The hunter entered the city

Two days later.

The ruins of the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City had finally been cleared.

All the wounded had been sent to nearby main halls for treatment, the list of the dead had been finalized, and compensation had been paid at the highest rate.

The storm Tang Hao had suddenly stirred up had finally been quelled, for now.

Lin Yuan was just about to leave when familiar laughter suddenly rang out from beyond the window.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

A red-and-white mask burst through the window, clutching a crystal-clear orb as it rushed into the room.

"Lin Yuan!"

"Fun!"

"Such tremendous fun!"

Aha set the orb on the table.

It was the Image-Recording Crystal Ball Lin Yuan had given it earlier.

"I recorded everything!"

Lin Yuan glanced at it.

"You weren't discovered?"

"How could I have been!"

Aha smugly spun twice in midair.

"From when he finished lunch, to his class, to when he ran outside clutching his stomach, Aha didn't miss a single frame!"

"Spectacular!"

"Absolutely spectacular!"

Guang Ling listened beside them, utterly bewildered.

"What have you two been up to now?"

Lin Yuan casually put the Image-Recording Crystal Ball into his Soul Tool.

"We'll watch it later."

Right now, there was still business to attend to.

He turned to the bishop of the Nuoding City branch.

"One more thing."

"Starting this month, cancel the Soul Master stipends two people receive from Spirit Hall."

The branch bishop froze.

"Who?"

"Grandmaster."

"Tang San."

Guang Ling had not been paying attention at first.

Until he heard the second name.

"Tang San?"

His brows furrowed slightly.

"Who's that?"

Lin Yuan said evenly:

"Tang Hao's son."

The temperature in the room plummeted.

Guang Ling's gaze instantly turned cold.

"Tang Hao's son is in Nuoding City?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Nuoding Academy."

Guang Ling stood up at once.

"I'll go slaughter him right now."

Lin Yuan reached out to stop him.

"Teacher."

"There's no need."

Guang Ling looked at him coldly.

"Have you forgotten how many people from Spirit Hall Tang Hao killed last night?"

"I haven't."

Lin Yuan remained calm.

"That's all the more reason not to kill Tang San now."

Guang Ling narrowed his eyes.

Lin Yuan continued:

"Tang Hao has been hiding in the shadows all these years, but there's no way he truly leaves Tang San alone."

"As long as Tang San stays in Nuoding City, he'll definitely be nearby."

"Killing Tang San now would only force Tang Hao to show himself."

"With his strength, if he really threw caution to the wind and took his son away, we might not be able to stop him."

"Then Tang San would disappear, and Tang Hao would vanish completely into the shadows."

Lin Yuan looked toward Nuoding Academy.

"That would be real trouble."

Guang Ling said nothing.

"So leave him alive."

"Let Tang San keep attending school."

"Keep cultivating."

"Keep living right under Spirit Hall's nose."

"The son is out in the open."

"The father is in the shadows."

"As long as Tang San doesn't leave, there will always be a rope tethering Tang Hao here."

The corners of Lin Yuan's mouth lifted slightly.

"Rather than kill him."

"We might as well ruin his path, then use him as bait to keep Tang Hao on the hook."

Guang Ling fell silent for a moment.

The killing intent around him finally began to dissipate.

"You really are a devious brat."

Lin Yuan's expression did not change.

"I had a good teacher."

"Get lost."

Guang Ling snapped irritably.

Lin Yuan turned and continued giving instructions.

"Secretly transfer people from the three nearby Spirit Hall Main Halls."

"Both Soul Kings and Soul Emperors."

"And arrange for several Soul Saints to remain stationed in Nuoding City long-term."

The branch bishop's heart jolted.

"Have everyone enter Nuoding City separately, without revealing their identities."

"Focus on watching Tang San."

"Don't alert him."

Lin Yuan paused.

"Just watch."

"Without my orders, no one is to act on their own."

"Yes!"

With everything arranged.

Lin Yuan did not stay in Nuoding City any longer.

The Hall of Relief here had already been uprooted.

The real, sprawling net was still in the north.

That afternoon.

Several carriages drove out of Nuoding City.

Lin Yuan, Guang Ling, and a group of Spirit Hall elites traveled with the convoy.

Their destination-

Heaven Dou City.

Meanwhile.

Heaven Dou City.

The crown prince's residence.

Qian Renxue stood alone in the study.

A secret letter that had just arrived lay on the desk.

The moment she saw the Worship Hall's distinctive mark on the seal, her expression had already turned serious.

She opened the letter.

Prince Xue Xing.

The Hall of Relief.

The Medicine King Holy Church.

Refining living people into medicine.

Xue Ye's tacit approval.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Line after line met her eyes.

Qian Renxue's expression grew colder and colder.

She had spent years undercover in Heaven Dou.

