Autumn skies were high and the air crisp.

The autumn air is crisp and clear.

The path leading up and down Bihua Peak, which was usually bustling with people, was now deserted, as if all those who used to come and go had vanished.

You Su stood in the sunlight, his gaze blank, while the old man stood in the shade of a tree, holding up that bizarre and sinister head.

"You... know him?"

The old man asked casually, as if it were a simple greeting from an old man at the village entrance, with no hint of danger in his voice.

You Su's mind raced. The old man was clearly testing him, but You Su couldn't discern the other's purpose. Whether it was his cultivation level or his cunning, the other man gave him the feeling of an endless ocean.

"I don't know him." You Su shook her head.

Upon hearing this, the old man narrowed his eyes and smiled calmly.

"This is Meat Rong Ghost. It's not recorded in common Tome of Evil Spirits, so it's normal that you don't recognize it. It's a low-level evil spirit of Flesh and Blood Type, very weak, but very rare because it has the peculiar ability to regenerate flesh. If you encounter some nameless skeletons and plant the Meat Rong Ghost on them, it will take root and sprout on the skeletons, growing rotten flesh. Although it can't be said to be exactly the same as the original owner, you can at least tell most of it by its bone structure."

"This evil spirit has such miraculous abilities; many unsolved cases could be solved with it," You Su exclaimed in admiration.

He remained composed in the face of the word "evil spirit." The fact that the other party was testing him meant they must have some knowledge of his life experiences. If he had shown excessive fear of a low-level evil spirit after seeing the darkness deep within the Jade Ring Pool, it would have seemed deliberately exaggerated.

The old man's smile remained unchanged as he weighed the head in his hand, as if he truly regarded it as a Black Fruit.

"But you know very well that what I'm asking isn't whether you recognize this evil spirit, but rather the owner of the skull beneath it."

"Senior, you are unaware of the truth. I am blind, so how could I possibly recognize you?" You Su said apologetically, cupping his hands in greeting.

"Young man... the look in your eyes when you want to kill someone can't be hidden, don't lie to me."

The old man suddenly flicked his hand, putting away the black, Meat Rong Ghost:

"What you dropped is this Black Fruit."

You Su frowned slightly.

He had a feeling that the other party had already determined that he had interacted with True Man Ling and that his blind eyes could see evil spirits.

He came to find me not to test my intentions, but more to greet me and tell me that if I don't want anyone to know, I shouldn't do it in the first place.

What does "senior" mean?

"Young man, don't be nervous." The old man stroked his white beard, his wrinkles full of kindness. "I am the First Elder of the Xuanxiao Sect, you should have heard of me. I am also one of the three chiefs of the Central Continent's Evil Warding Department. I have come here to invite you to the Evil Warding Department for a chat. The Thirteenth Elder should have told you about the Evil Warding Department's desire to invite you."

You Su instantly became awe-inspiring. The First Elder was arguably the most powerful person in the Xuanxiao Sect Master. Even the Sect Master would have to show respect to this living fossil-like old man, let alone the mysterious and impressive title he later mentioned, the Chief of the Evil Warding Department.

However, his Mistress never mentioned to him that the Evil Warding Department wanted to recruit him.

"You Su greets the First Elder."

You Su bowed respectfully; facing one of the most prominent figures on this continent, he had no reason not to be respectful.

"No need for formalities. I know you have many questions. Close your eyes and come with me."

You Su knew he had no right to refuse, so he had no choice but to close his eyes as instructed, even though he was blind.

"Thank you for your First Elder."

The First Elder adjusted his long sleeves and said, "Although the headquarters of the Evil Warding Department is located on the sacred mountain, no one really knows its exact location. This is just to be on the safe side, since it concerns evil spirits."

Seeing that You Su's eyebrows were still furrowed, the old man with a sage-like demeanor smiled again:

"Don't worry, it won't take long. You won't keep your senior sister waiting."

You Su suppressed her unease and nodded.

Almost instantly upon nodding, the two transformed into a streak of white light and vanished from the spot.

On the deserted mountain path, disciples suddenly reappeared, completely unaware of the strange occurrences taking place.

Only the Third Elder, dressed in a deep green cheongsam, looked up in the direction the two had left, his eyes filled with worry.

"Open your eyes."

The First Elder still kept his hands tucked into his sleeves, wearing a gentle smile, looking like a kind old man.

You Su slowly opened her eyes, and unexpectedly, her vision wasn't blurry; she could clearly see several things—

Handcuffs, saw, rake...

You Su knew very well that he hadn't opened his eyes yet, so there was only one reason why he could see these things: they were tainted with extremely strong Evil Qi!

