The three black-clad figures from Spirit Hall seized the limp, powerless Tang San and vanished into the dense shadows of the forest in an instant, leaving behind not even the slightest trace of Soul Power, as though they had never appeared at all.
On Shrek Academy's training grounds, the clouds of dust slowly settled, leaving only cracked earth to bear witness to the sudden battle that had just taken place.
The entire field remained deathly silent. The shock and terror on everyone's faces lingered, their gazes fixed on the wreckage at the center of the grounds as endless questions churned in their hearts.
Xiao Wu's fingers tightened around Lin Chen's sleeve. Her pretty face was still shaken, and her voice trembled slightly. "This is so strange. How did the people from Spirit Hall show up at exactly the right moment to stop Tang San? He was so good at hiding. No one even knew he'd come back."
Ning Rongrong furrowed her brows, confusion filling her glassy eyes as she softly agreed. "Exactly. Tang San breaking through level forty and sneaking back to the academy to silence us were both secret matters. Yet Spirit Hall acted as if they already knew everything and had lain in wait here. Someone must have tipped them off in advance."
Zhu Zhuqing remained silent. Her cool gaze swept over the surroundings, but she detected no unusual lingering aura. The more she thought about it, the more suspicious the whole affair seemed.
Standing among the crowd, Lin Chen held himself straight, his expression still warm and his Soul Power steady as ever—the ordinary state of a level thirty-six Soul Elder. He spoke softly, his tone calm and natural, without the slightest hint of steering the conversation. "Spirit Hall has been entrenched across the continent for years, with an intelligence network spread everywhere. Maybe they had spies stationed nearby who happened to notice Tang San's movements."
His explanation was a perfectly reasonable deduction, without a hint of exaggeration. Everyone nodded along, but Flender and Zhao Wuji remained grim, their guard not lowered in the slightest.
Flender strode to the center of the grounds, his eagle-sharp eyes sweeping toward the forest. He kept his Soul Saint aura slightly reined in and spoke in a low voice. "It was no coincidence. The Adjudication Hall Secret Guards of Spirit Hall are all operatives assigned to top-secret missions. Without precise, confidential intelligence, they wouldn't make a move so rashly—let alone time their attack on Tang San down to the very second."
Zhao Wuji nodded heavily and said in his gruff voice, "The reverence that guard captain showed when he looked toward the forest just now was no act. He was clearly wary of whoever sent the message. But to slip past Spirit Hall's security around a top-secret transmission point without a sound or a trace takes more than overwhelming cultivation. It takes mastery of the finest concealment, infiltration, and intelligence-gathering techniques in the world."
The two exchanged a glance, both arriving at the same conclusion:
That mysterious informant was neither a god nor a powerhouse among the Limit Douluo or Titled Douluo. They were an intelligence specialist, long hidden in the shadows, who belonged to some secret organization—or perhaps a veteran operative who worked alone!
Such Soul Masters might not have cultivation that reached the pinnacle. They could be no more than Soul Douluos, or even high-ranking Soul Emperors. But their skills at concealing themselves, gathering intelligence, and passing it along were unmatched across the continent. They could easily evade all kinds of Soul Power surveillance and obtain the most confidential information without anyone noticing. They were the most troublesome people on the continent.
They were no good at head-on assaults, but they could plot from behind the scenes and achieve their goals through others. Their whereabouts were elusive, and no one could track them down, making them far more difficult to read than even the mightiest fighters.
This conclusion immediately dispelled everyone's imaginings of a "top-tier powerhouse" behind it all. It also made perfect sense given the state of Douluo Continent's factions. Spirit Hall had many enemies, and plenty of intelligence networks and secretive Soul Masters lay in wait for a chance to strike back. Using Spirit Hall to eliminate the remnants of the Clear Sky Sect was entirely reasonable.
Dai Mubai suddenly understood and said, "So it was a secretive Soul Master skilled in intelligence and infiltration. No wonder they could send Spirit Hall a message without anyone noticing and keep such precise tabs on Tang San. People like that are ghosts—there's no way to track them down."
Ma Hongjun relaxed as well and scratched his head. "Good thing it wasn't some peerless powerhouse. Otherwise, we'd never have a moment's peace at Shrek."
For the moment, everyone was convinced that the one who'd sent the message was merely an ordinary high-ranking Soul Master, skilled in intelligence work and mysterious techniques. They had no top-tier cultivation or extraordinary status, only a knack for hiding in the shadows and manipulating the board.
