Danta Spy

Hearing this, Old Man Muguo suspected that Su Baichen might have information about Yao Chen. Thus, Su Baichen was placed on Soul Hall's wanted list.

Yet after several years, they still failed to capture him. In the end, Old Man Muguo had no choice but to bleed heavily and offer several seventh-tier medicinal pills to hire Dou Zuns for the job.

"Su Baichen... Yao Chen..."

Old Man Muguo muttered, the calculating gleam in his eyes growing brighter. "Find you, and perhaps I can find clues about Yao Chen. Even if I cannot, your unfathomable pill-refining arts and those strange puppet techniques would still be of great value to Soul Hall."

He put away the jade vial, straightened his robes, and prepared to inquire about the results of the pursuit.

In his view, with a Dou Zun making a move, capturing a Dou Zong should have been impossible to botch.

However, he had no idea that the elder in whom he had placed such high hopes was currently raging inside his residence. And because of this failed pursuit, the grudge between Soul Hall and Su Baichen had only deepened.

Knock, knock, knock!

A somewhat hurried knock interrupted Old Man Muguo's thoughts. He frowned slightly and looked at the door with displeasure.

"Elder, there is news from the team pursuing Su Baichen."

A respectful yet slightly nervous voice came from outside.

At those words, Old Man Muguo's brows relaxed, and the faint displeasure in his heart was instantly replaced by anticipation.

Assuming that Su Baichen had already been successfully captured, he softened his tone somewhat and said indifferently toward the door, "Mm, come in."

A Soul Hall envoy, dressed in the organization's robes, pushed open the door with lowered eyes and entered. He stood respectfully below.

Old Man Muguo straightened in his seat again, lightly tapping the armrest with his fingers. Looking utterly in control, he calmly asked, "Where are they now? Which prison cell in the Main Hall is Su Baichen being held in?"

The subordinate's body trembled almost imperceptibly, and his voice dropped even lower. "R-Reporting to Elder, they... they are currently at Branch Hall No. 3."

"Branch hall?"

Old Man Muguo's tapping fingers abruptly stopped. They had returned, yet instead of bringing the prisoner directly to headquarters, they had remained at a branch hall? A powerful sense of foreboding instantly surged into his heart, shattering his former calm.

He suddenly sat upright and leaned forward, his gaze as sharp as a blade as he fixed it on the envoy below. His voice carried urgency and chill. "What exactly happened? Where is Su Baichen? Was he captured or not?!"

Intimidated by Old Man Muguo's suddenly surging aura, the subordinate dropped to his knees with a thud, burying his head low as he stammered, "E-Elder, please calm down! They... they did not capture Su Baichen, and... and..."

"And what?! Speak! If you keep stammering, I'll skin you alive!"

The fury in Old Man Muguo's heart flared up as he shouted harshly. What he hated most was bad news and hesitation in a report.

The kneeling subordinate shuddered from head to toe. Not daring to conceal anything further, he rapidly said, "The operation suffered terrible losses! Several Soul Envoys were lost, many lords were seriously injured, and even... even the elder leading the team suffered minor injuries. His reputation has been greatly damaged!"

"Terrible losses..." Old Man Muguo repeated those words, his expression turning so dark it seemed water could be wrung from it. He slowly leaned back in his chair, his unconscious grip leaving deep finger marks in the hard rosewood armrest.

Suppressing his churning rage, his voice instead became exceptionally calm, carrying a bone-chilling coldness. "Tell me every piece of information received. Exactly as it was reported, without leaving out a single word."

"Y-Yes!"

The subordinate did not dare raise his head. Trembling, he gave a detailed account of the intelligence sent from the branch hall: how the seemingly ordinary avatar puppets had suddenly self-destructed, how terrifying the blasts had been, how severe the resulting casualties were, and how Su Baichen had vanished without a trace...

After hearing the entire account, Old Man Muguo remained silent for a long time. The air in the room seemed to have frozen solid. Finally, he waved his hand helplessly, with a trace of weariness, his voice hoarse. "...I understand. Get out."

