37: Chapter 37 The Storm Is Brewing

The nights in Kongsang Prefecture were quieter than ever before, with even the usual chirping of insects having vanished.

An invisible oppression permeated the air, like the suffocating dullness before a storm.

Ordinary commoners had long since extinguished their lights and retired to bed, and only those Cultivators with keen senses could vaguely perceive that this prefectural city was being slowly tightened by an invisible net.

Shen Yi clocked in daily at the Construction and Maintenance Department, waiting for news from Xu Mingxuan.

Clone Two, on the other hand, received the Materials from Cen Jing and was ready to return to the original Shen Moyan at any time.

Clone Three, meanwhile, had been secretly monitoring Jiang Qingshui's movements.

Shen Moyan's original body remained in the academy's Immortal Cave, seemingly sitting in meditation with his eyes closed, but his mind had already split into three.

Through the three paper figures Clones, "Shen Yi", "Clone Two", and "Clone Three", he closely monitored three key nodes of Kongsang Prefecture.

"The new Inspector Jiang Zhiqiu, in his youth, dressed in fine clothes, riding a swift horse, and full of high spirits."

"Yet, at an age like a white horse passing through falling flowers or a boat sailing a hundred rivers, he died a perfunctory death after receiving a Holy Court mission."

Inside the dim Immortal Cave, Shen Moyan was restless.

Using Jiang Zhiqiu's death as a clue, the intentions of various factions were gradually piecing together in his mind like scattered puzzle pieces.

Jiang Zhiqiu's cause of death was not simple; he might have been silenced because he learned of something.

The Disciple of Wild Goose Formation True Monarch, City Lord Chu Sheng, had laid out the All Beings Spirit Refining Grand Array, treating Dongshan City as a nursery.

Xu Mingxuan represented the Biyang Sword Sect, wanting to lure Wild Goose Formation True Monarch into appearing.

The Cen Family was exploited and dragged into this murky water, becoming accomplices and pawns in the destruction of Dongshan City.

Prefectural Governor Gao Sheng might have condoned or even participated in this matter to balance the various parties, or perhaps he had other schemes.

And Zhou Zhanpeng, though aware, was powerless to resist and could only protect himself.

"Prefectural Governor Gao Sheng, Wild Goose Formation True Monarch Zheng Quan..." Shen Moyan suddenly remembered the two Cultivators who had descended upon Great Qǐ in his previous lives.

For what reason would they fight their way out of the Great World of Mountains and Seas to go to a Minor Plane?

Suddenly, a disturbance from the paper figures' perspective reached Shen Moyan's mind, and his brow twitched.

After Clone Two received the Materials collected by the Cen Family, he followed Cen Gewu to escort most of the Cen Family members to seek refuge.

The Cen Family group entered a commercial flying boat, intending to blend in with a large number of Family elites and nobles from Kongsang Prefecture to leave the area together.

Clone Three's eyes caught a glimpse of a back profile, causing his brow to twitch.

"Is that... Deng Jinhua?"

The Deputy Director of the Merit Examination Department, a grey-haired old man, was also mixed among them, heading out of the prefecture on a flying boat.

"Something's not right; most of the Holy Court officials in Kongsang Prefecture are not at their posts."

"Could it be because Jiang Qingshui came to inspect? Do they want to avoid trouble?"

Shen Moyan's thoughts were in a whirl.

"That's not right either. If all the officials have fled, they should at least have someone stay behind to act as a shield."

"It seems that when I went to enter office with Xu Mingxuan, I didn't see the Director of the Merit Examination Department..."

The funding for Kongsang Prefecture's city defense has been unprecedentedly large over the past century, and when linked with the conversation between Fei and a mythical serpent... "No way..." Upon closer thought, a chill rose from Shen Moyan's spine.

Shen Moyan controlled Shen Yi to leave the Construction and Maintenance Department and head toward various offices of the Holy Court.

"The Merit Examination Department has no Director!"

"Kongsang Academy has no Palace Master either!"

"Even the Guardians of Orthodoxy, which handles prefectural affairs, has no Director!"

Shen Yi held his token and visited various institutions across Kongsang Prefecture. At each location, he requested to meet the Director on the grounds of funding from the Construction and Maintenance Department. Unsurprisingly, he didn't see a single one, as he was told by servants that the Directors were not in.

The sense of unease in Shen Moyan's heart grew heavier.

Just as he was controlling Shen Yi to return to the Construction and Maintenance Department, he heard the protests of a crowd of Spirit Farmerss from a distance.

"What is your Construction and Maintenance Department even doing! Haven't you gone to repair the Formation yet?"

"The roots of the Spiritual Plants in the fields are rotting! The Spiritual Qi is getting thinner and thinner!"

Shen Moyan was startled, a thought flashed through his mind, and he hurriedly ran to those Spirit Farmerss.

"Fellow Daoist, hasn't the Construction and Maintenance Department already fully repaired the Four Seasons Grand Formation? Why would the Spiritual Plants still have rotting roots?"

