Chen Ze switched the Soul Searching Technique being automatically cultivated by the Phantom back to the Earth Shield Art. An entry-level Soul Searching Technique should already be enough.
Chen Ze withdrew his consciousness from the Myriad Things Space and opened his eyes.
Shopkeeper Tong, who had just heard Chen Ze say he was leaving, saw him merely close his eyes and was still wondering about it.
Before long, however, he saw Chen Ze open his eyes again.
And Chen Ze was looking at him somewhat strangely. Shopkeeper Tong felt a chill run through his entire body.
"I just learned a new spell. This is the perfect time to try it on you."
Shopkeeper Tong looked at Chen Ze in terror. He thought Chen Ze had learned some torturous spell. "What are you trying to do?"
"Nothing much. I'm just searching your soul." After Chen Ze spoke, before Shopkeeper Tong could react, his palm was already pressed against the top of Shopkeeper Tong's head.
Shopkeeper Tong knew of the Soul Searching Technique. Though it was a low-level, simple spell, it was still a Forbidden Technique. Obtaining it was already as difficult as climbing to the sky.
What was more, Chen Ze had said he had just learned it, which made Shopkeeper Tong even more astonished.
Moreover, Shopkeeper Tong knew that those whose souls had been searched could possibly become fools.
Shopkeeper Tong desperately tried to resist. His Spiritual Sense constantly battled against Chen Ze's, his face twisting as he struggled in agony.
A moment later, Chen Ze withdrew the hand pressed against Shopkeeper Tong's head.
"Hm, no. Shopkeeper Tong's cultivation is a little too high. With only my Qi Refining Third Layer cultivation and this entry-level Soul Searching Technique, I still can't search his soul."
Having recovered from the pain, Shopkeeper Tong looked at Chen Ze in terror once more.
Just now, his Spiritual Sense had desperately fought Chen Ze's. The agony went without saying. Having experienced it once, he did not want to experience it again.
"Don't search my soul again. I'll tell you everything." Shopkeeper Tong had already surrendered.
"No. Who knows whether what you say now is true? Even if you deceive me with words, I can't tell whether you're telling the truth."
Chen Ze shook his head, then said to Zhao Yun and Chen Fan, "You two tie him up and guard him carefully. I need to cultivate for a while."
"Yes."
Chen Ze returned to his seat, closed his eyes again, and sent his consciousness into the Myriad Things Space. He was going to replace the Earth Shield Art in the Automated Training Room.
Hearing that Chen Ze still intended to use the Soul Searching Technique on him, Shopkeeper Tong panicked all over again.
"I have Spirit Stones, lots and lots of Spirit Stones. I'll give them all to you. Please let me go.
"You work for him, but what can he give you? Isn't the most important thing in cultivating immortality resources?
"I'll give you everything, as long as you let me go."
Shopkeeper Tong had begun begging Chen Fan and Zhao Yun, who were restraining him.
But Chen Fan and Zhao Yun ignored him completely.
Chen Fan had already taken out a rope to tie him up, while Zhao Yun somehow produced a rag and stuffed it directly into his mouth, leaving him unable to speak. He could only make muffled "mmph, mmph" sounds.
Shopkeeper Tong now felt utter despair. From the day he began cultivating immortality until now, he had never felt so hopeless.
Back then, when he failed to join the Qingyun Sect, he had not despaired.
By a stroke of fortune, he had obtained a cultivation technique but lacked Cultivation Resources. Even then, he had not despaired.
When others had tortured him until he was covered in wounds, he had not despaired either.
He knew that as long as he was alive, as long as he did not give up, he would surely succeed in cultivating immortality and keep walking until the end.
Over the years, he had used every method imaginable. For the sake of even a little Cultivation Resources, he had killed friends who cultivated alongside him.
He had harmed countless people by any means necessary, and only then had he climbed step by step to where he was today.
He was now at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. He had many Spirit Stones and abundant Cultivation Resources.
Before long, he would be able to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm and become a dominant figure in Wannan City.
He would no longer need to live in fear, nor would he need to watch others' expressions.
But now, everything was about to turn into bubbles. He truly felt despair now, a despair he had never known before.
Even unto death, he could not understand how Chen Ze had changed from a drunkard into what he was today.
But now, everything was already too late. Regret could not undo it.
After entering the Automated Training Room and replacing the Earth Shield Art with the Soul Searching Technique, Chen Ze's consciousness returned to reality once more.
He saw that Chen Fan and Zhao Yun had already tied Shopkeeper Tong up hand and foot, and had stuffed his mouth shut as well.
Chen Ze said with satisfaction, "Keep watching him. Stay outside as well. If anything happens, call me immediately. I'm going to rest."
It was already late at night. According to Chen Ze's usual habits, he would have been asleep by this hour.
Chen Ze did not want to stay up late anymore. He did not want to return to those days of having day and night reversed.
Previously, in order to correct that habit of reversing day and night, Chen Ze had suffered insomnia for several nights.
Now was the time to sleep. After one night's rest, the Soul Searching Technique would become proficient, and then he could try again.
The night passed without incident.
But the City Lord's Mansion's Patrol Team was worked into a frenzy, searching everywhere for traces of whoever had abducted Shopkeeper Tong.
Even the Foundation Establishment Realm city lord mobilized, but unfortunately, they found nothing.
The City Lord's Mansion began interrogating several attendants from Tongfu Restaurant, but the final conclusion was still a complete mystery.
Shopkeeper Tong seemed to have vanished into thin air, without leaving the slightest trace.
Yet the signs of battle inside Shopkeeper Tong's room were undeniably real.
When the city lord investigated, he could only determine that the traces had been caused by fire-element spells. As for exactly what spell it was, even he could not tell.
"Could a Golden Core Grandmaster have made the move? To take Shopkeeper Tong away so silently without leaving the slightest trace—even I couldn't accomplish that."
After investigating all night and finding nothing, the city lord voiced his doubts.
He was now beginning to hesitate over whether Shopkeeper Tong's disappearance should continue to be investigated.
Wannan City had rules forbidding private fighting.
But those rules only applied within the Foundation Establishment Realm, within the range he could suppress.
If it involved cultivators whose cultivation was higher than his, those rules were nothing but bullshit.
Any random golden core senior could wipe out his City Lord's Mansion until nothing remained.
"Perhaps I should report it directly! But if I report it, will I face retaliation from a golden core senior in the future?"
The city lord could not help thinking this way. He was merely in the Foundation Establishment Realm, and had been assigned by the Dagan Dynasty to this small remote city.
If not for this place being close to the Qingyun Sect and thus gathering many cultivators, such a remote little city would not need a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator like him stationed here at all.
Even after coming to Wannan City, he had always lived cautiously, treading on thin ice.
This place was close to the Qingyun Sect. All manner of great figures could appear at any time.
And perhaps one day, some cultivator in Wannan City would catch the eye of a great figure from the Qingyun Sect.
In Wannan City, he had never dared to easily offend anyone. He only wanted to cultivate in peace and keep Wannan City peaceful as well.
When one day he broke through to the Golden Core Realm, he could leave Wannan City, go to the heartland of the dynasty, and change posts.
In the end, after weighing the matter, the city lord decided not to report it. He would only continue investigating, but merely as a show.
For now, as long as he could steady the hearts of everyone in the city, that would be enough.
As long as the situation did not continue to expand, nothing else mattered.
Before you continue