Elder Lin was not upset with Zuo Huaxian's stubbornness. He raised his finger, pointing at a person in the crowd wearing a cloak, and shouted, "You! Yes, you! You are from the Daoist Realm, aren't you? Come and tell him what the source in your world represents to you."

The person being pointed at looked around and, realizing he was indeed being addressed, reluctantly stepped out of the crowd. He gave a deep bow and said, "That lord is, naturally, a supreme being beyond the mundane, and to call him a god would not be an exaggeration."

"Did you hear that?" Lin Junzhao said, leaping from her chair, stretching out her arms, where four orbs of gas—black, white, yellow, and red—rotated around her: "Every inter-world time energy source has its own characteristics, and the characteristic of our world's source is devouring and obliterating." Then she waved her hand, and the four orbs merged into a massive azure light orb.

"Inner source bearers have existed since ancient times, but why has the number of truly awakened superpower users surged over the past century? Hmm, why?" Lin Junzhao played with the light orb in her hand, and as no one answered, she turned to Pei Yan, gesturing to him.

Pei Yan remembered their first formal conversation and sighed, "That's because only in the past century have you developed your own consciousness and become too closely involved with humans."

"Exactly, correct answer. It's because my perception has responded to your abilities and, in some sense..." Lin Junzhao walked over to Zuo Huaxian, crouched beside him, and whispered in his ear, "In some sense, you inner source bearers are merely experimental subjects or, you might say, defective and imperfect beings of this world."

Zuo Huaxian's old face turned red, and his breathing became more labored at these words. Seeing his reaction, Lin Junzhao chuckled disdainfully, "Feeling disgruntled? Look at that boy sitting in the chair, and then at those superpower users whose inner sources he has transformed. You've witnessed their formidable strength, haven't you?"

As she spoke, the azure light orb she played with suddenly shrank into a marble-sized sphere, which she abruptly embedded into Zuo Huaxian's forehead.

"Ah!" Zuo Huaxian screamed in pain and collapsed, clutching his forehead and rolling on the ground in agony.

"What did you do!" Elder Lin, seeing his long-time comrade suddenly attacked, quickly stood up to demand an explanation, ignoring many other concerns.

"No need to thank me. Consider it a small token of appreciation for the Investigation Department's help in freeing me." Lin Junzhao completely ignored Elder Lin's angry glare, clapped her hands, and returned to her seat.

Understanding what had happened, Elder Lin felt a mix of joy and anger. He quickly checked Zuo Huaxian's condition. Unlike Pei Yan, who required time and effort to transform an inner source bearer, Zuo Huaxian's pain lasted less than five minutes. His body gradually ceased twitching, and as his tremors stopped, he involuntarily began to emit a powerful original aura.

"Have you broken through?" Elder Lin, with trembling hands, grasped Zuo Huaxian's arm, excitedly asking, "After being trapped at Tier Eight for so many years, is the department finally going to get another Tier Nine Superpower User?"

"Ah, what!" Overwhelmed by the sudden surge of powerful energy within him, Zuo Huaxian stared blankly and asked.

"I asked if you've broken through!"

Responding to his friend's shouting, Zuo Huaxian snapped back to reality, excitedly gazed at his own hands, and replied in a voice trembling with both joy and a tinge of disappointment, "No, but at that moment I already felt the potential to break through. I believe it won't be long before I do, when the time is right, and, and, and."

Seeing Zuo Huaxian's excitement make him nearly incoherent, another elder nearby, filled with envy, prompted him, "And what? Quickly, say it."

"I feel my abilities have significantly enhanced. I'm sensing things I never sensed before. It's as if my abilities have been completed."

After finishing, Zuo Huaxian, who now fully believed Lin Junzhao's words, looked up at her with respect and gratitude in his eyes.

Having achieved her desired effect, Lin Junzhao placed a hand on her temple and murmured, "What a pity. I just don't understand why, having been regarded almost as a divine being, I must be captured and imprisoned here in this world by my servants colluding with outsiders. I pondered for a long, long time before realizing it's because I am still too weak—weak enough to give you ambitious wolves the chance to believe you can control and use me. Am I right?"

After speaking, Lin Junzhao leaned her head, gazing at Cen Xiaoran kneeling before her. Seeing him still bowing silently, she continued, "Stop pretending. You came this time carrying those inter-world Divine Artifacts to capture me, didn't you? Now seeing me free, are you hesitating?"

"No, we've decided to capture you!" After some time, Cen Xiaoran slowly raised his head, his attitude firm.

Hearing their conversation, the hearts of those present, which had relaxed a bit, leapt into their throats. Gu Shenghui and his group clenched their fists, adjusting their inner sources in preparation for battle.

Upon hearing this, Lin Junzhao painfully closed her eyes, with various expressions—disappointment, confusion, anger—flashing across her face. Finally, she sighed, "Why?"

"Because this world is about to face a great calamity, and I need to protect my home, my family!" Cen Xiaoran solemnly declared, head held high.

"So you need my power?"

"No, I believe you are the root of the disaster!"

Bang! As Cen Xiaoran said this, the rattan chair behind Lin Junzhao suddenly burst into pieces. A wild, maniacal laugh erupted from her throat.

"The root of the disaster, the root!!! Hahahahaha! Twelve years ago, they used the same pretext to besiege me. I thought you were more intelligent, yet you too would believe such nonsense. Who told you this? That eternally immature bitch!"

Nearly insane, Lin Junzhao's body exuded an astonishing aura, forcing all except Pei Jin and Cen Xiaoran to retreat. Pei Yan, on the other hand, was pressed firmly into his chair by this force, unable to move.

Cen Xiaoran, gazing up at the woman with flowing hair floating nearly madly in the air, had his clouded eyes suddenly cleared, his bright eyes like lightning glaring directly at her, asking word by word, "Did she lie?"

Confronted by Cen Xiaoran's question, Lin Junzhao, in her frenzied state, momentarily lost her overbearing aura. She stood still, tilting her neck, thought for a moment, and then showed Cen Xiaoran a cute, innocent smile, saying, "It's true!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

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