Chapter 87: Unexpected Surprise

Exactly! Of course, if the other party hadn't broken the agreement and had continued to provide him with demonic energy, he wouldn't have brought this up. If you insist on talking about right and wrong, how can we continue to be civil?

This question hit a sensitive spot. Sun Shigang was at a loss for words. How could he admit that he was there to kill Wu Jinliang, especially when he was already in their hands? In an instant, his intense anger turned into stubborn denial. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Since he refused to speak, Shi Chun then asked something else: "Are you still willing to provide me with demonic energy?"

Only half a month had passed out of the three months. If the other party was willing to provide him with demonic energy to solidify his cultivation, he was willing to spend more time cultivating there.

"Haha..." Sun Shigang laughed uproariously, a bitter, self-mocking laugh at his own foolishness. He retorted, "You can cultivate using demonic energy; I know this secret. Do you think you'll let me leave here alive?"

As his words ended, his cheeks puffed out. Shi Chun's eyes flashed, and he quickly pulled Wu Jinliang down, falling prone on the ground.

A beam of light shot out from Sun Shigang's mouth, barely missing where Shi Chun had just been standing. With a resounding thud, it instantly created a basin-sized hole at the bottom of the stone wall. It was merely a mouthful of saliva, yet its power far surpassed an arrow, and this was after his vital energy was greatly depleted and his strength severely weakened.

When he tried to launch another attack, he could no longer see Shi Chun or Wu Jinliang, because the thick chains binding him obstructed his view. It wasn't that Shi Chun had narrowly escaped by chance; he had always been highly vigilant of the other party during every encounter.

"Ah!" Sun Shigang roared skyward, and the chains holding him instantly bounced, causing the stone beam to which he was attached to collapse with a thunderous crash, and the tower-like chains crashed onto the ground.

That was all. Rubble rumbled as it fell, but the tower-like chains remained suspended in the air, as a body-fixing talisman had been cast onto the mass of chains.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang then stood up, their faces grim. Knowing they had body-fixing talismans, yet still acting this way, the opponent was clearly desperate. The problem was that another third-grade body-fixing talisman was gone, and it was their last one, wasted just like that. This third-grade body-fixing talisman was quite powerful. With his severe energy depletion and greatly reduced strength, Sun Shigang could no longer move.

Without a word, Shi Chun leaped onto the chain ball and struck Sun Shigang on the head, knocking him unconscious. Only then did he clatteringly unlock the chains and extract Sun Shigang, who had been trapped within. He then placed multiple restraints on him and retrieved his long and short knives.

Seeing this, Wu Jinliang waved his sleeve to clear the pervasive dust, and asked in surprise, "He's already gone all out to fight. Do you still expect him to confess anything?"

Shi Chun remained silent. He first dragged Sun Shigang away from the rubble and dust-filled area. Once outside, he laid him down, closed his eyes again, and cast a spell, using his own vital essence to impact the purple hazy mist within his body. As the mist swirled, his right eye's special ability activated once more. He focused on the unconscious Sun Shigang and again saw the black, flame-like substance in Sun Shigang's Dantian region.

His gaze swept over Sun Shigang's entire body, but he saw no other demonic entities. Therefore, he finally focused on the mass he cleverly called 'demonic flame'. He didn't know what it truly was, but he guessed this 'demonic flame' was the key source of the demonic energy. This demonic flame no longer possessed the fierce aura he had seen before. It was clearly much dimmer and weaker.

Wu Jinliang, who had followed him out, was about to speak when he suddenly saw Shi Chun kneel beside Sun Shigang and place a palm on Sun Shigang's Dantian region. He immediately bit back the words he was about to say. Just as he had previously cast a spell to extract demonic energy from Wu Jinliang's body, this time Shi Chun was targeting not the demonic energy itself, but the demonic flame, as an experiment. His cultivation technique indeed activated the demonic flame. As he tried to absorb it, the demonic flame resisted, struggling desperately.

