He groaned in pain, trying to struggle. But whether he wanted to resist, curse, or surrender, the sounds he made were muffled, inaudible, and posed no threat to Wang Zhan.

"HISS... HISS... HISS..."

Wang Zhan kindly advised, "Don't bother trying to speak. The more you talk, the faster you'll die. Do you really want to die on my watch and have me blamed for it?"

Looking at this repulsive face, one he desperately wanted to pummel, Snakehead finally closed his eyes weakly.

Little did he know that what was to come would truly be a thunderbolt out of the blue.

"How about this: give me your set of martial arts, and I promise I won't leak that you're a spy for the Original Organization. What do you say?"

SWOOSH...

Snakehead's eyes snapped wide open, glaring fiercely at Wang Zhan.

"ARGH... ARGH... ARGH..."

Who exactly is Wang Zhan?

How does he know about the Original Organization?

At that moment, Snakehead finally understood. It seemed Wang Zhan had been targeting him from the very beginning.

Sadly for Snakehead, looking at those eyes filled with astonishment, fury, and chilling killing intent, Wang Zhan said with some regret, "Hmm, it seems I understand your intentions. Well then, come out, Madman!"

With a sudden WHOOSH, the Madman, who had been silent for less than a day, reappeared beside Wang Zhan.

He cackled, his bloodthirsty gaze fixed on Snakehead.

"Is this... my next prey?"

Wang Zhan seemed to muse aloud, "Yes, enjoy it slowly! Of course, you have to keep him alive. Besides that, it would be best if you could extract what I want. Remember, it has to be verified. If something goes wrong with my body and I die, you won't survive either!"

"GYAHAHAHA!"

The Madman laughed maniacally, too excited to pay Wang Zhan any mind.

Who cares if it's true or false? I'll enjoy myself first!

But the more joyfully the Madman laughed, the more terrified Snakehead became, a chill running down his spine.

Even though there was no one around, Snakehead felt as if terrifying eyes—green or perhaps red—were staring fixedly at him from some dark corner of the secret room.

He couldn't help but cry out, "AAAH... AAAH..."

Although he couldn't speak or call for help, he struggled like any ordinary person.

Wang Zhan, however, watched quietly from the side, as if observing a play—indifferent, without a trace of compassion or reaction.

"If you can't bear it, ask me for help! As long as you give me what I want, I'll spare your life. Of course, you'll only have one life left then. The Original Organization won't take back someone who leaks their research secrets."

Snakehead was filled with immense hatred.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!"

He felt as though caterpillars were crawling on his restrained body, an unbearable itching sensation. Boundless fear made his eyes bulge even more, the whites of his eyes becoming prominent.

But unsurprisingly, when Ku Zhu brought Tie Xiuqing to the door of the room where Wang Zhan was punishing and interrogating Snakehead, even though not a shadow could be seen, the mere sound of ghostly wails was enough to make one's courage fail and heart tremble in fear.

"AAAAH!!..."

As expected, Tie Xiuqing, having just arrived, found his attention immediately seized by the sounds, his expression changing.

This isn't what I imagined. Compared to the ideal figure I wished to follow, Wang Zhan seems more like a tyrannical, reckless young master.

Ku Zhu stood emotionlessly behind him, watching him. "Wait here. You'd better not go in without the Young Master's command. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll leave first."

Watching Ku Zhu's departing figure, Tie Xiuqing couldn't help but clench his fists slightly.

It wasn't anger or hatred, but an increasingly complex mix of emotions.

Do I really have to follow such a person to get out of the Underground City?

In fact, no one knew what kind of mission this young man carried, nor how much hope his father had placed upon him. That was why he was so desperate to leave. The moment he saw the possibility in Wang Zhan, he hadn't hesitated to offer his services.

But still... Could he really restore his ancestors' glory by following such an ill-natured young man?

He struggled internally, hesitating. Hearing the screams from within, his heart was filled with an unsettling mix of pity and turmoil.

Finally, he thought of the old man—aging, perhaps with only a few more years to accompany him—who still struggled to secure resources for him. "Young Master, if you don't seize this opportunity, I'm afraid... there won't be another one after this."

Opportunities are not to be missed; once gone, they do not return. Quan State, in the final analysis, was just a small place. It was easy to enter but difficult to leave, for it was a pool of stagnant water. It was Wang Zhan's appearance that had brought a flicker of dynamism to Quan State.

So... even as the screams continued to echo from inside, Tie Xiuqing's expression increasingly showed struggle, unease, and finally, solemnity.

But three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

CREAK...

