destruct!

After they killed a ferocious beast, the beast's corpse suddenly exploded, leaving the unsuspecting group completely disoriented.

Upon seeing this, the group wanted to rush back to the Yin-Yang Palace to report, but unexpectedly, Yang Liu Jinxiu arrived and discovered them. None of them could contend with the two demon cultivators. With their path out of the Tu Yun Mountains blocked again, they had no choice but to run deeper into the mountains.

The group suffered heavy casualties and had no choice but to take refuge in this mountain cave. The Hall Master of Qingshui used his heart's blood to consecrate his Hall Master's token, setting up an array to ensure everyone's safety.

However, the hall master's token was clearly about to give out, and if they didn't get rescue soon, the whole group would die here!

"Is it necessary for those inside to waste any more time?" Yang Liu said with a sneer. "If you obediently walk out of the formation, I'll leave you with a complete corpse."

"Stop barking. If you have the guts, then break in." Despite the physical pain, Master Shimizu had to retort.

"You're asking for it!" Yang Liu got angry from being scolded and pulled a willow branch from her hair, whipping it repeatedly at the token in front of her.

The formation is still stubbornly holding on.

"Pfft," Jinxiu covered her mouth and laughed: "Alright, our strength can't break through it, let's let them live a little longer."

Jinxiu wondered how things were going with Lord Ying. Why hadn't he arrived yet? She couldn't help but feel worried. Without Lord Ying, the two of them alone couldn't possibly carry out the plan.

The Onmyoji wore expressions of despair.

The eighth floor of the Yin-Yang Building.

After listening to Bai Jueming's report, the deputy hall master frowned and muttered to himself, "All the magical artifacts crafted by the Craftsmen's Hall were taken by that demon cultivator?...

The array master lured me and Palace Master Qiao away to create an opportunity for that demon cultivator! The deputy palace master thought to himself.

"Alright, I understand." The deputy hall master looked at the letter in front of him again. Hall Master Qingshui had gone missing, and they had to send people to search for him again.

Bai Jueming stood still, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "Vice Hall Master, I have some suspicions about the behavior of the demon race..."

"Oh?" The deputy hall master raised his head with interest, and then carefully examined Bai Jueming for a moment: "Tell me about it." He wanted to see if this person was as talented as Li Zhengshan had said.

"According to Tang Weiwei from the Craftsmen's Hall, all those finished magical artifacts were swallowed by that demon cultivator and taken away. This reminds me of the gunpowder that went missing in the South Gate case!"

"Our initial analysis of the case focused on the unknown Onmyoji, but we overlooked the manpower and resources required to steal so much gunpowder in such a short time. Now, the demon's actions precisely confirm this; it was able to steal an entire warehouse of goods in such a short time!"

"You mean the gunpowder was stolen by the demon race?" The deputy temple master picked up the demon beast skull beside him. "If that's the case, what use would the demon race have for that gunpowder?" The deputy temple master's tone gradually became serious.

"If only the South Gate case and the Craftsmen's Hall case had occurred, it would indeed be difficult to guess the demon race's purpose. However, the demon race has done a few other things. Many of the ferocious beasts in Treasure Beast Mountain have disappeared, and why has the miasma in the Convex Cloud Mountain Range decreased so much?" Bai Jueming paused deliberately at this point.

Bai Jueming analyzed something the Vice Hall Master hadn't considered. He hadn't connected these events and was listening intently. The Vice Hall Master looked up, gesturing for Bai Jueming to continue.

"I want to show something to the Vice Hall Master."

"What is it?"

"A map of the capital city, including the surrounding suburbs."

"A map?" The deputy hall master vaguely thought of something and took out a map from the table and spread it out.

Bai Jueming stepped forward and examined the map with the deputy hall master. The information marked on that map was more detailed and accurate than that on Brother Shan's map.

Bai Jueming pointed to the location of the Tuyun Mountains and then asked, "Does the Vice Hall Master know the route the First Prince took in transporting the auspicious beast's corpse?"

Bai Jueming had already asked Jia Qingshan about the route the First Prince's army took to escort the auspicious beast, but he couldn't reveal it. He could only ask the Deputy Hall Master in return; otherwise, if the Deputy Hall Master asked how he knew, he wouldn't be able to answer, and he would have no choice but to betray Jia Qingshan...

