Chapter 1644: Heavenly Secret Master Guild

"This must be Fenggu City! Situated by a river and backed by mountains, it enjoys spring-like weather year-round and boasts abundant harvests of grains. It's the most resourceful place within hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and many supplies for the Saint Son Hall come from here."

Zhang Xuan quickly confirmed his location. While at the Saint Son Hall, he had read many geographical books, and this place wasn't far, so he could easily pinpoint his whereabouts with a quick assessment.

"Searching like this definitely won't yield results," he thought, "I might as well use the Library to determine the direction..." After observing for a while and realizing that aimless searching would lead nowhere, Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist, took out a blank book, drew the surrounding streets, and wrote "The statue of Sage Kuang is this way" on various sections.

The Library shook for a moment, but no book appeared.

"What's going on? It's failed again?" Zhang Xuan's face turned ashen. "What's wrong with the Library lately?" He couldn't figure it out. Did it really need an upgrade? That's right, it had been with him for over a year; old equipment couldn't take such a beating.

"No, the Library usually doesn't fail," he mused, "unless... the place where the skeleton is hidden uses special power to obscure the heavenly secrets..." As he was pondering, a thought suddenly struck him.

In these recent malfunctions, Luo Ruoxi, like himself, possessed the Faux Void Physique and couldn't detect anything; and what Wu Chen and Bai Xishan saw was concealed by special means, making it invisible to the Eye of Insight and untraceable even by Diviners... Now, the Library couldn't locate the statue of Sage Kuang. Could it be like the latter cases, not hidden by a special formation, but rather... its heavenly secrets obscured by special means?

"If that's the case, there's only one possibility..." His eyes flashed, and he looked around. He approached a cultivator, bowed and cupped his fists, asking, "Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where the Diviner Guild of our Fenggu City is located?"

It was a straightforward middle-aged man, around forty years old. "Diviner Guild? It's over there, less than two kilometers away. The building that looks like a tortoise shell is it!"

"Thank you..." Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up. He quickly nodded, gave a greeting, and headed in the direction the man pointed.

"Are you suspecting that... a Diviner obscured the heavenly secrets and hid the statue of Sage Kuang?" Luo Ruoxi asked, her realization dawning.

"Hiding it within a special formation can block tracking," Zhang Xuan explained, nodding, "but it cannot prevent a Diviner's calculations... Unless someone manipulates it, disrupts the heavenly secrets, or obscures them with special techniques!"

"Exactly!" Luo Ruoxi suddenly understood.

Although the Saint Son Hall currently doesn't have many top experts, it's still easy to find one or two Diviners close to or at half-step Nine Star. If they were to calculate the statue's whereabouts, there's an eighty to ninety percent chance they could determine its location. To make it completely unfindable, there's only one method... obscuring the heavenly secrets! To achieve this, and so quickly, in this city, there's likely only one place... the Diviner Guild!

Knowing the location, they walked for a short while and indeed saw a tortoise-shell-shaped building appear before them. Its surface was covered with various patterns, concealing some special power, making it difficult even for divine sense to probe.

"Whether it's here or not, we'll know once we go inside!" Zhang Xuan nodded, saying nothing more, and took a few steps to the main entrance of the building.

"Stop right there! The Diviner Guild only admits Diviners, no outsiders!" A young man walked out, blocking their path.

"I am Zhang Xuan, the Hall Master of the Saint Son Hall," he stated. "Our hall has had a treasure stolen, and I have come specifically to find your guild master, hoping he can assist with a divination!" With a flip of his wrist, Zhang Xuan took out his Hall Master token.

"The Hall Master of the Saint Son Hall?" Startled, the young man quickly cupped his fists, "Senior, please wait. I will report to the guild master immediately..." With that, he hurried inside.

In less than three minutes, a black-haired elder followed him out: "Hall Master Zhang, I didn't know you would honor us with your presence. This old man has failed to welcome you properly. Please, come in..." The elder appeared to be around sixty, with a cultivation at the peak of Saint 8-dan, and wore the robes of the Diviner Guild, giving him an ethereal and sage-like demeanor.

"Thank you, Guild Master. I have indeed come with a request this time..." Zhang Xuan said, cupping his fists.

"Hall Master is too kind. Your name has been echoing like thunder these past few days," the elder said, leading the way. "To think you would personally grace us with your presence truly brings honor to our humble guild..." Zhang Xuan and Luo Ruoxi followed him into the room. As soon as they entered, Luo Ruoxi frowned and sent a telepathic message: "Zhang Xuan, be careful!"

"What's wrong?" Seeing her proactively send a warning for the first time, Zhang Xuan turned his head: "Did you discover something?"

She seemed about to speak, but Luo Ruoxi eventually stopped: "Nothing in particular, but it's better to be careful."

"Understood!" Zhang Xuan nodded. Since she said so, this place might not be so peaceful. He placed his hand on his belt, ready to act immediately if danger arose. However, it was also possible he was overly concerned, as he walked to the center of the main hall without detecting any anomalies.

"Hall Master Zhang, may I ask the purpose of your visit today?" the elder inquired once both parties were seated.

"It's like this: the statue of Sage Kuang from our Saint Son Hall was recently stolen," Zhang Xuan explained, cupping his fists. "According to the traces, it disappeared here. Since both of us are under the jurisdiction of the Master Teacher Pavilion, I'd like to trouble the Guild Master to help us deduce who stole it and where it's hidden! If it can be found, I'll be eternally grateful!"

Zhang Xuan's words were direct, implying that his item had disappeared there, and he expected assistance in its recovery, otherwise, the guild would be highly suspect. "Disappeared here?" The guild master frowned, a trace of displeasure appearing on his face. "Hall Master Zhang, are you suspecting us Diviners of hiding a treasure from the Saint Son Hall?"

"The ones who stole our hall's statue of Sage Kuang are the Spirit Dwellers," Zhang Xuan said calmly, looking at him. "They can hide perfectly, making it impossible for even my Eye of Insight to detect them, and their heavenly secrets cannot be divined. I really can't think of anyone else!" He continued, "The loss of our hall's item is a small matter, but if it involves the Spirit Dwellers and is reported to the Master Teacher Pavilion, the trouble will be immense. I hope the Guild Master can assist; this way, you can also clear yourselves of suspicion!"

"Hall Master Zhang, I respect you as the Hall Master of the Saint Son Hall and the Clan Head of the Zhang Clan," the elder said, his face darkening as he suddenly stood up. "I received you with good intentions, but you are baselessly slandering the integrity of my Diviner Guild. What is your intention in doing so?"

"No intention, just to retrieve the treasure of our Saint Son Hall!" Zhang Xuan said calmly, raising an eyelid. "Guild Master, there's no need to be nervous or angry. If it has nothing to do with you, you wouldn't mind if I searched, would you? If I find nothing, I will personally apologize to the Guild Master!"

"Search? How audacious!" the elder roared, his face ashen and trembling with rage. "We Diviners, who deduce heavenly secrets, are respected by even the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters. What right do you, a mere Hall Master of the Saint Son Hall, have to search?"