A surging tide of negative emotions crashed against his consciousness like a storm, each one—passion, hatred, greed, rage—acting as a poison that drove him mad. The negative emotions of a sixth-tier畸变者 were sufficient to overwhelm even a peer-level star official, who, though not immediately losing their sanity, would become neurotic for an extended period and require prolonged psychological support to recover. A sixth-tier star official could typically withstand only three evil-class peers; beyond that, they would instantly go mad. Zhang Yuanqian was more resilient than his peers. First, he had attained the near-perfect stage of the "Pure Yang Washing Body" cultivation technique, and second, he was at the peak of the Master of Dreams, a profession particularly adept at manipulating emotions and ranked first in the mental domain. Thus, he effortlessly suppressed the negative emotions of the beast, Ha Shu, receiving fragmented memories in the process. Three minutes later, upon completing the reception of memories, he opened his eyes, his expression now profoundly serious. He had reviewed several key pieces of intelligence within the fragments of Ha Shu's memories. Indeed, the spy was an internal agent of Tianfa who betrayed Ablan Carle. But who this person was, the魔兽 Ha'ss did not know. They communicated solely via telephone, using a false number—specifically, a network dial-up line—and during the calls, the spy's voice was processed to mask gender, making it impossible to determine whether the speaker was male or female. The spy remained exceptionally well-concealed, maintaining one-way communication with the evil faction; even if individuals from that faction were captured, no concrete information could be uncovered. The only clue was that Ha'ss trusted a call from an unknown source, a location of uncertain origin, and was willing to risk being ambushed—because the operation last night had been specifically authorized by his superior, Gokurra. Gokurra is a senior elder of the Bio-Alchemy Guild and a Master-tier Spirit Traveler. He may very well know the identity of the spy, but eliminating a Master-tier traveler would surely be beyond the capabilities of Jue-Mang. Given the current situation in the New Covenant County, whether within the evil or the lawful faction, sensitivity is high—any deviation from the norm quickly draws in multiple Masters. The risk of eliminating the Dominant is too high relative to the return. Second, he has seen the internal list of targets within the Biological Alchemy Guild—this list circulates only among the senior leadership of the Evil faction. Senior figures from the Merchant's Guild, the Divine Beauty Association, and the High Saints of the Divine Judgment are all on the list, with their rankings indicating priority levels, which in turn reveal the Evil faction's strategic plans. Notably, Ju Meng, the Five-Element King at the Six-Grade level, is also listed, though with a lower priority. In the eyes of the Evil faction, the assistance team from the Five-Element Alliance—arriving from afar and relatively unfamiliar with the New Covenant Prefecture—is not a top priority. "After tonight, my priority is likely to rise," Zhang Yuan thought. Third, the Evil faction is waiting for an opportunity! "Once the opportunity arrives, we will eliminate the Sea God Church, removing a major profession from the Lawful faction, which will significantly boost our chances of victory." This was exactly what the 'Kongosura' had said. The great beast Hase had asked his superiors what this 'opportunity' entailed, but received no answer. In the evil faction's plan of the New Covenant County, they first target the high-ranking saints of the Divine Judgment, then compel the Sovereign to intervene, gradually weakening the Divine Judgment Sovereign as much as possible. At that point, when the Sovereign faction suffers severe internal damage, they will concentrate their forces to attack the Sea God Church—since the Sea God Church's headquarters is located in the New Covenant County. Although we didn't uncover any spies, we unexpectedly obtained an outstanding piece of intelligence—our gains have been quite satisfactory. Zhang Yuanqing placed the headless body of the beast-wizard Hase into his hat space, at which point, Lady Yin Yao had already cleaned up the blood and stepped out of the bathroom. "The speaker played rather subpar audio yesterday," she reported to the master, holding up her small speaker. "Which noble was it?" asked Zhang Yuanqing. "A woman named Catharina," replied Lady Yin Yao. Catharina... Zhang Yuanqing drew a brief smile, thinking to himself that I wasn't at all surprised. Given the Magus's style, upon arriving in the Free Federation and settling in Xin Yue County, he would surely visit the Hunters' Guild. And given Catharina's own flair, once she encountered a capable and promising man, she wouldn't miss the opportunity. The two of them ended up rolling onto the bed—much like an Italian cannon encountering the Japanese forces, one would be hard-pressed not to fire a shot. Catherine is of the supreme rank—too dangerous for me, an absolute禁区. I can gather intelligence through the audio recordings of her lovemaking with the King of Magic. Zhang Yuanqing takes the Princess Yin Yao and the four shadow corpses into the space of his hat, then walks to the window, looking down. The fatal poison masters in the courtyard have all been slaughtered. Fire flares