A Disturbance Draws the Serpent Out

With his pets in tow, Luo Zhou headed home. He didn't feel like going to the Dao Academy today.

Although Zhang Xianchang had helped him break through the bottleneck in Overturning Rivers and Seas yesterday, Luo Zhou had no desire to get anywhere near him.

He had no idea how powerful Zhang Xianchang really was. There was just something sinister and frightening about him.

But Luo Zhou had barely made it home when a servant showed up. Headmaster Zhao wanted him at the Dao Academy.

Luo Zhou got his pets settled and had no choice but to go.

When he arrived at the headmaster's office, Zhang Xianchang was already there.

Soon, Tang Moli and Yuan Qiuyun arrived as well.

Headmaster Zhao looked at Zhang Xianchang and said slowly,

"Youzhi, you took a special look at these three kids yesterday. There's nothing wrong with them, right?"

"They're all good kids. There's nothing wrong with any of them!"

Luo Zhou let out a long breath. At least his true qi hadn't gone to waste. It had been worth it!

Headmaster Zhao continued, "They're the students I'm proudest of this year. I'm putting them in your hands!"

Then he turned to the three of them and said,

"This is Zhang Youzhi, an immortal elder from the Demon Suppression Court of the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect. Do as he says and help him with his work. There'll be something in it for you."

Under Headmaster Zhao's watchful eye, the three nodded one after another.

With that, Headmaster Zhao left the office, handing them over to Zhang Youzhi.

Zhang Youzhi smiled at the three of them. "I've come here on the sect's orders. Follow my commands and run errands for me, and you'll be richly rewarded.

"When the Ascension Ceremony is over, if you can't climb the Heaven Ladder, I can arrange positions for you at any government office in the Liang Kingdom's imperial capital!"

"Any office, any suitable position. You can take your pick!"

Luo Zhou didn't understand what he meant, but Tang Moli and Yuan Qiuyun's eyes lit up, and their breathing grew heavier.

After the Ascension Ceremony, if they couldn't enter a sect by climbing the Heaven Ladder, they would have to return to their hometowns.

But to be able to choose any suitable position at any government office in the imperial capital? That was practically a straight shot to the top.

"On top of that, I promise each of you a divine ability if you get the job done. You can choose it yourselves!"

Luo Zhou's eyes lit up too. He couldn't help asking,

"You can choose your own divine ability?"

Zhang Youzhi replied with an air of pride,

"Our Heaven and Earth Dao Sect enters the divine through the Dao and commands the nine paths of immortal cultivation: the Immortal Bone God Cluster!

"Countless divine abilities and myriad powers—if you want one, you can choose it!"

Tang Moli immediately called out, "Immortal elder, just tell us what you need. Tang Moli is at your service, even if it costs me my life!"

Luo Zhou quickly joined in, swearing his loyalty.

Zhang Youzhi nodded. "Then let's begin. First, report anything unusual!

"There are twelve students in Class One, sixteen in Class Two, and thirty-three in Class Three. Tell me now: have you noticed anyone acting strangely or doing something out of the ordinary?"

So he was rallying the students to find the Jellyfish Saint?

Tang Moli thought for a moment, then said, "Li Zexi from Class One definitely has something wrong with him. He never talks to anyone, and he carries around some busted old book, pretending to read all day. There's no way he's normal!"

"Qiumu Ye from Class One is suspicious too. His family's gone bankrupt, yet he still pretends to be rich at school. Where's he getting the money?"

"Li Zhongliang from Class One is suspicious too. He's been advancing way too fast lately—two breakthroughs in three months. And I've never seen him swallow a single pill. Something's definitely up!"

"Liu Ying from Class One is suspicious too..."

That bastard really knew how to bite. In his eyes, every classmate was suspicious.

And he could back up every accusation with a whole list of details. His Subtle Knowledge divine ability was probably some kind of observational power, which was how he'd noticed so much.

Tang Moli went down the list, and it turned out that everyone in Class One except him and Yuan Qiuyun was suspicious.

Once he'd finished with Class One, he moved on to Class Two, criticizing them one by one. At least ninety percent of them had something wrong with them.

Then he got to Class Three. There was hardly a student he didn't know inside and out.

That bastard spent practically every day watching his classmates!

At the end, he glanced at Luo Zhou, gritted his teeth, and said,

"Luo Zhou is suspicious too!

"His parents died young. I don't buy this story about an inheritance. Immortal elder, you can look into it yourself!

"And this whole righteous-hero game of his—he was an orphan who couldn't even afford to eat before he awakened. He should be hoarding every coin, yet after awakening, he's been throwing money around like water, treating people to porridge all day long. He must have an ulterior motive."

That bastard bit everyone. Luo Zhou hadn't escaped either.

Luo Zhou smiled. "Whatever else you can say about me, at least I'm better than certain people who hide their cultivation and divine abilities.

"You even kept it from the teachers. Your All Heavens Decree divine ability—what kind of ability is that?

"Immortal elder, do you know?"

Tang Moli's expression instantly changed. "How do you know? What makes you think you know?"

"If you don't want people to know, don't do it. You think the teacher doesn't know?"

The two of them started arguing, and Yuan Qiuyun couldn't calm them down no matter how hard she tried.

Zhang Youzhi simply listened with a smile, then said,

"All right, that's enough for today."

"I've got a pretty good sense of everyone now. Excellent!

"Today, we'll focus on these ten first: Qiumu Ye and Li Zhongliang from Class One; Xu Liang and Liu Chunyu from Class Two; Zuo Sanguang from Class Three...

"You three, help me out. Create an opportunity for me. I only need to be able to touch the person."