He also deduced his location—a prison—from the blood-stained instruments of torture and the stench in the air!

Seeing You Su's solemn expression, the First Elder reminded him:

"Don't be afraid. This is the headquarters of the Evil Warding Department, a place specifically for interrogating suspicious individuals. You are not a suspicious person."

Upon hearing this, You Su did not relax much. Taking you to prison on your very first meeting makes it hard not to think about his intentions.

What made him even more uneasy was that there seemed to be a restriction here, making it difficult to use his Divine Sense. Therefore, You Su was completely unaware of his surroundings and could only see these weathered instruments of torture.

"Venerable Chengtao, please say hello to You Su."

The First Elder stepped aside, revealing a cage made of dark iron behind him. A naked man was suspended inside, his hair disheveled, only his pupils beneath the strands gleaming with a ghostly blue light.

He had no visible injuries, yet he appeared extremely weak.

You Su looked closely and realized that what was hanging the Venerable Chengtao was not an ordinary chain, but two evil spirits that looked like eels! The eels were covered with dense sores, and through the holes, one could see the rotting flesh inside the evil eels.

They grabbed the left and right hands of Venerable Chengtao respectively, suspending him. This middle-aged Venerable, who had been so dignified just a few days ago, was completely helpless against them.

"Young Master You... you've arrived..."

Venerable Chengtao forced out an awkward smile.

"You Su greets Venerable Chengtao."

You Su still bowed respectfully, puzzled as to why things had turned out this way.

What exactly did you see?

The First Elder stared into You Su's clear black and white eyes, as if he were talking to himself.

"What does the First Elder mean?"

You Su didn't open his eyes, he could only see evil spirits and things strongly related to them, and of course he couldn't see the First Elder's perspective.

"We'll talk about that later."

The First Elder turned to look at Venerable Chengtao, now a prisoner, his eyes flashing with ruthlessness, as if he were looking at an irreconcilable enemy.

"The first reason I called you here is to verify what you saw and heard at Jade Ring Pool. Tell me as much as you know about the Tibetan soil and Hidden Water."

You Su was stunned for a moment, then told him everything she knew.

But he still deliberately concealed the Little White Fish, because it would expose the true god within him.

This was You Su's biggest secret. He couldn't figure out other people's attitudes toward Allah, the source of evil, so he naturally dared not reveal it easily.

"What you said is almost identical to Venerable Chengtao said. In other words, there are two forces in Jade Ring Pool. One is the Tibetan land and Venerable Shenxi and others who believe in the Tibetan land, and the other is the Yu Die Saintess, who is the incarnation of the Hidden Water, and you and the snake clan chief Ji Xueruo, who were chosen by her?"

You Su nodded.

"You and Ji Xueruo together broke the illusion of the Hidden Earth, fulfilling the wish of the Hidden Water. You also prevented the Hidden Water from possessing Ji Xueruo, causing these two monsters from thousands of years ago to die completely?"

You Su nodded slowly.

"Have you ever thought about what makes you think you can do all this? You should know... you're just a blind man at the Spirit Platform Middle Stage."

The First Elder glanced at You Su, who was sitting in a chair.

You Su felt as if she were being tortured, even though she wasn't wearing any shackles.

"I never thought about it, and I never imagined it. Perhaps it was all just a matter of fate," You Su replied.

What a serendipitous encounter!

The First Elder's smile deepened, his gaze fixed as if on some rare treasure.

"If Hua Jing, First Seat's investigation is correct, you also experienced considerable hardship in Chuyun City. The evil spirits that appeared there were a Ming Kun from thousands of years ago and a Dream-Eating Ghost who stole treasures from the Southern Yang Continent and fled. In terms of level alone, they were even higher than Zang Tu and Hidden Water. Yet you still survived, and with your lower Lingtai Realm cultivation, you first killed True Man Ling, Condensing Water Realm cultivator, and then killed Liu City Lord Liu behind the evil spirits, who was at the Feather Transformation Realm. Moreover, you also became a key figure in unraveling the evil spirits' conspiracy. Was this also a matter of fate?"

You Su was silent. The long period of peace had made him think that he was insignificant in the eyes of these powerful figures. Now he realized that they hadn't failed to notice him, but were waiting for the right opportunity.

A moment of silence fell over the scene, and the tense You Su could almost hear her own heartbeat.

"By the way, where did your master go?"

The First Elder suddenly asked, as if chatting with an old man.

You Su was stunned for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "I really don't know. I only know that Master said he went to do something important."

"What could be greater than striking a sacred mountain with two fists?"