"Repaired? You dare say it's repaired?" Those Spirit Farmerss were furious, pointing their fingers toward the sky.

Shen Yi looked up, and scattered raindrops fell onto his forehead.

The change began four years ago.

At first, no one cared about this rainy season, thinking it was just the prefecture's grand Formation automatically regulating itself.

It wasn't until this rainy season continued until now, and the Water Accumulation Array in the prefecture could no longer hold or maintain it, causing water to flow through the prefecture's soil, making it impossible for the roots of most Spiritual Plants to breathe, and with the soil lacking Spiritual Qi, the roots began to rot, that everyone began to be overwhelmed with worry.

Inside the Immortal Cave, Shen Moyan's expression turned solemn upon learning the news, and he hurriedly went to the academy's library in person.

"These grand Formations in the prefecture are all a bit strange."

Ignoring the strange looks from the academy's students, he anxiously flipped through Formation books in the library.

The time when the anomalies occurred in Kongsang Prefecture coincided strangely with the time Dongshan City was destroyed, making it hard for him not to think more deeply.

It was obvious that someone was trying to stir up trouble.

Shen Moyan did not want to be kept in the dark without knowing why.

Over the next two days, the atmosphere in Kongsang Prefecture became increasingly eerie.

The air was always filled with a heavy, damp chill, as if invisible tides were surging.

Low-level Cultivators in the city began to feel restless, with distracting thoughts arising during meditation, while ordinary Mortals suffered from nightmares, and children cried incessantly through the night.

Under Clone Three's surveillance, Jiang Qingshui left Zhou Zhanpeng's study. He did not immediately fulfill his duties as the Overseer of the Directorate of Justice Office, but instead climbed the Star-Gazing Tower, the second tallest in Kongsang Prefecture, alone.

He gazed into the distance from the railing, his gaze seemingly penetrating the layers of night to land on the direction of the Prefectural Governors Mansion, and even more so on a certain spot in the suburbs where abnormal water element fluctuations were vaguely emanating.

"Zhiqiu... is that what you discovered?"

Jiang Qingshui murmured to himself, stroking a warm jade pendant in his hand. It was Jiang Zhiqiu's Life Jade Pendant, which was currently emitting a faint, ominous blood-colored glow.

"Kongsang Prefectural Governor Gao Sheng... Wild Goose Formation True Monarch Zheng Quan... Do you think that by suppressing the files and twisting the truth, you can hide the truth from the world?"

His gaze was as sharp as a blade.

The Guardians of Orthodoxy's sloppy conclusion, the "rumor refuting" on the Nine Songs Net, and Zhou Zhanpeng's hesitation to speak all made him more certain.

His younger clan brother's death was by no means an accident, and Kongsang Prefecture hid a shocking secret, one that was enough to make the higher-ups cover it up at any cost... "This is it!"

Shen Moyan's hair was disheveled as he held the thickest formation dao atlas in the academy, his eyes bloodshot.

"A Linked Array within an Array!"

Shen Moyan compared the blueprints of the city's grand Formations with the contents of the formation dao atlas and was utterly horrified.

The Five Elements of the Four Seasons Grand Formation were in disorder, and resources were frequently lacking. On one hand, it was because corrupt petty officials of the Construction and Maintenance Department were taking kickbacks, and on the other hand, the energy of the original grand Formation had leaked away.

Someone had superimposed an array within an array; this was the beginning of another grand Formation's activation.

"And that other hidden grand Formation."

Shen Moyan disassembled and scrambled the original city Formation, reassembling it like a puzzle.

Until the prototype of that Formation gradually emerged, Shen Moyan stood frozen in place.

"This is... the All Beings Spirit Refining Grand Array!"

He had previously seen a corner of this very array in Dongshan City.

Using the Divine Souls of all beings as sustenance and the Five Elements as the underlying logic, it stole the Soul Power of the living.

"Huh?"

Shen Moyan covered his forehead and gave a bitter laugh.

No wonder he couldn't see any Directors in the prefecture; it turned out they had all fled to seek refuge.

Shen Moyan closed the formation dao atlas, and the author's name on the atlas caught his attention.

"The compiler of this book..."

"Wild Goose Formation True Monarch, Zheng Quan."

Shen Moyan tremblingly spat out these few words.

With a clatter, the formation dao atlas fell to the ground.

The entire atlas made a rustling sound as its pages flipped in the wind.

Shen Moyan did not lean down to pick it up; instead, he stared at the formation dao atlas, his pupils shrinking suddenly.

He saw the contents of the formation dao atlas flashing by in the wind, and the light from the window hit the page of the All Beings Spirit Refining Grand Array.

As the light penetrated the pages before and after, the array patterns of the All Beings Spirit Refining Grand Array shifted.

Those array patterns looked like a great tree, rooted in the earth, with fruits bearing human faces growing upon it.

Shen Moyan's face turned deathly pale; he seemed to know why Jiang Zhiqiu had been silenced.