The Mastermind Appears, Yu Xiaogang's Mad Obsession (2)

An hour later. In the eerie underground interrogation room of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Six people were captured alive today. Ling Yun personally investigated their backgrounds. The highest Soul Power among them was only level 53, and the lowest was only level 41. In the Soul Master World, they were just a bunch of mediocre thugs, not experts at all. The most outrageous thing was that these six people didn't even know each other; they were a makeshift group that had been temporarily put together.

Ning Fengzhi sat in the main seat, looking at the thick stack of confessions on the table, his brows furrowed. "Ling Yun, the confessions have all been verified. They were all temporarily hired in the underground Black Market. The mission each of them received was strikingly similar: at all costs, as long as they could obtain a drop of Xiao Wu's blood with that needle, the mission would be completed. The reward was extremely generous, 100,000 Gold Soul Coins per person."

Bone Douluo Gu Rong sneered from the side, his eyes full of disdain. "One hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins? That's incredibly generous. That amount of money is enough to buy those six pieces of trash's lives and have them die ten times over."

Ling Yun leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Uncle Ning, did you find out where they exchanged the goods?"

"I got the information." Ning Fengzhi nodded, pointing to a point on the map. "Blackstone Post Station. An abandoned commercial inn about eighty miles southwest of Heaven Dou City. The employer requires them to throw the syringe used to draw blood into the third dry well in the inn's backyard before midnight on the fifteenth of each month. Then they can leave. The remaining 100,000 Gold Soul Coins will be delivered to their designated Black Market bank the next day."

Ling Yun narrowed his eyes and coldly Analytic, "So, from receiving the order and taking action to the final delivery, these idiots didn't even see a single hair on the employer's head from beginning to end?"

"No. Not even a code name." Ning Fengzhi sighed.

Ling Yun nodded. "This mastermind is extremely cautious and leaves no room for error."

Ning Fengzhi looked at Ling Yun: "You're quick-witted, what's your opinion on this?"

"To put it bluntly, these six people are just a bunch of idiots used as cannon fodder." Ling Yun stepped forward, picked up the confession, and casually tossed it back onto the table. "They weren't even part of the core organization, not even the most peripheral errand runners. The mastermind just paid for a bunch of irresponsible 'knives' to test our reaction and try their luck."

Just then, the heavy iron door to the basement was pushed open, and Dugu Bo walked in with a gloomy expression. He was carrying a tray, on which lay the disassembled black blood-drawing needle.

"I've figured out this damn thing completely." Dugu Bo's voice echoed in the empty basement.

All eyes immediately turned to him.

Dugu Bo slammed the tray down on the table. "This thing is ten times more insidious than I imagined in the forest. Not only does it have Leech Life mechanism on the needle tip, but it's also coated with an extremely rare and special alchemical potion. Once this potion pierces the prey's skin and comes into contact with blood, it won't suck ordinary blood; instead, like a mad dog, it will prioritize Absorb the most vital and purest part of the prey's blood."

Dugu Yan frowned, immediately realizing what was happening. "Grandfather, you mean... essence blood? The primordial essence blood of Soul Master?"

"That's roughly the idea, but it's more serious than ordinary essence blood." Dugu Bo nodded solemnly. "If an ordinary, strong Soul Master were pricked by this needle and had a small amount of their primordial blood drawn, they would at most fall seriously ill and be weak for ten to fifteen days before recovering. But if... the object being pricked has an extremely vast and pure life essence..."

Dugu Bo paused for a moment, then looked heavily at Xiao Wu, who had been quietly staying beside Ling Yun.

"If what's taken is something from her body, its value, in the eyes of some madmen, is immeasurable in monetary terms."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wu turned pale and instinctively clenched her fists so tightly that her nails almost dug into her flesh.

Ling Yun suppressed his anger and asked in a deep voice, "Old Poison, explain yourself clearly. There are so many Soul Beasts in the world, and many Soul Masters with special bloodlines. Why are those people willing to expose themselves to keep targeting Xiao Wu? Why must it be her?"

Dugu Bo remained silent for a full five or six seconds before slowly speaking, "Because Xiao Wu's current physical condition is extremely special and unique in the entire Douluo Continent."

He pointed at Xiao Wu, then at the horrific investigation records brought back from the massacred town on the table.

"She is a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast who has completely transformed into human form. This means that she now possesses the exact same physical structure, the same human meridians, and the same way of executing Soul Power as us humans. However, the life essence flowing in her bones and deep within her soul is still the essence of that top-tier Soul Beast that lived for 100,000 years,"

Dugu Bo took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly. "However, Xiao Wu's blood, which perfectly combines the human body form with the ten-thousand-year-old essence of a high-level Soul Beast... in those insane fusion experiments, could very well serve as a perfect..."

He thought for a long time and finally found the most suitable word, "A catalyst. A super catalyst that can perfectly neutralize all the violent and conflicting bloodlines."

