"Hahaha... cough cough... hahaha..." Feng Tairan laughed bitterly, coughing up blood as he did.
"Terms? Hahaha, Gu Yue Holy Son, do you even know what's happened in the lair of the Demon Ox?" Feng Tairan sneered coldly.
"Hm?" Gu Yue Holy Son cast a puzzled glance at Feng Tairan.
"The Demon Ox is a Void Stage demon beast. It didn't just vanish; it was subdued over a month ago. And not just the Demon Ox. One by one, all the Void Stage demon beasts in the Wind Demon Mountain Range have disappeared because they've been tamed!" Feng Tairan said with a sinister smile.
"Subdued?" The surrounding cultivators were stunned.
A Void Stage demon beast—who could possibly subdue such creatures? And not just one, but an entire group of them. Were all the demon beasts in the Wind Demon Mountain Range really being tamed?
"Oh? Subdued? By whom?" Gu Yue Holy Son asked calmly.
"Cough cough, heh, by your rival, Yao Tianshang," Feng Tairan said with a weak, mocking laugh.
"Yao Tianshang?" Gu Yue Holy Son's pupils constricted.
"You must've gathered some information by now. Why did the demon beasts of the Wind Demon Mountain Range flee? Because Duan Sanshu's team broke a seal, and the aura released within terrified the demon beasts. That aura was an extermination force meant to obliterate all demons. While humans didn't sense much, the demon race felt nothing but endless death, so they ran!" Feng Tairan spoke in a cold voice, still coughing up blood.
"That aura only appeared for an instant, but it struck deep into the souls of the demons. They don't know exactly where it came from, but they have a general idea. Yao Tianshang, having subdued the demon beasts, will soon pinpoint the seal's location through their descriptions," Feng Tairan said, his voice chilling.
"Yao Tianshang's forces are growing, and they're all at the Void Stage. The gap between you and him is closing, and he'll find the seal soon, very soon," Feng Tairan said gravely.
Gu Yue Holy Son's eyes narrowed.
"We're not negotiating terms here. We just want a way out. If you deny us even that, why should we tell you where it is? Torture us? Interrogate us? Haha, go ahead. Duan Sanshu and I don't fear that. The longer this drags on, the greater Yao Tianshang's chances of obtaining the treasures within the seal," Feng Tairan said, coughing up more blood.
"Holy Son, this stubborn old fool won't talk. Allow me to break his will," Wei Jie said sternly.
"Holy Son, let me handle this. My Soul-Cracking Technique will have him begging for death in an instant."
"Holy Son, I have experience with this sort of thing. Allow me," others chimed in.
One by one, the subordinates stepped forward, eager to take on the task.
Mr. Wen frowned slightly and stepped out. "Holy Son, I think we should reconsider. The Dahe Sect can't run forever, and Feng Tairan wouldn't dare give you false information. Let them speak and then release them."
"Hm?" Gu Yue Holy Son's face darkened as he looked at Mr. Wen.
"Holy Son, this is a win-win situation," Mr. Wen insisted.
"I don't like being threatened," Gu Yue Holy Son said, his voice cold.
His words left Mr. Wen speechless. After a bitter smile, he nodded and stepped back.
Here, Gu Yue Holy Son's authority was absolute. No one dared oppose him, in strength or status.
Wei Jie quickly stepped forward. "Holy Son, two of my junior brothers, Wei Jia and Wei Yi, practice the 'Mystic Nether Twin Qi.' It corrodes the soul. Once it touches him, he will know unbearable pain. No one can withstand such torment. Let them handle it."
From behind Wei Jie, two green-faced men stepped forward respectfully.
Gu Yue Holy Son glanced at them and nodded slightly.
Meanwhile, Yan Chuan's army forged ahead through the mountains, rapidly approaching the lair of the Demon Ox.
From afar, they saw a large number of cultivators gathered around a vast canyon.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
From the canyon came two blood-curdling screams.
"It's the Sect Master!" Jiu Jiansheng's face changed drastically.
"Third Uncle, that's Third Uncle's voice!" The Three Sword Siblings' faces turned pale.
"Hurry, go!" Yan Chuan urged again.
"Rumble!"
The group of experts rushed toward the canyon.
In the depths of the canyon, Gu Yue Holy Son and his followers watched from above.
Below, Wei Jia and Wei Yi exhaled plumes of green mist from their palms, enveloping Feng Tairan and Duan Sanshu, whose faces were ashen black.
