Chapter 914: Four Dragon Lords, Rift Moves Again

“Hmm, so many people with issues.”

From the main seat in the Cloud Realm, Yu Zhiwen stared at all the spirit mirror screens, finding many abnormal reactions among the trialists.

The Void Island fissure spewed out a large number of treasures, attracting not only the Slice-Paths and Grand-Voids stationed near the Eastern Heavenly King City, but also the trialists from the Yunlun Mountain Range.

Even though these treasures were immediately intercepted by the Holy Divine Palace.

But during the treasure-spewing process, some trialists from the Yunlun Mountain Range did react excessively: temporarily abandoning the Nine Dragon Veins competition, they chose to stay away from the battle and began to observe.

With a quick thought, Yu Zhiwen knew these individuals' intentions were nothing more than fear of delaying their treasure-seizing time due to the Nine Dragon Veins competition.

Ultimately, no treasures ended up reaching them, and only then did they each choose to continue participating in the trial.

However, their initial choice to merely observe was problematic in itself.

Besides stowaways and those coveting the "Sealed Saint Dao Foundation," what normal trialist would neglect their current affairs and abandon the trial process just because of a Void Island fissure?

"Seventy-six, that's quite a lot!"

Yu Zhiwen tallied these problematic individuals.

At the beginning of the King City trial, a large number of stowaways had already been apprehended. Throughout the trial process, the Enforcers had continued to net more.

Even at this point, there were still seventy-six suspicious trialists who had remained hidden until now. It must be said, their ability to conceal themselves was truly impressive.

But this was likely the extent of it!

Yu Zhiwen organized the spirit mirror footage of these individuals and transmitted all of it to Rao Yaoyao. Next, it was the Enforcers' job to apprehend them one by one for interrogation and see if anything could be uncovered.

After completing her duty, Yu Zhiwen then switched to Xu Shao's spirit mirror footage and watched it carefully.

This was not peeping; it was a task.

From the Holy Divine Palace's perspective, Yu Zhiwen knew this battle was extremely important, especially since the Head of the Deviant Department had even died in the line of duty, so naturally, she dared not show any favoritism or pervert justice.

Even though the suspicion that Xu Shao was the Holy Servant Xu Xiaoshou had been dismissed among the Red-clothed high-ranking officials, Yu Zhiwen still trusted her instincts.

She had always believed that it was impossible for two people in this world to act and behave so similarly. However, since her suspicion of Xu Shao lacked evidence, she couldn't say much.

Therefore, while monitoring Xu Shao, Yu Zhiwen also wanted to diligently search for evidence to prove her capability.

But things did not go as she wished.

From the very beginning of the trial, Xu Shao had shown no flaws, appearing perfectly normal, like any other person.

Now with the Void Island fissure spewing treasures, logically, if he were Xu Xiaoshou, shouldn't he be cooperating with the Void Island's actions? After all, Bazun'an was inside the Void Island's inner island. All of this was likely orchestrated by him.

As a Holy Servant, Xu Xiaoshou should also have had his own hidden mission to coordinate with the operation.

Yet, there was nothing!

At this stage, having descended into the Fourth Dragon Vein, Xu Shao's group — including his protector and the various small and large team captains — were all leading their people in a frantic assault on the mountain. It seemed that in Xu Shao's current view, nothing in the world was more important than the Nine Dragon Veins competition.

This was the normal behavior of a regular Spirit Refiner. But applied to Xu Shao, it left Yu Zhiwen puzzled.

"He's so normal... which in itself is a bit abnormal!"

"But using this as a reason for the Enforcers to investigate him is utterly impossible, especially given his identity as a Half-Saint's successor."

Yu Zhiwen's emotions were highly complex. She felt both relieved that she hadn't found obvious evidence against Xu Shao, and self-doubt, wondering "This person clearly should have issues, but why is there not a single one? Am I not capable enough?"

As the second-ranked individual on the Dao Department's Heavenly Ranking, Yu Zhiwen was extremely confident in her abilities across all aspects. The significant task of overseeing the spirit mirrors, entrusted to her by Rao Yaoyao, could be approached by others with a mindset of 'no credit sought, but no fault found.' Yu Zhiwen had previously held this same mindset.

But after Yi's death, that was no longer an option.