"You mean!" The Vice Hall Master's pupils shrank suddenly beneath his mask, his tone filled with disbelief.

The deputy hall master looked in the direction Bai Jueming was pointing. He naturally knew the First Prince's marching route. The official road fifteen miles east of the Tuyun Mountains was the place the First Prince would definitely pass through!

"That's right! The demon race has laid out so many things just to seize the auspicious beast corpse that the eldest prince is transporting." Bai Jueming's words were sure to shock.

"Because the Toukun Mountains are perpetually shrouded in miasma, no ferocious beasts can survive there. However, if much of the miasma is cleared away, ferocious beasts can lie dormant within."

"As for their purpose in hiding so many ferocious beasts, I guess it's to deal with low-level soldiers! The Crown Prince naturally needs high-level martial artists to escort the carcasses of the auspicious beasts, as well as military formations and a large number of soldiers."

"So the demon race stole the gunpowder from the south gate to disrupt the military formation! High-ranking martial artists will naturally be dealt with by Jinxiu and Yangliu! Therefore, stealing the auspicious beast's corpse is the demon race's true objective!"

The deputy hall master stopped stroking the demon beast skull and raised a question: "There's a problem here. The demon race doesn't know how to refine gunpowder to destroy military formations, so when they're fighting on the battlefield, they usually command low-level ferocious beasts to charge in and self-destruct, which also destroys the military formations. Why would they steal the gunpowder? It exposes such a big clue."

"If it's only for dealing with low-ranking soldiers, it seems a bit wasteful. Because if the military formation is destroyed, it's easy for high-ranking cultivators to kill ordinary soldiers."

"If that's the case, could it be because the ferocious beasts we found from the Great Xia were too low-level and their explosive power was insufficient, or that there were too few demonic beasts to effectively destroy the military formation?" Bai Jueming offered his speculation.

"You're right!" The deputy hall master nodded. "The First Prince is leading 10,000 troops to escort the corpses of auspicious beasts. To break through such a military formation, at least 3,000 low-level ferocious beasts would need to self-destruct. Such a massive number of ferocious beasts would be difficult to gather even if one searched the entire fifty miles around the capital!"

"There's one last thing: why did the demon race try to assassinate Yang Yongyuan again?" the deputy hall master asked.

Bai Jueming stroked his chin: "If I'm not mistaken, it's probably an exchange of benefits! After all, the gunpowder hidden in the south gate and the First Prince's marching route are both secrets. Such matters require inquiries among high-ranking officials!"

The deputy hall master's expression behind his mask was unpredictable: "Your speculation is very convincing." After saying that, the deputy hall master picked up the paper from his side and handed it to Bai Jueming.

"This is a report from another hall master. Hall Master Qingshui has been in the Tuyun Mountains for two days, and no news has come back. He has disappeared."

"There's definitely something wrong with this Convex Cloud Mountain Range." Bai Jueming looked at the contents of the letter. "Should we send someone to search for it?"

"Of course we must search. However, if your guess is correct, the Tu Yun Mountains are definitely fraught with danger right now. Rushing in will not only fail to save anyone, but will likely result in many deaths. After all, the First Prince will arrive near the Tu Yun Mountains at sunset! The demon race is probably already preparing to make their move."

"Thanks to your timely report, otherwise I'm afraid I would have sent two more hall masters over. I never imagined there would be such great danger there." The deputy hall master said, a hint of appreciation in his eyes.

"Well, I'm pretty good, huh?" Bai Jueming scratched his head sheepishly, then suddenly remembered something: "Vice Hall Master, this morning I saw the Third Prince leading troops out of the city, it seemed to be to meet up with the First Prince..."

"The Third Prince left the city this morning?" The Deputy Hall Master turned his gaze back to the map. "If they march at a normal pace, the Third Prince will rendezvous with the First Prince in the Convex Cloud Mountains!"

The deputy hall master stood up abruptly, his voice filled with anxiety: "This matter can't wait any longer! We must inform the Grand Preceptor immediately! We also need to send someone to inform His Majesty; the demon race came prepared!"

"Go and inform all the hall masters present to assemble immediately!" After saying this, the deputy hall master walked out of the gate and headed towards the ninth floor!

"Yes," Bai Jueming bowed and accepted the order.