Xiao Wu, You Wouldn't Want This

That portrait was far too clear.

So clear that if he dared take even a single step out of Moon Pavilion's doors, any old woman selling buns by the roadside would recognize him at a glance as the "walking treasury" worth one hundred thousand gold coins and a ten-thousand-year soul bone.

He had become a true rat crossing the street!

"Little San!"

Soft footsteps came from behind him. Tang Yuehua approached with a bowl of freshly brewed medicine.

As she looked at Tang San's slightly trembling back, her eyes were filled with 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 cutting off the noise outside.

"I've already heard."

A deep worry showed in Tang Yuehua's eyes.

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

"The Four Single-Attribute 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."

Tang Yuehua gave a bitter smile and shook her head. "Spirit Hall would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let even one go. Little San, listen to your aunt. During this time, no matter what happens, you absolutely must not step even half a step out of Moon 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 himself had become a wanted criminal with a bounty across the entire continent, forced to hide beneath a woman's skirts just to survive.

An unprecedented sense of humiliation and helplessness gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.

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

Tang San roared wildly in his heart, carving that name into the deepest depths of his soul.

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, a hidden prison chamber deep underground.

The walls here were made of hard obsidian, covered in intricate formation patterns that blocked soul power and spiritual detection.

Ghostly blue wall flames flickered in the four corners, casting an oppressive, icy atmosphere over the cell.

Xiao Wu was trapped in the center of the chamber.

Four chains emitting a faint silver glow bound her wrists and ankles.

They were spatial shackles personally laid down by Gu Rong. Forget her current strength as merely a Grand Soul Master—even at the peak of her Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast cultivation, she could never break free.

At that moment, Xiao Wu was curled up on the cold stone floor. The rabbit ears atop her head hung limply, and the lively eyes she once possessed now held nothing but deep fear and deathly stillness.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Unhurried footsteps echoed through the empty corridor, every step seeming to land on Xiao Wu's heart.

The heavy stone door was pushed open.

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

He even held a cup of steaming premium tea in his hand. His leisurely demeanor was utterly out of place in this grim prison chamber.

"Looks like these past few days alone haven't made you any smarter."

Gu En pulled over a grand chair and sat down before Xiao Wu, gently blowing on the tea leaves floating in his cup.

Xiao Wu's body trembled violently. She raised her head and glared at the demonic youth before her, gritting her teeth as she said:

"What exactly do you want? If you want to kill me, then kill me! Even if I have to detonate my soul, I'll never let you obtain my soul ring and soul bone!"

"Detonate your soul?"

Gu En seemed to have heard a particularly amusing joke and could not help chuckling.

A flash of blue light appeared between his brows as the god-level spiritual pressure of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud descended with the force of Mount Tai.

Xiao Wu felt an agonizing pain explode in her mind. Even her ability to think was stripped away in an instant, let alone detonate her soul.

"Put away that laughable stubbornness, little rabbit."

Gu En withdrew the pressure and looked down at her. His tone was so calm that it carried not the slightest ripple.

"I'm not interested in your current soul ring or soul bone. I came today to ask you a question."

Xiao Wu panted heavily, staring at him with uncertain shock.

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

Boom!

The instant those words left his mouth, Xiao Wu's pupils shrank to their limit, as if 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 the most powerful soul beasts whose cultivation had broken through the hundred-thousand-year threshold could compress their vast soul power into a solid vortex within their bodies, endlessly replenishing itself without cease.

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

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

"You don't need to concern yourself with how I know."

Gu En leaned forward slightly, danger gleaming in his violet-gold eyes. "You only need to tell me the complete method for condensing a Soul Core, word for word."

"Never!"

Xiao Wu refused without hesitation, her eyes filled with 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. Life Lake at the center of the Star Dou Great Forest has quite nice scenery. That monkey called the Titan Giant Ape, and that snake called the Azure Sky Bull Python, presumably they know this secret."

Xiao Wu's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

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

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

"What do you think would happen if I brought my grandfather and Grandpa Sword to visit them beneath the lake? And while I'm at it, told them that the Xiao Wu they cherish most is currently in my hands, unable to live or die..."

A demonic smile curled across Gu En's lips.

"Do you think they would obediently hand over the secret of the Soul Core to save you? Or would they... simply become my grandfather's soul rings?"

"Don't! Don't touch them!"

Xiao Wu completely broke down.

She screamed and tried to throw herself at Gu En, but the spatial shackles dragged her firmly in place, cutting bloody marks into her wrists.

Da Ming and Er Ming were the last family she had left in this world!

Watching Xiao Wu's collapse, Gu En knew the timing was about right.

He set down his teacup, and his voice suddenly became low and deeply seductive:

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

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