Attraction

"Someone might see this as a chance to fish in troubled waters and make a move."

Lu Wan snorted. "Aside from the Thick Earth Sect, no one knows about this Earth Dragon Pearl, let alone its wondrous uses."

Not knowing the Earth Dragon Pearl's uses, no one would risk offending a Grandmaster to steal it, especially with the danger of being trapped.

"Elder Lu," Chu Zhiyuan said, "there's no such thing as a wall that doesn't let the wind through. Besides, your own sect disciples know about it, don't they? How can you expect others not to find out?"

"They won't blab it around."

"They might not blab, but they'll let something slip unintentionally. Moreover, that night's events—who knows how many people saw and heard what happened."

"..."

"Now's not the time for chaos. We have to guard against anyone fanning the flames or stirring the pot from the shadows," Chu Zhiyuan said.

He had read too many case files, seen too many instances of murder by proxy.

"I think it's the Thick Earth Sect," Lu Wan said, her voice soft and slow, her expression firm. "No one else would have a reason to do this, and probably not the guts either."

"...In this situation, the Thick Earth Sect will never admit it," Chu Zhiyuan thought for a moment. "To catch a thief, you need the stolen goods—you have to catch them red-handed."

"No need to find the thief. Just make the Thick Earth Sect hand over the item," Lu Wan said coolly.

Chu Zhiyuan sighed helplessly. "So we're calling on Grandmaster Song again?"

This Lu Wan always brought out Song Feiqiong at the drop of a hat.

Rousing Song Feiqiong would indeed put immense pressure on the Department of Martial Affairs. If Song Feiqiong had to step in, it meant the Department had failed, and they'd be penalized.

Lu Wan said, "Does Your Excellency have a way, then?... Your Excellency can't make the Thick Earth Sect bow down either, can you? They have backing and support; they won't bother with you."

Chu Zhiyuan fell into thought.

If he let Song Feiqiong handle it personally, that would mean dereliction of duty by the Department of Martial Affairs. He figured none of the Department's officials would get even the guaranteed Ninth Grade Merit this year.

Could he make the Thick Earth Sect hand over the Earth Dragon Pearl?

The answer was obvious: no.

Neither his status as Assistant Director nor his identity as the Heir Apparent of Prince Qing's Estate carried any weight.

The Thick Earth Sect was close to many officials and wasn't afraid of him as an Assistant Director.

Prince Huai's Estate was far more powerful than Prince Qing's.

If Prince Qing's Estate were a bit stronger than Prince Huai's, the Thick Earth Sect might listen to him.

Neither identity could make the Thick Earth Sect yield.

Seeing that Grandmaster Song was about to be roused to act personally, what could he do?

Since he couldn't do anything, let the Director or the Minister worry about it. The most important thing was to report up the chain promptly, without delay.

Thinking this, his heart sank. "Elder Lu, may I take a look at the scene?"

"...Please, Your Excellency." Lu Wan hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Chu Zhiyuan surveyed the Quiet Room.

It was a simply furnished room—just a couch, a table, and a chair, with none of the clutter like screens or furniture.

On the table were brush, ink, paper, an inkstone, a teapot, and teacups.

The couch had no bedding, only a small Sandalwood Box at the head, palm-sized.

The Sandalwood Box was already open, empty except for white silk inside—nothing else.

"Who knew the item was kept here?"

Chu Zhiyuan studied the Quiet Room, spotless and neatly arranged without a trace of disorder. His Super Sensation locked onto that small Sandalwood Box.

"Only Wanshan knew himself. Aside from him, I didn't even know where he'd put the pearl."

"Only him..." Chu Zhiyuan mused.

His Super Sensation caught a faint aura from the tiny Sandalwood Box, and that aura suddenly stirred an odd change in him.

It was like a starving man suddenly seeing a table full of delicacies—just looking at it made his mouth water.

Countless tiny hands seemed to sprout inside his body, eager to reach out, grab it, and pull it into his stomach, into his being.

In a daze, a stone pearl the size of a Dragon Eye appeared before his eyes.

