Xiao Wu Exposed! The Demon Emperor Spares Her, Tang San's Mindset Shatters!

Outside Notting Academy, chaos erupted swiftly.

The Black Market Soul Hunting Group seemed to have been watching something for a long time.

Less than a quarter of an hour after Di Yao received the news, explosions of Soul Power rang out from beyond the city.

Then, an academy student rushed in, panicked and flustered.

"Something terrible happened!"

"Xiao Wu is being chased!"

Tang San's expression changed drastically.

"Xiao Wu?"

Ignoring everything else, he immediately rushed outside.

Yu Xiaogang's expression also changed.

"Xiao San, don't be impulsive!"

But Tang San had already run far away.

Di Yao stood where he was, without the slightest surprise in his eyes.

Hu Liena asked softly, "You saw through her long ago?"

Di Yao said, "Just now."

"The Soul Beast Origin was too obvious."

Hu Liena's gaze sharpened.

"She really is a Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast?"

Di Yao nodded.

Hu Liena's breathing tightened.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast taking human form.

She knew all too well what that meant.

Soul Rings.

Soul Bones.

Resources enough to drive any soul master mad.

Her first thought was to capture her.

Yet Di Yao did not immediately give the order.

Hu Liena frowned.

"You're not making a move?"

Di Yao looked toward the outskirts of the city.

"Kill the ones trying to steal the prey first."

Hu Liena froze.

Di Yao's tone was icy.

"While I'm investigating a case, the Black Market Soul Hunting Group dares to reach in."

"That is a provocation against me."

He raised his hand and gave the order.

"Law Enforcement Team, leave the city."

"Black Market Soul Hunting Group, prioritize taking them alive."

"Anyone who resists, kill."

Deacon Zhou said solemnly, "Yes!"

Outside Nuoding City.

Xiao Wu was sprinting through the forest.

Her face was pale, and her eyes were filled with panic.

Several soul masters from the Black Market Soul Hunting Group chased closely behind her.

Leading them was a Soul Ancestor whose spirit was a Bloodthirsty Hyena, with an exceptionally keen sense of smell.

His eyes were full of greed.

"Run?"

"Little Rabbit, do you think you can get away?"

Xiao Wu was both shocked and furious.

She had no idea how she had suddenly been exposed.

She had clearly hidden herself well all along.

Yet these people seemed to have known there was something wrong with her. They had even brought medicinal powder specifically meant to stimulate a Soul Beast's aura.

The origin within her body had been forced into instability.

Her ears and aura nearly went out of control several times.

Just as a Black Market soul master was about to grab her, a pebble shot through the air.

Bang!

The man's wrist was knocked aside.

Tang San charged out from the woods and stood in front of Xiao Wu.

"Xiao Wu, get behind me."

Xiao Wu's eyes reddened.

"Third Brother!"

Tang San's face darkened, and the Hidden Weapons in his sleeves were already prepared.

He stared at the Black Market Soul Hunting Group members, his voice terrifyingly cold.

"You're courting death."

The Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor sneered.

"Kid, get lost."

"This girl isn't ordinary."

"You can't protect her."

The chill in Tang San's eyes deepened.

"Then try me."

Hidden Weapons tore through the air.

Several thin needles flew straight at the Black Market soul masters' eyes, throats, and wrists.

The technique was vicious, the angles precise.

Two low-level soul masters screamed and fell.

The Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor's expression sank.

"Hidden Weapons?"

"Interesting."

Just as he was about to attack, neat footsteps suddenly sounded in the distance.

Spirit Hall's Law Enforcement Team had arrived.

Deacon Zhou led his men in sealing off the forest.

Hu Liena summoned her Demon Fox Spirit, her spiritual power covering the perimeter.

Di Yao emerged last.

His injuries had not yet healed.

His face remained pale.

But the instant he appeared, Xiao Wu's body shuddered violently.

She looked at Di Yao, instinctive fear surfacing in her eyes.

Not because of Spirit Hall.

Not because of human soul masters.

But because of that faint, elusive Demon Emperor aura behind Di Yao.

The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Origin within her was actually trembling.

As if facing a natural enemy.

And as if facing a king.

When the Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor saw Spirit Hall's Law Enforcement Team, his expression changed.

"Spirit Hall?"

Di Yao said indifferently, "Move."