Wang Zhan wiped the blood from his hands. He stood in the doorway, looking down and chuckling at Tie Xiuqing, who was still waiting. "You're here? Sorry, I was busy."

"Young Master…"

"Come in!"

Though Wang Zhan appeared nonchalant, he had taken in Tie Xiuqing's every reaction.

This is a young man struggling between his conscience and ambition, his heart a tangle of complex human feelings.

Fortunately, this kid isn't completely soft; he did bring that bloody head, after all.

To Wang Zhan, that was a good sign.

Because once this young man understands the true purpose of my actions, he'll realize that a 'saintly' heart is detrimental, and too much confrontation will only lead to trouble.

In this era of Spiritual Energy resurgence, if you don't want to die without an intact body, you'd better be decisive and thorough. When you kill, make sure to obliterate the evidence.

Of course, this didn't stop Wang Zhan from wanting to further expose the young man to the harsh realities of the world.

Just bringing a head? What's that count for? If you're going to be ruthless, be utterly ruthless. Make it so that any enemy who has met you, the very first word that comes to their mind when they think of you is: Fear.

Without a doubt, Wang Zhan was truly set on cultivating this young man.

Strangely enough, he too was just a young man. Since when had he started thinking about cultivating others?

Who isn't still a child at heart?

"Hm?"

Little did Wang Zhan realize, the first thing Tie Xiuqing saw upon entering was the mangled form of Snakehead, bound weakly to the interrogation rack. Snakehead was groaning, his gaze nearly unfocused, only the vast whites of his eyes visible. His body was a mess, covered in gouges and hollows. The wounds weren't fatal, but it looked as if chunks of his flesh had been scraped away, leaving pits.

Tie Xiuqing could clearly smell a rank, nauseating odor, and his heart tightened.

It seemed that while I was hesitating outside, Snakehead was undoubtedly enduring the world's most unbearable torture.

Only such methods could reduce a once proud, renowned, and seemingly omnipotent figure to this. After losing his Essence Energy, he was now little more than an ordinary person with slightly more strength, wailing ceaselessly until despair set in. One mustn't forget: every Martial Artist possesses a formidable will; they don't submit easily.

Just then, Wang Zhan asked softly, a sly, almost sinister smile playing on his lips, "Tell me, besides physical torture, are there other ways to quickly break his psychological defenses? I feel like this fellow isn't being entirely honest; he still refuses to yield."

Another test for Tie Xiuqing.

Tie Xiuqing pressed his feet slightly into the ground, his face falling into a somber silence.

Besides physical means, what else could make a resolute Grandmaster-level expert become a puppet in someone's hands?

There are methods, plenty of them, countless even.

But should one really use such means on a former Grandmaster-level expert?

This isn't just humiliating to the victim; it's a desecration of my own martial path!

Needless to say, after just this brief interaction, Tie Xiuqing already had a sense of Wang Zhan.

Wang Zhan is a demon. He seems to specialize in luring people, step by step, into the abyss.

This might be his true nature, or perhaps it's just a test. But I know that if I comply, I'll likely be condemning myself to an existence worse than death—not a physical death, but the death of my spirit.

Therefore, Tie Xiuqing remained silent for a long moment before saying to Wang Zhan with a hint of apology, "Young Master, I... I believe I'm more suited to the battlefield. I truly can't think of anything for this."

Wang Zhan chuckled.

Aha, another one who wants to playact with me!

Going by this, once I get him out of the Underground City and he repays this favor, it'll probably be time for us to part ways, right?

But who am I, Wang Zhan? My System, my Talent... everything about me seems tailor-made for combat. Would I really be short of a fighter of his caliber? And more importantly, would I willingly let go of such a promising seed?

So, rejection was fine. He wasn't afraid of rejection; what he feared was silence.

Wang Zhan laughed. "I do have a few methods. Let me lay them out, and you can help me evaluate them.

"First, how about we find some beggars? Let them see this once lofty Grandmaster, this 'Emperor' of his domain, now kneeling before them, forced to endure their humiliations helplessly. What do you think of that?

"Second, we could break all his limbs but keep him alive. Make him kneel outside our establishment to attract business, offering 'humiliation services' on the side. Hmm, I think this idea has merit. A Grandmaster, tsk, tsk, tsk... he must have plenty of enemies.

"Third, he is, after all, a prominent figure of the Grandmaster Realm. Perhaps we could use him for... crossbreeding experiments? I recently acquired a little wolf cub. It doesn't look like much, but its bloodline is quite extraordinary. Tell me, if we could successfully crossbreed him with another species, could it create a groundbreaking lineage, a tidal wave that propels the development of a new era...?"

The more Tie Xiuqing listened, the colder his heart grew.

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