Under the night sky.

Elder Li walked heavily around the mountain from the east.

Those disciples from the Tianyan Sect are truly not simple. They feigned an attack, making it hard to tell what's real. They seemed to be playing dumb, but in reality, they must have gathered quite a bit of intelligence.

In just a single day, they even managed to turn a Golden Core elder.

Moreover, Zheng Xiaofeng seemed like a completely different person, once cautious and prudent, now pointing at the Sect Master and calling him an old fool.

The Sect Master actually tolerated it, not even bothering to refute Zheng Xiaofeng's continuous provocations.

When asked about the specifics, the Sect Master refused to say anything.

It could only be speculated that Zheng Xiaofeng had received some backup from the Tianyan Sect disciples.

Then there was the Blood Qi Spirit Stone the Sect Master brought out...

To read the uncut version, go to [p𝘢wread.com].

Since the mine was attacked, they had set up a trigger formation on top of the maze array.

As soon as an outsider steps in, it would trigger alerts at both the Qingfeng Sect and the mine elders.

Every disciple at the mine carried a special token to prevent false alarms from the formation.

There had been no abnormal signals from the mine's formation, so logically, there shouldn't be any issues there.

But the appearance of the Blood Qi Spirit Stone, and the fact that it directly involved the Qingfeng Sect, and even the Tianyan Sect turning an elder...

These three things combined, it doesn't seem like nothing is going on.

Although there's a risk of exposure now, the mine has already reached an agreement with those evil cultivators, and it's in the final stages.

At this point, if I do nothing, I might not escape either.

I can only go to the mine first, gather intelligence there, and see if I can speed things up or relocate.

Once he was a distance away from the Qingfeng Sect, Elder Li used the Earth Escape Technique and headed towards the Qingfeng Sect Mine.

Worried, Elder Li didn't notice that a divine sense on the ground had captured him.

But he did sense the fierce sword energy that suddenly appeared behind him.

He quickly emerged from the ground, summoned a longsword, and his Golden Core trembled as spiritual power erupted. Facing the somewhat terrifying sword energy, his longsword turned into a stream of light.

The two forces clashed rapidly, and a wave of spiritual power instantly overturned the ground, reducing trees to splinters.

Elder Li's divine sense quickly scanned the area and soon discovered a figure who hadn't bothered to hide their presence.

He glanced to the side and saw Yaoqin standing atop a large tree, expressionless, holding a longsword and looking at him silently.

Elder Li's face was heavy, he had indeed been baited!

Yaoqin's voice was icy, "Surrender and spare yourself the suffering."

Damn it! Spare myself the suffering, and that means death!

Without hesitation, Elder Li controlled his flying sword to attack Yaoqin and quickly fled westward.

At this point, the mine was out of the question, whoever wants it can have it, his life was his own, and if he could escape, he'd be grateful.

After all, as a Golden Core cultivator, living a different life in this world might not be so bad.

But Elder Li hadn't flown far when he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

He turned shakily to look, only to see his life-bound flying sword shattered, glinting with a faint white light under the moonlight, falling like a stream of light from the sky.

Through the cracks of the shattered sword, a pair of cold, emotionless eyes looked at him as if he were already dead.

——————

"Wow... Yaoqin, you really went all out."

Chu Xingchen looked in surprise at Elder Li, who was tied up tightly, his tendons severed, and his face as pale as a ghost, being tossed to the ground by Yaoqin with spiritual energy.

Without a doubt, Elder Li's meridians had probably been dealt with by Yaoqin as well.

Yaoqin spoke with a hint of helplessness, "I've caught him, but I interrogated him briefly before coming here, and he refused to say a word. Do you have any confidence?"

Chu Xingchen's face showed a slightly unsettling smile as he said:

"For interrogation... my second disciple did give me some ideas."

"Hmm? He knows about this?"

"Strictly speaking, he was the one being tortured."

"Huh?"

Yaoqin was full of confusion, then watched as Chu Xingchen pulled out a spirit herb and a small pot from his spatial ring.

Yaoqin watched Chu Xingchen, who seemed to be preparing to refine a pill, and said:

"Don't worry, I was careful, he won't die."

Chu Xingchen replied seriously, "Don't worry, he'll wish he were dead soon."

"Uh...?"

Not understanding what Chu Xingchen had in mind, Yaoqin chose to watch quietly.

Chu Xingchen extracted the essence from the spirit herb, then mixed it with raw flour and honey, absorbing all the essence into the mixture.

Chu Xingchen held the emerald green pill with his magic, looking at Yaoqin with a serious expression:

"What you're about to see must be kept secret, don't spread it around!"

Chu Xingchen would never admit that eating his concocted pill was equivalent to torture!

"...Alright." Although Yaoqin found it strange, she nodded in agreement.

With the assurance, Chu Xingchen held the pill and walked over to Elder Li, sincerely saying:

"I'm giving you one last chance, confess everything, and we can settle this peacefully."

Elder Li showed a hint of disdain, thinking that death was the worst outcome, and no one would have it easy.

Facing Elder Li's uncooperative attitude, Chu Xingchen sighed, used spiritual power to pry open Elder Li's mouth, and forced the pill into it.

Since Elder Li couldn't use his spiritual power, he couldn't resist the action, but when the pill entered his mouth.

Elder Li's first choice was to block it with his tongue.

Chu Xingchen didn't mind Elder Li's small actions, showing a gentle smile, then used spiritual power to forcefully close his mouth.

Soon!

Elder Li felt the unparalleled taste of the flour pill.

This medicine... damn it...

It was bitter from the tip of his tongue to the root, then directly hit the depths of his mind.

This medicine seemed to directly reach the depths of his spiritual sea, making his head feel unbearably uncomfortable, but his mouth was sealed by Chu Xingchen's spiritual power.

Forget it, dying would spare him from this torment!

Elder Li's eyes turned fierce, and he swallowed the pill in one gulp.

Then he saw Chu Xingchen's smile grow even brighter.

Soon Elder Li understood, the flour wasn't solid! With the swallowing action, a lot of flour stuck to his mouth.

The attack range on his tongue expanded!

Then, as the pill he swallowed began to take effect.

Yaoqin watched Elder Li's constantly changing expression with a puzzled look.

Then Yaoqin saw Elder Li suddenly tremble all over, his eyes widened, and he made continuous sounds.

"Mmm mmm mmm..."

His tightly bound body suddenly began to wriggle like a worm.

He didn't last more than a few breaths before his wide eyes quickly turned to Chu Xingchen, with endless pleading in his gaze, as if saying he would confess everything.

Chu Xingchen showed a hint of a smile and said:

"You want to die... oh, slip of the tongue, you want to confess?"

Elder Li's muffled sounds continued, his head nodding frantically.

————

Alright, since everyone is talking about it, let me give you a hint.

This isn't a side story with Yaoqin, it's the main storyline of accepting disciples, and the third disciple is on their way, riding fast. [Metaphor]

And most likely in a way that no one would expect...

At the same time, the protagonist's cultivation level will increase with the acceptance of this new disciple...