Deacon Zhou did not waste words.

The pressure of a Soul Emperor erupted.

Two Spirit Kings pressed in from the flanks.

The Black Market Soul Hunting Group instantly fell into chaos.

They had originally come to seize an enormous bargain.

They had never expected Spirit Hall's Law Enforcement Team to arrive so quickly.

The Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor roared and tried to break out from the side.

Di Yao's Second Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet.

Ten Thousand Demon Edict.

The Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit instinctively stiffened.

His movements slowed for an instant.

In that instant, Deacon Zhou's palm had already struck his chest.

Bang!

The Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor flew backward, spat blood, and crashed to the ground.

Hu Liena's spiritual power pressed down as she said coldly, "Leave them alive."

The Law Enforcement Team swiftly closed the net.

Several Black Market soul masters were beaten to the ground and bound tightly.

Tang San stood in front of Xiao Wu, his eyes fixed on Di Yao.

"What are you trying to do?"

Di Yao did not look at him.

His gaze fell upon Xiao Wu.

His Dark Gold Eyes glimmered faintly.

Xiao Wu's face instantly turned deathly pale.

The Soul Beast Origin inside her was swept by the Demon Emperor Pressure. Her legs weakened, and she nearly fell to her knees.

Tang San immediately supported her.

"Xiao Wu!"

Xiao Wu clutched Tang San's sleeve, her fingers trembling.

Yet the look she gave Di Yao was strange.

There was fear.

And a kind of reverence even she could not explain.

Di Yao took a step forward.

Tang San immediately blocked him.

"Don't come near her."

Di Yao finally looked at Tang San.

"Can you stop me?"

Tang San's eyes darkened.

"You can try."

Di Yao did not become angry.

He merely looked at Xiao Wu.

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form."

The moment those words were spoken, the surrounding air froze.

Although Hu Liena had long suspected it, she still could not help but catch her breath.

Deacon Zhou and the other Law Enforcement Team members were even more shocked.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form.

That was an immense resource.

Tang San's face abruptly turned cold.

The Hidden Weapons in his sleeves were already poised to strike.

"If you dare touch her, I'll fight you to the death."

Di Yao said calmly, "Fight to the death?"

"What will you use to fight?"

Tang San did not answer.

But his eyes had already made everything clear.

Xiao Wu said in a trembling voice, "Third Brother..."

For the first time, she truly felt herself so close to death.

Yet strangely, there was none of the greed ordinary soul masters carried in Di Yao's eyes.

There was no immediate madness to strip away her Soul Ring and Soul Bone.

His gaze was cold.

As if he were looking at a resource.

But not a resource to be harvested yet.

More like someone in a high position looking at an unripe fruit.

Di Yao said calmly, "A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form."

"Pity you're too weak."

"Kill you now, and it'd be a waste."

Xiao Wu froze.

Tang San was stunned for a moment as well.

Hu Liena abruptly looked at Di Yao.

"Not capture her?"

Di Yao said, "What would be the point of capturing her?"

Hu Liena frowned.

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, her Soul Ring and Soul Bone..."

Di Yao interrupted her.

"Who would absorb them?"

Hu Liena paused.

Di Yao continued, "I can't absorb a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring yet."

"If I bring her back to Spirit City, the news will spread."

"Bibi Dong will want her. The Elder Palace will want her. The Worship Hall will want her too."

"By then, this rabbit won't be a resource."

"She'll be trouble."

At the word "rabbit," Xiao Wu's body trembled again.

Di Yao looked at her.

"You're too weak right now."

"So weak that killing you wouldn't make me stronger directly."

"So I'll keep you for now."

Those words were terrifyingly cold.

Yet after hearing them, Xiao Wu strangely felt relieved.

He wasn't going to kill her.

Not out of kindness.

Not out of pity.

He simply thought she wasn't valuable enough yet.

Yet that lofty indifference made the Soul Beast instinct within Xiao Wu tremble even more violently.

Demon Emperor.

Those two words pressed into the depths of her bloodline like a brand.

Tang San's face turned livid.

Right in front of him, Di Yao had assessed Xiao Wu as a resource.

That hurt him more than a direct threat ever could.

"Di Yao, don't go too far."

Di Yao looked at him.

"What you should be thinking about now is who leaked Xiao Wu's information to the Black Market Soul Hunting Group."

