Chapter 691: Releasing Difficulties

Considering the excessive noise downstairs, he also released a soundproofing barrier.

Having set up the formation, he casually picked up the candle from the table and lit it within the formation.

Soon, the candlelight stood perfectly still.

Then, Red General extended her index and middle fingers and directly pressed them into the captive's brow!

If she wished, she could easily poke a hole through tempered steel. These two fingers indeed penetrated the young man's brow, but his brain didn't burst.

A blurry shadow was pushed out from the back of his head by Red General.

He Lingchuan immediately recognized that this must be the young man's soul. However, his soul wasn't strong; his facial features were very indistinct, unable to form a clear face.

It was still floating in mid-air, bewildered. Red General pulled out half a piece of seabed wood, immediately grasped the soul, and tucked it inside.

Her movements looked as if she was stuffing a crumpled piece of paper into a core ring.

Very skilled and casual.

The young man who had lost his soul instantly became expressionless.

Red General casually gripped his neck and slowly applied pressure.

The young man began to gasp for breath, his face turning red.

"Come out," Red General said again. "If you don't come out, I'll ruin this body."

No sooner had she spoken, the young man's vacant, dazed eyes shifted and suddenly fixated on Red General.

"Le-let..." he whispered, his voice extremely faint as he was being choked.

Red General released her grip, letting him cough violently several times.

"Long time no see, Mitian," the young man said hoarsely, clutching his neck. "You're still so crude!"

The mask on her face quickly dissolved, revealing a face as exquisite as a celestial being's and as cold as porcelain.

Mitian had revealed her true form.

After the young man finished coughing, he pointed at He Lingchuan and boldly said, "Go, get me a cup of water."

Mitian also nodded at He Lingchuan, who then brought a cup of hot tea to the captive.

Shinan took it and gulped it down in a few mouthfuls.

"Mitian, where exactly is your true body hidden?" he asked, no longer trying to be coy. "The entire divine realm is looking for you. To see you, I have to send a clone to the human world—it's too inconvenient!"

Mitian's face was expressionless. "Do you think I'd tell you?"

"I don't care where you are," Shinan chuckled. "But Saint Lord Lingxu is very concerned about you and wants to catch up."

"I've been at odds with them for a long time; why is he looking for me now?" Mitian's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "Last time he sent the Ghost Mother Jindou to cause trouble on my territory, and I haven't even settled scores with them yet!"

"You know they just like to mess around," Shinan nodded. "The divine realm has been a bit turbulent lately. Haven't you noticed the Heavenly Net Star flickering frequently?"

Mitian's voice was completely flat. "I was in seclusion; I'm not sure."

"Well, that's a blatant lie," He Lingchuan thought, giving her a secret thumbs-up; it was the first time he'd ever witnessed a deity lie.

"The Heavenly Net Star flickering indicates activity from the Great Square Flask," Shinan chuckled. "That wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?"

"Why?"

"The Heavenly Net Star and the Great Square Flask are both connected to you..." Shinan's gaze flickered to He Lingchuan beside him, and he didn't finish his sentence. Instead, he changed the subject: "After that great war in the human world, you only appeared twice. And you didn't attend the Alliance of Gods recently convened by Saint Lord Lingxu."

"Is that strange?" Mitian said calmly. "The entire divine realm knows I'm at odds with them."

"Also, I heard an interesting small copper tube has appeared in the human world," Shinan said, gesturing with his hand. "It can collect demonic energy and then deliver it to us through offerings. Have you heard of it?"

He Lingchuan knew he was talking about the Dragon Punishment Pillars.

It seemed Shao Jian's mission was progressing smoothly, and this item had been quietly disseminated.

Mitian countered, "Do you have one? Let me see."

"No, how could I have one!" Shinan sighed. "I'm just a fallen minor deity, a wild god you all look down on! Who would offer me such a good item?"

"Is that so? I'd like to see it myself."

Shinan slowly said, "This is an extraordinary item! Whoever holds the Great Square Flask this time, I think their ambition is enormous, and they will certainly incur the wrath of many!"

"This item is unprecedented; perhaps only the Great Square Flask could create it," he said with a chuckle. "And I'm not the only one who thinks so."

"Why exactly are you here today?" For such a deity, even if it wasn't a divine descent, acquiring a body to convey a message wasn't easy.

"Just a reminder to beware of Saint Lord Lingxu. His wrath is not something an ordinary deity can withstand."

Mitian leaned back, her lips curled slightly. "Are you trying to curry favor with both sides?"

Shinan wasn't embarrassed and scratched his head. "I finally managed to get a few ground temples, in Xunyang Sands and Zega Islands. If Lady Mitian could occasionally look out for me, that would be wonderful."

Mitian gave him a faint smile. "Get lost."

"You should be careful," Shinan said, tilting his head to look at her. "Someone has already noticed that this body of yours is very special."

Having said that, he lowered his head.

Mitian took out the seabed wood and shook it at him.

That small ball of soul was flung out and slowly floated back into its own body.

The young man regained consciousness, rubbed his eyes, and still looked confused.

Mitian pointed downstairs and said indifferently, "Throw him out of the city."

He Lingchuan responded, helped the young man up, and headed downstairs.

The cold wind pouring in from outside made the young man shiver involuntarily.

