Chu Mo's heart tightened slightly, and he answered respectfully, "Reporting to you, True Lord, the Heavenly Register Realm is an ordinary mid-tier world. Apart from its abundance of ghosts and monsters, there is nothing remarkable about it. Its numinous vitality falls far short of Fuli's and is mostly of the yin type."
True Lord Yuanyi looked down at him and said slowly, "For you to find a compatible otherworldly art so quickly and achieve Three-Divine-Ability Attainment, its foundations must be rather substantial. Were there any traces of an origin spirit there?"
"Well..." Chu Mo hesitated briefly. "This disciple was merely fortunate. Most of its arts belong to the shadowy yin category, which happens to suit me. As for an origin spirit... this disciple never saw one."
"Shadowy yin arts, the Way of the Netherworld..." Origin One's gaze shifted slightly. Then he lowered his eyes in contemplation, seemingly considering something.
Silence fell over the hall. Xi Hong watched his nose and contemplated his heart, while Mingxin and Shenxin stood with their heads bowed, neither making a sound.
Only after a long while did True Lord Yuanyi raise his eyes again and study Chu Mo closely. A moment later, he suddenly waved a hand. "Enough. You may all leave."
Chu Mo relaxed a little and hurriedly bowed with the others. "This disciple takes his leave."
Once the hall doors closed behind them, Mingxin and Shenxin cupped their hands briefly toward Chu Mo, then turned and left.
Only Chu Mo and Xi Hong remained in the corridor.
Xi Hong breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed between his brows, and smiled bitterly. "We finally cleared that hurdle. But losing seventy percent of the flood dragon's carcass really was a shame. What remains won't even cover the Interest-Bearing Loan I issued earlier."
Chu Mo glanced