Her gentle voice carried a magnetic pull that felt as heavy as ten thousand tons, threatening to drag his very soul into the abyss.
The more Bai Xiaodu resisted, the stronger this pulling force became.
Drowsiness washed over him. His mouth opened and closed as he came on the verge of completely losing the last of his willpower.
The remnant sword in his breast pocket quietly flashed with a faint light.
Buzz...
In an instant, following an incredibly brief hum of a blade, Bai Xiaodu's consciousness snapped back to clarity!
At the same time, fragmented words surfaced in his mind.
“I am Kalugar... Damn Inquisitors, I despise you all...”
“Shut your mouths, you cowards who only know how to shrink behind the front lines and point fingers... You have no right to pass judgment on my crimes!”
“None but the Emperor, the Mage Emperor, and the people of the Empire may test me!”
Kalugar?
The hero who slew the evil dragon in the Ashes Library?!
According to the historical knowledge Bai Xiaodu possessed, the Inquisitor system seemed to be a special product of the imperial era, designed to resolve many of the Empire's disputes quickly and decisively.
However, systemic loopholes had led to a frequent occurrence of wrongful convictions, and the Federation had abolished it long ago.
Kalugar seemed to harbor a deep-seated hatred for the Inquisitors, to the point that even his weapon had inherited this resentment.
Bai Xiaodu was utterly baffled.
Inquisitors were one thing, but why was it suddenly hissing at Director-General Shen?
Wait, Bai Xiaodu suddenly remembered!
Which Pathway of transcendents was most suited to be an Inquisitor?
It was precisely 【Autocracy】!
Who else was better suited to be an Inquisitor than this group of people who excelled at scheming, controlling minds, and using every possible means to get what they wanted?
The consciousness within Kalugar's Remnant Sword seemed to still be stuck on the battlefields or in the courtrooms of thousands of years ago.
It had mistaken the power of the 【Autocracy】 Pathway used by Director-General Shen as an Inquisitor's slander and defamation against its master!
Bai Xiaodu quickly formulated a response.
First, he had to soothe it. He gently pressed his hand against the remnant sword, doing his best to keep it in its sheath.
He had no idea what rank of transcendent Director-General Shen actually was, and he had no desire to pluck the tiger's whiskers.
Then again, Bai Xiaodu felt that the analogy wasn't quite right...
What if Director-General Shen was actually some ancient, disguised crone?
After all, the transcendents he had met were all exceptionally good-looking. It was hard to say whether ascending to a transcendent rank came with a cosmetic upgrade.
After soothing the remnant sword to ensure it wouldn't suddenly leap out and slash Director-General Shen, Bai Xiaodu did not immediately try to break free.
Instead, he kept his head lowered, maintaining his dazed and despondent act.
The most important thing—the one thing he could never reveal—was his ability to permanently enhance his skills through his Pathway.
His next task was to concoct a plausible excuse that wouldn't arouse Director-General Shen's suspicion.
Bai Xiaodu mumbled and grunted, uttering incoherent words that even he couldn't understand.
Think, brain, think fast!
Beside him, Director-General Shen frowned. To hear what he was mumbling, she had no choice but to lean down and listen closely.
In this posture, she was practically pressing her entire body against Bai Xiaodu's back.
Bai Xiaodu could only feel that...
Director-General Shen was definitely not a lightweight!
If people could be divided into carrying water weight and carrying actual mass, Bai Xiaodu, who had just acquired firsthand knowledge through experience, was one hundred percent certain that Director-General Shen was solidly built.
She listened patiently for a moment, but found that Bai Xiaodu was still mumbling incoherently.
A look of slight surprise appeared on her bewitching face.
“Not bad. To have such high Spirit Resistance, could he have been born with a natural talent for it?”
Director-General Shen shook her head.
“I really must exert control over you now.”
Then, Director-General Shen quickly uttered a few strange syllables.
That overwhelming drowsiness washed over him once more, making him want to drift off to sleep right then and there.
