"What is this Cardinal Wheel?"

Xu Xiaoshou asked as he watched the crowd disperse quickly before them.

Fu Zhi was aware he had made a mistake and locked Xu Xiaoshou's sister disciple into the technique. Thus, he did not wish to delay the situation any further.

The Cardinal Wheel was highly confidential information for the others. If he wanted to crack the Divine Secret with Xu Xiaoshou, he had to let Xu Xiaoshou know about the wheel.

"The Cardinal Wheel can be seen as a spiritual array contraption made by the Divine Secret."

"This item holds in-depth knowledge. It only took a few years of observation for Fu Mou to realize that Nested Spiritual Array technique."

"Though, the knowledge that he had learned barely scratched the surface."

Xu Xiaoshou remained quiet. There had to be a catch that Fu Zhi had not mentioned yet.

As expected, Fu Zhi's tone changed immediately to a solemn one. "However, the important part is that those who dare to covet or have the ability to covet the Divine Secret are less than a handful on this continent."

"I doubt their target would simply be the Cardinal Wheel."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded and asked, "Is there something sealed inside?"

If they were unable to covet the outer layer of the object, there had to be something else that was present within the object that was obstructing them.

If the Cardinal Wheel was able to seal Mu Ziyi, there must have been others sealed within it.

"Right."

Fu Zhi dipped his head. "The surprising thing about the Cardinal Wheel is its relation to White Cave's Source of the World."

Hints of confusion could be seen in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes.

"Source of the World?"

It was his first encounter with the phrase. From the sound of it alone, it seemed to be a complex concept to understand.

Fu Zhi smiled wryly. "The Source of the World is all about the foundations of the White Cave..."

"To say it simply, as long as one has access to it, it can crack the secrets in White Cave's extradimensional space."

"In other words, one will obtain the strongest power within it."

"Therefore, those with the ability to direct the power have the most to gain from this!"

Xu Xiaoshou's expression shook slightly. He was in part disbelief that the Cardinal Wheel Fu Zhi had been mentioning was an object with such terrifying abilities.

He wondered if the older middle-aged man had withdrawn himself to hide the power he had within his hands away from the others.

Fu Zhi seemed to have read his thoughts. "Rumors spread all around the families when I obtained this object, so it's no secret."

"Moreover, I have no desire to obtain the Source of the World. My goal is solely the Divine Secret!"

"After I saw your Weaving Technique just now, I finally realized it. If it was not for your help, it could have been another 10 years without cracking anything."

"It would be fools' talk to even dream of obtaining the treasures inside!"

Xu Xiaoshou's expression darkened. "If you could not crack the code, how did you trap someone inside of it?"

"Hehe."

Fu Zhi replied with a forced laugh. "Although I don't understand the theory of how the object is constructed after four years of experimenting, I learned how to use it at the very least..."

Xu Xiaoshou watched him in silence.

"If you can trap someone inside, can you release them?"

"Well, about that..."

Fu Zhi's eyes looked uncertain as he declared with a serious tone, "I can!"

Xu Xiaoshou was close to snapping at the old man.

'Like hell that I'd believe you!' he thought.

'If you were able to release the person, why bother thinking for so long?'

Seeing a change in Xu Xiaoshou's expression, Fu Zhi immediately said, "It's not possible right now, but we are on the right track. If we look into it for a few days, it would be possible!"

Xu Xiaoshou inhaled deeply and contained his temper.

He understood that this was not the time to pick a fight.

He was not entirely innocent himself. He had mistakenly stumbled through the field of flowers and would have been an invader in Fu Zhi's books.

Therefore, he was extremely fortunate that Fu Zhi had not executed him on the spot.

However, even when he was pardoned, the circumstances of his current situation were not ideal in any way.

It was a misfortune amidst his extreme fortune.

"The Cardinal Wheel..."

Xu Xiaoshou mumbled with a bitter expression.

