Even though this was a mission, and she understood that the probability of returning alive was extremely low, the instinct for survival always made one subconsciously struggle.
Or rather... this death came far too quickly.
There was not a trace of desire in this man's expression—only scrutiny and wariness, as if he had been prepared for her all along.
Moreover, the pain in her lower abdomen grew increasingly fierce. The young woman understood that such a small knife wound should not cause such agony—this was the work of an evil cultivator.
A fate worse than death was falling into the hands of an evil cultivator, experiencing a living hell.
Li Xingtian's gaze locked onto the young woman's eyes. "Your master doesn't seem to have any intention of actually coming to save you."
"I... don't... have one." The intensifying pain contorted the young woman's entire face, her voice turning somewhat hysterical.
"I... I really don't... have anyone... directing me."
Li Xingtian gently twisted the short dagger. "Does it hurt?"
The young woman nodded vigorously, her face pale as she gripped tightly with both hands the large hand she couldn't budge.
"Then do you know that ordinary mortals who haven't experienced such things actually cannot endure this pain?" Li Xingtian's voice was calm. "If the person before me were a normal mortal, there would only be begging for mercy and confessions right now, not the composed denial you're putting on."
The gradually intensifying pain made it impossible for the young woman to maintain her initial composure. She could no longer carefully recall the techniques she had once learned—or rather, even if she did, they would likely be useless before this evil cultivator who was indifferent to women.
However, years of practice kept the instincts carved into her bones still functioning. Like dogma engraved in her divine sense, they compelled her to keep speaking.
The young woman's eyes glistened with tears, her voice soft and mournful. "I... don't..."
Confession meant certain death; only resistance offered a sliver of hope.
Li Xingtian said no more. Spiritual energy surged from his hand into the short dagger, and the young woman instantly collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The surrounding evil cultivators all remained silent, quietly and swiftly going about their tasks. None of them felt there was anything wrong with what Li Xingtian had done.
Or rather, to evil cultivators, Li Xingtian's methods were already remarkably mild. For a blood-qi evil cultivator to not perform some grotesque living transformation was already the height of restraint.
Li Xingtian raised his hand slightly. Several wisps of blood-qi instantly poured into the young woman's body, sealing all her meridians to ensure spiritual energy could no longer circulate. At the same time, he controlled the flow of blood within her, putting her into a comatose, death-like state.
He also produced a dharma treasure capable of blocking communication and detection. After activating it, he bound it directly with the young woman's hair, suspending it among her silken strands.
Since she might be a fish on the hook, she must certainly have some tricks on her. It would be best to clean everything up before sending her to Master.
He was no skilled interrogator. Whether she was a fish that had taken the bait—leave it to Master to verify.
The extra words just now were merely an attempt to extract information, to see if he could spare Master the trouble. The results, however, were less than ideal.
Whether this young woman lived or died—Master would naturally make that determination.
Wen Zuo sensed the commotion and quickly returned. His gaze immediately locked onto the young woman lying on the ground, a short dagger still embedded in her abdomen.
"You and Hall Master Yu personally escort her to my Master," Li Xingtian instructed. "Tell him this person has some issues, and ask Master to investigate for me whether she's from an enemy faction. This takes priority—set out now."
Wen Zuo naturally understood what Li Xingtian hadn't stated explicitly—this was very likely the bait having caught something. He hastily cupped his hands.
"As you command."
———————
East Victory Divine Continent, Qu Lin.
For no other reason—spiritual energy was barren.
The spiritual veins flowing through Yaoguang Immortal City should have also coursed through this place, but they had been intercepted by Yaoguang Immortal City. As a result, the spiritual energy here was extremely sparse.
At least in Chu Xingchen's estimation, the spiritual energy content here could rival that of Ten-Mile Slope in the Xuanwu Kingdom of South Jambu Continent.
Those who remained here were almost entirely mortals—even demonic beasts didn't show their faces here.
Though spiritual energy was sparse, the population here was decent, and the land was fairly fertile. Standing in the air, Chu Xingchen could see that it was at least a livable land.
It simply wouldn't be a cultivator's paradise.
Investigating the [Demon] naturally couldn't rely solely on Li Xingtian posing as an evil cultivator, while Chu Xingchen hid in Yaoguang Immortal Pavilion enjoying fine food and drink, waiting for news.
Moreover, Li Xingtian's line might not necessarily catch any fish. Chu Xingchen naturally had to make alternative arrangements.
Yuyang Daozi was tracking down the specific background of the evil cultivator who had once possessed the [Imitation Rule Crystal], as well as following up on intelligence leads. Ideally, they'd determine when and where the item had first appeared.
The Tai Dao Sect's intelligence network and influence had been rooted in the East Victory Divine Continent for a thousand years. This was far beyond what the simple spies the Tian Yan Sect had deployed could compare with.
It had to be said—Yuyang Daozi's willingness to help indeed saved them enormous effort.
The Tian Yan Sect had initially worried whether the Tai Dao Sect would obstruct them. Now, with Yuyang Daozi's support, the Tai Dao Sect had also begun mobilizing for this matter—this was an extremely powerful asset.
Since they had promised not to withhold any intelligence when they first asked Yuyang Daozi for help.
Chu Xingchen simply handed over all intelligence processing and operational arrangements to Yuyang Daozi. From what Chu Xingchen understood, Yuyang Daozi was now coordinating investigations across seven lines.
The last time Chu Xingchen saw Yuyang Daozi, even though he was directly scanning incoming messages with his divine sense, he still appeared rather busy.
After all, besides receiving intelligence, he also had to arrange subsequent actions based on that intelligence.
Seeing this, Chu Xingchen didn't just share the Tai Dao Sect's intelligence—he let Yuyang Daozi review the Tian Yan Sect's direct intelligence first as well.
He directly pulled Xie Lingyu out of that busy paperwork too.
Since the intelligence system also contained the Tian Yan Sect's classified information, Yuyang Daozi couldn't call on other Tai Dao Sect disciples or elders to help process it.
Chu Xingchen had shown his sincerity; naturally, Yuyang Daozi couldn't fall behind.
He, the nominal commander overseeing all operations, led Xie Lingyu to investigate based on the intelligence Yuyang Daozi sent back, seeing if they could find anything useful from the faintest of traces.
Chu Xingchen's arrangement actually carried another intention.
As the next head of the Tai Dao Sect, Yuyang Daozi's ability to organize affairs was naturally not lacking. But Chu Xingchen's true trump card—the one that could achieve unexpected victories and grasp any trace of a clue—was his tag-reading ability to see through people.
Sometimes evidence and people will lie, but tags will not.
Xie Lingyu glanced at Chu Xingchen, who looked serious. After holding back for a moment, she finally asked:
"Is there no problem with Yuyang Daozi's side?"
Chu Xingchen withdrew his gaze and said with an innocent expression, "You mean the fact that Yuyang Daozi now knows about the Tian Yan Sect's hidden operatives? Don't worry, I've already spoken with Yan Yun. She said she'll arrange everything going forward—these matters aren't any trouble for her."
Xie Lingyu sighed softly.
"I have a feeling that after this is all done, Yuyang Daozi is going to cut ties with you."
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