"Quick! Something happened in Cold Storage No. 3!"
"Seal off the streets! That guy ran into Wanlijin's territory next door!"
"The bartender's dead! Report it now! The bartender and those guards are all dead! The cold storage is fine!"
Outside the tavern, batches of men and women in green tracksuits ran back and forth, shouting.
More than ten drones equipped with automatic machine guns patrolled above the building, their engines' noise drumming painfully against Wang Jixuan's eardrums.
He had not gone far from the tavern.
The most dangerous place was the safest place.
Wang Jixuan had first created the illusion of fleeing, then doubled back. He found an ordinary-looking household near the tavern and hid inside a wardrobe in a corner room of a two-story building, spreading his Spiritual Sense to its limit.
The noisy shouts in the streets gradually faded into the distance;
The area around the tavern gradually quieted down.
Wang Jixuan rapidly formed hand seals with both hands. A faint golden glow shimmered around his fingertips, leaving intricate traces in the dim space.
A crumpled talisman slowly unfolded before him. In the center of the paper, the three-inch-tall semi-transparent figure stared at everything with its mouth agape.
Fresh Living Soul usually only needed simple cooking... That was a little too demonic cultivator-like.
Because it was too shocked and nervous, the soul kept flickering.
Wang Jixuan spoke with his mind, "I ask one question. You answer one question."
Gu Wending's soul continued flickering without pause.
Truly scared out of its wits.
Wang Jixuan was in no hurry.
This Living Soul was controlled by the talisman and could not lie before him. Once he got it to talk, he could easily handle the interrogation he was worst at.
He closed his eyes and waited patiently for a while, quietly sensing the changes in the surrounding aura.
Five people lived in this two-story building: two elderly people, two children, and a young woman. They were likely one family, tense because of the chaos outside.
A family of five or six having an entire small building to themselves was considered an exceptionally fine living environment anywhere in the fortress.
Wang Jixuan guessed that someone in this family was either a Black Fire Gang leader or a gang member who had rendered meritorious service. They stood in stark contrast to the humans in the City of Rebirth, who lived in pigeonhole-like cramped spaces with barcodes tattooed on their necks.
After receiving no reply from the soul before him for so long, Wang Jixuan frowned slightly. His Sword Finger swayed gently, and a small flame blossomed from his fingertip, burning against the Soul-Capturing Talisman.
The talisman paper was not damaged in the slightest, but the semi-transparent soul was filled with firelight.
"Ah—"
Only half a minute later.
Gu Wending's soul knelt in the center of the Soul-Capturing Talisman, his eyes vacant as he muttered:
"Spare me, spare me, I'm begging you. Just let me die..."
"Where is your gang leader?" Wang Jixuan asked.
"Gang leader? BOSS?" Gu Wending cried out tremblingly. "I-I don't know."
"You don't know?" A small flame bloomed at Wang Jixuan's fingertip.
"I really don't know!"
Gu Wending shouted in terror:
"Only the top six people in the Black Fire Gang and Big Mouth Hua know where the BOSS is! Big Mouth Hua is the BOSS's biological younger brother! I'm just a nobody who guards warehouses!"
"If that is the case."
Wang Jixuan pondered briefly.
"Then tell me what you do know. Who are the core members of your gang, what gang affairs is each of them responsible for, and where do they often appear?"
Gu Wending's soul nodded frantically. "Fine! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
Wang Jixuan calmly pulled a prescription pad and a ballpoint pen from the inner pocket of his jacket and quickly wrote down the information he heard.
—Before entering the Spirit Gathering Realm, a cultivator's memory would not noticeably improve.
As he listened, Wang Jixuan vaguely sensed that something was off.
Once Gu Wending finished speaking in one breath, Wang Jixuan asked in puzzlement, "What business does your Black Fire Gang actually do? Your ties with the Upper City are surprisingly close."
"You don't know? Organ Trade is our main business, along with blood products."
Gu Wending gave a bitter smile.
"The purpose of us Lower City gangs is to serve the Upper City and the fortress..."
Wang Jixuan was not particularly concerned with this complicated issue. It had little to do with him.
He instead asked, "What is in the cold storage beneath the tavern? Are there any treasures related to Blade Beasts?"
"I'm only responsible for guarding the entrance and keeping watch. I only know that there is a large batch of biological materials for the 13th Institute... and some controlled doctors..."