up in the distance, and people are scattered across the streets, their cries of alarm, gunfire, and the sounds of collapsing buildings never ceasing. Clearly, the returning spirits—those who have passed—are now fighting the members of the Biological Alchemy Guild, and the intensity of the battle has diminished compared to before. Zhang Yuanqing kicks the window to shatters, puts on the Wind-Runner gloves, and uses the Night-Wanderer technique to vanish from sight, riding the wind upward. Below, he sees the collapsed houses, the bodies lying on the streets and in the ruins, and the Red Rooster, whose left shoulder has turned to stone yet who continues to fight with valor. He sees his companions still alive, pursuing the last two saints of the Biological Alchemy Guild. Zhang Yuanqing expelled the ghost bride and issued a killing order, then landed on the roof of a building, declaring in a clear voice: "Retreat!" As he spoke, the sixth-tier ghost bride had already caught up with a saint, completed the possession, snapped her own neck, and extracted her own heart. Seeing this, Guan Ya and the others immediately began to retreat without hesitation. Since the beginning of the confrontation, nearly ten minutes had passed—any further delay would mean casualties when the Master of the Bio-Alchemy Society arrived. Zhang Yuanqing shook his head: "There are indeed spies within Tianfa, but they are deeply concealed—even the beast Hase doesn't know who they are." He briefly recounted his own experience of consuming spiritual essence, omitting the information about the 'opportunity,' which was irrelevant to Guan Ya and the others. "Do you have any suspects?" asked Tianxia Guihuo, after a moment of thoughtful reflection. "Vinye Berlent," Zhang Yuanqing replied. "But I don't think the likelihood is very high." Guan Ya suddenly interjected: "If Fu Qingyang were here, we could actually feign suspicion toward Vinye Berlent—simply claim we obtained intelligence directly from the beast Hase and have confirmed her as a spy. When Vinye is suddenly accused, she would surely react emotionally, and such a reaction would be impossible to conceal from a master-level scout." The Red Rooster looked dismissive: "Didn't Jumu himself say that the beast Hase doesn't even know who the spies are? Vinye surely won't fall for it." "Guan Ya smiled, saying, 'A normal person, when falsely accused, would naturally feel anger, confusion, and the sense of being wronged. Being unusually calm and composed is actually out of the ordinary—this is something a master-level scout can easily perceive.' 'Ah, I see!' Red Chicken brother managed a few awkward laughs and then fell silent. Winny Burnt arrived at the office on time, picked up the landline to notify the secretary to make coffee, and as she put down the receiver, assistant Emma walked in. "Minister, there's something to report!" "What is it?" Winny Burnt asked, while opening her computer. "According to the Bronx Police Department, around 11 p.m. last night, a gang battle broke out in the Blackhend neighborhood. It appears to be a minor conflict involving the Spirit Walkers—several residents were accidentally injured. The fighting concluded quickly; when they arrived, the bodies had already been removed. At this point, they can only confirm that the attacked were members of the Bio-Alchemy Guild. As there are no bodies, they're unable to identify the specific individuals involved," Emma explained. Winny nodded. "Send an email to the Lawful faction to find out more." The Lawful faction is likely responding to the recent attacks by the beast Hase on the Divine Judgment members—beasts like Hase can strike official Spirit Walkers, and the official guilds can equally launch surprise attacks on the evil factions' strongholds. It's unclear whether it was the Executive Department or some other Lawful organization that carried out this action. But since the battle concluded swiftly, it suggests a small-scale conflict among the ordinary wanderers. If it had been between saints—especially between senior saints—the disturbance would have been far more significant. A creature of the caliber of Hase, for instance, would have caused substantial casualties if it fought against a peer saint in the heart of the city. Emma nodded and was about to retire when her personal communicator rang. She picked up the handset, listened quietly for a few seconds, then said, "Have them come in." Not long after, Zhang Yuanqing led Red Chicken and Tianxia Guihuo in, the two carrying a stretcher covered with a white cloth. Both Emma and薇妮 focused on the stretcher. The former frowned, asking, "What is this?" "Hase!" Zhang Yuanqing lifted the cloth to reveal a lifeless, dark, and robust body with no head. "Last night, I led the team that hunted down Hase in the Brownkens district, on Blacklend Street." Weney leapt to her feet, her gaze fixed steadily on the body lying on the stretcher. Emma's expression went momentarily blank. Before either of them could regain composure, Zhang Yuanqing continued, "Our colleague, Shili, has already identified the spy—she is you, Minister Wenyi! I've already notified Executive Officer Xiao Shen of the Executive Department. You're ready to be arrested." At that moment, Zhang Yuanqing sensed another emotion—disdain, doubt, and a subtle sense of gloating—which quickly subsided. Hmm? Zhang Yuanqing turned his head with a puzzled expression, looking toward his assistant, Emma.