The figure was entirely wrapped in dark silver metal shackles, revealing only a pair of eyes. However, those eyes were vacant and unfocused at the moment, clearly under the dual suppression of drugs and Spiritual Energy.

"It's him," Russo indicated.

Dongfang Yao sized up the Blood Demon from head to toe, slightly nodding at the residual restrictive fluctuations on the metal shackles: "Commander Luo has indeed done a thorough job. Please prepare a quiet room; Old Fu and I need to interrogate him alone."

"Alright, the quiet room is already prepared."

Russo led the two deeper into the base, silently thinking it was indeed as expected.

The Dongfang Clan's pursuit of the Blood Demon Cult has never ceased. Now that they've caught this Blood Demon, they will stop at nothing to pry open his mouth and pave the way for a subsequent thunderous strike.

In the quiet room, soldiers removed the metal shackles from the Blood Demon. As the last buckle hit the ground, Dongfang Yao suddenly turned and asked Russo, "I've heard that catching this Blood Demon was thanks to a Colonel named Qin Tian?"

Russo nodded, "Indeed. Colonel Qin Tian from the Seventh Bureau infiltrated the Hundred Hunt Star Thieves and precisely transmitted the coordinates, allowing us to close the net smoothly."

He paused and added, "If Mr. Dongfang Yao would like to meet him, I can send him a message to come over."

"No need." Dongfang Yao waved his hand, with a meaningful smile on his lips, "Though I haven't met him, I might know as much about him as you do."

Russo was taken aback, "Oh?"

"Qin Tian and my Dongfang Clan have some connections." Dongfang Yao's fingertips lightly tapped the table, his voice gentle with a hint of amusement. "Not long ago, the clan's Great Elder personally met him."

"What?!" Russo's pupils constricted abruptly, his wrist trembling slightly.

The Great Elder of the Dongfang Clan, that was the former Clan Leader Dongfang Ke.

Exactly what kind of background does this Colonel Qin Tian have?

To have caught the eye of the Dongfang Clan's direct lineage and even received a personal meeting with the Great Elder, his background must be uncommon, certainly not as simple as an ordinary colonel.

Outside the quiet room, the soldiers had quietly withdrawn.

Inside, only Dongfang Yao, the silver-haired elder, and the slumped Blood Demon remained.

Dongfang Yao slowly turned, his gaze falling on the Blood Demon's vacant pupils, the gentle smile gradually fading, replaced by an unfathomable cold abyss.

"Let's begin," he said softly to the silver-haired elder.

The elder nodded, placing his withered fingers on the Blood Demon's head, a formless Spiritual Power piercing into the Blood Demon's sea of consciousness like a needle.

The interrogation has officially begun.

...

"Wow, such a large underground Spiritual Spring, can we all cultivate here now?"

Vivian's mouth gaped wide, her tone brimming with almost overflowing delight.

"That's right, Allen and I discovered this place together. This Spiritual Spring is rich in Spiritual Qi, more than enough for all of us," Qin Tian said with a smile.

Luo Xiu gazed at the milky white mist swirling in the Spiritual Spring, and even the usual hardened expression on his face softened slightly with a faint smile.

The Poisonous Widow stood by the spring, her skirt hem trembling slightly from the Spiritual Qi. Her gaze towards Qin Tian was as gentle as water — the longer she followed her master, the more she felt the respect hidden beneath his strength. This warmth of being treated as an equal was something she had never experienced before.

"Then I'm going in first!" Vivian cheered, leaping into the spring like a light swallow, the splashes reflecting a rainbow of colors in the Spiritual Qi.

Allen followed closely behind, diving into the water with a splash, his Dragon Scales shimmering with a blue light under the wash of Spiritual Qi.

Luo Xiu, Xiong, and the Poisonous Widow also entered the water one after another, tacitly spreading out and leaving the center of the spring, where the Spiritual Qi was most concentrated, open.

Qin Tian took a deep breath and stepped into the Spiritual Spring slowly. Warm water rose past his ankles, knees, and finally reached his chest, enveloping his body in the unique tingling sensation of Spiritual Qi.

As he just stood still, a surge of pure Spiritual Qi suddenly gushed from the spring, like a small white dragon, drilling into his pores.