Meanwhile, Lin Chen remained unmoved inside, his expression calm as ever.
This was exactly the result he wanted.
No god. No Limit Douluo. No extraordinary status. Everyone else would dismiss the mastermind as an unremarkable intelligence operative and lower their guard completely. They would never turn their suspicions toward him, an utterly ordinary Shrek Academy student.
The supreme concealment power of Star Hidden Grass cloaked him from head to toe. None but a god could see through it. The formidable Soul Power of the level sixty-two Soul Emperor within him was sealed deep in his dantian, indistinguishable from his peaceful aura. Even if Flender and Zhao Wuji swept their divine senses over him again and again, they would only see an unremarkable, mild-mannered youth, with no connection whatsoever to a mysterious figure "skilled in intelligence and masterful at manipulating events."
The system's notification sounded softly in Lin Chen's mind:
[ Ding! Shrek Academy's members have concluded that the mysterious informant is a high-ranking intelligence specialist. They have made no guesses linking the informant to any top-tier powerhouse. The host is not under suspicion.] [ Ding! The group has no intention of investigating the mysterious figure. The disguise remains flawless, with no risk of exposure.] [ Ding! Tang San has been taken into custody by Spirit Hall. The hostile threat has been temporarily eliminated, and the plan's success is secure.]
A faint, almost imperceptible smile curled Lin Chen's lips before his expression returned to its usual warmth. As the others speculated among themselves, he remained silent, acting as though he had nothing to do with the matter.
Xiao Wu looked up at the composed Lin Chen beside her, and the panic in her heart gradually subsided. She had never imagined that this boy, who was always by her side and seemed to have nothing special about him, was the true mastermind behind the whole plan.
Flender gazed into the depths of the forest and warned everyone in a low voice, "Let's put this matter to rest. Don't bring it up again. Whatever dealings that mysterious intelligence operative has with Spirit Hall have nothing to do with Shrek Academy. We only need to focus on our cultivation and stay out of needless trouble."
Everyone agreed. Their suspicions had not entirely faded, but they no longer pursued them.
After all, a secretive Soul Master skilled in intelligence work was far less intimidating than a top-tier powerhouse, and not worth the effort of investigating.
The sun slowly sank, and dusk settled over all of Shrek Academy. The upheaval of the day seemed like nothing more than a passing storm, soon buried in everyone's hearts.
Deep in the forest, Ghost Fiend and the other Spirit Hall Secret Guards were hurrying onward with Tang San in custody.
The two deputies lowered their voices and asked Ghost Fiend, "Captain, are we really not going to investigate the identity of that mysterious informant?"
Ghost Fiend shot them a cold glance and replied in a low voice, "There's no need. We wouldn't find them anyway. They're a top-tier intelligence specialist, with concealment and infiltration skills rarely seen in this world. We'll never find their trail. All we need to do is finish the mission and take Tang San back to Spirit Hall. Don't provoke people who hide in the shadows."
Ghost Fiend, too, was convinced that the informant was a secretive Soul Master skilled in intelligence work, with top-tier information-gathering and concealment skills but no superior cultivation—someone who simply excelled at plotting from the shadows. He was wary of them, but had never mistaken them for some extraordinary powerhouse. Nor had he ever imagined that the mysterious figure he was desperately trying to find was not hiding in the shadows at all, but living in the sunlight at Shrek Academy.
He would never have guessed that Lin Chen, who seemed utterly ordinary and posed no threat in his eyes, was not only the true mastermind but also a level sixty-two Soul Emperor, a player who could hide his power from heaven and earth.
Night deepened. Shrek Academy returned to calm, while the Spirit Hall Secret Guards disappeared into the darkness with Tang San. Everyone drew their own conclusions and pieced together the events of the day as they saw fit.
No one knew that every question, every deduction, and every move had been orchestrated by Lin Chen alone.
He hid his Soul Emperor strength beneath an unremarkable exterior. Under the identity of an ordinary student, he had fooled everyone and kept the entire affair firmly in his hands.
The true mastermind was never a powerhouse with top-tier cultivation, concealed in the shadows of a forest. It was an ordinary person standing in the sunlight, lost among the crowd, seemingly unremarkable yet able to control everything.
The storm had passed, but currents still ran deep. Lin Chen's game had only just begun.
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