Master Baihua Zhou Yingchun, Alchemist Saint Child Qin Wuxiang.
Both of them, wherever they were, could be considered top-tier cultivators, excellent in both their cultivation realms and Divine Power.
One would think that these two teaming up to assassinate a Grain and Grass Officer, especially through a sudden ambush, would undoubtedly succeed.
Unfortunately, they chose the wrong target.
This Grain and Grass Officer, was actually a monster disguised in horse armor.
With double pupils spiritual vision revealing their actions first, possessing the unparalleled protective Nine Toad Bead, able to use the techniques of the Secret Demon Sect, and finally resorting to a stealth attack with the Toad God Tile, how could there be any chance of survival for them?
In an encounter, they both fell to the ground.
Zhou Yingchun was struck down, and the grand disturbance he caused naturally vanished instantly.
As the Flag Officers inside the palace awakened, just as they were about to cry out in alarm, Lin Shangguan's voice came through,
"No need to panic; the Seven Evil Sects sent a True Inheritor called 'Master Baihua' to assassinate me, but I have captured him."
"I will interrogate him first before sending him to Hidden Dragon Mountain."
"You all just activate the Forbidden Technique and guard the quarters."
The Flag Officers obeyed the order, responding one after another.
They woke up from the daze, still smelling the foul stench of Baihua evil spirits in their noses, some even showing symptoms of resentful soul invasion like pale faces, finger marks on their skin, and unstable Divine Souls.
Having heard the situation, they all murmured, cursing, "The brats from the Seven Evils indeed dare the heavens, suffering retribution now. Without knowing Lin Shangguan's techniques, how foolish of them to think they could kill with such a weak attempt," and praised Lin Runiu to the skies.
Tao Qian didn't pay much attention to them, arranging things afterward.
He waved his hand, restoring the protective Forbidden Technique, intending to do something else when,
suddenly, ripples next to him distorted the air, and the female ghost dressed in a gorgeous robe with a golden ring suspended behind her head squeezed out.
Her name was "A Cuo," although a ghost, she had a noble status, being one of the children born from the Nine Sons Ghost Mother.
Free to move between the tangible and intangible,
Tao Qian could neither stop her nor kill her.
Since she had come, clearly, there was going to be a gathering.
A Cuo was innocently carefree, curious about worldly things, somewhat similar in temperament to Tao Qian's disciple, the Crystal Demon Zhong Doudou.
Once she revealed herself, she instinctively tried to drag Tao Qian's Divine Soul towards the inner world of the Nine Sons Ghost Mother.
But she quickly realized she couldn't move him and was about to urge him on,
when she saw Tao Qian waving his hand to produce some food beloved by ghosts, asking her to wait a while.
"Although the gathering is urgent, there's something more pressing right now; let them wait for a few dozen moments."
Having said that, Tao Qian immediately got to work.
Having captured a True Inheritor from the Seven Evil Sects and an Alchemist Saint Child, how could he let them go so easily?
Before sending them off to Hidden Dragon Mountain, Tao Qian naturally decided to act first, digging out all their secrets.
A single finger, pointed at the foreheads of both Zhou Yingchun and Qin Wuxiang.
Given their status and cultivation realms, they naturally had defensive techniques which exempted them from Soul Searching.
Unfortunately, Tao Qian still had a way to cheat.
Upon touching them, a great amount of records burst forth in Tao Qian's mind.
Whether it was Zhou Yingchun or Qin Wuxiang, their life stories, the secret techniques they practiced, or even some personal secrets known only to themselves that could not be exposed, were all seen by Tao Qian at that moment.
Of course, Tao Qian didn't care about those dirty and filthy matters, focusing only on the secrets.
He was particularly intrigued by Qin Wuxiang's tragic circumstances within the Alchemist community.
"So it turns out this guy really is a son of the millennium-old Qin Family; he's actually a relative of Uncle Qin Jiao."
"His name, too, relates to Uncle Qin Jiao. Although after the Alchemists defeated Uncle Qin Jiao, they erased all information related to him, the Qin Family internally knows of an ancestor called 'Master Wuxiang' who almost overthrew the entire Alchemist community."
"After Uncle died, the Qin Family submitted to the Alchemists to preserve themselves, sending their young talents to become Alchemist Saint Children."
"Those old monsters know the origin of Qin Wuxiang's name and his desire to emulate Uncle Qin Jiao... but none of them care, providing whatever is needed for their assurance, letting him serve the Alchemists, making it all the more ironic and cruel."
As Tao Qian mumbled these thoughts, his fingers slowly withdrew.
If one were to view it from "Qin Wuxiang's" perspective, this young talent of the Qin Family was a man who endured hardships to revive his ancestor's glory.
Sadly, he took a wrong path.
In this world, those who emerge unscathed are few.
There was nothing wrong with Qin Wuxiang's ambitions.
But his methods, how different were they from those dirty, stinking, rotten ones of the Alchemists?
"If not too many from Southern Yue had died because of you, I might have actually wanted to help you, quite a pity."
After saying another sentence, Tao Qian began to meddle inside Qin Wuxiang's body.
After some arrangements, he bound his Divine Soul and Mana.
Then, he awakened him.
As Qin Wuxiang regained consciousness, he immediately realized his predicament, understood that his life and death were in the hands of another, and that he couldn't even self-destruct or undergo Corpse Disintegration.
Even if he could, he would not.
Upon seeing Lin Runiu focusing on him, shocked and hateful, he immediately calculated:
"Where did this kid come from? Although Toad Sect is one of the top three Side Door powers, since when did they cultivate such a terrifying secret disciple? And how did he inexplicably enter Ancestor Dragon Society?"
"He captured the two of us and didn't immediately send us to that monstrous scion, Ying Qingdi—could it be he wants to interrogate us first to claim the credit?"
"If that's the case, there might just be my chance to escape; I must lure him."