An hour later, most people had withdrawn from the Windforest Star River, leaving only the Enforcement Hall, Yun Huanling, Gu Ningyun, and a few others behind.
Now, the nine captives were begging for mercy.
Watching them plead, Su Jiu realized for the first time that Spirit Transformation and Void Refinement cultivators were no different from ordinary people when their lives were threatened.
There was nothing to them but ugliness and wretchedness.
Su Jiu thought she would probably never become like them.
Having received Xia Jue's orders, Yang Guo walked up to the captives and silently looked them over one by one.
From her manner, she clearly intended to interrogate them further.
Yang Guo pointed out an unremarkable-looking Spirit Transformation cultivator to Eleventh.
Eleventh hauled the man out of the group.
A blue barrier of light abruptly rose, and Eleventh threw the man inside. Shortly afterward, Yang Guo entered as well.
An incense stick's worth of time later, Yang Guo emerged, her face deathly pale. She was also carrying the cultivator who had gone in with her.
Yang Guo pressed her lips together and shook her head at Xia Jue. "I'm sorry. My Cultivation Level isn't high enough. There was only so much I could get out of him."
"How long did it last?"
"The effective duration was less than half an incense stick."
The effective duration they referred to was the period during which she could fully draw out the other person's subconscious.
Xia Jue was hardly surprised by this result. Her Cultivation Level was what it was, after all. With Yang Guo's Out-of-Body Cultivation Level, lasting even half an incense stick was no easy feat.
"Tell me what you learned."
Yang Guo paused, then reported, "The person who formed contracts with them wore a black cloak that covered them