Spirit Hall Retests Xu Zhou, but Release Xu Yan First

Notting City Spirit Hall Branch.

Xu Zhou stood at the entrance and looked up at the golden plaque.

There were two guards.

The one on the left immediately straightened when he saw Yu Xiaogang.

The one on the right quietly stuffed the betting slip in his hand into his sleeve when he saw Tang San.

As for Xu Zhou—

Both men looked over at the same time.

"The one with Innate Zero Soul Power?"

"That's him."

"Wasn't he chased by three Mandrake Snakes in the Soul Hunting Forest?"

"He came back alive."

"What about the odds?"

"The bookie ran off."

Their voices were quiet.

Xu Zhou heard them clearly.

The Black Ancient Book gave a slight tremor.

[The two believe that the host could not make it through the Soul Hunting Forest.]

[Judgment incorrect.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

Soul Power flowed into his body.

Xu Zhou was in a good mood.

It seemed he could cultivate even outside Spirit Hall.

It was just not very convenient.

Because the people here watched him while calculating their bets.

"Go in."

One of the deacons stepped aside.

"The hall master is waiting for you on the second floor."

"Where is my father?"

"See the hall master first."

"I asked about my father."

Xu Zhou did not move.

The deacon frowned.

"Xu Yan is under investigation. He has not been injured."

"I want to confirm that first."

"You are not qualified to make demands."

"Then I have no reason to go in either."

Xu Zhou remained where he was.

Yu Xiaogang lowered his head and glanced at the writ.

"Spirit Hall invited Xu Zhou to cooperate with the review and guaranteed Xu Yan's personal safety. Since his safety is guaranteed, he should at least be allowed to confirm that his father is alive."

"Grandmaster Yu, this is an internal matter of Spirit Hall."

"Internal matters need records too."

Yu Xiaogang took out the small notebook he carried with him.

"You just said that Xu Yan was unharmed. I wrote that down. If injuries appear later, I will write down those words as well."

The deacon watched him for a moment.

"He can take a look first."

"No communication."

"Fine."

"Not through iron bars."

"Grandmaster Yu, don't go too far."

"We need to confirm it up close."

The two sides argued for a few sentences.

In the end, the deacon still led them into the branch.

Quite a few people were already seated in the hall.

There were Spirit Hall deacons, academy teachers, and two people wearing City Lord's Residence uniforms.

Four testing devices stood in the center of the hall.

A crystal ball.

A testing stone.

A Soul Power lamp.

And the metal disc that had broken yesterday.

The disc had already been repaired.

A small slip of paper was posted beside it.

No slapping.

Xu Zhou looked at the note and fell silent for a moment.

"Why did it read Level Ninety-Nine yesterday?"

"The Soul Power fluctuations were too great."

The tester explained.

"Whose Soul Power fluctuations were too great?"

"The instrument's."

Xu Zhou did not ask any further questions.

That answer was already complete enough.

"Test Soul Power first."

A deacon sat behind a desk.

"As long as you prove that you have not hidden any Soul Power, the investigation will end."

"Where is my father?"

"See him after the test."

"Then I won't test."

"Xu Zhou."

Yu Xiaogang pressed a hand on his shoulder.

"See Xu Yan first."

Xu Zhou glanced at him and nodded.

It was not that he did not want to be tested.

He simply had to make more people believe first that he truly had no Soul Power.

The Public Script could not rely solely on the academy freshmen.

There was Spirit Hall here.

There was the City Lord's Residence.

And there was a group of transmigrators waiting to see the results.

The crystal ball was handed to Xu Zhou.

He reached out and gripped it.

There was no light.

The testing stone did not change.

The Soul Power lamp did not react.

Finally, it was the metal disc's turn.

The tester wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Are you sure you want to use this?"

"Use it."

Xu Zhou placed his hand on it.

The indicator on the disc began to turn.

It made half a rotation and stopped at zero.