The First Elder stroked his beard and smiled. He looked through a small window in the stone wall at the summit of the sacred mountain hidden behind the clouds. The place where that extraordinary woman had once been was even higher than here.

Upon hearing this, You Su was taken aback and said in disbelief, "First Elder, you must have mistaken me for someone else. Master is just a minor Sword Sect Master at the Water Condensing Lower Realm."

"Oh?"

The First Elder gave You Su, who looked completely bewildered, a look of amusement, and said leisurely:

"Perhaps I have truly made a mistake."

You Su couldn't reconcile the image of his master in his memory with the figure described by the First Elder who had punched the sacred mountain. No matter how powerful his master was... he was only at the Water Condensing Upper Realm.

If a real fight were to break out, we probably wouldn't even see a glimpse of the sacred mountain.

"Have you ever wondered why you can see these evil spirits?"

Seeing that You Su had relaxed a bit, the First Elder continued to ask questions:

"There's no need to deny it. If you couldn't see, you wouldn't be alive today. Countless Spirit Platform Realm have died at the hands of evil spirits without knowing why."

You Su had also pondered this question. At first, he thought it was an ability bestowed upon him by God, since as the source of evil spirits, it was quite reasonable for him to be able to see all evil spirits.

However, even before merging with the True Lord's Power, he could already see evil spirits such as the Red Meat Ghost. So he speculated that it was because of dreams, because he had seen the Tai Sui and the Dream-Eating Ghost in his dreams, so he could see evil spirits of Flesh and Blood Type and those of the Dream Master Type were of a lower level than them.

But it wasn't until that day on the city wall of Chuyun City, when he saw the Ming Kun that was swallowing clouds and spitting mist, that he realized he could also see powerful evil spirits Five Elements Type.

In the end, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with his eyes, so he simply gave up trying to understand and accepted the ability.

"I really don't know," You Su shook her head.

As soon as he finished speaking, You Su suddenly felt an immense pressure. Something was pressed tightly against his face, and he could even feel the warmth emanating from it!

The other person stared into his eyes, as if trying to see through the mist within and uncover all his secrets!

"Hua Jing!" the First Elder roared coldly, a stark contrast to his previous amiable demeanor. "Don't forget! He's one of my men!"

After he finished speaking, the intense sense of oppression receded like a receding tide.

The source of the oppressive feeling was a woman completely wrapped in a wide purple robe.

Her face was shrouded in an inscrutable mist, making it impossible to see clearly. Only her eyes were clearly visible, pure white, without pupils, as smooth as a mirror, reflecting all the evil in the world.

The only word to describe her is "sacred" simply because she is standing here.

"I can't see through him. He's not blind; someone has placed a curse on his eyes." The white-eyed woman's voice was clear and crisp, reminiscent of the sound of a shattering mirror.

The First Elder was first startled, then frowned his white eyebrows:

"That's enough, let's go, don't frighten the child."

The woman in Purple Robe with white eyes vanished in an instant, as if she had never been there.

You Su sat there, beads of cold sweat already seeping from her back.

This woman's name was Hua Jing, the Hua Jing, First Seat Elder that the First Elder had just mentioned. She was clearly a figure of equal rank to the First Elder... If what she said was true, that she wasn't born blind but had been placed under a restriction, then what level of cultivation could the caster of such a restriction, which even she couldn't see through, possess?

"Don't be afraid, with me here, they won't do anything to you no matter how curious they are."

With a wave of his withered hand, the First Elder appeared on the table in front of You Su, a cup of fragrant hot tea.

"We have investigated your life story, and from this we can infer that you had a brief but astonishing experience before your master found you."

"What experience?"

"Tell me frankly, have you ever seen any of the evil spirits belonging to the three great Evil God?" The First Elder's tone became serious.

You Su paused for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.

"Ming Kun, Dream-Eating Ghost, Hidden Earth... were you able to see them the first time you met them?"

You Su nodded emphatically.

"Alright, then I'm basically certain."

The First Elder stared at You Su's face, his old eyes flashing with a sharp light. "Before you were born and before you went blind, you had already witnessed the deepest evil in this world!"

Upon hearing this You Su's head buzzed, as if he had been struck by a hammer, and he murmured absentmindedly:

"The deepest evil... refers to the three Evil God?!"

"That's right!"

The First Elder took a deep breath and said in a booming voice:

"The one who placed the restriction on your eyes has shown you these Evil God hidden in the darkest corners of the world!"

"For reasons unknown, he sealed your sight! And for some other reason, he abandoned you, only to have you found by your master. So even though you are blind, you can see these Evil Demons that even we cannot easily see!"

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