As the words fell, Yao Chongshan could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. He cursed Wei Tu as "shameless" and prepared to drain his own magic power and self-destruct, to avoid further humiliation at Wei Tu's hands.
However... just as Yao Chongshan began to channel his magic power, Wei Tu, standing before him, seemed prepared. With a flick of his sleeve, a black talisman shot out and landed on Yao Chongshan's forehead, completely sealing off all of his internal magic power.
Instantly, Yao Chongshan lost even the ability to self-destruct.
"Wei Tu, how can you do this?"
Yao Chongshan, seeing that his magic power had been sealed, turned pale. He could not help but glare at Wei Tu and said, "I am a Sword Immortal of the Earth Sword Mountain, and you have captured me alive, insulted me... but why can't I even end my own life now?"
After saying this, Yao Chongshan trembled with both anger and fear.
After all, for someone of his rank, even if he had committed a great mistake, it was common to end his life with honor. But now, Wei Tu had taken away even that small dignity.
Clearly, this meant that Wei Tu would not let him off easily.
Now that his magic power was sealed, he could not even perform a simple "bite the tongue" death like an ordinary person, even if he had enough strength as a cultivator.
"I, Wei Tu, in the cultivation world, have always avoided offending enemies. But Yao Chongshan, you have gone too far," Wei Tu said coldly.
"If today I kill you easily, would any cultivator dare to form enmity with me in the future?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Tu's expression turned cold. He glanced at Yao Chongshan, then shifted his gaze to Tang Kejing, Gu Jiyang, and Song Wu, lingering on each of them for a moment.
Seeing this, Tang Kejing and the others immediately understood. Wei Tu was making an example of Yao Chongshan, using his death to send a warning to the cultivation world of Kang Nation. He was declaring his tyrannical nature and how fiercely he protected his own.
"Wei Tu's reputation in Kang Nation has always been that of a benevolent figure... and perhaps that's why Yao Chongshan and his wife dared to disregard his kindness," Tang Kejing muttered under his breath.
Indeed, if Wei Tu's reputation outside were as domineering and protective as it was now, Yao Chongshan and his wife likely wouldn't have dared to provoke him, let alone kill his master Che Gongwei.
However, after thinking this, Tang Kejing shook his head. He didn't think this was too realistic.
It was clear to him that Wei Tu had only reached the Nascent Soul stage in the last decade or so.
Before Yao Chongshan killed Che Gongwei, Wei Tu's cultivation must have still been at the Golden Core stage.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have waited until today to take revenge.
At the Golden Core stage, even if Wei Tu spoke so grandly, very few would listen.
One point was clear.
When your cultivation level rises, people start listening.
A cultivator at the Golden Core stage could not intimidate a Nascent Soul cultivator's direct disciple, such as Yao Chongshan.
...
After speaking, Wei Tu stopped saying more. With a cold snort, he opened his mouth slightly and exhaled a stream of Profound Nether Yin Fire, burning it toward Yao Chongshan.
This Profound Nether Yin Fire, a demonic spirit flame, was cold and extremely yin. Not only could it restrain ghostly beings, but it was also an excellent weapon for torturing cultivators.
Under the searing heat of the Profound Nether Yin Fire, Yao Chongshan immediately let out a shrill scream. He twisted and rolled in the yellow cloud, unable to stop the pain.
"No! No! Let me go!"
"Give me a quick death!"
Yao Chongshan began pleading.
Even though he was tough, he could hardly withstand the sensation of his soul and flesh being slowly burned away.
Moreover, with the death of Guan Yingzhi, he had no more hopes left. The humiliation or not was no longer something worth caring about for him.
He only wished for a swift end.
However, Wei Tu had no intention of showing mercy.
He knew that the more painful his torture of Yao Chongshan, the more people would think twice before crossing him in the future.
Time slowly passed.
Seven days later, under the torment of Wei Tu's Profound Nether Yin Fire, Yao Chongshan's soul and body were completely burned away, leaving behind only a small amount of blue ash.
"From now on, the world will no longer have a person named Yao Chongshan."
"Master, you can rest in peace now."
Wei Tu flicked his sleeve, retrieving the Profound Nether Yin Fire from Yao Chongshan's "corpse" and sighed softly.
Years ago, he had become a disciple of Che Gongwei due to the troubles caused by the Wind Cleaving Eagle. At the recommendation of Li Daoyuan, he had reluctantly joined the loose immortal alliance under a Golden Core master.
For a century, his relationship with his "benefactor master" had been purely based on mutual benefit.
But a century ago, when he and Su Bing'er were captured and taken to the Great Void realm, everything changed.
True feelings emerged in times of hardship. When Che Gongwei presented him with the Golden Flame Pearl, that moment marked the moment Che Gongwei became his true master in his heart.
