The opening scene reveals the story of Yao Lao, alarming the Soul Emperor.

"A position where one can stand and speak in the Heavenly Hall."

Hun Yue sneered.

"Such arrogance."

"I thought you wanted gold, silver, and your life, but it turns out you just wanted a position."

Hun Yue clenched his palm; the remaining black energy from the vortex had not yet completely dissipated.

"Is the position in the Heavenly Gang Hall something that a nobody from the Northwest collateral branch can just ask for?"

Whether or not you should take it depends on whether it's worth it.

Hunyu tucked the fan into his palm and raised his chin slightly.

"Hand over the traitor's name within half a day in exchange for the right to speak standing up—does the Five Heavenly Venerables think that's too much?"

A deep, muffled voice from the back row gave a cold snort.

"You're full of empty boasts; what if you can't produce it?"

"I already said that."

Hunyu didn't look anywhere else; he kept his eyes fixed on the direction of the throne.

"If I can't hand it over, I'll give my life to the Palace Master."

"life?"

The gray-robed celestial being scoffed.

"What's your life worth, you're just an unregistered member of the collateral branch?"

"Whether it's valuable or not is determined by the Palace Master; the Three Heavenly Venerables have no say in it."

Hunyu's tone was completely flat.

"Besides, compared to forty-seven lives, the cost of my one life is much lower, so the Palace Master won't lose out."

After this statement was made, the reactions below were different.

Most of the Dou Zun kneeling on both sides were still processing those words, but the figures on the high platform were clearly tense.

Hun Yuan stood in the middle of the front row, his gaze falling on Hun Yu's face, and his brows furrowed slightly.

The vortex of Soul Peak had completely dissipated, and his hand fell back to his side, but he did not retreat. He stood on the second step, looking down at Soul Feather.

"What are you talking about?"

Hun Yue's voice deepened.

"Hun Feng was in charge of the Intelligence Division, and all eight operations passed through his hands. It is only natural for the Palace Master to kill him."

"You're saying you killed the wrong person?"

Hunyu shook his head.

"I didn't say the Palace Master killed the wrong person."

"What I'm saying is, even if you kill Hun Feng a hundred times, you still won't find the traitor."

"Because he is not the root of the problem at all."

Hun Yue took half a step forward.

"You're from a collateral branch, how many days have you been in the Heavenly Gang Hall? How can you possibly know anything about the Intelligence Division?"

"I can't figure it out."

Hunyu nodded, his tone flat.

"But there's one thing you don't need to figure out, just listen carefully."

"The Five Heavenly Venerables should still remember what the Palace Master just said."

Hun Yue didn't answer.

Hunyu didn't wait for him to take it, and pointed the fan towards the dried corpse.

"What are the responsibilities of the Intelligence Division?"

"Draft the action plan, review the personnel deployment, and manage the signing and destruction process for information transfer."

The fan was retracted, drawing an arc in the air.

"These tasks are all paper-based."

Hun Yue's eyebrows furrowed together.

"so what?"

"Therefore, I asked the Five Heavenly Venerables to recall the Palace Master's original words."

Hunyu's gaze passed over Hunyue and landed in the direction of the throne.

"The route of the eighth operation was that the Palace Master used his soul power to directly pour into the soul seas of three people."

"There was no paper, no pen, and no physical records whatsoever."

"The three routes are contained deep within the souls of the three individuals, and cannot be accessed by external forces."

"As a result, all three segments leaked."

Hunyu paused for a moment, letting those words circulate in the hall.

"May I ask, Fifth Heavenly Venerable, at which stage could the Intelligence Division have encountered a leak of this level?"

Hun Yue's mouth twitched, wanting to refute, but the logic of those few sentences was based on the premises provided by the Palace Master himself, and he couldn't find any loopholes.

"What are you trying to say after going through all this trouble?"

"What I'm trying to say is very simple."

Hunyu closed the fan in his palm.

Whether or not Hun Feng should be killed is the Palace Master's business.

"But hoping to solve the leak problem by killing him is a wrong approach from the very beginning."

A deep, muffled voice from the back of the platform interrupted the conversation.

"You mean the Intelligence Division bears no responsibility?"

Hunyu turned halfway around and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

"The Intelligence Division is responsible for dereliction of duty, and I will not defend Hun on that matter."

"But dereliction of duty and collusion with the enemy are two different things."

"The things that the mole can do are far beyond the scope of the Intelligence Division's authority."

"Oh?"

The voice from the back row drew out a long tone.

"In your opinion, what can an insider do that the Intelligence Division can't?"

"Read the information encrypted with soul power from the sea of ​​souls."

