Chapter 1 Jia Wei Slowly Opens His Eyes

In the center of Red Lake, Jia Wei slowly opened his eyes.

Although he wasn't particularly known for his mental strength, he had, after all, merged two domains into one. Now, with his mental power unleashed, he could clearly see the scene across the lake.

He saw the loose cultivators from all corners of the world.

And the adjudicators maintaining order.

"Yao Jin, what's going on?"

Jia Wei's voice traveled out, echoing through the mist and across the crowd.

Yao Jin smiled and said, "Lord Adjudicator, it's nothing."

Everyone who heard this was shocked.

Because with their eyesight, they couldn't see what was happening deep within Red Lake at all.

Lord Adjudicator—wasn't that the legendary Jia Wei!

As far as they were concerned, the Guang Ming Divine Seat was an invisible, untouchable myth. They hadn't expected to come to Xizhou and witness the Seat's magnificence.

In the minds of these transcendents.

Jia Wei was already the most supreme existence!

In a way, their respect for Jia Wei was more real and more concrete!

"Today is the 'Xixin Pool' trial arranged by the Temple. These are all the participants."

Yao Jin glanced at Zhou Li and said indifferently, "Your Excellency doesn't need to move. I'll take them to Xixin Pool."

After these words, Jia Wei didn't send any more transmissions.

Red Lake returned to silence.

Gu Shen, in the crowd, remained expressionless, slightly relieved.

During that eye contact just now, he had thought that Jia Wei had caught onto something…

In a way, the assassination attempt in Sangzhou Cave six years ago could be considered Gu Shen's "inner demon." That shot was just too unreasonable; Jia Wei had found the opportunity entirely through intuition.

This guy was like a hunting dog.

He would latch onto him with even the slightest scent.

But now, it seemed that Jia Wei's "sense of smell" wasn't as abnormal as he had imagined.

...

...

Watching the trial participants leave, Yao Jin sat in his wheelchair, a familiar voice ringing in his ears.

"Brother Yao, you've been quite the figure these past few days."

He looked back to see a young figure cloaked in the Light's Blessing Robe, appearing beside him at some unknown point.

"Holy Son, shouldn't you be in closed-door training these days? Why do you have time to make fun of me?"

Yao Jin's expression was calm, his tone neither warm nor cold.

He and Su Ye were both shadows secretly cultivated by the Temple.

Wanting to be a shadow of Guang Ming City wasn't simple. Many infants in Xihai Du had received Temple training since they were young… Unfortunately, among those who grew up, only one in a hundred qualified.

After becoming a shadow, wanting to stand in the light was even harder.

In the entire Guang Ming City, the only one who could be considered to have "successfully" stood out was currently only Su Ye.

As for Yao Jin, he could only be considered half.

"How could it be making fun?"

Su Ye adjusted his robe and said softly, "You and I were once colleagues. Now that you can take charge, I'm genuinely happy for you."

"..."

Yao Jin didn't believe a word Su Ye said.

Because of that mission back then.

The reason he had broken his leg was because Su Ye's judgment had been wrong…

This was Su Ye's fault.

But he had shouldered the responsibility.

If it weren't for that, perhaps the one who had become the Holy Son today would have been him, not Su Ye.

"There's nothing to be happy about. I'm just doing some trivial things for the Second Elder."

Yao Jin said calmly, "Once he leaves the Secret Prison, I'll revert to my previous 'shadow' life, hidden from view again."

Su Ye suddenly smiled and asked, "I heard that Elder Yuan Yang entered the Secret Prison to try to uncover the 'secret' Meng Xizhou spoke of… Was this a mission he volunteered for, or was it arranged by the Grand Elder?"

"I'm sorry, I can't disclose that."

Yao Jin looked up at the Holy Son and seriously refused.

In the Temple, the Holy Son had an extraordinary status, but some things, even the Holy Son, had no right to ask about.

For example… the Secret Prison.

"Alright."

Su Ye raised an eyebrow and asked again, "I heard that you were entertaining the envoys from various continents for Elder Yuan Yang. You should be feasting guests in Guang Ming City right now. Why are you here overseeing the trial of loose cultivators? Is it necessary to waste time on these independent transcendents?"

"...Holy Son, I'm a little tired."

Yao Jin closed his eyes. In the entire Guang Ming City, the person he least wanted to talk to was the Holy Son in front of him.

Since he had decided not to answer.

He simply used the closed-eyed posture to express his rejection.

"Since you're tired, why not take a rest? I guess you're stationed here today to find that so-called 'mastermind,' right?"

Su Ye said indifferently.

Since he had come here, he wasn't just here to chat with Yao Jin: "A transcendent with overwhelming strength, above the level of a titled knight, evading the senses of the [Deep Sea] and the investigations of the adjudicators, finally arriving in Guang Ming City silently… Do you think such an existence would come to participate in the Temple's 'Xixin Pool' trial, and would be mixed in with such a group of loose cultivators?"

Yao Jin could only reply in a low voice, "The Grand Elder allowed me to handle this case with full authority. There's no harm in investigating it more carefully."

What Su Ye said was correct.

This was indeed what he thought!

After several rounds of confrontation, although Yao Jin had suffered losses, he had roughly figured out the image of the mastermind behind the assassination of Wu Tuo.

