The pain nearly paralyzed Zhao Chun's mind. She had no idea where she had been taken. Her Five Senses were almost completely gone; she could only faintly hear Yue Zuan muttering something in a low voice.
She forced her eyes open and gritted her teeth, saying, "Even if I am to die, let me die knowing why!" Yue Zuan assumed she was trying to stall for time, waiting for someone to rescue her. He sneered, "Asking about everything is not a good habit."
"You need not entertain such foolish fantasies. This entire Wind-Stopping Forest is under this Daoist's control; not even half a bird can fly in. As for that Senior Brother of yours, his Spiritual Power is locked. He cannot break this Daoist's Spirit-Binding Rope!"
Zhao Chun had to keep talking to him to prevent the pain from overwhelming her reason, so she tremblingly asked him a few more questions. This time, Yue Zuan ignored her, only replying coldly when she asked where the Liao siblings were, "They're all dead. But don't worry, you will be soon!"
After speaking, he transformed his right hand into a claw and lunged for Zhao Chun's Dantian! In an instant, Zhao Chun rolled over to dodge, tumbling outwards twice. The pain in her shoulder intensified, but she had no mind to care, because Yue Zuan had reached out again and seized her by the neck!
"Slippery little beast, if you behave, this Daoist can let you suffer a little less. If you dare to move recklessly again, this Daoist will use you as a living sacrifice!"
"Either way it is death, so I might as well make you pay with your life!"
Zhao Chun grabbed Yue Zuan's fingers with both hands and kicked out towards his stomach. The blow did not injure him, which Zhao Chun did not find surprising. But seeing her attempt to shake a tree like an ant, Yue Zuan laughed in anger, "It seems you are looking for a bitter lesson!"
He brutally threw Zhao Chun to the ground, took out a palm-sized jade bowl from his robes, then stepped forward. Forming a blade with his fingers, he sliced open her forearm. Blood splattered out and flowed into the jade bowl.
"At this point, I was going to give you a quick death, but since you yourself are unwilling, then this old Daoist will not bother with the extra step."
Yue Zuan even stopped her bleeding and fed her an Elixir Pill to make her mind clear up. Zhao Chun knew this meant he wanted her to suffer while alive. What a pity that her life was so short.
She had failed to bring back what she promised Zhou Pianran, nor had she fulfilled her promise to her Senior Sisters to return on time. Yue Zuan drank the blood in one gulp, then cut his own wrist and fed it into Zhao Chun's mouth.
In the unseen world, a flame ignited from her chest and swept through her entire body. It was also as if a large hand had reached into her Dantian, intending to forcibly rip out her Spiritual Root! In a daze, she heard Yue Zuan cry out in pain, followed by a few curses, "What is this thing?
It is scorching hot!" Hot, she felt it was hot too! She did not know what object was at her chest, emitting an extremely hot Qi, and her Dantian was in extreme pain.
Zhao Chun curled up on the ground, feeling as if her head was about to split open! The hand in her Dantian refused to give up. It still held her three Spiritual Roots without letting go, but it could not withstand the burning pain and wanted to end things quickly, to directly rip them out of Zhao Chun's body!
Perhaps the burning sensation was truly too intense; the large hand suddenly loosened its grip, paused for a moment, and then chose to attack the weakest Wood Spiritual Root. This time it was much easier. The large hand tightly gripped that slender, light-green shadow and furiously pulled it out from Zhao Chun's Dantian!
She had never experienced such agony in her life. It was like having one's organs churned and one's heart and lungs ripped from the body, making her feel as if her very soul was about to leave her body. She could not tell if the person screaming was herself or someone else.
The removal of the Wood Spiritual Root made the Metal and Fire Spiritual Roots lose their restraint. They joyfully embraced and intertwined, then continuously grew stronger. The fire from her chest burned all the way to her Dantian, yet her spiritual roots became even more vibrant because of it.
Even amidst the excruciating pain, Zhao Chun could sense that sincere feeling of joy. Yue Zuan extracted the Wood Spiritual Root, opened his mouth, and sucked it into his abdomen. A look of obsession appeared on his face, but he was still not satisfied and was about to cast the art again to extract another Spiritual Root!
The large hand had just reached into her Dantian when a cluster of golden-red flame leaped directly from his fingertip and climbed up his arm. Yue Zuan had not expected it to be so fierce and hastily broke off the spell, but it was already too late. His entire arm had been burned black!
And that cluster of flame was not yet extinguished. It ate through his skin and flesh, burrowing straight into his bone!
"Ah!!!"
Yue Zuan screamed in pain and rolled on the ground. The flame burned into his bone marrow, then shot into his Dantian and began to burn the Foundation of his Spiritual Qi. Zhao Chun endured the pain and climbed up from the ground.
She touched her chest and her hand was scalded by a scorching hot bead. So it was you, she thought, and smiled tragically. She now lacked the strength to even truss a chicken.
Yue Zuan was staring at her with venomous hatred, about to lunge forward to perish together in a blaze of jade and stone! At this critical moment, a black shadow shot out and crashed into Yue Zuan! It was Meng Han, his hands and feet bound!