Wang Jixuan still refused to give up. "How does your gang leader usually contact you?"
"I really, really can't reach him..."
Gu Wending spoke shakily, his soul clutching his head and whimpering.
Wang Jixuan frowned in thought.
He only wanted to find the Black Fire Gang's BOSS, settle the karmic ties, and cultivate in peace afterward, but things were not progressing smoothly.
According to Gu Wending, the Black Fire Gang's BOSS would only periodically gather those few highest-ranking members, and most of the time they held video conferences.
Even if Wang Jixuan later caught the Black Fire Gang's third- and fourth-ranked figures, there was no guarantee that the BOSS would not hide in the Upper City.
A cunning rabbit indeed had three burrows.
"Come now. Don't waste the last bit of your Power of Soul. This talisman can only keep you alive for another three days. After three days, your soul will scatter into ash."
Wang Jixuan settled for the next best thing.
"Tell me about your experts, snipers, and the locations and quantities of all your high-powered weapons.
"Don't force me to torture you again. I'm not some demon, after all. Seeing you like this puts some pressure on my Dao Heart too."
Gu Wending's soul opened his mouth.
Was that even something a human would say?
He tortured him, and somehow it was his fault?
He only had three days left?
A trace of despair appeared in the soul's eyes.
Flames bloomed from Wang Jixuan's fingertips again, but he was already considering how to coax this Black Fire Gang minor leader. Combining favor and intimidation was the proper way.
"Stop burning me! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything, isn't that enough?!"
Gu Wending's soul laughed bitterly.
He had received rigorous anti-interrogation training.
But having one's soul ripped out and burned over and over... that really was not part of their training curriculum!
The entire City of Rebirth was roughly the size of a small town of ten thousand people.
The unrest caused by the tavern attack quickly spread into the territory of the neighboring gang, Wanlijin. The two gangs, which had always clashed constantly, began exchanging scattered fire.
This was how gangs handled problems. If they disagreed, they fought first and talked later. What Lower City gangs feared least was losing members.
Using the cover of one dark area after another, Wang Jixuan easily slipped out of the City of Rebirth.
He circled halfway around the edge of Black Fire Gang territory, located a gap in their defensive line, and secretly slipped back into the City of Rebirth right under the noses of several green tracksuits guarding the street.
Wang Jixuan's plan was simple.
Since a minor leader like Gu Wending could not find the Black Fire Gang BOSS;
He would use this minor leader to find Black Fire Gang higher-ups ranked in the single digits... Following the trail like this, he would eventually be able to kill the Black Fire Gang's BOSS.
The target Wang Jixuan had locked onto was the Black Fire Gang's third-in-command, an old gang leader nicknamed Giant Bone Fish: Wen Heisen.
According to Gu Wending, Giant Bone Fish Wen Heisen was a short, unremarkable old man who lived year-round in a five-story spire in the southeastern part of the City of Rebirth.
That spire was the Black Fire Gang's dispatch center.
The tip of the spire pressed against the ceiling of the fortress's forty-ninth floor. Beneath the tip was a massive sphere containing a Bio-radar.
When activated, this radar could scan every life-form within a certain area and lock onto and track up to three hundred biological entities.
Gu Wending guessed that, now that the Black Fire Gang had just suffered an incident, Giant Bone Fish Wen Heisen was most likely stationed in the Command Room on the third floor of the dispatch center.
"Wen Heisen has always been responsible at work. He's ruthless and decisive, but he has principles too. Everyone respects him. He's one of the soul figures of our Black Fire Gang, and he definitely knows where the BOSS is."
Gu Wending's voice sounded in Wang Jixuan's mind.
The old soul had been sealed inside the Soul-Capturing Talisman. A shallow pocket was enough to pack him away.
Gu Wending said tremblingly, "You promised you'd let me occupy his body. Gods do not deceive their weak believers, right?"
"This poor Daoist naturally keeps his word."
Wang Jixuan curled his lip slightly.
He would let Gu Wending's soul find a body and fulfill his promise, then directly kill that new body.
Did that count as lying? That was called All's fair in war.
After personally experiencing the power of a Sniper Rifle with his Qi Refining Realm Dao body, Wang Jixuan did not dare lower his guard in the slightest.
Even though Gu Wending's soul could not lie and had completely revealed the spire's defensive weaknesses, Wang Jixuan still spent nearly two hours observing the spire before formally beginning the operation.
