A Demon Slaying Officer like Chu Bai, known for his astonishing combat power and for being a man of few words, would never inquire about a deputy’s background without reason.
"Junior Brother Chu, do you think there’s something wrong with him?" Han Xingmo lowered his voice, a hint of nervousness in his tone.
Chu Bai continued to stare at the black mist in the distance. He didn’t answer directly, simply waiting for Han Xingmo’s explanation.
Han Xingmo frowned and thought for a moment before answering truthfully, "Qii Pan has been with the Water Department for six years. He comes from a humble background and fought his way up through the department’s examinations. He’s known for being exceptionally steady and experienced in his work and was highly regarded by the former Water Supervisor.
"Logically, he’s definitely not the type to disregard the bigger picture and act rashly for the sake of personal achievement. In fact, in our daily work, he was always a bit too cautious."
"Oh? An overly cautious person who volunteers to sneak into a Death Land where a True God has fallen and a black mist has sealed the river?"
A faint, cold smile played on Chu Bai’s lips.
A chill ran down Han Xingmo’s spine at Chu Bai’s question.
’That’s right. Qii Pan’s behavior today is completely different from his usual self. It’s like he’s two different people.’
"Before or after he joined the department, did he have any dealings with any of the Noble Races in the city, or with any outside forces?" Chu Bai pressed.
"Uh... Qii Pan is usually quiet and taciturn. Aside from official business, he rarely socializes. I’ve never heard of him being close with any particular family."
Han Xingmo shook his head, then his expression shifted slightly. "However, I remember he was seriously injured during a river patrol two years ago. It nearly ended his cultivation path. But then he miraculously recovered. Not only that, his Cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, soaring from the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer all the way to his current Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer.
"At the time, everyone assumed he’d had a fortuitous encounter with some Celestial and Earthly Treasures, so no one questioned it further."
Hearing this, Chu Bai’s pupils contracted slightly.
’A fortuitous encounter? In Anping County, with its all-encompassing Law Net, how could there be so many perfectly-timed "fortuitous encounters" capable of saving a half-crippled Cultivator? It was most likely the price of some kind of deal.’
He once again channeled his Divine Thought, which extended two hundred and twenty zhang.
With his Micro Level perception, he saw Qii Pan’s figure weaving through the Chaotic Stone Beach several hundred meters away.
He appeared to be directing the Warriors to check for blind spots, but Chu Bai clearly perceived that his steps were small and extremely purposeful.
Every so often, Qii Pan would glance nonchalantly toward the wreckage of the Divine Ship in the middle of the river. His trajectory kept him circling the edge of the black mist, and he seemed to be subtly trying to approach the breach in the Divine Ship again.
Despite the heavy pressure, and though he was forcibly suppressing his heartbeat, in Chu Bai’s Divine Thought it was still as muffled and erratic as a drum.
"Senior Brother Han, keep a close eye on him."
After giving his orders to Han Xingmo, Chu Bai did not linger on the cliff’s edge. With a slight flicker, he retreated into the shadows behind a cluster of boulders.
He wasn’t worried about Qii Pan causing any trouble right under his nose. However, before the experts from Dayuan Prefecture arrived, he had to figure out what was hidden inside that black mist—the same mist that made even a Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer Cultivator restless.
’Qii Pan is so desperate to get inside, even at the cost of arousing my suspicion. It must be because there’s something at the heart of the scene that hasn’t been retrieved yet. Something that could either doom the mastermind behind him or something they desperately covet.’
Chu Bai leaned against the cold rock wall, his eyes slightly closed. The Divine Thought in his Sea of Consciousness instantly condensed into a single thread, like an invisible blade, and stabbed fiercely into the churning black mist over the river.
The moment his Divine Thought touched the black mist, Chu Bai felt an extremely sinister and deathly still negative emotion coil up and travel along his Telekinesis.
The black mist was exceedingly bizarre. Not only did it block vision, but it could also erode a Cultivator’s Investigation Techniques like a swamp. Had it been an ordinary Late-stage Qi Cultivator, their Divine Thought would likely have been forced back by this corrosive power after penetrating only a few feet.
However, Chu Bai’s Divine Thought was not only astonishingly strong, but it had also become exceptionally resilient from his practice of the Guardian Scripture.
Break!
He visualized the Guiyuan Grand Cycle in his Sea of Consciousness. His Divine Thought transformed into a tiny, pure glimmer of the Five Elements and forcibly smashed through the viscous layer of mist, delving deep inside the damaged Divine Ship.
Passing through several violently torn decks and over the corpses of the Water Department Officials—which had long since lost all life and were even beginning to wither—Chu Bai’s Divine Thought finally settled on the wreckage of a cabin in the very center of the Divine Ship.
There, the black mist was at its densest, having even congealed into a black, viscous liquid.
But within this deathly still blackness, an extremely faint yet incredibly resilient speck of golden Spiritual Light was pulsing unhurriedly.
Chu Bai’s Divine Thought focused, shooting closer.
There, beneath a shattered official’s seat, a square, palm-sized Bronze Seal was half-buried in charred wood fragments.
A vicious crack ran down the side of the Seal, nearly splitting it in two. The engraved patterns of mountains and rivers on its surface had grown dim and indistinct.
’A Divine Dao Seal?’
Chu Bai was shaken to the core.
’This was the core relic used when the Great Zhou Immortal Dynasty enfeoffed a Divine Spirit. Sealed within it is a trace of the Origin of the Great Zhou’s National Fortune, and it is the very vessel that carries a Divine Spirit’s Status.’
’Although this Stream Water Spirit had already fallen and the Seal had suffered near-destructive damage, it was still...’
’Because it’s connected to the Immortal Dynasty’s Law Net and contains an extremely high level of Spirituality, this kind of object can’t be completely destroyed by ordinary means.’

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