This stone pearl had a pitted, rough surface, as if casually carved and tossed by the roadside. No adult would bother to pick it up except for a bored child.

Who would have thought it was a precious pearl?

Then he realized—this was the form of the Earth Dragon Pearl.

Super Sensation had broken the shackles of time and space, capturing the image of the Earth Dragon Pearl.

He strained to suppress the strange stirring in his body, keeping his expression calm.

The Dragon Transformation Technique was spinning rapidly, golden energy surging through his Meridians, nourishing and strengthening them at a pace a third faster than his usual cultivation.

Was the Earth Dragon Pearl this miraculous for the Dragon Transformation Technique?

Lu Wan raised her voice: "Wanshan, come in."

"Martial Aunt." A clear voice rang out as a handsome young man stepped inside, bearing an imposing air and a stern expression.

Lu Wan said: "This is a disciple of our sect, Xu Wanshan."

"Greetings, Assistant Director." Xu Wanshan clasped his fists with a solemn face.

Chu Zhiyuan returned the gesture, his gaze settling on Xu Wanshan: "Young Master Xu, when did you discover the item was missing?"

Super Sensation locked onto Xu Wanshan before him.

His heartbeat's fluctuations, minute facial expressions, the frequency of his eye movements, the dilation and contraction of his pupils, muscle tension and relaxation, subtle shifts in posture, changes in the center of gravity on his feet, skin tightening and loosening, breathing rhythm, throat tension, and tiny movements of his limbs.

Everything, every last detail, was laid bare in his mind, illuminated by his perception.

"Last night," Xu Wanshan said in a deep voice. "When I returned from outside and came to the Quiet Room to prepare for training, I opened the box and found it empty."

Chu Zhiyuan said: "Who knew it was here?"

"No one else knew!" Xu Wanshan declared firmly.

Chu Zhiyuan's Super Sensation kept Xu Wanshan under scrutiny, guarding against lies and preventing the possibility of an inside job.

Though the thought was bizarre, after flipping through those case files, he had discovered that far stranger things existed in the world.

Under Super Sensation's illumination, Xu Wanshan wasn't lying. The moment he mentioned last night, his blood surged, his pupils dilated, and his anger spiked sharply.

He mused inwardly: This Xu Wanshan is actually at the First Heavy Layer of the Innate Realm. He doesn't look much older than me—clearly a Martial Arts Prodigy as well.

The prodigy of this generation in the Flying Flower Sword Sect that Gao Lingfeng mentioned must be this Xu Wanshan. He seemed confident and brimming with pride.

Of course, he was also unconvinced by Chu Zhiyuan's status as Heir Apparent and Assistant Director.

Martial arts geniuses were inevitably arrogant and looked down on everything.

He had simply seen too few geniuses. If he witnessed more talents from other sects and saw Huang Shirong's cultivation level, he should curb his pride and understand the vastness of heaven and earth—that there are skies beyond skies and people beyond people.

"Sir," Lu Wan said softly, "the Thick Earth Sect should have a special method to sense this pearl... Since Wanshan obtained it, he never showed it to anyone but me... After we arrived at Jade Capital, the Thick Earth Sect suddenly came demanding it. Before that, we didn't even know what kind of pearl it was."

When no one knew where the Earth Dragon Pearl was hidden, only a Thick Earth Sect expert could pinpoint it so accurately.

This was clearly a conspiracy. Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental that a thief broke in precisely when he and Senior Brother Yang were called away—and that thief stole nothing else but the Earth Dragon Pearl?

Divine Artifacts conceal themselves. On the surface, the Earth Dragon Pearl looked like a stone bead, utterly unremarkable, something no one would bother to pick up off the ground.

If it were a real thief, stealing gold, silver, or martial arts manuals, why would they give this stone bead a second glance?

Chu Zhiyuan looked at Xu Wanshan: "Young Master Xu, can you sense its aura?"

"I can," Xu Wanshan said proudly. "As soon as I'm within ten meters, I can feel its presence."

"Then that's good... Elder Lu, don't rush to trouble Grandmaster Song," Chu Zhiyuan nodded. "I will report this truthfully and see how the Minister decides."

