During the half a month that passed after Bai Xiaochun went from being a guard to a prisoner, Giant Ghost City changed. No longer was there a brooding pressure weighing down on the city. Instead, it once again became a hustling, bustling place. As far as most people were concerned, all of the rumors that had been spreading were just that: rumors.

The three great clans continued to buy up all of the souls in Giant Ghost City, just like they had been before. Just about everything went back to normal. The only slight difference was that the ten great marquises of Giant Ghost City, who normally didn’t make very many public appearances, were now more commonly seen out in the city.

From all outward appearances, there wasn’t anything happening in the city that was particularly noteworthy. As for the three great clans, their deva patriarchs all remained in secluded meditation, or at least, that was what the clans stated publicly.

In secret, the three deva patriarchs were constantly looking up into the...