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

Hunyu took two steps forward, facing the left side of the main hall.

"Operation Seventh".

He handed the fan to his left hand and made a circular motion in the air with his right hand.

"The level of secrecy this time is higher than the previous times; only two people know the route."

The gaze fell upon the high platform above.

"The Great Celestial Venerable Soul Abyss, and also Soul Offering."

"The T-group was dispatched with orders, but they were surrounded by the ancient clan's elite troops as soon as they entered Black Wind Ridge."

"The Dou Zun who returned alive wrote it clearly in the dossier: before the ancient clans took action, they read out their marching route word for word."

Hun Yue snorted.

"Perhaps the ancient clan deliberately tricked them, or they searched their souls."

"The people in the T-group never finished traversing that route before they died; what the ancient clan recited was the latter half, which they hadn't yet completed."

Hunyu waved his fan towards the dried corpse.

"Even if someone's soul is searched, only the paths they've already walked can be found. The paths they haven't walked yet are unknown even to the T-group themselves. How did the ancient clans memorize them in advance?"

Hun Yue opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"The soul is already dead, lying here as a dried corpse, and can no longer defend itself."

Hunyu withdrew his gaze.

"But I can do a very simple deduction for him."

"If Hun Feng is a traitor, he would need a means of communication to transmit the route known only to him and the Great Celestial Venerable to the ancient clan."

He held up one finger.

"Before any major operation, the communication soul imprints of all core insiders of the Heavenly Gang Palace will be temporarily blocked by a barrier. Sending messages to the outside world requires a triple review to unblock them: the Internal Affairs Pavilion, the Punishment Hall, and the Grand Heavenly Venerable himself. None of them can be missing."

Hunyu looked at Hunyuan.

"Great Celestial Venerable, before the seventh operation, was there any record of Hun Feng's communication soul seal being unsealed?"

"no."

Hunyuan answered decisively.

"I checked it myself. I compared the files in the Punishment Hall and the Internal Affairs Department. His access to the interrogation service was completely locked two hours before the operation. None of the three signatures were touched."

"Did Hun Feng leave the study in the two hours leading up to the operation?"

"No, the guard at the gate can testify."

"Has anyone gone in and seen him?"

"Apart from the mute servant who brought tea, there was no one else." Hunyuan paused for a moment. "The mute servant's soul was searched immediately afterward, and his mind was completely clear."

"This creates a perfect secret room."

Hunyu tapped his palm with the ribs of his fan.

"How could someone without communication privileges, staying in a room so enclosed that not even a fly could escape, possibly deliver the data to the ancient clan?"

"Perhaps he set up a hidden teleportation array beforehand?" the gray-robed celestial being interjected.

"Three Venerable Ones, the foundation of the Heavenly Gang Palace is paved with Soul-Suppressing Stones. Any spatial fluctuation will trigger an alarm."

Hun Yu showed no mercy.

"Do you think the people in the Internal Affairs Pavilion who maintain the formation are all blind, or do you think the Heavenly Gang Hall's defensive formation is a joke?"

The gray-robed celestial being turned his head away and said no more.

"With all conventional communication methods blocked, there's only one possibility left."

Hunyu raised his voice.

"The route wasn't leaked out at all; it was read directly from the souls of those in the know."

The previous statement was merely speculation, but now, with the time difference from the sixth operation and the communication blockade of the seventh operation as support, its significance is completely different.

The two kneeling Dou Zun began to exchange glances, their tense shoulders relaxing.

The conclusion that the mole wasn't in their circle was a lifeline.

But those on the high platform didn't have it so easy.

Soul Feather unfolded the fan, and the golden feather patterns brightened. A faint golden light overflowed from the edge of the fan, spreading along his arm and reflecting two tiny Bagua patterns deep in his pupils.

The divine calculation is fully activated.

My gaze swept across each of them, starting from the left side of the platform.

Hun Yue's cheekbone muscles twitched, and his breathing rate increased by a third.

The gray-robed celestial being's fingers were hidden in his sleeves, his golden eyes piercing through the fabric, and those fingers were rubbing against each other in an extremely irregular rhythm.

In the back row on the left, my heart rate fluctuated several times in a short period of time.

In the back row, on the right, the carotid pulse rate increases.

Finally, there is the Abyss of Souls.

The orbicularis oculi muscle remained deliberately relaxed, but the pupil contracted slightly as the gaze swept across.

Every micro-expression was analyzed frame by frame by the golden pupils. The pupil contraction frequency, muscle coordination patterns, breathing intervals, and carotid artery pulsation were all transformed into an emotional spectrum map in the mind by the golden Bagua pattern.

Fear, tension, anger, anxiety, and vigilance are five emotions, each with varying degrees of intensity.

But one person's true nature is completely different from the others.

It wasn't fear, nor tension, but a kind of overly even calm that had been deliberately suppressed.

Hunyu lingered on that face for a moment, imprinting the mask into his mind, before naturally looking away.

He closed his fan, and the golden light in his eyes receded to the bottom of his pupils.

"Lord of the Palace."

"Anyone who can break through the soul power encryption to read another person's soul sea must have a cultivation level of at least half a step Dou Di."

"The number of people in the Heavenly Gang Hall who meet the criteria can be counted on two hands, but only three people can meet all three criteria at the same time."

The black fog stopped churning.

"What are the three conditions?"

"First, one's cultivation must have reached the half-step Dou Di level." Hun Yu held up a finger, looking at the gray-robed Celestial Venerable. "Three Celestial Venerables, how many half-step Dou Di are there in the Heavenly Gang Palace?"

"Besides the Palace Master, there are only a few of us Celestial Venerables," the gray-robed Celestial Venerable replied irritably.

"Secondly, all eight operations must be carried out within the jurisdiction of the Tiangang Palace, with complete records of their movements."

He turned to the Abyss of Souls.

"Great Celestial Venerable, which Celestial Venerables left their jurisdictions during the eight operations?"

Hunyuan remained silent for a moment.

"The Four Heavenly Venerables went to Zhongzhou, and the Two Heavenly Venerables have not yet emerged from seclusion."

"The only ones who have remained in the hall are you, the Great Heavenly Venerable, the Third Heavenly Venerable, and the Fifth Heavenly Venerable."

"You're trying to pin this on the three of us!" Hun Yue roared, causing cracks to appear in the floor tiles of the steps due to the impact of his fighting spirit.

"Five Heavenly Venerables, please calm your anger. There is a third condition."

Hunyu raised his third finger.

"Third, during the crucial eighth operation, this person had the opportunity to come within three zhang of the Palace Master."

A collective gasp filled the hall.

The temple master used his soul power to channel the route into the soul seas of the three people. If the mole wanted to spy on this process, he had to be within the temple master's vicinity at a specific time.

Those who can move within three zhang of the Palace Master are either attendants with insufficient cultivation or core high-ranking members.

The silence on the high platform was suffocating.

The gray-robed celestial being's fingers trembled violently on his knee.

Hun Yue's face was ashen, his fists clenched so tightly that veins bulged, but he said nothing.

"Are you trying to make us distrust each other by putting yourself in this position?" The gray-robed celestial being's voice was hoarse.

"The Three Venerable Ones have misunderstood; I was merely stating the facts."

"Since you say there are only three people, state your names." The gray-robed celestial being leaned forward. "I'd like to see how you handle this."

"I will not reveal the names of the three suspects now."

"You dare not say it, do you?" Hun Yue sneered.

"I dare not say, and I cannot say."

Hunyuan spoke.

Why?

"If we speak too soon, the mole will run away."