As Dan Lin spoke, she suddenly remembered the man in front of her who resembled the Emperor of Great Qi.

She felt that her choice of words for "end of the dynasty" was inappropriate and coughed awkwardly before falling silent.

However, Sheng Lingyuan's attention was not on the "end of the dynasty."

He paused and asked, "Why would a tree be mentioned in the local chronicles?"

"In ancient times, the West Mountain was also called Jieshan. It is said that this name was because it is particularly prone to lightning strikes. I speculate that it may be due to the active energy of the earth's veins during this period, which attracts frequent appearances of mutated creatures, leading to frequent thunderstorms.

"The climate of this generation is dry, and there are many plants, making forest fires easily caused by lightning strikes. The flowers, plants, and trees on the West Mountain have been burned down time and time again, but only this one tree has remained standing. There has long been a legend of the 'divine tree' in the area, and many folk stories have the plot of the 'divine tree showing its power'. In ancient times, the common people even built a temple for the divine tree."

The mention of a 'temple' particularly caught Sheng Lingyuan's attention, causing him to furrow his brow.

"What kind of temple is it? Is it a legitimate place of worship, or just a makeshift shrine set up by the local villagers?"

"It's a legitimate place, and it's quite famous. In the past, there was a folk legend that the temple on Jieshan was related to the feng shui of the imperial capital and was one of the four spiritual temples in the north. People came to burn incense and make all kinds of requests," said local resident Xiao Zheng, who hailed from Yong'an and interjected.

"However, during the war, the buildings around the temple were severely damaged. After the founding of the country, superstitions were abolished, and the temple was demolished. But the tree inside was too big and intimidating, so no one dared to touch it. Later, a senior member of the bureau measured the earth's veins and proposed that the bureau choose the site on the West Mountain. They found that the tree had no signs of life, but it may have grown on the earth's veins, making it a natural amplifier of the effect of the formation. That's why it was used as the foundation."

Sheng Lingyuan quickly seized on the key point: "Whose idea was it to choose the site on the West Mountain?"

"One of the founders of our bureau..." Dan Lingyuan interrupted, her face suddenly changing.

Shen Zheng lifted his eyelids and glanced at her.

Xiao Zheng also realized, "Wait, the father of Gong Chenggong who used to be the Director of the aftermath department, seems to be one of the founders."

Gong Chenggong, the former director of the aftermath department who took bribes and covered up the death toll with smoke and mirrors, was an ordinary person with no special abilities.

During his tenure, he was able to get along with everyone in the bureau, and it seemed that he was not only good at dealing with people, but also because of the influence of his father.

Xuan Ji immediately asked, "Are there any records of the site selection meeting at that time?"

"There is... but the original manuscript is in the archive on the 25th floor, which you burned," Dan Lin said. "I don't know if Dr. Wang has an electronic scan saved... So what happened last night?"

Sheng Lingyuan didn't answer, instead he gently touched the char left by the foundation tree, lost in thought as he twirled his fingers.

"I'll go visit your Dr. Wang," he finally said.

It only took a short drive from the bureau to the resort, and of course the transport was well taken care of.

Sheng Lingyuan glanced at the car that came to pick him up, and a claw reached out to open the door for him before he could even move.

Xuan Ji pulled the car door, acting like a servant with lowered eyes and a submissive demeanor... but not the honest kind of servant.

He kept his head down while sneakily glancing up at the young master, his ambition to become a fox spirit clear as day.

The 'Master' looked at his flirtatious glance, absorbed it, then turned his head, and didn't even bother to take the car. He transformed into a black wind and blew towards the vacation villa.

Fifteen minutes later, Chief Huang held a meeting room at the vacation villa.

Xiao Zheng and others rushed back in their cars, and news such as "Thunderstorm in Yong'an West Suburb", "Plant Anomalies in Off-Season", and "Strange Bodies Found in Many Places" had exploded onto the hot search rankings.

It was the Spring Festival holiday, and many people were idle. For a while, rumors and debunking flooded the internet, and everyone was talking about it, causing a commotion.

Chief Huang was too late to assign tasks to the aftermath department.

As soon as he saw someone return, he asked in a flurry, "Have the dangerous artifacts been properly disposed of? If even one leaks, we will be forever guilty! Is the tree at the bureau dead or gone? How much of a social hazard will it be? Who exactly is he..."

Sheng Lingyuan took a stroll amidst the picturesque lake and mountains, digesting Xuan Ji's flirtatious glance. He calmed down slightly and didn't push the door open, instead, he walked straight through the wall of the conference room and caught Chief Huang's string of questions.