The tester breathed a sigh of relief.

Someone beside him spoke.

"That's enough."

"Not enough."

Xu Zhou raised his head.

"The first three results were all zero Soul Power. This disc has not given an official reading yet."

That person's expression darkened.

"What else do you want to test?"

"Make the disc announce its result."

"It broke yesterday."

"That is exactly why it needs to be tested."

The tester swallowed and pressed the button on the disc.

The disc let out a soft chime.

The indicator began to turn.

Ninety.

Ninety-five.

Ninety-nine.

Everyone in the hall held their breath at once.

Xu Zhou stared at the indicator.

It stuck at ninety-nine, and a piercing grinding sound came from inside the disc.

Crack!

A copper piece shot out from inside.

The disc broke again.

The hall fell silent.

The tester lowered his head and looked at the copper piece.

"This was an accident."

But everyone's perceptions had already begun to change.

"It was clearly pointing at ninety-nine just now."

"How could zero Soul Power make an instrument display a Level Ninety-Nine reading?"

"Could his Martial Soul be falsifying the result?"

"Innate Zero Soul Power is only what it looks like on the surface."

[Public Cognition count: 287.]

Xu Zhou sensed the Soul Power in the Black Ancient Book decreasing.

The new script had not yet formed.

But if the number of people continued to rise, the zero Soul Power script he had worked so hard to complete would begin to waver.

"The disc is broken."

Xu Zhou raised his hand and pointed at the remaining three test results.

"The first three were all zero Soul Power."

"The disc is broken. Its result cannot count as mine."

"You admit that it is broken?"

"I have always admitted it."

The people in the hall began whispering again.

"Did he do it on purpose?"

"He deliberately made the disc read ninety-nine, then took the initiative to say it was broken."

"This kid is too good at acting."

"He must be connected to the Soul Beast Protection Faction."

The Black Ancient Book began to tremble.

[Multiple people believe that the host deliberately fabricated a Level Ninety-Nine result.]

[Judgment incorrect.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

Soul Power surged into his body again.

Xu Zhou nearly laughed out loud.

He had begun to suspect that Spirit Hall had specially hired these people to help him train.

"Take me to see my father."

"The testing isn't over yet."

"You've already finished testing."

Xu Zhou pointed at the four devices.

"The first three results were zero Soul Power, and the last one is broken. If you refuse to accept that, bring out another working one."

"We don't have one."

"Then it's over."

"Xu Zhou, don't think that Grandmaster Yu's protection means you can act recklessly in Spirit Hall."

The deacon slapped the table.

"Your father knows how the Soul Beast Protection Faction contacts Holy Soul Village. He refused to reveal it and even tried to destroy evidence. If you continue refusing to cooperate, Holy Soul Village will be completely sealed off."

"What did my father destroy?"

"The transmission records of the Blue Silver Grass Network."

"Where's the evidence?"

The deacon raised a hand.

Two guards carried over a wooden box.

The box was opened, revealing dozens of Blue Silver Grass leaves and a stack of papers.

The top sheet had Holy Soul Village written on it.

"This was found in Xu Yan's residence."

Xu Zhou picked up the stack of papers.

The Black Ancient Book flipped rapidly.

[Proofreading found obvious contradictions.]

[Search record: thirty-seven sheets of paper in total.]

[On-site registration: forty-two sheets of paper in total.]

[Search record: all handwriting on the papers was identical.]

[On-site registration: some papers contained different handwriting.]

Xu Zhou continued flipping until he reached the end.

One of the papers read:

"Xu Zhou can help Soul Beasts break through cultivation bottlenecks."

Xu Yan's name was written beside it.

"My father wrote this?"

"It's his handwriting."

The deacon handed over a handwriting comparison.

Xu Zhou glanced at it twice, then put the paper back into the wooden box.

"No."

"You say it isn't, so it isn't?"

"He didn't write this sentence."

"Based on what?"