Although Mitian's instruction was to "throw" him out, He Lingchuan still said to the approaching soldiers, "Send him out of the city immediately! When you pass the market, buy him some naan bread, jerky, and water."

After speaking, he tossed over some silver fragments and then said to the young man, "There's a post station a few miles outside the south city gate; you passed it on your way here."

The soldiers acknowledged, took the captive, and were ready to leave.

The young man suddenly turned his head and said to He Lingchuan, "You little fellow, you have a good heart."

Such an old-fashioned tone startled He Lingchuan. "You haven't left yet?"

Had the divine Shinan's clone not left yet?

Shinan turned around after saying that, intending to leave with the soldiers.

He Lingchuan, however, took a step forward and whispered, "This isn't a divine descent, is it?"

"Of course not, otherwise this body would instantly be ruined," Shinan said, rolling his eyes. "I'm merely borrowing his mouth to say a few words."

He Lingchuan seized the opportunity. "Are the divine seal marks imprints placed on bodies by deities?"

Shinan glanced at him upon hearing this, somewhat surprised. "Why do you ask?"

"Also, how does one remove divine seal marks?"

Shinan chuckled. "Do I look like a kind soul dedicated to solving problems and answering questions for people?"

Sure enough, none of these deities were good-natured. He Lingchuan took a breath. "What's the price?"

"My answers are never free," Shinan said slowly. "If you want to ask, bring an offering and come find me."

Just then, someone slapped him hard on the back of his head from behind.

Shinan cried out in surprise and stumbled.

When he regained his balance, he was again filled with confusion.

From his eyes, it was clear this was the young man's true self. This time, Shinan had truly departed.

He Lingchuan turned his head to see that the person who arrived was Red General. She had already put on her mask.

Shinan had probably been directly driven away by her. She instructed the soldiers to take the young man away, and then said to He Lingchuan, "Stay away from deities. Getting close to them will only bring disaster."

He Lingchuan lightly coughed.

The one right in front of him, wasn't she the closest to a deity?

Red General seemed to know what he was thinking and added, "Just speaking from experience."

He Lingchuan remembered the price she had paid.

He still seized the opportunity to ask one more question. "By the way, have you heard the name 'Narakuten'? Which great deity is that?"

"Narakuten?" Red General's voice was as calm as ever. "Never heard of it."

Excellent; she successfully blocked all his remaining questions.

"There are a hundred thousand deities, Mitian couldn't possibly recognize every single one," Red General said, standing beside him. "The Great Wind Army has less than a hundred thousand soldiers; do you recognize every single one of them?"

He Lingchuan could only give a wry smile and shake his head. He could only name about two hundred people; any more than that, he wouldn't recognize.

At this moment, a cry of pain came from ahead. He Lingchuan turned to look and saw that "One-Eye" had pushed his opponent off the platform.

The official overseeing the challenge simultaneously struck a gong. "This round concludes here!"

There was a limit to the number of challengers allowed on stage; otherwise, it would be an obvious war of attrition, which would be unfair to the arena master.

"Your arena will be open soon," Red General said, pointing. "Aren't you going up?"

"No," He Lingchuan said honestly. "I'll soon have a matter of life and death to attend to, and I'm a bit nervous."

"Nervous?" Red General asked him. "Is it absolutely necessary?"

"Yes, it is absolutely necessary," He Lingchuan said with a wry smile. "And the success rate isn't high."

Although every task was proceeding systematically, but the execution date was drawing closer, how could he not be nervous?

He was facing Beijia, a powerful nation rarely seen in the current age.

He was facing the deities who had secretly disrupted the world for thousands of years.

Immortals had been defeated by them.

Countless human nations had also vanished because of Beijia.

Now he was going to pull teeth from a tiger's mouth, to stir up trouble in a dangerous place, and he was going alone.

It would be strange if he weren't nervous!

"Broken Blade," Red General suddenly said. "You're afraid of death, aren't you?"

"I..." He Lingchuan opened his mouth to argue, but swallowed the words "not afraid."

Why was he nervous? He was afraid of failure.

The place he was going was a highly dangerous place. If he failed, no matter how many contingency plans he had made in advance, he might still not escape death.

Given the general circumstances, the worst possible outcome was death.

"...Yes." So Red General was right; he was indeed afraid of death.

He was just afraid that a well-laid plan would turn to naught in an instant.

"Mortals fear the outcome; immortals fear the cause," Red General said slowly. "I don't know what you're going to do, but if you dare to plant the cause today, you must bear the fruit tomorrow."

He Lingchuan nodded. "I know."

One must take responsibility for one's actions.

Red General patted his shoulder and added, "I have a good method to make you less nervous."

He Lingchuan couldn't see her face, but he inexplicably felt she was smiling.

He didn't ask "what method" because he suddenly had a bad feeling.

A killing intent!

The next instant, Red General's hand on his shoulder changed from a pat to a grasp, and she swung him out!

He Lingchuan's weight of over a hundred pounds felt as light as a walnut in her hand.

Fast, too fast!

He Lingchuan only just reacted when he was already in mid-air.

He instinctively adjusted his head-down, feet-up posture, and landed lightly with a swallow's spin, only then realizing he was standing on the arena platform!

His Arena No. 7.