She knew better than anyone how rotten this empire was.

But she had never imagined.

That it had already rotted to this extent.

A prince was handing commoners over to Evil Soul Masters to be refined into medicine.

The emperor knew, yet chose to play deaf and dumb.

For the sake of extending their lives, nobles could close their eyes and never ask where the pills actually came from.

The so-called imperial order.

Had long since been reduced to a thin coat of gold paint on the surface.

Then she reached the end of the letter.

Her gaze suddenly stopped.

Qian Daoliu had left only one sentence.

-Cooperate with Lin Yuan and prepare to draw in the net.

Qian Renxue froze slightly.

She read it again.

Lin Yuan was coming to Heaven Dou City.

Her icy gaze suddenly softened considerably.

The corners of her mouth could not help curving upward as well.

Six years undercover had long since accustomed her to controlling her emotions.

Gentle.

Composed.

Never allowing joy or anger to show.

All of that belonged to "Xue Qinghe."

But there was no one else in the room now.

She did not need to keep acting, either.

Qian Renxue walked to the window.

She looked south from Heaven Dou City.

"So you're finally willing to come..."

Her voice was very soft.

Yet it could not conceal the anticipation within.

A short while later.

She returned to her desk.

The softness in her eyes swiftly faded.

Since Lin Yuan had arrived.

It was time to prepare to end this game of years spent undercover.

"Someone, come."

Someone immediately entered from outside.

"Your Highness."

"Compile a list of all the nobles who have maintained close ties with the Hall of Relief over the years."

"The shops."

"The medicine storehouses."

"The transport routes."

"And every property under Prince Xue Xing's name."

Qian Renxue's voice was calm.

"I want the most complete list."

"Yes!"

The orders were swiftly passed down.

The machine that had lain hidden for years within the crown prince's residence began to turn in silence.

And even as Lin Yuan headed north.

Another, even more terrifying force had already left Spirit City.

There were no banners.

No ceremonial procession.

They had not even alerted the Pope's Palace.

Of the two men at the head, one was tall and the other powerfully built.

Their Soul Power was completely reined in.

Yet merely standing there, they made the air around them faintly distort.

Spirit Hall's sixth consecrator.

Qian Jun Douluo.

The seventh consecrator.

Demon Subduing Douluo.

Two Titled Douluos had personally set out.

And behind them.

Several Soul Douluos.

Dozens of Soul Saints.

And a contingent of elite Soul Masters drawn from Spirit Hall Main Halls across the land.

This was not an investigation.

Much less a probe.

This was an encirclement and extermination.

They had received only one order.

Enter Heaven Dou City.

Wait for Lin Yuan.

Then take every force the Medicine King Holy Church had in Heaven Dou City-

And tear it out by the roots.

That night.

At Heaven Dou City's south gate.

A seemingly ordinary merchant caravan slowly drove in.

After a cursory inspection, the soldiers guarding the gate waved it through.

No one knew.

Those "merchants" sitting in the carriages were all Soul Saints at the very least.

Ten li outside the city.

Qian Jun stopped.

He gazed from afar at the brightly lit Heaven Dou City.

"Remember."

"Once you enter Heaven Dou City, split up."

"Without orders, no one is to act on their own."

With the Coiling Dragon Staff over his shoulder, Jiang Mo grinned.

"Above all, don't scare off those Medicine King Holy Church rats ahead of time."

"I would like to see."

"Just what sort of thing dares reach its hand right under Spirit Hall's nose."

Everyone behind them nodded silently.

The next moment.

The group swiftly dispersed.

The Soul Douluos became merchants and mercenaries.

The Soul Saints disguised themselves as travelers and guards.

Group after group of powerful figures slipped into Heaven Dou City without a sound.

At the same time.

The intelligence in Qian Renxue's hands grew ever more complete.

Lists of nobles.

Hall of Relief properties.

Medicinal herb warehouses.

Secret trade routes.

The men Prince Xue Xing secretly controlled.

A web of interests that had covered Heaven Dou City for years was being uncovered bit by bit.

She was in no hurry to act.

She merely noted down the names, one after another.

Once Lin Yuan arrived.

It would be time for this net to draw completely tight.

At that moment.

The largest Hall of Relief in Heaven Dou City was still brightly lit.

People waiting to obtain medicine still lined up outside its doors.

Inside the main hall.

A white-haired old man was taking a noble's pulse, his face wreathed in smiles.

In the rear courtyard.

Crate after crate of pills was loaded onto carriages.

No one noticed.

At street corners.

On rooftops.

In restaurants.

In inns.

One pair of cold eyes after another had already appeared.

The Medicine King Holy Church was still lost in its grand dream of eternal life.

Little did it know-

The hunters had already entered the city.

Now.

All that remained was to wait for Lin Yuan to bring down the final blade.