This person must be extremely low-key, perhaps with several false identities to rotate at any time.

The more he didn't want to be found by the Temple, the more ordinary his identity had to be.

Now was the time of the Guang Ming Holy Canon, and the Temple was holding the Fire Seed Trial… This mastermind dared to kill people in Xihai Du, so he might dare to go even further.

Therefore… today's Xixin Pool trial, setting someone up to investigate might yield some results.

Although Yao Jin had set up the "Secret Prison Scheme," he didn't want to wait passively. He wanted to take the initiative and see if he could find his target.

This kind of meticulous investigation.

If he found something, he could establish a winning position. If he didn't find anything, it would just be a waste of manpower.

"I've already heard about Wu Tuo's matter from the Grand Elder. It was precisely because you insisted on acting alone and setting up an ambush that you were schemed against by Gu Nanfeng, resulting in Wu Tuo losing his life and the Temple losing face… Didn't expect you to not make any progress?"

Su Ye's tone gradually became heavier, eventually becoming a reprimand: "If this person is really a subordinate of Pluto, how dare he step into Guang Ming City, how dare he enter the Temple? The Guang Ming Divine Seat is only ill, not blind!"

Yao Jin silently clenched his fingers.

He had been scolded for no reason, but he couldn't retaliate because the other party's status was higher than his.

He could only swallow his anger and said, "Holy Son, what exactly do you want to say?"

"From today onwards, the 'Wu Tuo Case' will be under my command."

Su Ye said coldly, "As for you, Yao Jin… Without my order, you can't act rashly, nor can you set up schemes."

The true intention was revealed.

His purpose this time was to take over this case!

Yao Jin knew that Su Ye's closed-door training coming to an end today definitely wouldn't be a good thing.

It was just that this undisguised seizure of power was too direct.

He took a deep breath and asked word by word, "Is this the Grand Elder's intention?"

"I am the Holy Son."

Su Ye said calmly, "Wu Tuo was also an old friend of mine who grew up in Xihai Du. Don't I even have the authority to handle this case? If you're not convinced, you can appeal to the Grand Elder."

"..."

Yao Jin suddenly fell silent.

He knew very well that going against the Holy Son at this time wouldn't be beneficial to his plans at all.

If the Holy Son wanted to transfer the "adjudicators" under his command, then let him transfer them.

As long as it didn't affect the design of the Secret Prison, then it wouldn't matter much.

After taking two deep breaths, Yao Jin put on a smiling face. He looked up and asked with a smile, "Since the Holy Son has spoken, I will respectfully obey."

"Heh."

Su Ye had worked with Yao Jin for many years, and he knew this person's nature.

He could endure what ordinary people couldn't.

This time, he had deliberately adopted an overbearing posture, also wanting to see if Yao Jin, after being favored by the Temple, had the idea of ​​challenging him.

Now it seemed that Yao Jin was quite knowledgeable about current affairs.

"I just don't know, where does the Holy Son intend to start investigating?"

Yao Jin asked politely.

"The previous Zhou Li dared to jump out because he didn't care about his own life or death. There are many people like him. Maybe there were people from the Gu family in the team just now."

Su Ye stood with his hands behind his back and said slowly, "Whether you kill him or not, his mission is to participate in the Xixin Pool trial and then say these few words. When he opens his mouth, his mission is already completed… If the Temple is furious and takes people away, it is a negative handling. If the Temple is generous and allows him to participate in the trial and then leave, he will pass on the information about the Xixin Pool one by one."

"Holy Son Su is really insightful."

Yao Jin said respectfully, "If you hadn't pointed it out, I don't know when I would have been able to see it."

Of course, Su Ye knew that this was sarcasm.

He wasn't angry either.

"So…"

Su Ye asked, "How many people in Guang Ming City are surnamed Gu? Do you know?"

Without waiting for Yao Jin to speak.

He continued, "A total of one hundred and thirty-one, and this number is still increasing… After the Gu family mission crossed the sea and arrived at the port of Ghent, transcendent individuals began to act in various prefectural cities and dozens of administrative regions throughout Xizhou. Over the years, the Gu family's night watchers have crossed the sea and arrived here, and they have cultivated a group of quite loyal 'devotees'. Although they cannot be compared with our adjudicators, they are still not to be underestimated with a single order."

Yao Jin was thoughtful.

"These people are heading towards Guang Ming City from all over Xizhou. If it weren't for the reminder given by the [Deep Sea]'s image, I'm afraid no one would have noticed the anomaly."

Su Ye said slowly, "It's obvious that these people are all being summoned by Gu Nanfeng, so they are approaching Guang Ming City. Today's 'Zhou Li' is just one of them, and there are more people hiding in the shadows of Guang Ming City. It is not yet known what they want to do, but the strength of the adjudicators should focus on guarding the night watchers."

Yao Jin's expression didn't fluctuate, but he vaguely guessed something in his heart.

These people… were likely prepared by the Gu family to rob the Secret Prison.

Yao Jin said, "So, you're prepared to mobilize the adjudicators to guard these transcendent individuals suspected of being 'Gu family night watchers'?"

"Yes, that's my plan."

Su Ye said expressionlessly, "I need you to transfer all the idle adjudicators in the Temple. I want to control the entire Guang Ming City."