She was a Saintess of the Holy Divine Palace. The Holy Divine Palace had invested vast resources in cultivating talent; how could they hope that the people they trained would achieve results no different from what ordinary individuals could attain? Not only must there be no mistakes, but there must also be achievements!

This was the pressure Yu Zhiwen felt. In the Holy Divine Palace, the incompetent could not survive. Especially with the competition among the Saintesses and Divine Sons, it was a matter of survival of the fittest.

Yu Zhiwen didn't want to disgrace her master; she had to achieve something. Being mediocre and unremarkable would be a disservice to everyone who had placed great expectations on her.

"It's so difficult..."

Yu Zhiwen stared at the spirit mirror footage, feeling utterly exhausted. She hadn't rested in a long time. But as soon as she felt disheartened, she immediately adjusted her emotions.

Yi's death had taken place overnight, and Rao Yaoyao hadn't even found crucial evidence yet, which further proved the opponent's formidable strength. Difficulty was normal. It would be strange if it weren't difficult.

"I mustn't slack off; I must keep watching!"

Yu Zhiwen stared at Xu Shao on the spirit mirror footage for a long time. Then, a flash of inspiration struck her, and she suddenly realized that her earlier speculation might be correct.

"He's too normal."

"He's so normal that it's as if he's genuinely Xu Shao, completely lacking Xu Xiaoshou's behavioral style."

"If Xu Xiaoshou were genuinely serious about participating in the Nine Dragon Veins competition, even to clear himself of suspicion for Yi's murder, he wouldn't have enough time to coordinate with the Holy Servants' other actions later. Therefore, it's impossible."

Yu Zhiwen pondered. She wondered what she would do if she were Xu Xiaoshou, and as a Holy Servant, had also participated in the operation to kill Yi.

All these conjectures were based on the unproven assumption that 'Xu Shao is Xu Xiaoshou.' But Yu Zhiwen wouldn't immediately dismiss this premise. She had acted with Xu Xiaoshou before and knew how clever he was.

To deduce Xu Xiaoshou's actions, one couldn't use normal thinking from the outset. One had to keep up with his wild imagination and a style of behavior that seemed absurd and unreasonable but actually concealed true mysteries.

"If I were Xu Xiaoshou..."

"When he was in Eastern Heavenly King City, he could use Xu Shao's identity to hide himself. Now, he could again pull a switcheroo, changing his identity once more and hiding behind Xu Shao..."

"Swap with someone else?"

Yu Zhiwen frowned, hesitating, and as she thought, an incredulous look appeared in her eyes.

She still didn't immediately dismiss her own idea. Instead, following her suspicion, she pulled up the footage of all trialists around Xu Shao and observed them carefully, missing no one.

But as for those of the same age, gender, cultivation realm, and with similar appearances who could be swapped with him... Yu Zhiwen carefully observed every expert whose temperament and ability matched, making them capable of swapping identities with Xu Shao, but she still couldn't find a flaw, even after multiple observations.

"It should be impossible."

"Xu Xiaoshou could transform into someone else; he was capable enough. But if that were truly the case, who would impersonate Xu Shao?"

"After all, Xu Shao's abilities, cultivation realm, and strategic mind were also very high; not just anyone could pretend to be him..."

Yu Zhiwen's head throbbed. She always felt as though she could grasp something. But it seemed Xu Xiaoshou was fated to be beyond her reach, disappearing once more into the vast crowd without a trace.

Yu Zhiwen hugged her knees, a look of confusion in her eyes, her mood somewhat dejected. She wondered, if back in the White Cave, she had been a bit more resolute, a bit more sincere, and straightforwardly offered Xu Xiaoshou all the information about the Holy Divine Palace's interest in him, essentially forcing the olive branch upon him, would the present outcome have been different?

Yu Zhiwen lost herself in thought. She thought about all the past events, and then about Xu Xiaoshou's past. From the very beginning, Xu Xiaoshou had been firmly held by Holy Servant Wuxiu; she had appeared too late, like a fleeting passerby in his life, seemingly destined... for a connection without a fate?

At this thought, Yu Zhiwen lowered her head, curling up like a small cat, hugging her knees, and let out a long sigh.

"It's truly, so difficult..."

Fourth Dragon Vein.

"Move it!"