Tang San's pupils contracted.

Yu Xiaogang arrived at that moment. Hearing those words, his expression changed slightly.

Di Yao did not look at Yu Xiaogang.

He looked toward the bound Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor. "Interrogate him."

Hu Liena immediately walked over.

This time, she did not start with gentle Charm.

Following the method Di Yao had taught her, she first made the man see reality.

"You've been captured by Spirit Hall."

"You attacked academy students."

"You illegally hunted a suspected Soul Beast in human form."

"And you interfered with the Pope Palace's investigation."

"Tell me, do you think the Black Market will save you?"

The Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor's face went pale.

Hu Liena released her Demon Fox Spirit, pressing her spiritual power bit by bit into his fear. "Speak, and you might live."

"If you don't, you'll definitely die."

Di Yao glanced at her.

She had improved.

The Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor finally could not hold out any longer.

"Someone gave us the information!"

"They said there was a female student at Notting Academy with an unusual aura, suspected to be a high-level Soul Beast in human form!"

Hu Liena asked, "Who?"

The Bloodthirsty Hyena Spirit Ancestor clenched his teeth.

"I don't know."

"The middleman only said the information came from inside the academy."

Tang San's expression changed.

Xiao Wu was stunned as well.

Inside the academy?

Who would know about her abnormality?

Di Yao looked at Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang immediately snapped, "Why are you looking at me?"

Di Yao said, "I never said it was you."

"Why are you so nervous?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression stiffened.

Tang San stepped in front of Yu Xiaogang.

"Teacher would never harm Xiao Wu."

Di Yao said, "Then investigate."

"Do you dare?"

Tang San's gaze darkened, but he did not answer.

Because his thoughts were in turmoil too.

Di Yao did not press him further.

He looked at Deacon Zhou.

"Take the entire Black Market Soul Hunting Group back to the Branch Hall."

"Search them, audit their accounts, and investigate their contact with Notting Academy."

"Seal the academy for now."

"No one is allowed to move any records."

Deacon Zhou accepted the order.

Xiao Wu was still standing where she was, her face pale.

As Di Yao walked past her, her body visibly shuddered.

Di Yao stopped.

Xiao Wu scarcely dared to breathe.

Di Yao looked at her, his tone calm.

"Hide yourself better."

"If you're hunted as prey again next time, I might not have time to help."

With that, he turned and left.

Xiao Wu stared blankly at his retreating back.

She did not know whether she should be afraid or grateful.

Tang San clenched his fists.

He could tell that the way Xiao Wu looked at Di Yao had changed.

It was not affection.

But it hurt him even more than affection would have.

It was a Soul Beast's instinctive reverence for the strong.

Tang San said in a low voice, "Xiao Wu, stay away from him."

Xiao Wu nodded instinctively.

Yet her eyes still could not help following Di Yao's back.

Hu Liena noticed it, and her expression turned somewhat strange.

She walked over to Di Yao.

"Did you scare that rabbit stupid just now?"

Di Yao said, "It doesn't matter."

Hu Liena said, "She seems more afraid of you, but she also listens to you more."

Di Yao said calmly, "It's merely a Soul Beast's instinct."

Hu Liena looked at him.

"So you really plan to leave her alone?"

Di Yao looked in the direction where the Black Market Soul Hunting Group was being escorted away.

"She's the bait."

"Tang San is the line."

"Yu Xiaogang is the knot."

"The Black Market Soul Hunting Group is the first snake to reveal itself."

Hu Liena's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You want to follow the Black Market and keep investigating?"

Di Yao nodded.

"Someone is getting anxious."

"And when people get anxious, they make mistakes."

In the distance, Yu Xiaogang watched the Black Market Soul Masters being escorted away, his face dark to the extreme.

He knew that if this investigation continued, many things could no longer be hidden.

Tang San stood beside him, his voice low.

"Teacher."

"We can't remain passive any longer."

Yu Xiaogang remained silent for a long time.

"Tonight."

"Move everything that needs to be moved."

Tang San's eyes turned cold.

"I'll make the arrangements."

Night was drawing near.

Beneath the surface of Nuoding City, the undercurrents finally began to surge in full.

And Di Yao stood high atop the Branch Hall, looking toward the academy with a faint curl at the corner of his lips.

"Finally getting anxious."