The demonic flame's struggle seemed to affect Sun Shigang's emotions. Sun Shigang appeared to be trapped in a nightmare, his brow twitching with a pained expression. Shi Chun immediately increased his absorption of spiritual power. Eventually, he drew a trickling stream from the demonic flame, guiding it into his palm and then into his meridians. The same comfortable sensation he felt when he first absorbed demonic energy reappeared.

The feeling was right; there was no mistake. He immediately began to absorb with full power.

At that moment, the unconscious Sun Shigang suddenly opened his eyes, as if startled awake from a nightmare, and cried out, "What are you doing?" This sudden development almost gave Shi Chun a fright so severe he nearly became paralyzed. He thought Sun Shigang had broken free of the restraints, but then realized he hadn't. Only then did he disregard everything else and continue to increase his absorption.

The look of terror on Sun Shigang's face became increasingly apparent. Even though his body was restrained, he could clearly feel the years of cultivation he had built up through his demonic arts rapidly draining away. "What the hell? Why is this happening?" He had never felt anything like this before. The fear was far more intense than having a blade at his throat. He immediately shrieked repeatedly.

Shi Chun, meanwhile, found the absorption increasingly addictive, and the pleasure was beyond description. If absorbing demonic energy before was like absorbing mist, then now he was gulping down water.

Wu Jinliang, standing nearby, blinked his large eyes repeatedly. From Sun Shigang's reaction, he could tell that Shi Chun was doing something terrifying to him. At first, Sun Shigang was terrified, but later, even Wu Jinliang himself felt a chill down his spine. He noticed that Sun Shigang's spirit, energy, and vitality were rapidly waning. Later, even his cheeks and eye sockets began to subtly sink inward. "What the hell was this?"

"Stop, stop..." Soon, Sun Shigang was so weak that he could barely speak.

Shi Chun, having absorbed the last wisp of black flame from Sun Shigang's body, took a long breath and finally stopped. The vital essence that maintained the rotation of the purple hazy mist also relaxed. Indeed, the pain of having his vital essence forcibly extracted was gone, but the weakness from expending a large amount of vital essence was unavoidable. Ignoring that for now, he pulled in his abdomen and sat cross-legged on the ground, his face showing a look of comfortable satisfaction, and even a hint of unexpected pleasant surprise.

In contrast, Sun Shigang seemed to have visibly thinned, his complexion sallow, his eyes glazed and unfocused, his breath faint and flickering, as if he only had one breath left, muttering something unintelligibly. Wu Jinliang naturally saw that this was caused by Shi Chun's cultivation technique, and couldn't help but feel inwardly alarmed. Demonic arts truly lived up to their name; Shi Chun's demonic arts seemed a bit terrifying.

"I might need to go into seclusion for a few days," Shi Chun said. "He and those four others are yours to interrogate. Do whatever you want with them to try and dig up something useful." As he spoke, he took out three Longevity Transformation Pills and swallowed them all in one go.

"I'll handle it," Wu Jinliang agreed, and immediately dragged away the half-dead Sun Shigang.

In the royal capital of Sheng Shenzhou, half a month later, the atmosphere in the training grounds had changed. The air was different; members from various factions were everywhere, their hearts filled with anxiety. Several armored guards flew into the open area of the grounds, immediately causing many people to stand up and watch. As expected, an armored guard released several more corpses from a Qiankun pouch onto the ground. Someone used a spell to announce, "Those from Qingbo Sect, come collect the bodies." Many people breathed a sigh of relief. Three individuals quickly flew out from the grounds and landed in the open area. After the bodies were claimed, the armored guards used divine weapons to sever and retrieve the bracelets from the corpses' wrists.

Similar incidents, which initially occurred a few times a day, were now happening constantly, truly putting all the factions on edge. As more and more 'Insect Extreme Chi' were found, as expected, driven by greed, killing and fighting had begun. Some of these violent scenes even occurred right before their eyes in the training ground's mirror projections.