"Because my father wouldn't write 'help Soul Beasts break through cultivation bottlenecks.'"

Someone in the hall laughed.

"What kind of reason is that?"

"He was a hunter before he transmigrated."

"Could it have been a hidden identity?"

Xu Zhou picked up another sheet.

"When my father writes the character Yan, the final stroke hooks upward to the right. There's no such stroke here."

"Handwriting can be imitated."

"What about the ink?"

Xu Zhou pointed to the edge of the paper.

"The ink on this batch of paper is pine-soot ink. Holy Soul Village doesn't have it. Spirit Hall does."

The laughter in the hall stopped.

Xu Zhou handed the paper to Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang sniffed it, then lightly scraped the paper's surface with his fingernail.

"A small amount of incense ash was mixed into the ink."

"It's the ink mixture commonly used by Spirit Hall's records room."

A City Lord's Residence official immediately looked at the deacon.

"Where did this evidence come from?"

"It was found in Xu Yan's residence."

"Who was in charge of the search?"

The deacon did not answer.

Xu Zhou looked at the wooden box.

More words continued appearing in the black book.

[Xu Yan's handwriting was forged.]

[No pine-soot ink was found in Xu Yan's residence.]

[The source of the evidence conflicts with the search records.]

"Bring my father out."

Xu Zhou spoke.

"You are not qualified to—"

"If you don't bring him out, I'll burn everything in this box."

Everyone looked at him.

"You dare?"

"There's forged evidence in this box."

Xu Zhou raised a hand, and black flames rose from the edges of the book's pages.

The flames were tiny.

They had no heat.

They were merely an illusion created by Script Projection.

Yet a faint layer of black smoke appeared above the wooden box.

Everyone in the hall backed away.

"He has a fire-type soul skill?"

"How could someone with Innate Zero Soul Power have a soul skill?"

"It's a projection."

Yu Xiaogang spoke at once.

"It's fake."

"But it looks real."

"Looking real doesn't mean it can actually burn anything."

Xu Zhou pressed the black flames against the forged paper.

The flames passed through it.

The paper remained undamaged.

"See?"

Xu Zhou withdrew the black flames.

"It can't burn anything."

"But I can make everyone believe that it can."

The Black Ancient Book turned a page.

[Multiple people believe the host can create unidentifiable attacks.]

[Judgment incorrect.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

Soul Power poured into his body.

This time, the hall master finally came down from the second floor.

He glanced at the Black Ancient Book in Xu Zhou's hand, then looked at the wooden box.

"Bring Xu Yan out."

A moment later, two guards escorted Xu Yan into the hall.

Xu Yan had no obvious wounds.

Only the skin around his wrists had been rubbed raw by Soul Power chains.

Father and son stared at each other across the hall.

Xu Yan's first words were not to ask why Xu Zhou had come.

Instead, he looked at Yu Xiaogang.

"Did he mess with any Soul Beasts?"

Xu Zhou opened his mouth.

"No."

"That's good."

Xu Yan let out a sigh of relief.

But Xu Zhou noticed that his father's right hand had remained hidden inside his sleeve.

"What happened to your hand?"

Xu Yan did not answer.

Xu Zhou stepped closer.

Xu Yan finally raised his hand.

In his palm was a shattered blue crystal chip.

The Spirit Hall emblem was carved onto it.

"They planted a Tracking Soul Tool in my hand."

"It cracked on its own during the interrogation just now."

Xu Yan handed the crystal chip to Xu Zhou.

The instant the Black Ancient Book neared the chip, the words on its pages turned blood-red.

[Abnormal Soul Power residue detected.]

[Tracking target: Xu Zhou.]

[Activation time: half an hour later.]

Xu Zhou raised his head and looked toward the Spirit Hall emblem at the very top of the hall.

The hall master spoke at that moment.

"Xu Zhou, you may choose not to reveal anything about Holy Soul Village."

"But from now on, you may not leave this branch hall."