Chapter Thirty-Nine: Celestial Eye Divination

“Hmph, I was planning to drag you back and pound you into mincemeat! But then, out of nowhere, someone sent these three wanted notices, and it turns out you’re all fugitives. Consider yourself lucky, kid. Let’s go, back to our patrol!” With that, he stood up, his towering figure nearly brushing the ceiling.

“Wait.” As Lin Aosoul walked past Yixin, Yixin spoke up without the slightest courtesy. “You arrest people without knowing the facts, and now that you realize you’ve got the wrong person, you think you can just walk away?”

Lin Aosoul turned, their eyes clashing, sparks of anger flying. “What, do you want me to teach you a lesson again?”

“I’d be glad to oblige.”

Ling Xiao Tear broke out in a cold sweat at the side, and Divine Judge Guo clung to the spirit rabbit, trembling in fear and whispering, “Please, don’t fight…”

Fortunately, Lin Aosoul managed to swallow his fury in the end. The two glared at each other for a moment before he grunted, “Next time, don’t let me catch you,” and left with the guards.

Blackfeather gazed thoughtfully at the three yellowed wanted notices on the floor, sensing that someone, somewhere, was secretly aiding him.

Ling Xiao Tear whispered to Divine Judge Guo, “We know you haven't been feeling well lately, so we won’t take you to train today.”

“I only hid it from you because I was afraid you’d leave me behind…” Divine Judge Guo’s eyes glistened with tears.

Ling Xiao Tear’s heart softened. “Fine, you can come, but just watch from the side—you’re not allowed to join in.”

“Hey! Blackfeather!” Yixin’s face darkened as he snatched the wanted notices off the floor. “Explain this to me, right now! What’s going on here?”

Blackfeather nearly jumped out of his skin. He hurriedly grabbed Ling Xiao Tear and Divine Judge Guo and dashed out the door, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Deep within the forbidden forest of the Southern Continent, a reconnaissance squad dressed in black slipped through the woods like night cats.

One corner of their black headscarves bore the diamond-shaped insignia of the Mage Alliance—composed of blue for the northern snowfields, green for the southern forests, red for the lost eastern lands, purple for the western oceanic realms, and gold for the central continent. They followed the roots of the Tree of Life as they rose from the earth, pausing beside trees at regular intervals to check on their health and the purity of the springwater beneath them.

The deeper they ventured, the more withered the roots appeared, and the springs grew increasingly turbid. Deeper still, the air reeked of rot, the roots were riddled with wounds, and crawling with swarms of parasites.

One of the black-clad scouts knelt and cupped his hands over a root, channeling healing magic. A gentle, pale yellow glow appeared beneath his palms, and the root revived a little. But as the light faded, the root quickly shriveled again.

Suddenly, a dragon’s cry shattered the silence of the night, sending a wave of terror through everyone present.

The night wind whipped through the forest like a blade, scattering leaves in torrents. At the edge of the woods, the vague outline of Dragon Island emerged—a mass of darkness, not so much an island as a colossal dragon lying on the lake’s surface.

The investigators tried to retreat in panic, but it was too late. As soon as they turned, shadows flashed past, slicing their throats in an instant. They collapsed soundlessly to the ground.

As the echoes of the dragon’s roar faded, an eerie calm settled over the forest once more…

Divine Judge Guo, somewhere in the Twilight Forest, suddenly halted as if sensing something amiss.

“What’s wrong, Guoguo?” Ling Xiao Tear asked over her shoulder.

“It’s… it’s nothing.” Divine Judge Guo shook her head and hurried to catch up with the others.

“Maybe Guoguo’s just tired. We should head back early today,” Ling Xiao Tear suggested.

“Then hurry up and find some monster locations…” Blackfeather drawled lazily.

After the investigators in the southern forest were killed, the crystal ball in the imperial palace clouded with darkness. The continent’s most powerful seer, Wuxuanyuan—known as the ‘Heaven’s Eye’—lifted his withered, corpse-like fingers from the orb.

His long, greenish nails were as sharp as eagle talons, his knuckles stark and pale. His eyes were vertical slits like a viper’s, his lips a deep purple, his body hunched and gnarled like a dead tree beneath a black mage’s robe, a dark green cloak—the badge of the most powerful poison mage—draped over his shoulders. His voice rasped as he spoke:

“Reporting to the Thunder Emperor: Squads Four and Five have been annihilated.”

“What!” On the throne beside the divination platform, the continent’s sovereign, Thunder Abyss, crushed a magic stone in his grip, the swirling energy within instantly absorbed by the monstrous eye atop the Thunder God’s staff. The eye blinked, letting out a greedy hiss.

“Five squads dispatched in a single night, and not one even made it near Dragon Island—they were all wiped out!” The Thunder Emperor’s narrow eyes glinted with menace. “Dragon Clan… I’ll remember this debt.” Tides of rage surged from him, condensing into twin streams of furious energy before dissipating into the hall.

Wuxuanyuan leaned on an ancient poison vine staff, descending from the platform to the center of the grand hall, where he stood respectfully.

“Both the forbidden forest and Dragon Island are protected by special barriers. Even my ‘Heaven’s Eye’ cannot peer through them. Such heavy defenses are suspicious indeed—an obvious attempt to cover something up,” Wuxuanyuan intoned with a sly, twisted smile.

“Hmph. And the Doomsday Volcano? Any news of the Demon King’s whereabouts?” demanded the Thunder Emperor.

“The Doomsday Volcano will erupt soon… As for the Demon King, whether he is reborn in the human world or the demon realm is still unknown. If he is in the human world, I will certainly divine his location! But should he be in the demon realm, I am afraid I am powerless…” Wuxuanyuan bowed low.

“Find the Demon King’s reincarnation at any cost! Continue your search!” the Thunder Emperor’s voice boomed through the hall like rolling thunder.

“Yes…” Wuxuanyuan bowed again, his gaze flickering toward two prisoners chained at the base of a pillar.

They cowered under his glance, eyes wide with terror, trying to shrink away, muffled pleas for mercy escaping their gagged mouths. Their hands and feet were bound behind them, leaving them sprawled helplessly on the ground. The ends of their chains were gripped by two guards clad in golden armor.

“Your reward—take it,” the Thunder Emperor waved.

“Then I shall accept, unreservedly…” Wuxuanyuan grinned wickedly, his ten skeletal fingers swirling in the air as he advanced on the prisoners, green poisonous mist rising beneath his feet.

Even the golden-armored guards blanched and trembled at his approach, not daring to move a muscle for fear of provoking this fearsome figure.

“M-Master Wuxuanyuan, these two prisoners are both high-level mage death row convicts! Please, enjoy!” they stammered.