In the Western Extremity, the royal court personnel overseeing the grand assembly had also entered the field. They wouldn't interfere with the competition but would travel to various locations to check on the stationary light spots on the 'Ultimate Mountains and Rivers Map'. This was because stationary light spots very likely indicated that the individuals were dead. If confirmed, collecting the bodies and giving an explanation to the relevant factions was one thing, but they also needed to retrieve the mother-child talismans and bracelets and other such magical artifacts. The number of participants was simply too large. If they didn't start retrieving these items now, it would become impossible to manage later.

"Elder, look! They're here, Sister Bian and Brother Gan." The disciple sitting beside Elder Ke Yizong suddenly pointed at the mirror projection and reminded him, seeing that the scene they had paid to watch had finally appeared. There was nothing they could do. Seeing that corpses from various factions were constantly being sent back, they could no longer remain calm. They were also worried about Bian Weiying and her group's situation, as she was, after all, the sect leader's daughter.

The factions that initially found it ridiculous to pay for this were now scrambling to pay to watch, and even then, they had to wait a long time. There were too many people in line, even at night. It didn't matter if it was too dark to see clearly; as long as they could confirm that their participating disciples were safe. Seeing Bian Weiying and Gan Tangyu still intact in the projection, and surrounded by a large group, seemingly quite safe, Elder Ke nodded slightly, finally feeling a significant sense of relief.

A disciple asked in surprise, "Elder, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang are missing. They're not among the people in the picture." Elder Ke, stroking his beard, also noticed it. He wondered if they were standing too far away to appear in the limited view, or if something had happened, or if Bian Weiying had really followed his instructions and gotten rid of them.

Feng Chi, veiled in her cloak, also saw it. She noted that Xiang Lan'er, whom she cared about, was still there, but Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang were missing. Her gaze, filled with uncertainty, repeatedly scrutinized the scene. Had Sun Shigang succeeded? Surely, Shi Chun wouldn't have been killed too.

On the spectator stand on the mountain, Miao Yilan also saw it. She suddenly spoke up, "Mom, it's the Wukang Mountain group. Why aren't Shi Chun and the big guy there?" Lan Qiaoyan hadn't really noticed at first. After her daughter's reminder, she confirmed it by Xiang Lan'er's appearance. As for the so-called 'top courtesan,' she had scrutinized her carefully when she first appeared, wanting to see what made her so appealing to men. Not seeing Shi Chun and his companion, she also said with some uncertainty, "Perhaps they're standing too far away to be in the frame." She was also a little worried. After all, she had invested in them, and there was also someone who had called her 'Mom' for a long time.

Miao Dingyi hadn't really remembered the other outsiders. Seeing that the mother and daughter had confirmed it, he immediately gave a rational reply, "They're fine. Anyone who wasn't fine would have been brought back here." That was indeed true. The mother and daughter immediately felt relieved.

"Still that one, Wukang Mountain group four, Shi Chun. Let Old Yang cut in line." Young Master Nan's voice suddenly rang out behind them again. The family of three turned around and, as expected, saw Young Master Nan giving instructions to the person in charge on the hilltop. The latter accepted the order and quickly departed.

"Brother Nan, you're too kind," Miao Dingyi said with a wry smile. It wasn't that he couldn't afford the money; it was just unnecessary.

"Brother Miao, there's no need for formalities," Young Master Nan waved his hand dismissively, and calmly told Bian Weiying, "Lanlan, if you want to watch, just tell the person in charge anytime. I've already made arrangements; you can always cut in line." His information channels were always accurate. Over the past few days, he had roughly figured out the relationship between this family and Miao Dingyi. He had learned that Miao Dingyi might become Sun Shiyi's male concubine. He had initially thought this news was nonsense. How could such a low-level scum possibly... But reality was clearly laid out, making him believe it. Others might not know, but he did. Someone like Zuo Liyi, who would bet 100,000 gold, must have a special connection. Therefore, he could perfectly understand Bian Weiying's current concern, but he still couldn't understand this family's taste in choosing a son-in-law. How could such a low-class fellow be any good?