Luo Zhou frowned. Zuo Sanguang was on the first list of people to check.

But there was nothing to say about it. He might as well help. If Zuo Sanguang really was the Jellyfish Saint, then there was no helping it. He'd have to die!

Once he was dead, Luo Zhou would bury him. They were classmates, after all.

The three of them headed out to find the first person. Before long, they found Qiumu Ye from Class One.

Yuan Qiuyun immediately called out, "Qiumu Ye, come help us with something."

Qiumu Ye had no idea what was going on, but he came over and asked,

"What's up?"

He looked like a simp. He seemed to have a thing for Yuan Qiuyun!

"Tang Moli needs someone to help him practice a spell. Give him a hand."

Qiumu Ye didn't suspect a thing. He came over to help, grabbing Tang Moli by the hand.

It was perfectly normal to have someone lend a hand during training. Luo Zhou also put on an act of coming over to help, while Qiumu Ye kept his attention fixed on Yuan Qiuyun.

Zhang Youzhi silently came over. He looked like he was helping too, but gently took hold of Qiumu Ye.

He had some mysterious spell or divine ability. Almost everyone either ignored his presence or treated him like an ordinary friend.

A dozen breaths later, Zhang Youzhi shook his head. Not this one.

They began looking for the next person.

All ten were at the training grounds. No wonder Zhang Youzhi had picked them out by name.

They checked them one by one, and soon it was Zuo Sanguang's turn.

Luo Zhou called him over.

"Brother Luo, what's up? Are we playing a game?"

Luo Zhou's eyes rolled. "You bet. Come on, you play the victim.

"Tang Moli, you act like the bad guy and choke him. I'll come save him!"

He didn't go with the usual training routine. He came up with something original.

"Brother Luo, this is a new one. I know Tang Moli from Class One. They call him the Hawk-Eyed Detective."

Tang Moli was at a loss for words, but he had to play along. He reached out and grabbed Zuo Sanguang by the neck.

Zuo Sanguang started calling for help, and Zhang Youzhi took the opportunity to come over and touch him.

"Help! They've got me by the neck! They're trying to strangle me!"

Zuo Sanguang was as sharp as ever, sending his plea for help telepathically.

Luo Zhou frowned. There was only Tang Moli. Zhang Youzhi was basically invisible, so why had Zuo Sanguang said "they"?

Could the kid sense Zhang Youzhi?

Luo Zhou roared,

"Don't bully people! I'll uphold justice! Anyone who bullies people must be punished!"

Those were lines from the childhood storytelling show The Great Hero of the Three Heroes and Five Gallants. Luo Zhou imitated them to perfection.

Then he pretended to shove Tang Moli away, deliberately shifting his stance and bumping into Zhang Youzhi.

It was only a light bump, but it counted as punishing evil!

Then he shoved Tang Moli hard. Tang Moli stumbled, let go of Zuo Sanguang, and shoved Luo Zhou in turn.

The kid was strong—he was actually no weaker than Luo Zhou. Luo Zhou immediately fought back.

The two started shoving each other.

Zhang Youzhi shook his head. "Stop fooling around. He's not the one either!"

Luo Zhou secretly gave Zuo Sanguang ten Broken Spirits. Zuo Sanguang ran off in delighted, coy little steps, like a young lady.

Zuo Sanguang was great in every other way, but Luo Zhou didn't know why he seemed more and more girlish. He'd randomly flick out an orchid finger, as if he'd grown a little crooked.

Tang Moli said, "Luo Zhou, I don't know what you're really up to, but there was definitely something going on just now!"

That bastard was at it again!

Luo Zhou said, "That's right. I was sucking out your yang energy!"

"Bullshit!"

After they finished checking the ten, Zhang Youzhi said,

"That's all for this morning. We'll continue this afternoon."

So they kept at it.

They checked ten more that afternoon, and Luo Zhou noticed that Zhang Youzhi could only examine ten people at a time.

There were sixty-one students in total. At twenty a day, they could finish in three days.

But Zhang Youzhi said, "You'll examine each person three times in a row. The three of you as well!"

Luo Zhou was speechless. But when he thought of the reward, he accepted the nightmare of a worker. He'd just have to endure it.

Still, Luo Zhou didn't have much faith in Zhang Youzhi's examinations.

If it were that easy to find the Jellyfish Saint, they would have discovered him long ago.

Luo Zhou headed home at dusk.

He was almost back to his neighborhood when he noticed a crowd of people looking into the distance.

Their faces were full of fear, and some were whispering among themselves.

Luo Zhou looked east, where the endless sea lay. Rolling banks of iridescent clouds stretched across it, like fish scales.

Luo Zhou was horrified. He had seen this once before, five years ago!

Back then, he'd been amazed, saying the sunset was beautiful. Only his parents had looked grave.

Then the sea beasts had surged forth in a rampage, gathering to attack the city. The walls had fallen, and the fighting had spilled into the streets. His parents had both died defending the city!

They said this was a harbinger of a sea beast siege, called fish-scale red clouds!

But it had only been five years. How could the sea beasts be surging again already?

Suddenly, Luo Zhou remembered Liu Changlong's last words:

"Five years ago, something happened on your end. I had no choice but to trigger a sea beast siege and create chaos. Your Dao Protector used that chance to erase every trace!"

The Jellyfish Celestial Palace, a great spirit sect, controlled countless water spirits across the sea.

It had made ancient pacts with countless great sea clans, allowing them to imprison the Sea Race and unleash sea beasts on the human world.

Zhang Youzhi hadn't cared about the results of his examinations at all. He had only wanted to stir things up and flush the snake out!

And now, the snake had moved!