As if pardoned, the subordinate repeatedly kowtowed, then practically scrambled out of the room on all fours and gently closed the door behind him.

Within the silent alchemy room, only Old Man Muguo's heavy breathing remained.

His face dark, he stared blankly into the empty space before him, the key details from his subordinate's report echoing repeatedly in his mind.

"Puppets... explosions... every target in every direction was fake, and the final explosion delivered the fatal blow..."

He muttered under his breath, his fingers nearly crushing the armrest. "What a Su Baichen! What exquisite scheming! Even that brute suffered such a huge loss..."

The rage of having been toyed with mingled with an even deeper curiosity.

Originally, he had only wanted to use Su Baichen to find clues about Yao Chen. But now, the methods and cunning Su Baichen had displayed made him far more interested in the man himself.

"Su Baichen, Su Baichen, just how many secrets are you hiding? I truly am becoming... more and more interested in you." A dangerous light flickered in Old Man Muguo's eyes, the excitement and obsession of a hunter who had discovered prey that was difficult to catch yet priceless.

But after the excitement came a profound sense of difficulty. He knew that after this defeat, they had alerted the enemy. Trying to find a deliberately hidden Su Baichen again would be like searching for a needle in the sea.

Even the important hidden pawn they had planted within Danta had failed to learn Su Baichen's exact travel route beforehand, sending back only vague news that he had gone out.

"Danta's spy..." At this thought, Old Man Muguo's gaze turned colder. With this operation's failure, that spy was likely exposed as well.

Meanwhile, within Danta's core region.

Xuankongzi sat in the seat of honor with a grave expression. Below him were Xuanyi, her lovely face frosty, and Tianleizi, who stood silently to one side.

They too had received word that Su Baichen had been ambushed by Soul Hall. Although Su Baichen had successfully escaped through his own methods, this was undoubtedly a slap in Danta's face!

"Soul Hall has stretched its hand too far!" Xuanyi's willow brows rose, her beautiful eyes blazing with fury. "Furthermore, Baichen kept his whereabouts quite secret during this journey. How could Soul Hall pursue him so precisely? There must be a traitor within Danta!"

Xuankongzi slowly nodded, his expression equally grim. He said in a deep voice, "This matter must be thoroughly investigated! We cannot allow Soul Hall's tentacles to reach into Danta's very core!"

A major search targeting internal personnel quietly yet swiftly unfolded among Danta's upper ranks.

With the few clues Su Baichen had provided before departing, along with Xuankongzi and the others' methods, suspicion was soon focused on a lesser elder who had always appeared diligent and held no low position.

The evidence was conclusive. Faced with Xuankongzi's questioning, the lesser elder initially tried to argue, but before the overwhelming pressure of the soul and the undeniable chain of evidence, he eventually turned ashen-faced and admitted that Soul Hall had bribed him to relay information.

"You ungrateful traitor!"

Xuanyi had long been beside herself with rage. Thinking of how Su Baichen had nearly suffered because of this traitor, lingering fear and fury intertwined within her. Before Xuankongzi could announce a punishment, she had already struck in anger.

A flaming palm formed from vast Dou Qi appeared out of thin air, carrying a terrifying heat that seemed capable of incinerating everything. Before the traitorous elder's despairing eyes, it crashed down viciously!

Bang!

With a dull boom, the hidden pawn Soul Hall had planted in Danta for years was reduced to ashes by Xuanyi's furious strike before he could even scream. Both body and soul were annihilated.

Xuanyi snorted coldly and flicked her sleeve, only then easing the anger in her chest somewhat. Xuankongzi and Tianleizi exchanged a glance but did not stop her. Cleansing the house and intimidating petty villains—her action had been decisive enough.

Danta underwent an internal purge, while Soul Hall's operation had truly cost them dearly. Not only had they failed to capture Su Baichen, losing manpower and face in the process, but one of their important hidden pawns had also been uprooted, dealing Soul Hall a resounding blow.

After this battle, Su Baichen's name undoubtedly rose another level on the list of people watched by Soul Hall's upper ranks.

The undercurrents across the continent became even more turbulent because of Danta's mysterious pill refiner.