Great Bamboo Peak.
Inside Shou Jing Hall, the lamps burned brightly.
Tian Buyi sat upright in a Grand Tutor Chair, holding a teacup, but hadn't taken a single sip.
Su Ru sat beside him, gazing at Ye Xuan with a gentle expression.
"Speak."
"What exactly happened?"
Tian Buyi set down his teacup. The porcelain clinked crisply against the table.
"Where did you find Ninth?"
"And why was he unconscious?"
Although the back mountain of Great Bamboo Peak was remote, there was nowhere there that could make a Cultivation World cultivator faint for no reason.
Unless... some outside force had interfered.
Ye Xuan didn't waste time explaining.
He flipped his wrist.
"Clang!"
A dull thud rang out.
He casually tossed the black iron rod onto the floor.
The hard bluestone tiles cracked in several places beneath it.
A chill instantly spread throughout the hall.
The temperature in Shou Jing Hall, which had been as warm as spring, suddenly dropped several degrees.
Even the candle flames began to flicker, as though they might go out at any moment.
"This is..."
Tian Buyi sprang to his feet.
His bulky frame displayed astonishing agility.
He stared fixedly at the iron rod on the floor, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
Su Ru looked astonished as well and instinctively grabbed Tian Buyi's arm.
As cultivators, they were especially sensitive to such extremely yin and malevolent energy.
The revolting stench of blood and resentment emanating from the unremarkable iron rod was so strong it seemed almost tangible.
"This thing is called Soul Seizing."
Ye Xuan found a chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other.
He showed no hint of restraint in front of his master.
"Soul Seizing?"
Tian Buyi exclaimed.
Those two words carried a fearsome reputation in the ancient texts of the Cultivation