"That 'tree' claims to be a demon king, and is likely the originator of the 'True Nature Sect'... Of course, its true form is not that of the demon king. Back when the demon king was alive, he kept around a hundred or so Shadow people in the Hook Moon Tower. After the demon king died, these Shadow people were dealt with collectively. I suspect that someone picked up the bodies from the Shadow people's tomb and used them to create this monster.

"But what it used to be is not important. What is important is that yesterday, it used the Curse of Subjugation formation to consume all of its followers as medicine. Then, at the stroke of midnight, it used the three heavenly demons as sacrifices, broke free from its tree body, and gained a physical form. It has indeed escaped now."

Wang Ze only half understood the first half of what was being said, but he caught the last sentences loud and clear.

He exclaimed, "Wait a minute, sir. Are you saying that yesterday's PM2.5 level is equivalent to the total sum of Dongchuan's giant moths, the South Sea's 108 little rice dumplings, and that Shadow person who can split into multiple bodies?"

Xiao Zheng said, "He must have gone to Chiyuan by now, so what do we do..."

Sheng Lingyuan interrupted him with a wave of his hand, not giving anyone time to panic.

He immediately unleashed his second thunderous attack, "This monster is delusional and speaks and acts in a confused manner. He is not to be feared. He is just a front for someone else, and I need to know who that person is."

Chief Huang's hands were shaking, "There's someone behind him?"

Dan Lin quickly explained how they had successfully activated the ultra-low temperature mode, but it was ultimately sabotaged by someone using a thawing agent at the critical moment.

"Is the conference room secure?" Chief Huang was shocked and instinctively lowered his voice.

As an ordinary person, he naturally had a natural fear of various special ability attacks that challenged the imagination.

"Little Xiao, this place is not like the Bureau building. Do we have any anti-eavesdropping measures?"

"No need to worry," replied Little Xiao.

"You can't even prevent it," Sheng Lingyuan didn't even lift his head.

He had probably understood the principle of the "thawing agent." It didn't require any special abilities, as long as someone could get their hands on it. This was just a matter of a "mole." It wasn't anything new for the Bureau.

What was new was...

"When there were renovations earlier, there was an ancient formation on the steel plate used to protect the tree trunk," said Sheng Lingyuan. "Because of this barrier, I visited several times but failed to notice any abnormalities in the foundation tree."

Xiao Zheng quickly asked, "Do you know where the formation came from?"

"I know one of its origins," Sheng Lingyuan lowered his eyelids, covering the cold light. "During the great war three thousand years ago, the human race invited the heavenly demon to descend at the cost of eighty-one top cultivators in the human race's holy object, the Heaven and Earth Cauldron. Dan Li drew this charm on the demon's back to seal the demonic energy until his death, when the charm dissipated."

Xuan Ji suddenly widened his eyes in surprise.

Sheng Lingyuan ignored him and continued, "Last night, I found this talisman among the steel fragments. Its aura was still fresh, indicating that the person who drew it is not only alive, but also quite strong. I don't know who this old friend is, but he must be familiar with the causes and consequences of Chiyuan and proficient in the ancient symbols lost by the Vermilion Bird clan. He has been counting the days for three thousand years, waiting for the unsealing of the Vermilion Bird bones."

The Bureau was established shortly after the world had just achieved peace following the war. Its history was short and it had no so-called "family heritage".

Its collection of books was donated by the major martial arts schools that had fallen into decline. Several leaders found well-known folk masters who were willing to join the organization and formed the first generation of "officially talented individuals".

These people had backgrounds that could not be thoroughly investigated because there was no concept of "common sense" in the world of these special abilities people.

Unless there was an opportunity to fight with each other, as in the Great Qi Dynasty, even someone as knowledgeable as Dr. Wang would not be able to know what skills other these special abilities people were hiding or what treachery they were concealing.

When the Bureau was selected and built, the people behind it were likely already laying the groundwork.

Since coming to the mortal world, Sheng Lingyuan had been watching a group of descendants who were lost after their inheritance was cut off, circling around without direction.

Occasionally, when he was in a good mood, he would give them some pointers, but if he said too much, he would get annoyed.

Now, he had finally encountered an inexplicable mystery.

A game that lasted for thousands of years, with the world as the board, and heavenly demons as the pieces.

Who could it be that had such a grand plan... and for what purpose?

Was it for the Chiyuan?

If there really was such a remarkable figure three thousand years ago, then that person must have been his lifelong enemy.

Why did he just watch as he sealed Chiyuan?

At that moment, Chief Huang's phone rang.

He picked it up and only said "hello" before falling silent, his face visibly darkening.

After a moment, Chief Huang put down the phone and said, "Everyone, I have some bad news. Gong Chenggong, who has been in a vegetative state, has gone missing."