The air in the underground interrogation room suddenly turned as cold as an icebox.

Three hundred and seventy-six living human lives.

Three villages and towns where innocent people were massacred.

The drained life force and the collapsed magic array on site testified to the repeated failures of the experiment.

And now.

Xiao Wu. Hundred-Thousand-Year Transformed Soul Beast.

At this moment, all the scattered clues finally converged into a clear and terrifying line. What the other side wanted was to use Xiao Wu's life to pave their heinous path of evil cultivation.

Ling Yun lowered his head, remaining silent. His gaze was fixed on the thin Black Needle on the table, and a storm seemed to be brewing deep within his dark eyes.

He was too quiet. So quiet it was frightening.

Xiao Wu, on the contrary, became a little worried about him. She reached out her slightly cool hand, gently grasped Ling Yun's sleeve, and tugged at it. "Brother Yun."

Ling Yun turned around, looked at Xiao Wu's somewhat pale face, and forced a smile.

"I'm fine, Brother Yun," Xiao Wu said, trying to appear calm.

"I know you're alright." Ling Yun raised his hand, pulled Xiao Wu to his side, and held her tightly behind him.

Then, he turned back to look at the lancet on the table. His voice was surprisingly calm, without a trace of Rage.

"I just suddenly realized," Ling Yun tapped the table lightly with his finger, "That these scumbags who hide in the shadows and play with other people's blood are really tired of living."

At the same time, Heaven Dou City, in an extremely secluded underground stronghold filled with the pungent smell of medicine.

Yu Xiaogang, who once enjoyed the prestigious title of "Grandmaster" in the Soul Master World but is now infamous, lay sprawled like a dead dog in front of a large stone table.

A thick, soft cushion supported his lower body. The last time he Sheer Force practiced that evil art of merging bloodlines, he suffered a terrifying backlash due to the blood conflict, and the injuries he sustained still hadn't healed. Especially a certain indescribable part of his lower body; sitting for even a short time would cause excruciating pain. Therefore, the once high and mighty Grandmaster could neither stand nor sit, and could only humiliatingly bend over on the table, like a pathetic clown.

The heavy stone door creaked and slowly opened. Yu Tianheng walked in expressionlessly.

"The operation failed." Yu Tianheng looked at Yu Xiaogang lying there, his eyes showing no respect for his elder, only unfathomable indifference.

Yu Xiaogang abruptly raised his head, his previously stiff face contorted with pain and anxiety. "What failure? Explain yourself!"

"Those idiots you hired on the Black Market failed to get the blood," Yu Tianheng said coldly.

Yu Xiaogang's face instantly turned extremely pale. He struggled to stand up, pulling at his wound and gasping for breath in pain. "How could it fail? That's a specially made blood-drawing needle; even if it only scratches the skin..."

Yu Tianheng interrupted him without any politeness, "Because Ling Yun was there at the time."

Yu Xiaogang instantly fell silent, like a duck whose neck had been choked.

Yu Tianheng crossed his arms, his tone growing increasingly sarcastic, like a knife stabbing into Yu Xiaogang's heart. "Yu Xiaogang, what can I say to you? You spent 100,000 Gold Soul Coins to hire a few pieces of trash who aren't even Soul Emperors, and one of them is even Soul Ancestor. And then, you expect this bunch of trash to stab the woman most precious to that Killing Star Ling Yun right under his nose?"

Yu Tianheng sneered, looking down at the uncle he had once been so proud of. "Didn't you suffer a backlash from your evil technique last time, and not only did you injure your lower body, but you also had your brain pulled out along with your intestines?"

Yu Xiaogang's face instantly turned as green as a moldy Ju Zi, and he roared furiously, "Yu Tianheng, how dare you! I'm your own uncle!"

"I'm just stating a fact that you can't accept," Yu Tianheng said, showing no sign of backing down.

"Shut up!"

"Fine, I'll shut up." Yu Tianheng casually pulled out a chair and sat down, saying nonchalantly, "Anyway, none of the people you hired escaped; Ling Yun caught them all and took them back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Just wait for the trail to be pulled."

Yu Xiaogang froze instantly, cold sweat pouring down his back. "What did you say? Arrested them all?!"

Not a single one was left. Not even a single one had a chance to commit suicide.

"Useless trash, a bunch of good-for-nothings!" Yu Xiaogang said angrily, slamming his hand heavily on the stone table.

As a result, the movement was too large, aggravating an old injury in her lower body.

"Hiss--ah," Yu Xiaogang let out an extremely shrill scream, his whole body curled up on the soft cushion in pain, his facial features twisted like a pretzel.

Yu Tianheng glanced at him coldly, without saying a word. But that look, mixed with pity and extreme contempt, was more humiliating to Yu Xiaogang than the most vicious curse. Yu Xiaogang's face turned completely black, and even his breathing became heavy.