Let's start by analyzing the sun

“Glug~”

The shopkeeper quickly poured a glass of herbal tea, handing it over with great enthusiasm: “Sir, please enjoy!”

Arthur politely thanked him, feigning extreme thirst as he reached out, took the tea, and eagerly gulped it down.

The former council speaker knew full well that the shopkeeper’s actions, seemingly a means to attract customers, were actually a form of probing.

Given the consistent modus operandi of the Prayer Life Society, the shopkeeper had most likely already become a ‘parasitic puppet’.

Affected by the parasitic puppet, the host's behavior would undergo subtle changes, eventually acting entirely according to the Prayer Life Society's instructions.

The most terrifying aspect was that, from beginning to end, the host would not realize they were being quietly controlled.

“Sir, what would you like to buy?”

The shopkeeper’s voice drifted over.

Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur noticed that while speaking, the shopkeeper was secretly scrutinizing him, from head to toe.

How could a normal shopkeeper do such a thing?

Indeed, a parasitic puppet!

The purpose of offering tea was to facilitate observation!

Without a doubt.

The shopkeeper's task was to observe every customer entering the shop, and if he noticed anything amiss, he would immediately report it to his superiors.

The person within the Prayer Life Society controlling the parasitic puppet would then permanently abandon this location.

Arthur put down the cup and said a pre-prepared line: “A size seven wrench.”

At the same time.

He sighed inwardly: “Not a ‘dark nest,’ just a ‘bird's nest’! Looks like I'll have to stake it out for a while.”

The so-called ‘dark nest’ was ‘black speech’ used by the alien god's followers, meaning an official stronghold of the alien god's organization, usually with alien god followers stationed there long-term.

As for ‘bird's nest,’ it was equivalent to a ‘post office,’ a temporary stronghold used by alien god followers to transmit information.

To guard against the official Xuan Masters, bird's nests were often nested layer upon layer, with information passing through two to three bird's nests before being officially sent out.

If it was an important bird's nest, then nesting four or five layers would not be surprising.

This meant he had to first figure out the location of each bird's nest before he could ferret out the people from the Prayer Life Society, which would take a considerable amount of time.

Arthur sighed precisely because of this.

Near the shelves in the distance.

While looking for the wrench, the shopkeeper asked with a smile: “Sir, do you have something at home that needs repairing?”

Without hesitation, Arthur hummed in affirmation: “The water pipe in the kitchen is leaking.”

The shopkeeper paused slightly, his tone tinged with a hint of doubt: “I seem to recall that a size six wrench is used for tightening water pipes, isn't it?”

Arthur knew immediately that this was a test from the parasitic puppet.

Influenced by the parasite, this thing was very suspicious, and if he showed any hesitation, it would definitely arouse its suspicion.

He said with an absolutely certain tone: “The pipes in my house are thicker, it's definitely a size seven wrench.”

The shopkeeper said, “Oh,”: “Maybe I remembered wrong.”

Arthur, prepared for this, added: “Right, and give me a piece of rubber waterproof gasket, the gasket at home doesn't have much elasticity anymore, it might leak.”

This sentence had enough details to make it highly likely to convince the other party.

Sure enough.

The shopkeeper replied, “Okay,” and didn't ask any more questions.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he was a Xuan Master-level powerhouse, the mysterious man's methods were too terrifying, and this was the first task the other party had given him, so he really didn't dare to mess it up.

Just then.

Arthur suddenly sensed that a certain position in his sea of consciousness suddenly rippled strangely, and then a mark appeared out of nowhere.

The aura carried by the mark belonged to the mysterious man.

In that instant.

The former council speaker was completely shocked.

God above!

What kind of method was this?

To insert the mark directly into my sea of consciousness without even noticing any traces, even a Xuan Overseer expert wouldn't have this ability, right?

Who exactly is this mysterious man?

Arthur was so shocked that an obvious look of astonishment appeared on his face.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper was engrossed in rummaging for things and didn't notice the change in his expression, otherwise this guy would have been exposed for sure.

Soon.

The shopkeeper found the gasket and wrench, and quoted the price: “Sir, that'll be forty-eight copper coins!”

At this time, Arthur had already restrained his shock and suppressed the astonishment in his heart.

