The Bewildered Old Man, the Qingzhou Governor-General

The courtyard was filled with wind stirred up by the inrush of spiritual energy.

Yang Xiao had only just steadied himself and had yet to adjust to his newly acquired power when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

The lingering spiritual energy swirling through the courtyard abruptly froze, all of it stopping as though someone had seized it.

Yang Xiao went rigid.

Although he was inside the headquarters courtyard of the Demon Suppression Division in Qingzhou, where experts abounded, now that he had reached the mysterious core realm, very few people could approach him without his noticing.

The hairs on the back of his neck sprang upright. As his thoughts raced, he felt something terrifying closing in on him.

He could feel how thin the hand on his shoulder was, its knuckles protruding. It pressed against him through his thin clothing, yet the pressure was not heavy. It could even be called light.

Yet that gentle touch made him feel as though he had been nailed into the ground.

The rotation of the Mystic Core in his dantian stalled. His three hundred and sixty apertures felt as though someone had clenched them shut from outside, leaving him unable to muster even a thread of spiritual power.

Even the physique he had always taken pride in, strong enough to withstand Demons at perfected core condensation, was effortlessly pinned in place. He could not even turn around.

So strong.

Yang Xiao swallowed.

Since first embarking on cultivation, he had never been pinned down like this.

The hand resting on his shoulder carried neither murderous intent nor demonic power, yet he simply could not move.

He turned his head slightly.

A white-haired old man in training clothes had appeared beside him at some unknown point.

The old man was short and somewhat