After a brief moment of silence, Wei Tu didn't want to stay any longer. He made a hand sign and retrieved the yellow cloud pouch. Then, in an instant, he disappeared without a trace.
"Did Senior Wei leave?"
"Did he really leave?"
Seeing the world before them change and return to the scene from seven days ago, Tang Kejing and the others couldn't help but pinch their cheeks, unsure of what to think.
Though they had known seven days ago that Wei Tu probably wouldn't kill the three innocent of them, seeing Yao Chongshan burned alive by Wei Tu had caused their sense of "relief" to turn into "nervousness," fearing that Wei Tu might take out his anger on them.
Fortunately, everything passed without major incident.
They survived.
"It's time to leave, it should be done now," Tang Kejing said quietly.
Upon hearing this, Gu Jiyang and Song Wu looked around with their spiritual sense and muttered to themselves.
After saying that, the three of them exchanged glances, not hesitating anymore, and immediately disappeared, heading back toward Earth Sword Mountain as if they were fleeing.
At this point, the three of them had lost interest in attending the secret market auction at the Falling Cloud Square.
After escaping for a full day and night, when they were almost in sight of Earth Sword Mountain's gate, they finally slowed down their steps.
At that moment, Tang Kejing turned around, glanced at the exhausted-looking Gu Jiyang and Song Wu, and coldly said, "Once we return to Earth Sword Mountain, make sure to put the blame on Yao Shidi and Guan Shimei. That old demon is not someone we can deal with."
"If revenge comes, he won't spare the three of us."
Hearing this, Gu Jiyang and Song Wu nodded repeatedly, indicating they would follow the plan.
Neither of them had forgotten the painful cries of Yao Chongshan when he was burned to death seven days ago.
No one would want such a tragic fate to fall on themselves.
"We remember, Yao Shidi and Guan Shimei deserved to die, and it has nothing to do with Old Demon Wei."
Gu Jiyang and Song Wu made their stance clear again.
...
On the other side, after fleeing from the Falling Cloud Square area, Wei Tu returned to the underground prison where Elder Ma was held.
At this point, he had no idea that he had earned the infamous reputation of being "Old Demon Wei," the terrifying demon capable of stopping children from crying, according to Tang Kejing, Gu Jiyang, and Song Wu.
Of course, if he had known, Wei Tu would probably have sneered at it, not taking it seriously.
After all, if you compared ages, at less than four hundred years old, he was far younger than Tang Kejing and the others, and couldn't really be considered an "old demon."
"Now, Yao Chongshan and his wife are dead. There's no need to keep you around."
When Wei Tu entered the cave, he didn't waste any time. He glanced at Elder Ma indifferently, then casually slapped him, ending the lingering trouble in an instant.
After dealing with this, Wei Tu paused for a moment, then activated his spiritual light and flew out of the underground prison.
He chose a direction and began flying swiftly, using his Nascent Soul stage speed.
Fifteen minutes later.
Wei Tu entered a small city and captured a young, thin-faced cultivator.
"Is it you, Wei Tu?"
The young cultivator was Wei Hua. Seeing Wei Tu, his expression immediately changed, and he was filled with panic.
"You... How do you know my whereabouts?" Wei Hua asked, his voice trembling.
Wei Tu didn't have the patience to explain. He pressed his palm to Wei Hua's crown and began to extract his soul and memories.
"'Lifesaving Star Lamp'?"
Soon, Wei Tu found the technique of the golden core's cicada shedding in Wei Hua's soul.
However, when Wei Tu saw the origin of this secret technique, he couldn't help but show surprise, muttering, "Interesting."
It turned out that the origin of this technique was connected to Tian Qiuyun and Situ You.
According to his investigation from a hundred years ago, Tian Qiuyun's affection for Wei Hua began when he saved her during an ambush, and that's when she lost her body to him.
However, after searching Wei Hua's soul just now, he realized that the outside story was significantly distorted.
In reality, Tian Qiuyun had never been attacked by assassins. She and Wei Hua had discovered an ancient cultivation site together, and when she saw Wei Hua obtain the true inheritance of the cave, she had fallen for him.
This version was the truth.
Otherwise, Wei Tu didn't believe that Situ You and Tian Qiuyun would care about a simple loss of innocence.
After all, both of them had already become Dao partners after Wei Hua faked his death.
"Too bad for Situ You, though. He's still in the dark."
Wei Tu shook his head.
Initially, he thought Situ You married Tian Qiuyun to plot for the Sword Master's position.
But now, he felt that possibility was extremely slim.
It seemed he truly loved Tian Qiuyun.
From what Wei Tu learned through soul searching, he discovered that in Wei Hua's heart, Situ You, though not completely innocent, was by no means the cunning, old fox Wei Tu had imagined.
Generally speaking, one's opponent knows them better than anyone else.
In other words, if anyone understood Situ You the best, it was Wei Hua.