“Tell me everything you know...”
“Just how did you manage to train such a unique 【Freezing Ray】 and 【Gust】?”
Sensing that things were taking a turn for the worse, Bai Xiaodu stopped slacking.
Kalugar's Remnant Sword could save him once, but it couldn't guarantee it would save him a thousand times!
Ensuring he still appeared to be in a dazed, semi-conscious state, Bai Xiaodu slowly spoke.
“Because... I... I am a silver fox-kin...”
In a sudden flash of inspiration, Bai Xiaodu simply threw his race out as an excuse!
Up until now, this race hadn't given him any practical help in his cultivation.
But Bai Xiaodu was certain that his racial identity was definitely not simple.
The beautiful Elf he had met while hosting, as well as Lingxin when she was joking, had both hinted at it.
If one person mentioned it, it might just be a coincidence or a joke. But when two people made jokes pointing to the same deeper truth, it was highly worth pondering!
As for who should do the pondering, it certainly wasn't Bai Xiaodu.
Instead, it was Director-General Shen, whose expression visibly stiffened as she fell into deep thought.
Her blue eyes, deep as lake water, wavered, initially revealing a look of utter disbelief.
Just a few seconds later, as if accepting the reality, Director-General Shen nodded.
She murmured to herself, her tone absolute.
“Of course. As expected of the race once known as the silver demon kings who tore through the skies.”
“Even with such a diluted bloodline, it can still bring such a massive boost to spellcasting.”
“Tsk...”
Her slender, pale fingers gently stroked one of Bai Xiaodu's ears as she stared at his dazed, adorable face.
A brilliant light flickered in Director-General Shen's eyes.
“What an unexpected harvest. I thought this trip to Pingshan District was merely a routine political stepping stone before I was transferred to one of the larger municipal districts.”
“I never expected to find such a surprise here. This is quite a stroke of fortune.”
Recalling the files she had gathered on Bai Xiaodu, Director-General Shen couldn't help but nod.
It all connected! Everything made sense now!
He had been completely unremarkable before, only to soar to incredible heights after coming into contact with transcendent power.
Other than accidentally triggering the dormant, diluted bloodline within his body, how else could he have risen so rapidly?!
Having fully rationalized everything, the way Director-General Shen looked at him now carried a few more hints of appreciation.
Those who had awakened their bloodline talent and those who hadn't were as different as heaven and earth.
The former carried the grand projection of their entire race's history within them.
No wonder some of the sect Elders of the Eastern Continent loved to travel far and wide.
If someone of her same Pathway had good fortune and stumbled upon Bai Xiaodu during a casual stroll, they would have immediately adopted him as a treasured disciple!
“Helping a person who is suspected to share the same race as a 【Mage Emperor】—and who has awakened their bloodline—complete their Mage Emperor ascension ceremony...”
Director-General Shen murmured.
“If I succeed, my own mastery of 【Autocracy】 will surely deepen.”
“Perhaps in the future, I can even leverage his achievements to attempt acting as one of the wise strategists under the Emperor within the 【Autocracy】 Pathway, thereby completing my own advancement!”
Suppressing the burning excitement in her heart, Director-General Shen's gaze grew genuinely softer.
Bai Xiaodu's words had completely dispelled her doubts regarding his spells.
But now, there was still one thing she couldn't wrap her head around.
If Bai Xiaodu had already awakened his bloodline, why hadn't he told her sooner?
Judging by how practiced he was when casting spells, he couldn't have just learned them recently.
He must have seen others cast spells before. Had he really not realized that his own spells far surpassed those of his peers?
Trading superior talent for better treatment was only natural. Why had he been hiding from her all this time?
Director-General Shen slowly traced circles on his fox ear with her finger.
Bai Xiaodu always bathed diligently, so his ears felt incredibly smooth and soft, without a single trace of dirt or roughness.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Director-General Shen spoke once more.
“Bai Xiaodu, since you knew your bloodline was so powerful, why didn't you ask for my help sooner?”
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