Cooperation

The destinations of the five passages were vastly different.

If they couldn't accurately determine which passage the Blood Corpse True Person had left through in the first moment, and were even slightly delayed.

Given the cunning of a Demon Cultivator, the Blood Corpse True Person could change his identity in that short time and blend into the vast Yuanshan City.

If they wanted to find him then, it wouldn't be as easy as it was now.

However, Jiang Rong showed no signs of nervousness in the face of this situation.

Instead, he stood in place, waiting for something.

Before long, the jade pendant at Jiang Rong's waist flashed with a green wave again.

Jiang Rong read the information from the green wave.

"Target apprehended."

Jiang Rong's lips curved slightly upwards.

Demon Cultivators were cunning; they wouldn't leave without several escape routes at their hiding spots.

He had known the Blood Corpse True Person's location for a long time, so why hadn't he acted immediately? Instead, he had a small drink at a nearby restaurant?

It was precisely to allow time to investigate all of the Blood Corpse True Person's possible escape points.

The exits of the escape routes were not easy to determine, but they clearly couldn't be too far from this small residence, otherwise, they would easily be discovered.

Furthermore, such an important thing as an escape route was something the Blood Corpse True Person would never fail to scout out the exit for.

Combining these two points, Jiang Rong had his subordinates collect the locations where the Blood Corpse True Person had appeared near the small residence.

And at the corresponding locations, he set up a net to ensure the Blood Corpse True Person had nowhere to escape and that the operation was foolproof.

Jiang Rong had been the Vice Tower Master of Yuanshan Tower for nearly a hundred years, and had been confronting Demon Cultivators from the Underworld for nearly a century.

His methods had long since become extremely seasoned.

If Demon Cultivators were cunning, he was even more cunning than them.

This was a dilapidated small courtyard, no more than two li away from the small residence.

In the backyard, which was overgrown with weeds due to being abandoned, many cultivators in black robes were now gathered.

"The Vice Tower Master has arrived."

Someone said amidst the crowd.

The crowd, gathered in a line, quickly parted to create a passage, revealing the Blood Corpse True Person behind them, tightly bound by golden ropes.

It was a top-grade Mortal Artifact-level [Spirit Binding Rope].

The Spirit Binding Rope was one of the standard Spirit Artifacts equipped to all members of Zhishou Tower.

It could be arbitrarily extended after a cultivator injected spiritual energy into it, and its purpose was to restrain enemies and prevent them from circulating spiritual energy within their bodies.

The Spirit Binding Rope was an essential Spirit Artifact for capturing Demon Cultivators.

This was because Demon Cultivators would not easily allow themselves to be captured alive; when they truly had no escape, they would often choose the most extreme method, stimulating the spiritual energy within their bodies to commit suicide.

Low-level Demon Cultivators were fine; if they committed suicide, the consequences would at most be that Zhishou Tower could not interrogate them for information.

But if a Nascent Soul stage Demon Cultivator chose to self-detonate their Nascent Soul, although they themselves would certainly die, the damage caused by the Nascent Soul's self-detonation would lead to the sacrifice of many Zhishou Tower members, resulting in heavy losses for Zhishou Tower.

To deal with this situation, the [Spirit Binding Rope] was researched and created.

Jiang Rong walked through the crowd, looking at the Blood Corpse True Person lying on the ground, struggling feebly, his eyes cold, even revealing a murderous intent.

But Jiang Rong was calm; the greatest value of a captured Demon Cultivator was not their life, but the information they possessed.

Therefore, he could not kill him now.

Jiang Rong waved his hand, "Take him back to the tower and interrogate him thoroughly."

"Yes, Vice Tower Master," the black-robed cultivators replied.

Then, the black-robed cultivators, escorting the Blood Corpse True Person bound by the Spirit Binding Rope, quickly departed.

In less than a moment, the small courtyard was empty.

Swift and precise action, this was Zhishou Tower, an organization completely different from many sects.

In Yuanshan Tower.

Tantai Qingrun and Lu Qingshan were speechless.

Jiang Rong opened the door and walked in.

Tantai Qingrun looked at Jiang Rong, and Jiang Rong nodded.

