Several cold iron chains as thick as the mouth of a bowl pierced Li Qianli's Pipa Bones, suspending him above the Blackwater Pool, his lower body almost submerged in its pitch-black water. He was naked, his skin a mingling of deathly gray and dark green poison markings. Numerous wounds had festered and oozed pus, and his breath was as feeble as a candle guttering in the wind.
Besides the chains, three long, slender Origin-Sealing Needles were buried deep in vital points along the Governing Vessel on his back. Black and lusterless, they were clearly forged from a special material, designed specifically to seal the circulation of a high-level martial artist's true qi and prevent him from drawing upon Heaven-and-Earth Spiritual Qi to save himself.
Pierce the Pipa Bones, seal the points of the Governing Vessel.
This was treatment reserved for the gravest of offenders, intended to strip him of every possible means of resistance or suicide while keeping a single breath in him, refusing to let him die at once. They were indeed planning to "cast a long line to catch a big fish." A dead man had no value, and neither did a half-dead man whose cultivation had been destroyed.
Only "bait" that retained its cultivation but could no longer move might lure in a truly big fish.
Besides Li Qianli, two mangled figures lay on the cold stone floor in a corner-Li Duozuo and Li Sichong.
Their Pipa Bones had likewise been pierced, and their injuries were severe. The stump of Li Duozuo's severed arm had begun to rot and blacken, while the wounds across Li Sichong's chest and abdomen were deep enough to expose bone. Both men were barely conscious, clinging to life by a single breath. Clearly, they had received additional "attention" after being brought here.