"During the meeting, several ancestors each had their own personalities. Ancestor Hong Tian was boisterous and had no tolerance for nonsense. Ancestor Bai Shan was cold and aloof like a fairy, rarely concerning himself with matters outside the Demon Court. Ancestor Qi Yuan had a free-spirited nature, embodying the elegance of an ancient Confucian saint. As for the other three ancestors, I have not interacted with them." "However, in times of imminent battle, the ancestors were very strict, treating everyone with clear distinctions between rewards and punishments." Chen Yi mused, "Ancestor Hong Tian is a Body Cultivator?" Lou Yuchun was slightly surprised, "Did you know him before? Indeed, Ancestor Hong Tian is a Body Cultivator, and his physical strength allows him to engage in close combat with the Emperor Tian of the Demon Court." Chen Yi understood this and quelled his urgency to go to Youdu, nodding as he said: "In that case, I will first make a trip to Human Pole Strong City." Just in time to discuss with Ancestor Hong Tian about the human spy Bai Yuanguang, thinking that a Body Cultivator ancestor likely wouldn’t be associated with that person. After all, in his impression, cultivators of the Fist Dao and Body Cultivation were always tough, brave, straightforward, disliking intrigues and schemes. Unlike the adaptable Sword Dao and the open and grand Sword Dao cultivators, they must possess such a character if they wish to advance their Fist Dao and Body Cultivation realm, or else their techniques would make no progress. "When will I set out?" ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ nοvelfire.net "Please wait for a moment, fellow Daoist. I will have someone deliver the Identity Token later, so that you can move freely within the Inner City." Chen Yi nodded, thanked him, and didn’t ask him to stay long. After arriving at Taizhou Mountain, he had a general understanding of the place. Unless necessary, the Great Powers and soldiers garrisoned at the strong cities and garrisons are not allowed to leave. If they must, records should be kept at the General Mansion of each city. After thinking for a moment. Chen Yi swiftly expanded his Heart God Perception, locating a guest room in the northern corner of White Emperor City, and sent a Sound Transmission to Gu Zhuo inside: At this moment, Gu Zhuo was flipping through a few volumes of departure records with Ji Binglan and Yin Shunan. Their progress was slow due to time constraints and only being able to access records of White Emperor City. Upon hearing the Sound Transmission, Gu Zhuo signaled his junior brother and sister to quiet down, glanced around warily, and spoke in a low voice: "It’s me," Chen Yi thought, and a circle of Slaughter Sword Intent rose outside the room, enveloping the three, saying: "Don’t worry, I have already scouted a thousand miles around; no one is paying attention to you here." Gu Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, silently signaling Ji Binglan and Yin Shunan that the senior had arrived, then continued to say: "We have just begun our investigation and have not made much progress, only finding two records that align with what the tiger demon mentioned." "The record from five years ago shows nothing unusual, but we recalled it was precisely during the time the Demon Court launched a massive attack on Human Pole Strong City. Our White Emperor City wasn’t affected much, only losing a few hundred scouts." "But three years ago, when the Black Wood City commander was killed, a commander from White Emperor City led a team to support and was ambushed by demons on the way." "The ambush was sudden, and they were taking the Inner City official road. It’s unlikely they would encounter demons crossing the city walls to attack, yet that was what happened. In hindsight, it surely must involve that person." Chen Yi pondered slightly; such speculation was not without reason. Between Human Pole and Earth Flame Strong Cities, there’s a garrison every thousand miles, with high city walls in between, guarded by soldiers and monitored by arrays, making the defenses extremely tight. Under normal circumstances, those demons wouldn’t approach within a thousand miles of the defensive line before being detected by the reconnoitre army, let alone precisely intercept the White Emperor City reinforcements headed to Black Wood City. If they hadn’t received information beforehand, such an ambush battle would be impossible—unless a Great Demon from the Demon Court opened the Heavenly Eye