The green mist swirled around them, and already gravely injured and poisoned, the two were shivering uncontrollably, their bodies coated in frost.
"Speak! Tell us now!" Wei Jia demanded coldly.
"Ah!"
"Haha, ah!"
The two men cried out in agony, laughing bitterly, yet still refusing to utter a word.
"Speak! Now!" Wei Yi shouted impatiently.
The surrounding experts frowned deeply. These two men were too resilient, enduring such torment yet staying silent.
Gu Yue Holy Son's expression grew darker and more foreboding.
"If you don't speak, I'll shatter your soul!" Wei Jia threatened.
But even as Duan Sanshu screamed in pain, he glared at Wei Jia with defiance, refusing to give in.
"You want to die?" Wei Jia's face twisted in anger, and his hands began to glow with a violet light, ready to shatter Duan Sanshu's soul.
"Stop!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Suddenly, a hundred sword lights shot forth, heading straight for Wei Jia and Wei Yi in the canyon below.
"Hm?"
The two were caught off guard as the sword lights neared.
"Hmph!"
Each of them snorted coldly, sending out palm strikes.
"Boom!"
The hundred sword lights shattered instantly.
Jiu Jiansheng and the Seven Sword Siblings had attacked, but Wei Jia and Wei Yi had easily dispelled their strikes.
But it was enough. At least now, they had stopped tormenting Feng Tairan and Duan Sanshu.
"Thud!"
Feng Tairan and Duan Sanshu collapsed to the ground, trembling.
"Rumble!"
Yan Chuan's army steadily marched into the canyon. That shout of "Stop!" had come from Yan Chuan himself.
"Sect Master, are you alright?"
"Third Uncle, are you okay?"
Jiu Jiansheng and the Seven Sword Siblings rushed to help the two tortured men to their feet.
At first, Wei Jia and Wei Yi had dismissed Yan Chuan's presence. But as more and more people arrived, many of them familiar faces from various sects, the two began to realize the gravity of the situation. Behind Yan Chuan stood no fewer than eight hundred experts.
Eight hundred cultivators, all above the Qi Stage?
Wei Jia and Wei Yi's expressions darkened.
The surrounding experts in the canyon were also alarmed by the sheer size of this gathering.
Gu Yue Holy Son narrowed his eyes at Yan Chuan.
"Yan Chuan, you dare show your face here?" Wei Jie shouted.
Yan Chuan shot Wei Jie a cold glance before turning to Gu Yue Holy Son.
"Gu Yue Holy Son, we meet again. I hope I haven't interrupted your enjoyment," Yan Chuan said calmly.
"Enjoyment? Hmph!" Gu Yue Holy Son snorted coldly.
Seeing the tension, Mr. Wen hurriedly said, "Yan Chuan, Feng Tairan and Duan Sanshu know the location that Holy Son seeks, yet they refuse to speak and dare to threaten the Holy Son. You should persuade them to reveal the location so the Holy Son may deal with them leniently."
"Oh?" Yan Chuan glanced at Feng Tairan and instantly understood the situation.
"Yan Chuan, take your people and leave!" Gu Yue Holy Son said in a low voice.
"Did you hear that? The Holy Son is telling you to get lost!" Wei Jie barked.
Yan Chuan smiled faintly but did not retreat. Instead, he spoke again: "Gu Yue Holy Son spares me today because in Liangjing, I aided him in breaking Yao Tianshang's sound calamity, am I right?"
Gu Yue Holy Son's gaze turned icy, his patience wearing thin.
"Hmph, Yan Chuan! The Holy Son rewarded you with a bottle of Purlo Dew. That favor has already been repaid. The Holy Son owes you nothing. If you don't leave now, don't blame us for showing no mercy!" Wei Jie shouted.
"Silence!" Yan Chuan's eyes flared with fury.
"You... you..." Wei Jie stammered, embarrassed and enraged at being rebuked in front of thousands of cultivators.
"Is Gu Yue Holy Son's victory over Yao Tianshang worth only a bottle of Purlo Dew? Dare you say that again, here before the experts of a hundred sects? Do you dare claim that the Holy Son's triumph is worth nothing more than a bottle of dew?" Yan Chuan's voice boomed.
Wei Jie's face went pale. How could the Holy Son's victory be valued so low? No one would dare say such a thing, especially in front of hundreds of powerful cultivators. If he said it, Gu Yue Holy Son would surely be