"Since you say so, I won't go find Martial Uncle Song today... I'll go tomorrow."

"Then wait a little longer..." Chu Zhiyuan smiled as he glanced at her.

This Lu Wan was gentle yet firm.

He turned and patted Xu Wanshan on the shoulder: "Young Master Xu, don't worry. What's yours will eventually be yours."

The Dragon Transformation Technique instantly accelerated, surging like a wild tide through his meridians.

This was caused by the residual aura of the Earth Dragon Pearl within Xu Wanshan's body.

Xu Wanshan made an instinctive dodging motion but couldn't react in time before Chu Zhiyuan's hand landed.

He forced an unnatural smile, barely curving the corner of his mouth.

Chu Zhiyuan withdrew his hand with a smile and looked at Lu Wan: "Elder Lu, I take my leave."

"Thank you for your trouble, sir." Lu Wan clasped her fists.

Escorted by Lu Wan's group and surrounded by Guo Chi and the mansion guards, Chu Zhiyuan strolled away.

The Town Martial Division had tracking experts who could capture auras and follow the trail.

But that required an aura.

The aura left on the Sandalwood Box was extremely faint.

This thief was no ordinary one—he must be a top-tier master, possessing extraordinary skills and secret arts to conceal and erase his own aura.

After stealing the Earth Dragon Pearl, he could find a place far from Jade Capital, dig a deep pit, and bury it. Tracking it would be like fishing a needle out of the sea.

Or he could use a treasure like the Cold Jade Box to completely seal off the aura.

Below the Grandmaster level, it would be nearly impossible to find.

Whether even a Grandmaster could do it was uncertain.

Grandmasters possessed Divine Abilities beyond ordinary imagination, sometimes transcending the barriers of time and space.

So whether the Earth Dragon Pearl was truly stolen by a Thick Earth Sect expert was hard to say.

Did the Thick Earth Sect even have such a formidable thief among their ranks?

Perhaps the Thick Earth Sect had colluded with some formidable expert to steal it?

Would a treasure of this caliber be entrusted to another?

This matter was shrouded in fog. As he pondered, his gaze swept the surroundings, and he found himself at the South Heaven Gate without realizing it.

Super Sensation had caught that aura, and following it had led him here. A step further would take him out of the Inner City and into the Outer City of Yujing City.

Yujing City was divided into the Inner and Outer Cities.

Originally, Yujing City hadn't been this vast, but as it grew more prosperous and more people flooded in, expansions were built beyond the original city walls, forming the much larger Outer City.

The Inner City was both bustling and safe, naturally driving up land prices. Gradually, the common folk were squeezed out, until only the nobility and high officials resided there.

Ordinary people or even wealthy merchants could only live in the Outer City.

Most of the sects and cults were also located in the Outer City.

Entering the Inner City required approval from the Imperial Court.

The detached estates of the Four Great Sects and the Flying Flower Sword Sect, as well as the altars of cults like the Thick Earth Sect and the True One Cult, all had clean records—no misconduct, no crimes, no indiscriminate killings.

Compared to the stability of the Inner City, the Outer City was a mixed bag of fish and dragons. Even with the formidable City Guard and the patrols of the Town Martial Division, it remained far more dangerous.

Chu Zhiyuan thought it over and decided not to venture further outward. Before reaching the Grandmaster level, it was unwise to go to the Outer City, lest he risk his life.

The Earth Dragon Pearl was important, but nothing was more important than his own life.

He turned around and walked back, all the way to the Ministry of Rites office. Entering his workroom, he wrote an official document and had Gao Lingfeng submit it.

He then strolled leisurely out of the Ministry of Rites, wandering through the city. He inspected the altars of various cults, finding them utterly unremarkable, with nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet he did not underestimate them because of this.

These cults likely harbored hidden agendas and understood the art of biding their time, much like the Thick Earth Sect. Before Feng Zhihao was discovered practicing his skills, no one could detect anything amiss with the Earth Venerable Statue.

Without Super Sensation, he wouldn't have noticed anything strange about the True One Cult either.

After making a full round, he returned to the residence beside Bright Moon Tower and continued his cultivation.