The spire's defenses were not particularly tight.
These gangs were all makeshift operations to begin with.
Through Wang Jixuan's Spiritual Sense, he could sense fifty or sixty gang enforcers inside the spire.
On the rooftops of the surrounding three- and four-story buildings, another four groups of enforcers stood watch. Partially activated searchlights were scattered throughout the area.
Gunfire and explosions suddenly sounded in the distance.
"They're fighting! Wanlijin is fighting over there!"
Gu Wending's voice echoed in Wang Jixuan's mind, carrying a hint of excitement.
"They might send people from here to reinforce them. Good opportunity!"
Wang Jixuan nodded and continued waiting patiently.
Two groups of rooftop enforcers were transferred away at the same time, leaving in cars covered with thick armor plating. That gave him the perfect chance to infiltrate.
Using the dark spaces between the low buildings, Wang Jixuan rose and fell like a hawk, smoothly approaching the north side of the spire. He lay flat against the low wall on the roof of a small building.
The huge beam cast by the spire's searchlight drifted over Wang Jixuan's head.
He held his breath, silently counted to three, rolled over, and lunged forward. The Divine Movement Talisman flashed brightly, qi filled his feet, and he shot diagonally forward like a cheetah. He landed precisely beneath the ventilation duct on the second floor, pushed off with the toes of his left foot, grabbed the duct opening with both hands, and easily slipped inside.
"This is it! This ventilation duct leads to the storage room on the second floor, and it's close to the only elevator! I helped design this place! I know all the routes!"
Gu Wending said rapidly:
"If we're lucky, we might find some clothes. I also know the access code here!
"Can I really replace Wen Heisen?"
The old soul's voice carried a touch of unease.
It was the only glimmer of light he could grasp in his despair.
"Mm."
Wang Jixuan answered simply, crawling silently forward through the cement ventilation duct like a gecko.
Gu Wending praised, "You really are a god. Only gods can toy with human souls at will! Then why can't you just find our BOSS and kill him? Aren't gods omniscient and omnipotent?"
Wang Jixuan did not respond further.
The route was quite clear, and Wang Jixuan's luck was not bad either. Two filthy green tracksuits had been tossed into the storage room.
Wang Jixuan spent quite a while soothing his Dao Heart before gritting his teeth and putting them on.
The smell truly made him uncomfortable.
The spire had only one route between floors: a single elevator. To prevent a surprise attack on their headquarters, no stairs had been installed. An Emergency Passage had been reserved inside the elevator shaft, while surveillance equipment and scanning equipment had been installed inside the elevator.
Anyone entering the elevator who was not on the Surveillance System's [whitelist] had to input an access code that constantly changed based on a [fixed database], or an alarm would be triggered.
Carrying a mop and bucket, Wang Jixuan calmly walked through the circular corridor on the second floor. He naturally nodded in greeting to several Black Fire Gang enforcers playing cards in a corner, then stopped before the elevator doors.
The elevator was rising from the first floor, and Wang Jixuan casually pressed the up button.
—He had thoroughly learned this basic knowledge from Mu Liang's memories.
Wang Jixuan knew that his raid on the enemy headquarters had reached its most dangerous moment.
In the worst-case scenario, the bartender would try to take him down with him, fall silent once inside the elevator, and refuse to provide the access code. Then Wang Jixuan would face the siege of more than eighty gang enforcers inside and outside.
In any case, prepare for a hard battle. There shouldn't be any snipers inside the spire.
Thump, thump, thump!
His heartbeat strangely slowed by half a beat, while his formerly calm Spiritual Sense suddenly leaped wildly!
Ding!
The elevator doors slowly opened. An exhausted-looking old man, no more than one meter sixty tall, with short silver-white hair, appeared before Wang Jixuan alongside two burly men in green tracksuits carrying rifles.
Wang Jixuan's gaze met the other man's exactly.
He sensed the mottled aura coiled within the strong old man's body.
A cultivator?
A Psionicist?
Light suddenly flashed in the old man's weary eyes!
He stared fixedly at Wang Jixuan, as if identifying his face. The aura within his body began swelling, and his gray suit instantly tightened!
Just as the old man was about to shout and strike with a clenched fist, Wang Jixuan seized the initiative and kicked into the elevator first!
Before you continue