Seeing him covered in yellow earth, he had actually crawled here inch by inch from the outer chamber! Meng Han's hands and feet could not move freely, and he could not channel his Spiritual Power. His expression hardened, and he went straight in with his teeth, tearing open Yue Zuan's neck!
A pillar of blood shot into the sky, staining Meng Han until he looked like a savage beast that devoured raw flesh and drank blood. A Foundation Establishment Cultivator had died just like that at their hands!
"In the pouch at my waist, there are Healing Pills. Take them and use them, then come help me untie this rope."
Zhao Chun did as he said and found a bottle of Restorative Pills. After taking one, only her Dantian still ached faintly; the rest of her overt and hidden wounds were almost healed. This stuff is quite useful.
If there is a chance, I will have to find some more. As Zhao Chun thought this, she channeled her Spiritual Power to untie the Spirit-Binding Rope. This item was driven by Spiritual Qi, so a person whose Spiritual Power was completely suppressed would naturally be unable to untie it.
Meng Han stood up, wiped his face with disgust, and spat on Yue Zuan's corpse. He then said with great interest, "Junior Sister, let us split up and search this place thoroughly. Before this old thing was banished to a Small World, he was a genuine Core Formation Great Cultivator.
Although I do not know how he recovered to the Foundation Establishment stage after his cultivation base was scattered, he must have plenty of good things. Today is our lucky day!" Zhao Chun nodded.
The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, began to rummage through chests and cupboards. However, it was quite disappointing. Apart from a few withered Spirit Herbs, there was nothing.
Meng Han said in a low voice, "That cannot be right..." He then recalled that when Yue Zuan had summoned the Spirit-Binding Rope, he did not seem to be carrying such an object on his person. Overjoyed, he exclaimed, "A Storage Artifact!"
He strode over to Yue Zuan's corpse in a few steps, felt around the waist, and pulled out a dark green pouch. He called to Zhao Chun, "Junior Sister, come and see!" Seeing Zhao Chun's confusion, he explained in detail, "This is a Storage Pouch, used by Core Formation Great Cultivators.
It has a Tenfold Space inside. It is not easy to make and therefore very rare. Just one of these costs fifty Spirit Jades!"
Spirit Jade was a higher-tier currency, which Zhao Chun knew. One Spirit Jade could be exchanged for a thousand Essence Stones. In reality, it was difficult to even exchange a thousand Essence Stones for one Spirit Jade, precisely because very few people would engage in such a loss-making trade as exchanging Spirit Jade for Essence Stones.
Foundation Establishment Cultivators commonly used storage pouches with only a single-fold space, which still cost five Spirit Jades. Zhao Chun could not even dream of affording one. Fifty Spirit Jades meant at least fifty thousand Essence Stones.
Zhao Chun had never encountered such a large sum and her eyes widened for a moment. Yue Zuan was dead, so Meng Han easily dissipated his Spiritual Mark and shook out everything from the pouch. He said, "Yue Zuan's death... my part was just a coincidence.
It was actually because of Junior Sister that he was unable to resist. As for these things, you take seven parts, I will take three. What do you think?"
Zhao Chun felt this was proper and knew that Meng Han was being sincere. Just a moment ago, she had been on her last breath. If Yue Zuan had attacked, she would have certainly died.
Meng Han's crucial pounce to kill Yue Zuan had also saved her life. Thus, she said gratefully, "Senior Brother, what are you saying! If Senior Brother had not killed that Yue Zuan at the critical moment, I am afraid I would already be dead.
This Junior Sister is willing to split it fifty-fifty with Senior Brother, each taking half!" Meng Han was not one for convoluted thoughts either. He immediately accepted her good intentions and said forthrightly, "Alright!
Junior Sister is an honest person. I, Meng Han, have decided to make you my friend!" He buried his head in counting the valuables, but Zhao Chun's attention was drawn to an old book.
She picked it up and flipped through it, and the more she read, the more alarmed she became!
"Senior Brother Meng, look!"
Meng Han also craned his neck over. As the two of them read the Secret Manual, their clothes were unknowingly soaked in cold sweat! The book was a brief record of Yue Zuan's life.
Apart from his notes on various Secret Techniques of the Everglow Sect, there was also an Evil Art called the "Sun-Swapping Spirit-Stealing Grand Art"! This art was extremely sinister and venomous.
It required the blood of both the Spellcaster and the recipient as a catalyst, channeling Spiritual Qi into the hand, which would then reach into the recipient's Dantian to extract their Spiritual Root. This would in turn nourish the Spellcaster, thereby strengthening their own Spiritual Roots and causing their Cultivation Base to soar!
This was only the first part of the Evil Art. The second part recorded that if the Spellcaster was at the Core Formation Stage or above, they could even snatch another person's Spiritual Root for their own use! However, the risk was enormous, and the spellcaster themselves faced the danger of perishing.
All of this was truly enough to make one's hair stand on end and one's heart tremble in fear!
(End of Chapter)