In the days that followed, seven cases of people being replaced by Godchildren were uncovered one after another within the Military Prefectures of Celestial Xia's various Upper Continents.
Zhang Yu reviewed the reports and saw that, apart from the two cases in Yiluo Upper Continent, all the rest were concentrated in the Eastern Continent of Celestial Xia proper. The farther west one went, the fewer there were. This suggested that the inference that their source lay in the Eastern Court might well be true.
Judging by the timeline, the earliest cases could be traced back at most sixty years. Nothing older had yet been found, and most had emerged during that period. The most recent known case was Yao Li's.
Of course, there might also be some that had lain hidden for much longer.
Among the profound cultivators, even if such people existed, they were unlikely to be among the Upper Layer figures. The earliest batch of profound cultivators had been raised up by the Profound Court; there was no way they could have concealed themselves beneath the Profound Court's very nose. Moreover, only a handful of profound cultivators had become Profound Venerables thus far.
If there were any, they would only be among the true cultivators, but that possibility was equally slight.
True cultivators had to temper their hearts and natures, or else problems could easily arise in their cultivation. The other side might replace one's consciousness and cultivation, but that did not mean they could replace one's heart and nature. Indeed, that was where they were most likely to expose themselves or encounter problems.
Therefore, the focus of the subsequent investigation had to be placed on the two Prefectures—or rather, on the Continental Prefectures.
Furthermore, these Godchildren could not clearly explain their own origins. Their desires seemed no