Hunyu spoke these words very slowly, enunciating each one slowly.

"This doesn't require the guts of an insider."

"It's because their cultivation level is high enough."

As soon as these words were spoken, the physical condition of two people in the hall changed.

Hun Yu caught them all out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't look at the two people; his gaze remained fixed on the black mist above the platform.

Hunyuan spoke.

"Are you saying the mole's cultivation level is very high?"

"Not very high."

Hunyu corrected him.

"It's high enough to break through the soul power encryption."

Hunyuan's gaze shifted slightly.

"Do you know what you mean by that?"

"Know."

Hunyu tapped his palm with the rib of his fan.

"Everyone here knows better than I what level the Palace Master's cultivation is."

"Those who can glean information from the soul power sealed by the Palace Master himself have only one minimum standard for cultivation level."

Hunyu didn't say the standard aloud, but everyone in the hall understood.

Half-step Dou Di, or higher.

The Dou Zun kneeling on both sides breathed a sigh of relief, because this area had nothing to do with them; their Dou Zun cultivation level was nowhere near their reach.

But the atmosphere on the platform changed.

Hun Yue's face tightened.

"Are you trying to muddy the waters by saying that?"

"Do the Five Heavenly Venerables think I'm muddying the waters?"

Hunyu countered with a question.

"Then please, Five Heavenly Venerables, provide a separate explanation."

"All three routes are contained within the Soul Sea, with no physical record or channel for leakage. Besides directly peering into the Soul Sea, what other way is there to obtain all three routes?"

Hun Yue did not answer.

The voice from the back row didn't respond either.

Originally, only Hun Yue stood out in the position of the five Celestial Venerables, but now the remaining four figures also began to move—some were adjusting their sitting posture, the one next to them began to tuck in their sleeves, and another quickened his breathing rhythm.

Hunyuan's gaze swept over the several Celestial Venerables, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

The gray-robed celestial being on the right side of the front row suddenly spoke, his voice much lower than before.

Even if what you say makes sense, so what?

"The number of people in the Heavenly Gang Hall who can meet that threshold can be counted on one hand."

"Are you narrowing down the suspects to these few people so that the Palace Master will investigate us?"

"It's not that I want the Palace Master to investigate anyone."

Hunyu turned the fan halfway around, with the handle facing upwards.

"It's the facts that narrow the scope to this point."

"I'm just helping everyone to break through this barrier."

The gray-robed celestial being raised his voice.

"A member of a collateral branch, on his very first day in the Heavenly Gang Hall, dares to implicate the Heavenly Venerable right in front of the Hall Master?"

"Are you here to sow discord on behalf of the ancient tribe?"

"The title of 'Three Heavens Venerable' is too big for me; I can't afford to wear it."

Hunyu didn't look at him; her gaze was fixed on the direction of the throne.

"However, I would like to ask the Three Venerable One a question."

"What?"

"I've narrowed down the suspects, and you're getting anxious."

"But if the scope isn't narrowed, all forty-seven people will have their souls extracted in three days."

"Aren't the names of the Three Heavenly Venerables among those forty-seven?"

"Narrow down the scope and check a few more people."

"If the scope isn't narrowed, all forty-seven lives will be lost."

"You can decide for yourself which option is more cost-effective."

The gray-robed celestial being opened his mouth slightly, but no sound came out.

A deep, muffled voice from the back row gave a low hum.

"Eloquent and persuasive."

"Even if the suspicion lies with the Celestial Venerable, how do you plan to investigate?"

Do you have any evidence?

Whether there is evidence or not, we'll only know after investigation.

Hunyu clasped the fan in his palm, with the fan face down.

"But how to investigate requires the Palace Master's approval."

Hunyu looked again at the pair of blood-red vertical pupils above the throne.

The black mist above the throne remained still.

Hun Miesheng remained silent.

The soul perishes while life waits.

Soul Feather is also waiting.

That's about enough. The next step requires the person on the throne to speak.

The hall was quiet for five breaths.

Then a deep male voice came from the black mist.

"Go on."

There were only two words, but those two words carried more weight than any question from anyone else.

Hun Miesheng did not interrupt him or kill him, which was tantamount to giving him the right to continue speaking.

The expressions of the several celestial beings on the high platform tightened simultaneously.

Hun Yue took a step back and retreated onto the steps.

The deep voice from the back seat went completely silent.

The gray-robed celestial being huddled in his seat, his fingers hidden in his sleeves.

Hunyu smiled, raised the white feather fan, with the handle facing upwards, and slowly unfolded it in front of him.

"Your Highness, please accept my greetings."

"This junior wishes to borrow the presence of all those in the hall to see something."