The change occurred too suddenly in the middle of their execution. It had completely ruined his carefully devised plan.

He had also lost Mu Ziyi.

The young girl had quite the misfortune happen to her.

If she had pressed on for a few more minutes, there was a possibility that Fu Xing would have had another relative come in.

These changes in plans were part and parcel of life. Life was not smooth sailing for anyone.

"Who could this be?"

Xu Xiaoshou was puzzled.

Not counting those he recognized at the banquet, he did not pick up any presence of a thief in the time he spent in the flower field.

If he had not discovered it with his vision and Perception, it would have been a loss on his end.

Even the notification system had not alerted him to any abnormality.

He wondered how the thief would have ignored the battle that took place on the spot while he was swiping the object.

Was the thief even human?

That kind of behavior would have betrayed the common psyche of an ordinary human.

He figured at the very least he would have received a Watched notification.

'No,' he thought.

Xu Xiaoshou reacted in shock as he recalled the notifications that he had received with the Watched category.

The notification system did not glitch. There was indeed an individual present in the City Lord Mansion that had the ability to evade the supervision of his abilities.

"Xu Xiaoji?"

He wondered what motives Xu Xiaoji would have to enter the City Lord Mansion.

Xu Xiaoshou's features twisted.

'Don't tell me...'

'What could Brother Fu provide for a thief?'

Xu Xiaoshou activated Perception to conduct another in-depth observation of his surroundings.

There was still nothing that could be picked up.

Fu Zhi sighed and shook his head.

"There are many who seek the Cardinal Wheel, a mixture of people as well. It is hard to determine who."

"One thing is for sure. This guy has not left the City Lord Mansion yet!"

"Though Fu Mou did not detect any changes in his cultivation, when he tried to run away, he could not exit this place even after he ran for two whole hours."

Xu Xiaoshou thought so as well.

The mansion was huge. If an ordinary thief decided to escape, they would not have been able to even if they ran until their legs fractured.

He agreed with this flow of reasoning.

"What if they used a teleportation portal?" Xu Xiaoshou asked.

Fu Zhi flashed a confident smile and replied, "Even if they were beyond the level of the Master Stage, I would have detected any wave of impact if they used it in front of me."

"This man won't get too far!"

"When Liu Qing sealed the barrier, it would have made it even harder for him to escape!"

Xu Xiaoshou raised his eyebrow. It was no wonder Fu Zhi did not show a hint of panic when his object had been stolen.

There was immense charisma to the middle-aged older man with this level of confidence.

"What if the individual was of the speed type and escaped without a trail after they took the Cardinal Wheel?" Xu Xiaoshou retorted.

Fu Zhi looked at Xu Xiaoshou and replied with a charming voice, "Would anyone capable of such speeds and ability have to hide?"

The rock that was suspended in Xu Xiaoshou's heart finally landed.

He and Fu Zhi had similar theories on the individual.

"If this is the case, I think I know where the thief is." Xu Xiaoshou smiled.

At that moment, the blurry figure of the thief in his mind instantly became a sharp image of Xu Xiaoji.

The man may have lacked potential, but he had a strong Stealth Technique. Moreover, they entered the City Lord Mansion with a strong motivation but not for the White Cave quota.

There were no other suspects other than Xu Xiaoji.

The City Lord Mansion had designated one specific entrance for guests and clearly informed everyone that strong protective barriers were placed in other places.

Although they would not be able to hold invaders of absolute power, the other areas had not picked up on any changes. The only explanation was that the thief had come in from the official entrance.

Only those from the Xu family would have entered through the front doors of the City Lord Mansion with such negative intentions.

"Who?"

Fu Zhi was caught off guard.

He thought that he had simply bragged slightly, but Xu Xiaoshou was able to locate the individual from those words alone. This was...

It was too absurd to be true.

If the thief was present, they would hesitate to believe what Xu Xiaoshou had said.

Suspected, Passive Points +2.