He deftly pulled out his money bag, carefully counted out a large handful of copper coins, and placed them on the counter: “The money is here.”

The shopkeeper said with a smile: “Goodbye, sir.”

Arthur picked up the wrench and gasket, quickly pushed open the door, and left the shop.

*

Taian Small Spirit Realm.

Qinglin City.

Lin Xuebin's home.

Arthur's mind was full of extreme shock, which was unsurprisingly captured by the Secret Puppet Seal and transmitted along the soul link.

The Hidden Soul Secret Puppet Technique, derived from the second-tier Secret Cosmic Xuan Seal, had more than doubled in concealment compared to the first tier.

This Xuan Master-level powerhouse, after being hit by the secret technique, didn't feel anything at all.

Cheng Han sensed the other party's emotions and couldn't help but chuckle inwardly: “Isn't it just the Star Transmission Method? Why so shocked?”

In the vision only visible to him, the stars in the sky slowly disappeared.

The transcendent mark sent over just now was forcibly inserted into the other party's sea of consciousness through the star representing Arthur, or rather, the connection.

This couldn't be helped.

Across thousands of kilometers, the Hidden Soul Secret Puppet Technique could not descend power remotely and had to rely on the divine skill, the All-Knowing Eye.

After scaring his little brother, Cheng Han casually complained: “Before I returned to Taian, the Taian Black Armor Army was gone. After staying in Taian for a short time, even the Taian Xuan Pavilion is gone.”

This self-deprecating remark wasn't very funny.

The group of people in the reception room all seemed to have heard a very funny joke and laughed.

The newly promoted Grand Executive Yu Xianglong mentioned a piece of gossip, intentionally or unintentionally: “I heard that there is a mid-level Xuan Master in the Xuan Pavilion named ‘Zong Chang.’

“Some time ago, this Xuan Master dissolved the marriage contract of one of his wives, and soon after, this lady died of illness.”

Cheng Han squinted slightly.

He remembered the name Zong Chang very clearly.

When he took office as the Grand Executive of Anhua City, he thoroughly rectified the officialdom and sent a large number of officials to prison.

At that time, some bureaucrats, in a state of panic, found Zong Chang through nepotistic connections, and this person sent a message through the garrison Xuan Master.

But he ignored it, and the two sides formed a grudge.

Qian Qingqing raised an eyebrow and interjected: “Could this lady be the cousin of the former Director of Finance of Anhua City?”

The 'cousin' in the little girl's mouth was precisely the person involved in the nepotistic relationship.

Yu Xianglong nodded: “Exactly!”

Liu Yidao chuckled: “Xuan Master Zong must have heard of the Vice Palace Lord's illustrious reputation and took his anger out on this poor lady.”

Qian Qingqing rarely blurted out a curse: “What a bastard!”

Any fool could tell that the so-called 'died of illness' was mostly secretly killed, which shows how vicious Zong Chang was.

Cheng Han was silent for a moment, then said solemnly: “Xuan Master Zong is wrong!”

This was precisely expressing his personal attitude as the Vice Palace Lord, and with his powerful authority, these few words carried great weight.

Yu Xianglong immediately echoed: “Xuan Master Zong is indeed wrong!”

This was also taking a stand.

Implicit in this was a subtext that this sentence would spread as quickly as possible until it reached Zong Chang's ears.

Liu Yidao muttered 'amazing' in his heart.

This director naturally understood that with just these simple few words, a Xuan Master could be easily driven to despair.

Who would have thought that the young patrol captain from a year ago would now have such great power?

*

Thousands of kilometers away.

Zhuoan Small Spirit Realm.

After walking some distance, Arthur carefully touched the mark in his sea of consciousness with his mind.

The next second.

The former council speaker was stunned.

Because the mark had an incredible name – Inference Seal.

And because the effect of this mark was unbelievable – it could search for who had entered the bird's nest simply by relying on transcendent aura.

At this point.

Arthur understood that the mysterious man thought his method of staking out was too slow, so he had specially bestowed the Inference Seal.

He took a light breath, and the awe in his heart grew even stronger: “Even a Xuan Overseer probably doesn't have such methods, who on earth is this mysterious man?”

A thought immediately popped into Arthur's mind: “Could it be an incarnation of a god descending?”

This bizarre idea startled him himself.

But the former council speaker felt that this was not impossible.