Undercurrents in the Inner Academy, traces of Soul Hall spies

The night was black as ink, shrouding Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy. The Training Ground, bustling by day, now lay silent, with only the footsteps of patrolling students occasionally breaking the stillness.

Inside Xiao Yan's room, candlelight flickered across his composed profile. Unlike the other students, he had not retired early. Instead, he sat quietly on his bed, his emperor realm soul sweeping silently through every corner of the Inner Academy like the most precise radar.

With the matter of Han Feng settled for the time being, he had turned his attention to a deeper threat—the Soul Hall.

According to information from the [Absolute Concealment System], the Soul Hall had long since planted spies throughout the Dou Qi Continent. A gathering place for geniuses like Jia Nan Academy would naturally not be overlooked. These spies lurked in the shadows, gathering intelligence and luring powerful cultivators into traps to seize their souls. Like maggots clinging to bone, they were all but impossible to guard against.

System notification: Three abnormal soul fluctuations detected, matching the characteristics of Soul Hall spies. Mark them?

The cold, mechanical voice sounded in his mind, and a chilling gleam flashed through Xiao Yan's eyes. He had indeed found something.

"Mark them."

In an instant, three faint clusters of red light appeared within his soul perception, located in the Inner Academy's West Wing, near the Medicine Hut, and deep within the bamboo grove on the Back Mountain.

"The West Wing... mostly senior students live there. Fish and dragons mingle together—a suitable place to hide." Xiao Yan tapped the tabletop lightly, his thoughts racing. "Near the Medicine Hut... could that be connected to Han Feng? As for the bamboo grove on the Back Mountain, it's secluded and quiet. Ideal for passing messages or conducting secret deals."

He did not act immediately. Soul Hall spies were often extremely vigilant, and they might be in contact with one another. A rash move could rustle the grass and startle the snake, exposing his methods.

"I'll start with the West Wing. It's the closest."

Xiao Yan shifted, becoming a phantom melding into the shadows as he silently opened his door. He used no dou qi, relying solely on his powerful body and subtle control over space. His footsteps were as soft as fallen leaves brushing the ground; even the patrolling students failed to notice the figure slipping past.

The West Wing consisted mostly of separate courtyards. Most rooms were dark by now, but a faint light still burned in a small courtyard in the corner. It was one of the abnormal locations marked by the system.

Xiao Yan landed silently outside the courtyard wall, sending threads of soul power inside. Only the main room was lit. Within it, a figure sat at a table with his back to the door, apparently handling something.

He was an ordinary-looking young man dressed in an Inner Academy student's uniform, with cultivation at the middle Dou Ling level. He seemed no different from the other students. Yet under the scrutiny of Xiao Yan's emperor realm soul, the thread of cold, sinister energy concealed inside him had nowhere to hide—it was the distinctive soul fluctuation of a Soul Hall cultivator, carrying the taste of plunder and deathly stillness.

The young man was writing and drawing on a sheet of Beast-Skin Paper with a pitch-black quill. Xiao Yan's soul power easily penetrated the paper, revealing its contents—a list of Inner Academy students, annotated with their cultivation levels, talents, and even phrases such as "can be lured into a trap" and "high potential." Beside several names were strange skull symbols.

So he really is gathering intelligence. Xiao Yan sneered inwardly. The students marked with skull symbols had probably already become targets of the Soul Hall.

After writing for a while, the young man rolled up the Beast-Skin Paper and tucked it into a black wooden box engraved with the Soul Hall's emblem. Then he took a Sound Transmission Jade Slip from inside his robe and said quietly, "The first target list is complete. Requesting instructions for the next operation."

The jade slip remained silent for a moment before a hoarse voice came through. "Proceed according to plan. Prioritize the students marked with 'skulls' and control them with Soul-Devouring Powder. Make the handoff in the bamboo grove on the Back Mountain at midnight. Take care to avoid the academy elders' detection."

"Yes," the young man answered respectfully. He put away the jade slip, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

Xiao Yan withdrew soundlessly, disappearing into the darkness. Soul-Devouring Powder? A vicious drug commonly used by the Soul Hall, capable of silently corroding a cultivator's soul and reducing them to a puppet. And the midnight handoff in the bamboo grove matched another marked location perfectly.

"That saves me quite a bit of effort." A trace of killing intent flashed through his eyes. Since they planned to meet on the Back Mountain, he could catch them all in one net.

Next, he circled around to the Medicine Hut. The abnormal signal here was less distinct, seemingly concealed by some kind of formation. Xiao Yan did not approach. Instead, he condensed his soul power into a needle and carefully pierced a weak point in the formation.

Beyond the formation stood an inconspicuous storeroom. Broken fragments of discarded medicinal cauldrons and dried herbs lay piled inside. In one corner, a small, thin figure huddled in the shadows. He was a servant responsible for tending the Medicine Hut, with meager cultivation at only the eighth stage of dou qi.

