Xiao Wu, You Wouldn't Want This

That portrait was far too clear.

So clear that if he dared take even one step out of Moonlight Pavilion's gates, any old woman selling buns by the roadside would recognize him at a glance as the "mobile treasure vault" worth a hundred thousand gold coins and a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone.

He had truly become a rat scurrying across the street!

"Little San!"

Soft footsteps sounded behind him as Tang Yuehua approached with a bowl of freshly brewed medicinal soup.

As she looked at Tang San's faintly trembling back, her eyes were full of heartache.

"Aunt." Tang San turned around, his eyes red-rimmed and his voice terrifyingly hoarse. "Outside... there are wanted posters for Father and me everywhere."

Tang Yuehua sighed, set the medicine on the table, then walked to the window and pulled the heavy curtains shut, completely blocking out the noise outside.

"I've already heard."

A deep worry filled Tang Yuehua's eyes.

"Spirit Hall has truly gone mad this time. Not only you two—even the Four Single-Attribute Sects that once depended on the Clear Sky Sect are now being brutally purged by Spirit Hall."

"The Four Sects?" Tang San froze. It was his first time hearing that name.

"They were all pitiful people abandoned by the Clear Sky Sect because of your father back then."

Tang Yuehua gave a bitter shake of her head. "Spirit Hall would rather kill a thousand innocents than let one target escape. Little San, listen to your aunt. No matter what happens during this time, you absolutely cannot take even half a step out of Moonlight Pavilion."

Tang San lowered his head, clenching his fists tightly.

His father had become a cripple incapable of using Soul Power.

Xiao Wu had been taken away by that demon with violet-gold eyes.

He had become a wanted criminal with a bounty across the entire continent, able only to hide beneath a woman's skirts and cling to life.

A sense of humiliation and helplessness unlike anything he had ever felt gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.

"That boy with violet-gold eyes... the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect..."

Tang San roared madly in his heart, carving those names into the deepest depths of his soul.

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, a secret prison cell deep underground.

The walls here were made of hard obsidian and covered in intricate formation patterns that blocked Soul Power and spiritual detection.

Ghostly blue wall flames flickered at the four corners, making the atmosphere within the cell oppressive and cold.

Xiao Wu was trapped in the center of the prison cell.

Four chains emitting a faint silver glow were locked around her wrists and ankles.

They were spatial shackles personally laid down by Gu Rong. Let alone her current cultivation as a Soul Grandmaster, even her peak Hundred-Thousand-Year cultivation would not allow her to break free in the slightest.

Xiao Wu curled up on the icy stone floor. The rabbit ears atop her head drooped weakly, and nothing remained in those once-lively eyes but deep fear and deathly stillness.

Tap, tap, tap...

Unhurried footsteps echoed through the empty corridor, each one seeming to step directly onto Xiao Wu's heart.

The heavy stone door was pushed open.

Gu En entered calmly, dressed in pale moon-white casual robes.

He even held a cup of steaming premium tea in his hand. His leisurely demeanor stood completely at odds with the gloomy prison cell.

"It seems these past few days alone haven't made you any smarter."

Gu En pulled over a grandmaster's chair and sat before Xiao Wu, gently blowing at the floating tea leaves in his cup.

Xiao Wu's body jolted. She raised her head and glared fixedly at the demon-like youth before her, gritting out, "What exactly do you want? If you want to kill me, then kill me! Even if I self-destruct my soul, I'll never let you obtain my soul ring or Soul Bone!"

"Self-destruct your soul?"

Gu En seemed to have heard something amusing and could not help chuckling.

A blue light flashed between his brows as the god-level spiritual pressure of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud descended like Mount Tai bearing down from above.

Xiao Wu only felt a sharp pain explode in her head. In an instant, even her ability to think was stripped away, much less any chance of detonating her soul.

"Put away that ridiculous stubbornness, little rabbit."

Gu En withdrew the pressure and looked down at her, his tone flat and utterly emotionless.

"I have no interest in your current soul ring or Soul Bone. I came today to ask you a question."

Xiao Wu gasped for breath, looking at him with unsettled suspicion.

"Tell me, how do you Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts condense a 'Soul Core' within your bodies?"

Boom!

The moment those words left his mouth, Xiao Wu's pupils shrank to their limits, as though she had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

"You... how do you know about Soul Cores?!"

Even Xiao Wu's voice trembled.

Soul Cores! They were the absolute core secret of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts!

Only top-tier Soul Beasts whose cultivation had broken through the hundred-thousand-year threshold could compress their immense Soul Power into a solid vortex within their bodies, endlessly regenerating and inexhaustible.

This was the foundation that allowed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts to contend against human Titled Douluo!

This human youth was clearly only in his forties in level. How could he possibly know such an ancient secret that even Titled Douluo might not understand?!

"You don't need to worry about how I know."

Gu En leaned forward slightly, a dangerous gleam flashing in his violet-gold eyes. "You only need to tell me the complete method for condensing a Soul Core, without leaving out a single word."

"In your dreams!"

Xiao Wu refused without hesitation, her eyes full of resolve.

"This is the foundation of the Soul Beast race! I will never hand it over to greedy humans like you!"

"Is that so?"

Gu En did not get angry. He simply leaned back in his chair and said unhurriedly, "It doesn't matter if you refuse. The Life Lake at the center of the Star Dou Great Forest has rather nice scenery. That monkey called the Titan Giant Ape and that snake called the Sky Azure Bull Python should know this secret."

Xiao Wu's face instantly turned deathly pale.

"Da Ming... Er Ming..."

Her entire body began trembling uncontrollably. This demon even knew about Da Ming and Er Ming!

"Tell me, what if I bring my grandfather and Grandpa Sword to pay them a visit at the bottom of the lake? And while I'm there, I tell them that the Xiao Wu they love most is currently in my hands, unable to live or die..."

A demonic smile curled onto Gu En's lips.

"Do you think they would obediently hand over the secret of the Soul Core to save you? Or perhaps... become soul rings for my grandfather and the others instead?"

"No! Don't touch them!"

Xiao Wu completely broke down.

She screamed and tried to pounce on Gu En, but the spatial shackles held her firmly in place, cutting bloody marks into her wrists.

Da Ming and Er Ming were her last family in this world!

Seeing Xiao Wu's breakdown, Gu En knew the timing was about right.

He set down his teacup, and his voice suddenly became low and intensely seductive.

"Xiao Wu, think carefully. Is it truly worth dying to protect this secret?"

"If you die, can that useless Tang San avenge you?"