Upon hearing this, Shen Xuance’s Divine Thought swept down fiercely.
A moment later, the Purple Mansion Master looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"Dayuan Prefecture... Anping County... a Demon-slaying Guard?"
"So, Lord Shen."
Hee Wenyan chuckled softly, her fingertips already weaving multiple layers of Restrictions around the Array’s core. "This prize was claimed by Dayuan Prefecture. Until that boy is completely finished, no one will snatch the right to this refinement from my hands."
In the inner hall of Dayuan Prefecture, the golden gleam reflected in the Ancient Bronze Mirror had already faded, but the shock it left in the minds of the two Purple Mansion Masters lingered long after.
Hee Wenyan stared at the image of the now-quieting altar, her teacup frozen in mid-air. Her once-smooth brow was now tightly furrowed.
As the head of the Celestial Observatory, she dealt with astrology, the Divine Dao, and Cause and Effect year-round. Her insight was far more piercing than that of an ordinary Cultivator.
"Lord Shen," Hee Wenyan broke the silence, her voice tinged with a rare gravity. "This young man named Chu Bai—what are his true origins? Tell me everything, in detail."
Shen Xuance was taken aback. "Why do you suddenly ask?" he said, confused. "His performance was astonishing, but haven’t we already confirmed he’s a White Talisman Candidate from Anping County?"
"No, you don’t understand."
Hee Wenyan turned, a sharp, purple light glinting in her eyes. "On the Mountain God altar just now, when he performed that ’Enlightenment’ with a single finger... to the uninitiated, it was just a show. But to me, it was utterly absurd."
"That Mountain God’s Spirituality had long since scattered. For a mere sliver of its instinct to be awakened after eons of silent death wasn’t because of some Cyan Nether Pearl from the Secret Realm. It was because of the... Merit... he infused into it."
"Merit?"
Shen Xuance raised an eyebrow, still failing to grasp her point. "Candidates accumulate Merit by slaying demons and devils in the Secret Realm. They then use it to revitalize the Divine Dao Nodes. Isn’t that the entire point of the Celestial Examination?"
"Utterly wrong!"
Hee Wenyan shot to her feet, her tone turning sharp. "The Merit from the Celestial Examination is just a nominal title recorded in the Merit Jade Scroll! It’s nothing more than a tally!"
"But I saw it clearly. That golden light was drawn from his own Sea of Consciousness. It wasn’t a reward from the Celestial Dao, but Merit that he *personally* bears!"
"Lord Shen, you should know this. When Mortals pursue Cultivation, they seek Spiritual Qi and vie for fate."
"So-called Merit is usually a matter of doing good in life to be rewarded in the afterlife. It is exceedingly rare for a living Cultivator to be able to turn Merit into tangible power. Unless..."
Hee Wenyan paused, then spoke each word with deliberate weight. "Unless this person is the reincarnation of a Great Power of the Divine Dao. Or, some unparalleled, taboo existence personally performed a ’consecration,’ defying the heavens to alter his fate and forge him into a divine scion walking the mortal realm."
"A mortal bearing Merit... now that is rare. It would require either immense Destiny or an incredibly powerful hand guiding things from behind the scenes."
Hearing this, Shen Xuance’s expression finally grew strange.
’If Hee Wenyan wasn’t joking, then a mortal bearing Merit... that was bizarre indeed.’
Shen Xuance fell into a thoughtful silence for a moment. He closed his eyes, communing with his Official Seal, and swiftly reviewed Chu Bai’s entire service record.
"Chu Bai has humble origins in Anping County. Three months ago, he was just an ordinary constable in the Evil Suppression Department. He first distinguished himself investigating the ’Sanmu River Human Sacrifice Case.’ He slew the Water Monkey, brought the Luu Family to justice, and was promoted all the way to Regular Ninth Grade Demon Slaying Officer. After that, he investigated the assassination of the Water Uncle..."
Shen Xuance opened his eyes, his tone certain. "His record is spotless. His path of promotion is entirely traceable, and nearly every one of his merits was earned in the full view of the public. If he’s someone’s creation, then his years spent struggling at the bottom of Anping County were far too convincing."
"Are you suggesting, Lord Hee..."
Hee Wenyan was not reassured by this spotless record. Instead, she gave a cold laugh and conjured a freeze-frame image.
The image showed the exact moment Chu Bai performed the final Enlightenment of the Mountain God.
"Look, Lord Shen. The Mountain God’s Spirituality was gone, leaving only an empty shell. To ignite that last spark of Divine Fire would require a decree of an exceptionally high order."
She stared at the sliver of golden light, her gaze growing sharper. "This technique is far beyond the understanding of a Qi Cultivation Cultivator. If he were truly just a constable from a Humble Family, where would he have learned such a forbidden method for the Enlightenment of a Divine Spirit?"
"Could it be... that in the Anping region, he came into contact with something he shouldn’t have?"
Shen Xuance fell silent.
He recalled an item in Chu Bai’s record: in Threadline Gorge, he had forcibly seized a Divine Dao Seal and Ribbon and even dared to clash head-on with Wei Chuan, an inspector from Dayuan Prefecture.
At the time, he had simply assumed the young man was exceptionally courageous and possessed a unique Cultivation Technique. But now, listening to Hee Wenyan’s analysis, he realized the matter was indeed laced with a strange, unsettling quality.
"There are always prodigies in this world, or those who stumble into Ancient Ruins and receive some fragmented inheritance."
Shen Xuance tried to ease the tension. "Lord Hee, regardless of whether this boy has a powerful backer, as long as he is a candidate dispatched by our Dayuan Prefecture, the credit for him igniting the Mountain God’s mark will fall to you and me."
’The reincarnation of a Great God?’
’How could such a being end up in a place like this?’
’Or did he really come into contact with something that changed him...’
Shen Xuance frowned. He thought to himself, ’If there’s a problem with Chu Bai’s background, my Examination Hall will be held responsible.’
"I’m well aware the credit is secure."
Hee Wenyan sat down again, her expression resuming its cool indifference. "But matters of the Divine Dao are all interconnected. The slightest disturbance can have widespread consequences."
"If he truly is the reincarnation of a Great God, then we must be exceedingly careful in our dealings. The Cause and Effect of the Divine Dao is no small matter..."
"It’s best to avoid any connection with such a figure."
’I wonder if there will be another Enlightenment... If there is, I will have no choice but to intervene and claim the refinement for myself.’

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