Yet this seemingly ordinary servant also harbored the Soul Hall's sinister chill within him. What drew Xiao Yan's attention even more was the Jade Pendant clutched in the servant's hand. The lingering aura upon it actually bore some resemblance to Han Feng's.

So Han Feng really does have ties to the Soul Hall? Xiao Yan frowned slightly. He had previously thought Han Feng merely greedy and selfish, never expecting that he might be colluding with the Soul Hall. This servant might be the liaison between them.

The servant seemed to be waiting for something, glancing nervously out the window from time to time. Xiao Yan withdrew quietly without disturbing him. It was not yet time to rustle the grass and startle the snake. The trail leading to Han Feng might uncover more of the Soul Hall's secrets.

The final marked location was in the bamboo grove on the Back Mountain. When Xiao Yan arrived, there was still half an hour until midnight. Mist filled the depths of the grove, and a faint scent of blood drifted through the air. Clearly, this was not the first time it had served as a handoff point.

He concealed himself in a sheltered treetop and waited quietly.

As midnight approached, two figures entered the grove one after another: the young man from the West Wing and the servant from near the Medicine Hut.

"Did you bring it?" An almost imperceptible tremor ran through the servant's voice. He seemed deeply wary of the young man.

"The list is here." The young man tossed him the black wooden box. "How are things progressing on your end? Is Han Feng beginning to budge?"

The servant caught the box and nodded. "Han Feng covets Xiao Yan's heavenly flame more and more. Following the instructions from above, I hinted that he could use Soul-Devouring Powder to seize it. He seems somewhat tempted."

"Excellent." The young man sneered. "Xiao Yan possesses a heavenly flame. If we offer both his soul and his heavenly flame to the Hall Master, we'll both be richly rewarded. Once Han Feng succeeds, seize an opportunity to take the heavenly flame. Then..."

Before he could finish, the young man's expression changed sharply, and he whipped his head around. "Who's there?"

The servant instantly went on guard as well. A Short Blade gleaming with an eerie light had appeared in his hand.

Xiao Yan did not reveal himself. While the young man spoke, he had quietly stirred several poisonous plants deep within the bamboo grove. These plants were not poisonous in themselves, but under the catalysis of his soul power, the aura they released resonated strangely with the Soul Hall aura on the servant, producing an invisible fluctuation that alerted both men.

"No one?" The young man swept the area but found nothing unusual. He frowned. "Perhaps it was the wind. As I was saying, Han Feng..."

Just then, disaster struck!

The aura of the poisonous plants, catalyzed by Xiao Yan's soul power, suddenly turned violent, clashing fiercely with the sinister energy within the two men. Their dou qi instantly fell into chaos, while their souls felt as though countless fine needles were stabbing them, the pain and itching unbearable.

"What's happening?!" the servant screamed. The black wooden box fell from his hand, spilling the beast-skin list onto the ground.

The young man fought through the pain, terror flashing in his eyes. "It's... the Soul Hall's Soul-Eroding Smoke? No, this aura..."

Before he could finish, Xiao Yan moved.

A barely perceptible spatial rift appeared behind the young man, so swiftly it seemed an illusion. An invisible hand reached out of the rift, seized his neck, and dragged him inside. The entire process took less than a breath. Before he could even scream, the young man vanished completely, leaving only a faint scent of blood.

Terrified out of his wits, the servant turned to flee, only to discover that his feet seemed nailed to the ground. Xiao Yan's soul power had already become invisible shackles, holding him fast.

"Y-you... who are you?!" The servant's face was bloodless, his words incoherent.

Xiao Yan remained hidden, transmitting his voice through his soul. It sounded as though it came from the deepest hell. "A dog of the Soul Hall dares run wild in Jia Nan Academy?"

As his words fell, he flicked a finger. An exceedingly fine wisp of flame drifted toward the servant like a firefly. Though seemingly weak, it carried the tyranny to burn all things to ashes—a fragment of the Green Lotus Earth Core Flame, compressed to its utmost limit through his mighty powers.

The flame landed on the servant and burned without a sound. No blaze surged skyward, no thick smoke billowed. His body simply turned to ash at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving not even a fragment of his soul. The Soul Hall token concealed within him also vanished in the flames.

With that done, Xiao Yan waved away the lingering traces in the air, rolled up the scattered beast-skin list, and tossed it into a spatial rift to destroy it.

Silence returned to the bamboo grove, as though no one had ever been there.

"Two spies eliminated. That leaves the contact point near the Medicine Hut... and the trail leading to Han Feng." Xiao Yan slipped into the darkness and headed back to his quarters.

He did not immediately deal with the vacancy the servant had left behind. Leaving that position open might draw in more of the Soul Hall's lackeys, allowing him to catch them all in one net.

By the time he returned to his room, dawn was beginning to break. Xiao Yan opened the window and gazed at the fish-belly white spreading across the eastern sky, his eyes calm and untroubled.

The undercurrents within the Inner Academy had only just begun to stir. And he would be the sharpest blade concealed beneath them.

"Han Feng, it's time to put your 'accident' on the schedule."