Tantai Qingrun's voice was cold as she spoke, "State your purpose."

As expected of Zhishou Tower, after receiving his information, they had located the Blood Corpse True Person and apprehended him in less than two hours.

Lu Qingshan couldn't help but marvel at Zhishou Tower's efficiency in his heart.

Calming himself, Lu Qingshan slowly said, "Cooperation."

"Cooperation? You mean for us at Zhishou Tower to cooperate with a Qi Refining Second Layer cultivator like you?"

Lu Qingshan wagged a finger and said softly, "Tower Master Tantai, that's not how it's calculated.

My cultivation isn't high, but I'm not offering myself; I'm offering intelligence."

After a pause, Lu Qingshan spoke again, "I have a lot of classified intelligence. With my help, you can precisely target hidden Underworld forces.

Even if you don't feel a deep sense of responsibility to combat the Underworld, the merit gained from eradicating their forces can at least help you rapidly advance within Zhishou Tower."

Tantai Qingrun and Jiang Rong exchanged a glance.

"We need to consider it," Jiang Rong said to Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan nodded in agreement. "Naturally."

Lu Qingshan turned and left the room, leaving the two of them space.

Watching Lu Qingshan depart, Jiang Rong flicked his sleeve, and a wisp of gray mist flew out, rapidly spreading and filling the entire room.

This was a silencing enchantment to prevent eavesdropping.

"What about that Blood Corpse True Person? Is the information accurate?" Tantai Qingrun asked, a frown creasing her brow.

Jiang Rong nodded. "We're arranging for someone to interrogate the informant. While he hasn't confessed anything yet, his identity as a Demon Cultivator is beyond doubt."

"This Blood Corpse True Person has been lurking in Yuanshan City for over a decade, posing as a Rogue Cultivator. He's spent years building his facade, leaving no trace of weakness. If it weren't for this Lu Qingshan, our intelligence system would have had a very difficult time uncovering his true identity."

"This Lu Qingshan is no simple person."

Tantai Qingrun tapped her fingers lightly on the table and asked, "Have Lu Qingshan's origins been verified?"

"They have. As he stated, he is indeed a scion of the Lu family. However, it's strange. Three months ago, he was just an ordinary Mortal, managing the Lu family's secular business. His convoy was attacked during a transport, and he vanished without a trace."

"When he reappeared, he was already in Yuanshan City, having suddenly transformed from a Mortal into a cultivator at the Qi Refining Second Layer," Jiang Rong said gravely.

"Qi Refining Second Layer in three months? Interesting," Tantai Qingrun mused thoughtfully.

Jiang Rong pondered for a moment and added, "The key point is, Lu Qingshan has no reason to know so much. How did he obtain intelligence about the Underworld that even our Zhishou Tower intelligence system struggles to uncover?"

"But he seems very sincere. Before proposing cooperation, he first provided us with a piece of information."

Jiang Rong nodded. "That's true."

"I think we can try a preliminary cooperation with him," Tantai Qingrun offered her opinion.

Jiang Rong fell silent for a moment before asking, "What if this Lu Qingshan is actually from the Underworld, pretending to cooperate with us, and then provides false intelligence to deliberately mislead our actions?"

"The probability of that is very low. The Underworld wouldn't send a Qi Refining Second Layer cultivator for such a task, nor would they make it so suspicious. They have far more reasonable methods to transmit false intelligence to us."

Jiang Rong's tone turned cold. "A low probability doesn't mean it's impossible. We could choose to detain Lu Qingshan and force him to reveal what he knows. If he refuses to cooperate, we could even resort to soul-searching techniques to extract the intelligence."

Tantai Qingrun looked at Jiang Rong and explained, "But if we do that, it will inevitably provoke fierce resistance from him, and these forceful methods might also lead to some unpredictable consequences. Even if we could obtain intelligence through soul-searching, you know that the information obtained through such techniques is always fragmented and uncontrollable. It's possible the information we find is useless, with all the crucial intelligence missed. Lu Qingshan, at least on the surface, appears to be genuinely sincere in cooperating with us. It wouldn't be wise to push away a potential asset we should rightfully have simply because he's unpredictable."