or wielded a method to predict the future. With this thought, Chen Yi continued to ask, "What else?" Gu Zhuo glanced at the excited-eyed Ji Binglan and indicated, "You discovered it, so you should tell the senior." Ji Binglan nodded vigorously, quickly starting to speak: "According to the tiger demon’s timeline, in August two years ago, after that person appeared in the Demon Village, Black Water and Black Wind, two cities near Human Pole Strong City, were attacked by demons, suffering heavy casualties." "But I found two suspicious entry records from that period; one was of a Flag Soldier coming from Human Pole Strong City..." "This Flag Soldier is?" Chen Yi interrupted. He was not yet thoroughly familiar with the fortress soldiers’ roles, only knowing about scouts and guards, not having heard of Flag Soldiers. Ji Binglan explained, "Flag Soldiers are responsible for conveying commands in ciphertext to soldiers currently fighting. They usually remain stationary within the city, tasked with transmitting orders in emergencies." "Furthermore, their flag command ciphertext changes periodically to prevent being deciphered by demons." "Continue. What about that Flag Soldier?" Chen Yi understood. Ji Binglan said, "After entering the city, he didn’t go to the General Mansion but went directly to the city gate tower. I suspect he might be a spy sent by or a human cultivator controlled by the Demon Court." "All soldiers garrisoning the Guard City and Strong City know the special nature of Flag Soldiers. Even when taking turns, they wouldn’t leave their posts too far, yet he traveled from Human Pole Strong City to White Emperor City, which is very suspicious." After pausing for a moment and seeing that Chen Yi remained silent, Ji Binglan continued: "Moreover, after that Flag Soldier left, there’s an entry record of someone from the Inner City official road, but after staying seven days, he was found dead, and the record claims he died from going mad and exploding." "I think this person is also suspicious. There’s only an entry record, with no further records of where he went or what he did, evidently avoiding the General Mansion and various posts, hiding elsewhere." After finishing, Ji Binglan shyly stuck out her tongue, "Senior, this is all I discovered." Chen Yi pondered for a moment, then smiled and transmitted, "You’ve done well. Keep following these two lines of inquiry." "However, I must inform you that I will soon depart for Human Pole Strong City to meet Ancestor Hong Tian and might reveal this matter to him. I will notify you after meeting him." "Then you should cease the investigation and pretend to be unaware." Gu Zhuo was taken aback and exchanged glances with Ji Binglan and Yin Shunan, then asked, "Senior, you don’t want us to continue the investigation?" Chen Yi didn’t deny it, saying frankly, "Given the current investigation, it is not hard to deduce that person has been hiding in Human Pole Strong City for quite some time and has loyal helpers." "If your actions get noticed, even I might not rescue you in time. Therefore, I suggest ending the investigation after uncovering the backgrounds of those two individuals, and leaving the rest to me." Before Gu Zhuo could respond, Ji Binglan quickly said, "Senior, all you asked of us." "Brother," a startled Chen Yi began, but ended up saying nothing, and exchanged glances with Ji Binglan and Yin Shunan. Gu Zhuo hesitated but took the items, while Bai Yuanguang nodded firmly in agreement, taking the initiative to respond: "We’ll do our best, Senior. Better that than to waste your good intentions." "Just try your best." Chen Yi comforted and encouraged them briefly before letting them continue the investigation. After arriving at Taizhou Mountain, he had a general understanding of the situation there: Unless necessary, the great powers and soldiers stationed in the strong city and guard city do not leave without records. If they must leave, records must be kept at each city’s General Mansion. After a moment of deliberation. Chen Yi’s Heart God Perception abruptly expanded, targeting a room in the northern corner of White Emperor City, and he sent a Sound Transmission to Gu Zhuo inside: At the moment, Gu Zhuo was combing through several scrolls of outbound records with Ji Binglan and Yin Shunan. However, due to time constraints and since they could only review the records of White Emperor City, their progress was not very fast. Upon hearing the Sound Transmission, Gu Zhuo signaled his junior sibling to quiet down, casting