Chapter 1826: Ruthless Action

Soon, the documents were brought before him. There were over ten pages in total, covering the subject's life and appraisal achievements.

Mo Ling Ancient Sage's eyes narrowed as he closed the documents. From these, it was evident that while Wu Tao was a competent appraiser, his appraisal level couldn't possibly be this advanced. One accurate appraisal might be luck, but over ten consecutive, perfectly accurate ones couldn't be explained by chance.

"Why don't we seize this fellow and interrogate him?"

After reviewing the content, the middle-aged guard also sensed something was amiss.

"No need," Mo Ling Ancient Sage replied, "I will go personally."

Mo Ling Ancient Sage's eyes flashed. He possessed the most complete inheritance of the Witch Soul. In this profession, he had always believed that if he claimed to be second, no one would dare claim to be first. But today, this view was completely shattered.

A Witch Soul, only at the Immortal Realm, had hidden itself right before him, and he had nearly failed to discover it. Not only that, after a few exchanges, he had actually allowed it to escape successfully. Even he, when he was at the Immortal Realm, surely couldn't have achieved such a feat. Considering this, could a Witch Soul of the same level actually be stronger than him? Filled with curiosity.

Upon entering the room where everyone was appraising treasures, Mo Ling Ancient Sage's eyes immediately locked onto Wu Tao, the appraiser from earlier. This appraiser appeared to have nothing special about him. One hand held a medicinal herb, his brows furrowed, while the other continuously consulted documents. Judging by his demeanor and actions, he was definitely a genuine appraiser, without any pretense.

"Don't bother appraising this for now," Mo Ling Ancient Sage said. "I happen to have a treasure whose grade I cannot determine. Why don't you help me appraise it?"

He took a few steps forward, a faint smile on his face.

The moment this person entered the hall, Zhang Xuan noticed him, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. His disguise was flawless, so why did the other party keep focusing their attention on him? Had something gone wrong somewhere? Though bewildered, his expression remained unchanged. He nodded lightly and said, "Alright."

Mo Ling Ancient Sage flipped his palm, and something resembling a ruler appeared in his hand. It was entirely golden, and one could tell at a glance it was a formidable artifact. However, its specific grade couldn't be determined without using it.

Zhang Xuan took it, and with a thought, a book appeared in his mind. "Soul-Breaking Ruler, Ancient Sage's supreme treasure, capable of locking onto souls, making escape impossible."

"It's an Ancient Sage's supreme treasure? But why is it so light?" He was startled.

Ancient Sage's supreme treasures, like Ancient Sages themselves, contain the laws of heaven and earth and are oppressed by the Heavenly Dao, making them extremely heavy. Even with his current strength, it would take considerable effort to lift one. The ruler held by the other party, despite clearly being a treasure of this level, was very light, similar to an ordinary Great Sage's supreme treasure. This made him feel a bit strange.

"It's his soul power!" After taking a closer look, his heart tightened. It wasn't that the Soul-Breaking Ruler was light; rather, the other party had secretly used his soul power to levitate it, making it appear weightless.

He had asked him to appraise it, but deliberately played a trick, preventing him from discerning the treasure's true attributes. Could this person have already noticed something? As expected of an Ancient Sage, he was indeed not easy to fool. His mind raced, trying to figure out a way to escape. However, he realized that with the other party so close to him, unless he used the Demonic Xuan Blade and the Ruthless Man, causing a complete uproar, escape would be impossible.

"How is it?" Seeing him meticulously examine the Soul-Breaking Ruler, Mo Ling Ancient Sage smiled faintly and looked over.

"I can't determine this ruler. Judging by its material and the power it emits, it far surpasses a Great Sage's supreme treasure, yet it's not as heavy as an Ancient Sage's supreme treasure."

Zhang Xuan explained, but before he finished speaking, he heard the Ancient Sage opposite him say, "So, Appraiser Wu Tao, you've seen an Ancient Sage's supreme treasure?"

His heart skipped a beat, but Zhang Xuan's expression remained unchanged. "No, I haven't seen one," he replied, "but I've read related books. It's said that Ancient Sage's supreme treasures are extremely heavy; a weapon of this size could be as heavy as a ten-thousand-zhang mountain."

Before he finished speaking, a cold laugh rang out, and then the surrounding space twisted. Zhang Xuan felt as if he was instantly pulled into another world.

"Heh heh, there's no need to pretend anymore," Mo Ling Ancient Sage scoffed. "You are not Appraiser Wu Tao at all."

"Senior!" Zhang Xuan retreated two steps, his face filled with panic.

"Appraisers of the Foreign Spirit Race have an incomplete inheritance. Under normal circumstances, they can't even appraise a Great Sage's supreme treasure, let alone an Ancient Sage's. Yet you can appraise all treasures with perfect accuracy and recognize at a glance that the Soul-Breaking Ruler's grade is not low. If Wu Tao truly possessed such an ability, he would have been famous long ago!"

Mo Ling Ancient Sage stood with his hands clasped behind his back, radiating absolute confidence. If he had been somewhat suspicious before, now he was certain that the person before him was indeed the Witch Soul Master who had escaped from him earlier. It wasn't that he couldn't appraise the Soul-Breaking Ruler; it was that the other party was simply too composed. Although his eyes showed fear and panic, his state of mind showed no fluctuation at all. If he couldn't see through that, he wouldn't deserve to be an Ancient Sage. One must know that Ancient Sages are the most peak experts in the world; all cultivators worship and revere them. For the other party to remain undisturbed and even have the presence of mind to speculate on the ruler's weight, if he claimed there was no problem, he wouldn't believe it himself.

"I don't understand anything Senior is saying," Zhang Xuan replied. Zhang Xuan retreated again, panic in his eyes, but inwardly he was calling out to the Ruthless Man. Although he hadn't found the dragon blood, there was nothing he could do; he could only escape first.

"Stay here!" Ignoring his "panic," Mo Ling Ancient Sage made a grabbing motion in the air. The entire space immediately became overcast and gloomy, and a massive surge of soul power enveloped the surroundings, as if to imprison him. It seemed that, having suffered a loss before, this time, the moment he acted, he immediately unleashed his Witch Soul power.

"Break!" Knowing there was no longer any need to pretend, Zhang Xuan's palm trembled, and the Demonic Xuan Blade immediately appeared, chopping fiercely forward. The soul power was sliced open, and the space itself seemed to rip apart. The blade light appeared before Mo Ling Ancient Sage.

"Indeed, a spy!" Mo Ling Ancient Sage scoffed, raising the Soul-Breaking Ruler in his hand.

*Clang, clang, clang, clang!*

The Demonic Xuan Blade clashed with it, and Zhang Xuan immediately felt his hand go numb at the web between his thumb and forefinger. The blade flew backward with a *humming* sound. Though both were Ancient Sage's supreme treasures, the Demonic Blade's grade was clearly a significant notch below the Soul-Breaking Ruler's.

With the Demonic Blade sent flying, the Soul-Breaking Ruler pressed down again. Zhang Xuan immediately felt his soul being locked down, as if it would collapse at any moment. The Soul-Breaking Ruler could crush even the souls of Ancient Sage-level experts, let alone someone of his strength.

"Make your move!" Knowing that if he didn't unleash his trump card now, he might die here, Zhang Xuan's mind stirred. A book appeared in mid-air, followed immediately by a hand that emerged from it, reaching straight out to grab.

The world-destroying Soul-Breaking Ruler, under the palm's embrace, instantly became like a docile lamb, its power gone. It pulsed twice, and was then held between the fingertips.