Rong Jiaojiao brought Zi Ling out, and Zhao Yuntian examined her to make sure she hadn't been possessed. He then said, "This sable is no ordinary spirit beast. If you raise it well, it might become the nemesis of evil spirits in the future."

These words made the others' eyes light up, but Rong Jiaojiao was very worried, though she didn't want to show it.

Zhao Yuntian asked Ziling, "Little one, can you sense the aura of demonic spirits through houses or the ground now?"

Zi Ling shook her head and made a few squeaking sounds, which echoed in everyone's minds: "Senior, I haven't tried it, but now I can sense a radius of 500 meters."

Zhao Yuntian stood up and said, "Now I'll take you two to investigate."

Rong Jiaojiao looked at Leng Muya, and after seeing her nod, she carried Ziling and followed Zhao Yuntian out the door.

In the courtyard, Zhao Yuntian released his flying sword and stepped onto it. After Rong Jiaojiao and Ziling clicked on it, he added a magic realm to hide their figures.

Zhao Yuntian's flying sword carried them into the air at high speed, with a strong wind whistling past, but it was blocked by the barrier.

Rong Jiaojiao hugged Ziling tightly, feeling the steady spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the flying sword beneath her feet. She felt a little envious, wondering when she would be able to use a flying sword as freely as her senior.

“Let’s start from the south of the city,” Zhao Yuntian said in a deep voice. “That’s the area where the demonic energy fluctuations have been most frequent recently.”

Zi Ling stood on Rong Jiaojiao's shoulder, her golden eyes sparkling.

Its little nose twitched incessantly, carefully sensing the breath below.

"Senior, could we lower the altitude a little more?" Rong Jiaojiao suggested. "Ziling said that the senses would weaken if the distance was too far."

Zhao Yuntian nodded, and the flying sword slowly descended, finally stopping at a height of about forty or fifty meters above the ground.

This distance is unaffected by buildings and allows Zi Ling to utilize her best perception abilities.

"Squeak!" Zi Ling suddenly perked up her ears. "Three hundred meters to the left, there's a demonic mark in that gray building!"

Very good, this proves that Zi Ling's investigation is not affected by the obstruction of the room walls.

Zhao Yuntian immediately maneuvered his flying sword to change direction.

As they drew closer, Zi Ling's senses became clearer: "In the rightmost room on the third floor, there is a person who has been marked by a demonic spirit."

Zhao Yuntian asked, "Besides the demonic spirit mark, are there any other strange things about them?"

Zi Ling shook her head, and Rong Jiaojiao immediately took out her notebook, released her divine sense, and wrote down the address and the people's appearances.

Zhao Yuntian led them onward, the flying sword slowly traversing the sky above the city. Zi Ling's little nose twitched incessantly, her golden eyes shimmering in the sunlight.

Rong Jiaojiao focused intently on recording each marked location, and her notebook was soon filled with information on dozens of people.

"Senior, we've already searched more than half of the south side of the city, haven't we? How come we only see these people marked by the demonic spirit, but no trace of the demonic spirit itself?"

Rong Jiaojiao looked at the notebook in her hand and said with some worry, "So many people have been marked by the demonic spirit, what exactly does this demonic spirit want to do?"

Zhao Yuntian maneuvered his flying sword and landed smoothly on a hidden rooftop.

He sheathed his flying sword, glanced at the notebook in Rong Jiaojiao's hand, and frowned slightly: "They may be vessels that the demon spirits are preparing to nurture the Soul-Devouring Demon Seed. Right now, they may just be in the stage of being nurtured."

Rong Jiaojiao asked in surprise, "You mean these people's bodies may need a certain amount of time to be nurtured before they can be used to cultivate the Soul Devouring Demon Seed, and they are currently in the nurturing stage?"

Zhao Yuntian nodded: "Didn't you notice that they have one thing in common?"

Rong Jiaojiao frowned and thought carefully for a while before saying, "They all have some talent for mystical cultivation."

Zhao Yuntian nodded solemnly, while Rong Jiaojiao remained silent. In this vast world, there are countless people with even a slight talent for Xuan cultivation; what an enormous investigation this is!

She asked worriedly, "Can these marks be erased?"

Zhao Yuntian smiled and said, "There is no possibility that the soul can be devoured. But I guess that once it reaches the point where the soul can be devoured, that's when the vessel begins to mature, and at that time it will be beyond saving."

Rong Jiaojiao's expression turned serious. Zhao Yuntian took out his flying sword and stepped onto it, with Rong Jiaojiao following behind.

Soon, they returned to the Pujiang Avenue inspection team, where Leng Muya, Zhang Zekai, and others were already waiting.

Upon seeing Rong Jiaojiao and Zhao Yuntian return, Leng Muya immediately went to greet them: "How did it go? Did you find anything?"

Rong Jiaojiao handed the notebook to Leng Muya, her tone somewhat heavy: "Zi Ling has sensed that many people have been marked by the Demon Spirit, at least dozens, and they are scattered in various areas of the south of the city."

Leng Muya opened her notebook, quickly scanned it, and her expression gradually became serious: "These people are scattered in different places. We must act as soon as possible to prevent the breeding of Soul-Devouring Demon Seeds."

Zhao Yuntian shared his guesses and concluded, "I suggest you quietly erase the demonic spirit mark and cripple their cultivation talents. If you encounter someone whose soul has already been extracted, kill them directly without leaving any trace."

Leng Muya understood Zhao Yuntian's meaning. These people's talents were not worth cultivating, but keeping their talents would only harm themselves and others, so it was better to discard them.

As for those whose souls have been extracted, even if they are not eliminated now, they will not survive; they will only die in greater agony.

Despite understanding, Leng Muya still felt heavy-hearted. Damn demonic spirit, how many more family members would lose their loved ones?

"I immediately consulted with the captain."

Leng Muya quickly turned on her communication device and reported the situation to headquarters.

A moment later, the captain's voice came through the communication device, his tone serious and decisive: "Act according to Elder Zhao's advice, ensure no trace is left, and avoid causing unnecessary panic. At the same time, continue to investigate other areas and find the source of the demon spirit as soon as possible."

"Understood!" Leng Muya turned off her communication device and said to everyone, "The captain has agreed to Senior Zhao's suggestion. Zhang Zekai and Chen Pengfei, you two form a group. Su Yuqing, you and I form a group. Let's deal with the demonic spirit marks in the southern part of the city immediately."

"Rong Jiaojiao and Senior Zhao continued to investigate other areas."

"Yes!" everyone responded in unison and quickly got to work.

Zhao Yuntian said, "Let's go. I'll take everyone to the south of the city first. You guys remove the marks, and we'll continue to check the areas we haven't finished checking."

"good!"

The group quickly assembled, and Zhao Yuntian summoned his flying sword, which rapidly expanded in the air, transforming into the size of a small boat.

Leng Muya, Zhang Zekai, and the others stepped onto their flying swords one by one. Zhao Yuntian made a hand seal and cast a spell, enveloping everyone in a light blue barrier, concealing their figures from sight.

The flying sword soared into the air and sped towards the south of the city.

After dropping off Leng Muya and the others in the south of the city, Zhao Yuntian continued the investigation with Rong Jiaojiao.

Rong Jiaojiao stood at the end of the sword, holding Ziling in her arms. Ziling's little paws clung tightly to her clothes, and her golden pupils gleamed in the sunlight.

Zi Ling pointed to the young man hurrying along the road and said, "He has been marked with a demonic spirit, but it's still very faint."