Threat

Bang!

Violent spiritual energy tore the cultivator's meridians apart. Under the immense spirit pressure, his body even exploded directly into a burst of bloody fireworks!

Whoosh!

Lin Chen swept a hand through the air, and a barrier of spiritual light formed instantly, blocking the splattering flesh and blood. Fragments of organs and bones, mixed with filthy blood, slowly slipped down the spirit screen.

He watched this scene expressionlessly, the pen in his hand continuously recording.

"The artificial anti-cyclone must be controlled within a certain range. If it is too large, it reduces the amount of spiritual energy entering the cultivator's body, causing Foundation Establishment to fail. If it is too small, it merges with the cyclone within the cultivator's dantian, making the spiritual energy impossible to control and resulting in death by explosion."

"After numerous experiments, I have already determined the approximate range. Next comes the experiment in liquefying true qi."

With that thought, Lin Chen put down the experiment log in his hand and walked out the door.

At this moment, Yu Man stared fixedly at the tightly shut door, the venom in his eyes growing ever heavier.

Damn it! If not for being set up by this little bastard, how could I have fallen to such a state?! I have to catch him—I'll torture him to death with the cruelest methods possible!

Though captured, Yu Man was not worried in the slightest. Instead, he was thinking about how to kill his way back.

It was not because he was thoughtless, but because he still had a backup plan. As long as the other party was a disciple of a righteous sect, it would definitely work and create an opportunity for him to escape!

Creak!

With a crisp sound, the door opened, and Lin Chen emerged, walking straight toward him.

"Wait, you can't kill me, otherwise... mmph!" Yu Man had barely begun to speak when Lin Chen yanked the chain around his neck, forcefully dragging his entire body inside.

These demonic cultivators aren't easy to capture alive. I'll have to be more careful with the next experiment—can't waste him. Lin Chen paid no attention to his words and simply dragged him in.

Bang!

Yu Man only felt himself being roughly thrown onto a table. All manner of bizarre instruments fastened him in place, after which the other party began continuously drawing things onto his body.

What exactly is he trying to do?

The question rose in Yu Man's mind. But when he swept the corner of his eye around, his expression abruptly changed.

Lin Chen had naturally cleaned the experiment table with a trick, but he had yet to deal with certain corners. Thus, Yu Man could clearly see the bloodstains splashed across the floor in a corner not far away, as well as fragments of organs mixed with tiny splinters of bone!

So, the people brought in here had all become this mess of...

"No! No, I don't want to die! I don't want to die! You can't kill me! You can't kill me!" At that thought, Yu Man screamed madly, his face twisting.

Lin Chen was carving Formation Restrictions at tremendous speed when Yu Man's frantic shouting made him furrow his brow.

"Forgot to gag him." With that, he reached toward Yu Man's mouth.

"Wait, you can't kill me! If you kill me, do you know how many families will be torn apart because of you?! When that time comes, you'll be a sinner!!!"

Seeing that hand draw ever closer, Yu Man roared himself hoarse.

"Hmm?" Lin Chen's hand paused. "What do you mean by that?"

"I captured a group of children and imprisoned them somewhere only I know. If you kill me, no one will be able to save them. They'll all be trapped there until they die! And all of this will have been caused by you!" Yu Man said with a savage expression.

If he had been threatening a fellow demonic cultivator this way, it would have been nothing but a dead end. But righteous cultivators were different—especially young little brats among them. For the sake of that so-called false justice, they often showed mercy to mortals, and that was his chance to escape!

When pursued by disciples of the righteous path, using the kindness of others and innocent lives to buy a chance at survival had always been his method!

Yet what he had not expected was for Lin Chen to merely give an "oh," without making any further move.

He... doesn't care? No, impossible. He has to be pretending!

"Think it through! If you kill me, all those children will die! Every bit of this will be your doing!"

"Just imagine it—the children waiting desperately for death in the darkness, their bodies rotting away speck by speck. And all of it will be caused by you. Wouldn't you feel guilty about that?!"

"I swear, as long as you let me go, I'll immediately return and release those children, and I swear I'll never do the same thing again..."

"Heh!"

Before Yu Man could finish, Lin Chen let out a cold laugh.

"First, their deaths would be caused by you. Don't switch the concepts and shift it onto me. Second, I still understand the principle of uprooting evil completely. If I let you go out of concern, you might harm even more people in the future. Of course, most importantly..."

At this point, Lin Chen gave him a faint glance. "I may have principles, but that does not mean I'm a brainless fool of a do-gooder."

"Wait!" Yu Man's face changed drastically when he realized Lin Chen was utterly unmoved by his threats, and he hurriedly changed tactics.

Since coercion through righteousness had failed, then he could only tempt him with profit.

"I know the deepest secrets of both the Azure Cloud Sect and the Mysterious Yin Gate. As long as you let me go, not only will I tell you, I'll also reveal where those children are hidden!"

"You know?" Lin Chen had wanted to make a move and interrogate him directly, but the other party's next words made him pause again.

"Don't you find it strange? The Azure Cloud Sect and the Mysterious Yin Gate are both among the two great powers of the Lingnan Great Land, so why must they fight until one side dies?"

"Even if it is for conflicting interests, letting the cultivators beneath them fight to the death would be enough. Why would Golden Core True Persons personally enter the fray, even falling because of it?!"

"Golden Core True Persons have lifespans of eight hundred years and enjoy longevity. Do you think they would sacrifice themselves for those so-called sect interests?"

"This..." Lin Chen's gaze shifted as he fell into thought.

This was also something he had found strange.

After deducing that war was a possibility, he had looked up many records concerning the previous two great wars among cultivators in the Lingnan Great Land.

Lin Chen had originally thought it was merely a conflict of interests, but to his surprise, he discovered that Golden Core cultivators from both sects had actually fallen in these two great battles.

That left him somewhat unable to understand. Golden Core True Persons already stood at the highest tier of the Lingnan Great Land, enjoying eight hundred years of longevity. What could possibly be worth risking their lives for?

It felt as bizarre as two Small Countries going to war in his previous life, with not the rank-and-file soldiers but the leaders of the nations themselves fighting desperately on the front lines!

"Then why is that?"

"As long as you let me go, I'll tell you everything!"

"Hmm?" Lin Chen's expression suddenly darkened, and a cold smile curled at his lips. "Are you threatening me?"

"It's not a threat—it's a deal. Don't you want to know this secret? Don't forget, there are still those children... Do you really want to get them killed?!" At this moment, Yu Man went all out and confronted him head-on.

Rather than groveling blindly, he might as well gamble—gamble on the value Lin Chen placed on this intelligence and information.

As long as the benefits outweighed himself, the other party would be highly likely to compromise!

It was a fine idea, but unfortunately, he had failed to see his current situation clearly.

Lin Chen stared at him coldly. "Tell me where you hid the children, and the secrets of the two great sects."

"As long as you don't let me go, you'll never get that information!"

"Heh!" A cold smile appeared on Lin Chen's face. "It seems I've been too easy to talk to, to the point that you can't even recognize your current situation...

Lin Chen clasped his hands together, his knuckles cracking sharply.

"I've grown used to live dissections over the years, so I've neglected interrogation techniques somewhat. If there are any shortcomings, I hope you'll bear with them."