"Rest assured, my lord!"
Gongsun Jing answered silently and glanced at Chen Cuo without betraying anything.
Chen Cuo was deep in thought.
"Zhang Jingbei, Lingya and her fellow disciple, Dianyunzi, Qiwu Huaiwen, Dugu Xin, the Meng brothers, and those two suspected heirs of the Sword Sect. By that count, excluding mine, there are still seven talisman fragments here!"
Chen Cuo watched the others and considered the matter in silence.
The fragment he carried had come from Dianyunzi. He had already placed it in the Little Gourd, within the Dream Marsh, so it was entirely unaffected by the outside world.
As for the two earlier talisman fragments, they had become that Mysterious Pearl under the influence of the Temple Dragon King's insights. There was no finding them now.
"Their talisman fragments suddenly tried to leave. The Great River Water Lord must have tampered with them. In that case... hm?"
As he thought, his mind jolted. A repelling force spread toward him, trying to drive him out of the palace!
"Could it be that it can't sense the talisman fragment in the Dream Marsh, so it's trying to expel me?"
Chen Cuo guessed the reason. With a thought, he activated the Three Lives Transform into Sainthood Dao, and a speck of radiance flew from his sleeve.
The others had already been watching him. At this sudden change, they paid even closer attention, plainly wanting to see how he would respond.
Dugu Xin and Qiwu Huaiwen betrayed nothing, but their gazes shifted as they tried to probe Chen Cuo's true capabilities.
Instead, Chen Cuo merely raised a hand and pinched the radiance between his fingers. Just like that, he held it with effortless ease. The ball of light settled at once, and even its glow grew much gentler.
"That's it?!"
For a moment,