Mental Power

At the hunchbacked man's words, the movement he had been making to turn and flee came to an abrupt halt.

Su Yuan was right. He truly didn't want his real identity getting out.

For one thing, his mortal enemy, Kun Long, would learn he was still alive and immediately begin hunting him down.

For another, if the Great Xia Kingdom's authorities learned that a powerful Sorcerer was hiding in Magic City, they would certainly keep him under close surveillance—or even take him into custody.

Sorcerers had a terrible reputation internationally. They were practically human disasters.

Their strange and unpredictable sorcery could inflict tremendous harm on ordinary people, and some of it could even be "contagious."

Simply put, the Sorcerer cultivation system performed fairly normally against opponents of the same level, but was exceptionally effective against those of a lower level.

It was practically a cheat code for crushing weaker opponents.

"Have a seat. Let's talk."

Su Yuan said with a smile.

The hunchbacked man, A Luomu, fell silent for a few breaths, then came over and sat down in front of Su Yuan.

At this point, he had no choice. Su Yuan knew his true identity, so all he could do was listen.

As for killing Su Yuan to silence him? A Luomu hadn't even considered it.

Since Su Yuan knew who he really was and still dared to come here, he was clearly confident he could handle him.

Besides, A Luomu had no idea whether Su Yuan had other measures in place.

"Relax. I'm not one of Kun Long's people. I don't care about the grudge between you two senior and junior brothers." Seeing how wary A Luomu was, Su Yuan spoke casually.

"Who... who exactly are you?" A Luomu asked, uncertain.

There was nothing wrong with the first half of what Su Yuan had said. Since he knew A Luomu's true identity, he must also know about Kun Long.

But the second half... Su Yuan actually knew the real relationship between him and Kun Long?

That was right. Everyone knew A Luomu and Kun Long were mortal enemies, but in reality, they were senior and junior brothers.

A Luomu and Kun Long came from a secretive sect somewhere in the Nanyang Nations. The sect's central purpose was to raise gu.

In other words, only one person in the entire sect could survive and claim the ultimate inheritance, gaining a glimpse of the legendary realm of the Great Master of Sorcery.

A Great Master of Sorcery was equivalent to a True Dan Celestial of the Great Xia Kingdom—in other words, a Level 2 Lifeform.

So far, the Sorcerer cultivation system of the Nanyang Nations had never produced a Level 2 Lifeform. The so-called Great Master of Sorcery was merely the forebears' conjecture and aspiration regarding a higher realm.

"You fought Kun Long and fell victim to his Mind Cage sorcery. It suppressed your mental power, leaving you with less than a tenth of your strength..."

Su Yuan said unhurriedly.

A Luomu's heart churned with shock. For a moment, he almost wondered if the man before him was Kun Long himself. How else could he know so many secrets?

Not only did he know about A Luomu's relationship with Kun Long, he also knew the details of the hidden injuries he carried.

"What do you want me to do?"

A Luomu's voice was hoarse. Su Yuan had investigated him so thoroughly that it was obvious he intended to make A Luomu do his bidding.

"Return to the Nanyang Nations," Su Yuan said.

A Luomu's expression shifted.

He and Kun Long came from the same lineage. As long as they were within a certain distance of each other, they could sense one another.

That was why he had spent all these years hiding in Magic City, afraid to return to the Nanyang Nations.

Returning there would be a death sentence. Kun Long would sense him.

"And kill Kun Long while you're at it."

Su Yuan continued.

It wasn't that Su Yuan had any grudge against Kun Long. He didn't even know the man.

But according to the answer provided by the Grey Mirror, if Kun Long wasn't killed, he would cause Su Yuan plenty of trouble when Su Yuan began mining Lu-Wu Black Gold in the Nanyang Nations.

In that case, it was better to kill him in advance.

"Me? Kill Kun Long?"

A Luomu fell silent again.

More than anyone, he wanted Kun Long dead. But could he actually kill him?

Hadn't the main reason he'd spent thirty years hiding in Magic City been to avoid Kun Long?

"Relax. I have a way to break the Mind Cage and restore your strength," Su Yuan said.

That was one part of the plan. A Luomu's soul and mind were constantly suppressed by the Mind Cage, leaving him severely weakened. He was only a little stronger than a Huajin Grandmaster.

With that level of strength, he couldn't do anything for Su Yuan, much less handle the complicated situation in the Nanyang Nations.

"Is that really true?"

A Luomu's heart began to race.

He wouldn't have believed anyone else who said that. But Su Yuan wasn't just anyone. He knew far too many of A Luomu's secrets, and he had no reason to lie to him about this.

"Don't resist." Su Yuan looked at A Luomu, raised his right hand, and slowly pressed it toward the space between A Luomu's brows.

"What are you...?"

A Luomu's instincts screamed a warning.

To cultivators like Sorcerers and Onmyoji, who focused on the dimension of the soul, the sea of consciousness between the brows was the most important place.

Even if A Luomu lost his arms and legs, it wouldn't matter much to a powerful Sorcerer like him.

But if his sea of consciousness were injured, he absolutely couldn't accept it.

That was the foundation of his cultivation.

Yet when he thought of Su Yuan's instruction not to resist, of how much Su Yuan knew about him, and of his promise to break the Mind Cage, A Luomu forced down his instinct to fight back.

He let Su Yuan press his hand against the space between his brows.

Rumble—In a daze, A Luomu seemed to see an ocean made entirely of mental power.

A single wave from that vast sea easily shattered the Mind Cage that had suppressed him for thirty years, reducing it to dust.

"Done."

Su Yuan withdrew his right hand.

"What happened to me?"

Only then did A Luomu realize that the Mind Cage had been broken. His strength had fully returned, and he was once again the invincible Sorcerer he had been all those years ago.

"Hm?"

A Luomu carefully examined himself and faintly sensed an extra weight deep in his sea of consciousness, where his soul resided.

"You..."

A Luomu looked at Su Yuan.

"While breaking the Mind Cage, I also worked a trace of mental power into your soul," Su Yuan said with a faint smile.

How could he help A Luomu regain his strength without keeping something in reserve?

For A Luomu to break the Mind Cage, he had to lower all his defenses and let Su Yuan touch his soul.

In those circumstances, Su Yuan naturally wasn't going to do nothing. He had left something behind.

A trace of mental power had taken root deep in A Luomu's soul. With a single thought from Su Yuan, it could detonate, gravely injuring or even destroying A Luomu's soul.

The technique of infusing one's own mental power deep into another lifeform's soul was a secret art provided by the Grey Mirror. It came from the great powers deep in the universe.

A Luomu had no way to undo it or break free.

"What kind of technique is this...?"

A Luomu could hardly believe it. He had lowered all his defenses and let Su Yuan's power enter his sea of consciousness, fully prepared for the possibility that Su Yuan might leave something behind.

But A Luomu was quite confident in himself. Powerful Sorcerers were experts at manipulating souls and minds. Even if Su Yuan had left something behind, A Luomu might still be able to undo it.

Yet now, A Luomu didn't even know where that trace of mental power was. If he hadn't faintly sensed something amiss—and if Su Yuan hadn't pointed it out—he might never have known it was there.

"And another thing..."

A Luomu looked at Su Yuan again, astonishment showing on his face.

When Su Yuan had helped him break the Mind Cage, A Luomu had faintly sensed Su Yuan's mental power. It was an immense, surging ocean.

"Even the legendary Great Master of Sorcery probably has no greater mental power than that..."

A Luomu's scalp prickled.