a cautious glance around, and spoke in a low voice: "It’s me," Chen Yi directed his thoughts and a circle of Slaughter Sword Intent rose outside the room, protecting the three within, saying: "No need to worry, I’ve already scanned a thousand miles around here, no one is watching you." Gu Zhuo exhaled in relief, silently signaling to Ji Binglan and Yin Shunan that the senior had arrived, then proceeded to speak: "We’ve just started the investigation and haven’t made much progress, only finding two records that can be matched with that tiger demon." "Five years ago, the record showed no anomalies, but we remembered that around that time, the Demon Court launched a major attack on Human Pole Strong City. Our White Emperor City didn’t experience much turmoil, only losing a few hundred scouts." "But three years ago, when the Black Wood City garrison commander was killed, one of the White Emperor City commanders led a team to support them and was ambushed by demons along the way." "The ambush was sudden, and they were on the Inner City official road. It shouldn’t have been possible for demons to attack them by crossing the city walls, but that’s what happened, so looking at it now, it must be related to that person." Chen Yi thought for a while. This speculation was not groundless. Between Human Pole and Earth Flame strong cities, garrisons guard every thousand miles with towering walls guarded by soldiers. Arrays detect trespassing, and defense is extremely tight. Under normal circumstances, those demons can’t even get within a thousand miles of the defensive line, let alone accurately intercept the reinforcements heading from White Emperor City to aid Black Wood City. Unless they had information ahead, this kind of ambush is simply impossible—unless the Demon Court’s Great Demon opened the Heavenly Eye or had foresight techniques. With this thought, Chen Yi further inquired: "What else?" Gu Zhuo looked at Ji Binglan, whose eyes were darting around, signaled her, and said, "You discovered it, so you can tell the senior." Ji Binglan nodded enthusiastically and quickly said: "According to the tiger demon’s timeline, in August two years ago, soon after that person appeared in the Demon Village, the Black Water and Black Wind cities near the Human Pole Strong City were attacked heavily by demons, resulting in heavy casualties." "But I found two suspicious entry records for that period; one was a Flag Soldier coming from Human Pole Strong City..." "Who is this Flag Soldier?" Chen Yi interrupted. He was not yet thoroughly familiar with the fortress’ military roles, only knowing of scouts and garrison duties, but hadn’t heard of Flag Soldiers. Ji Binglan explained, "Flag Soldiers are responsible for delivering orders in cipher to soldiers in combat, usually stationed within the city, mobilizing only during emergencies to relay commands." "Furthermore, to prevent being deciphered by demons, their flag command code changes periodically." "Go on. What happened with that Flag Soldier?" inquired Chen Yi knowingly. Ji Binglan said, "He didn’t go to the General Mansion upon entering the city, but went straight to the gate tower. I suspect he might be the traitor sent by that person." "All soldiers garrisoning the strong city and guard city know the special role of Flag Soldiers, and even if they’re on duty, they don’t leave their post lightly, yet he came directly from Human Pole Strong City to White Emperor City." "Additionally, after that Flag Soldier left, there’s a record of an entry from someone coming through the Inner City official road, but he didn’t go to the General Mansion and there are no records of his activities between his entry and departure, which is clearly suspicious." Chen Yi pondered for a moment before smiling and sending a transmission: "This is what you discovered?" He thought for a moment, then took out three small wooden swords from the Sumeru Bag and sent them to the trio in front of him with a thought. Gu Zhuo hesitated as he took them, and after exchanging a glance with Ji Binglan and Yin Shunan, he said, "We have long put life and death aside as soldiers garrisoning the General Mansion." "You needn’t worry about us facing danger; we will do our best." Chen Yi gave a comforting smile and encouraged them to continue the investigation. After letting them return to their investigation, Chen Yi prepared to set off to meet Ancestor Hong Tian when he suddenly felt a disturbance in the Sumeru Bag. Checking it, he realized it was the ’Xunwang Order’.