"Mmm..." Qin Tian comfortably squinted his eyes.

This Spiritual Qi was more domineering than expected, yet exceptionally gentle. It wasn't as sharp as metallic energy, nor as cold as dark energy, but like the finest silk, it slowly flowed along his meridians.

He could clearly feel that his entire body was greedily absorbing the Spiritual Qi—impurities within his body were being flushed out, merging into the spring water; his blood, urged by the Spiritual Qi, surged rapidly, carrying a faint golden glow; even his sea of consciousness felt like it had been washed by clear spring water, making his Spiritual Power become more refined.

Qin Tian sat cross-legged as Spiritual Qi surged towards him like a tide. He closed his eyes, forming seals with both hands, allowing the Cultivation Technique to automatically operate within him.

The vine on his wrist lifted its tip, only to be pressed down by Qin Tian, as even a large Spiritual Spring couldn't withstand Jie La's devouring.

You'd better protect me well.

Jie La unwillingly swayed its body, eventually extending next to the Spiritual Spring, silently guarding.

In the Spiritual Spring, others had also entered a state of cultivation.

Vivian was surrounded by a faint red flame Spiritual Qi, her face steamed to a rosy blush; Allen's Dragon Scale opened and closed underwater, each breath stirring a large area of Spiritual Qi; Luo Xiu's Sword Intent merged with the Spiritual Qi, condensing into a faintly visible sword shadow on the water's surface.

The Poisonous Widow stood quietly in the water, her skirt half-transparent from the soaking Spiritual Qi, yet showing no panic. Her eyes slightly closed, with her fingertips swirling in light purple poison mist, which, instead of dispersing under the Spiritual Qi's wash, became more concentrated, subtly glistening, as the pure Spiritual Qi of the spring slowly balanced out the ferocity in her poison arts, adding a bit of liveliness to the originally harsh Poison Power.

Xiong sat cross-legged in the spring water, his massive body as steady as a rock. When Spiritual Qi poured into him, it emitted a sound like a bellows' roar. On his exposed arms, the muscles bulged, every inch of weave swelling under the nourishment of Spiritual Qi, evidently refining his body, transforming the energy of the spring into pure brute force.

Clearly, this was a special cultivation method.

Ordinary Spiritualists typically focus on enhancing Spiritual Energy with the body as support, only when the Spiritual Energy breaks through the bottleneck does it nourish the body; but Xiong was entirely the opposite, he first tempered his tendons and bones with the Spiritual Qi of the spring, polishing every muscle as if forged from black iron, while Spiritual Energy seemed like flames attached to the body, naturally burning more fiercely as physical strength increased.

This "nurturing energy with the body" route was slow, yet it had a terrifyingly solid foundation, like a mountain rising from rock strata, every inch of growth carrying the weight that shakes the earth.

Elsewhere, Qin Tian was in the center of the spring, his whole person almost wrapped into a white cocoon by the Spiritual Qi. His consciousness sank into his sea of consciousness, with all external sounds gradually receding, leaving only the gentle sounds of Spiritual Qi flowing and the rhythm of his internal Spiritual Power steadily increasing.

This cultivation lasted a full seven days.

After seven days, only Qin Tian remained in the Spiritual Spring.

The increase of Spiritual Energy always had its shackles. Even with the most abundant cultivation resources, once the ceiling of the current realm is touched, one would hit a bottleneck, unable to make further progress.

Clearly, Allen and the others reached this point—they gained significantly in the spring, not only their Spiritual Ability Level naturally broke through, their meridians were nourished by Spiritual Qi to become more tenacious, their bodies even appeared to be coated with a glossy sheen.

Yet in the later stages, the Spiritual Qi entering their bodies hardly caused any qualitative change; soaking longer would be a mere waste of the spring, so they tacitly left first, leaving the tranquility to Qin Tian still pushing forward.

Qin Tian, however, was entirely different.

His physical strength far surpassed the scope of Tier Four Eight-Star, his Spiritual Power was comparable to a Tier Six Spirit Martial Artist, his whole body like a reservoir that had been preemptively expanded several times over, the tank's walls forged to be indestructible, just waiting for an endless flow of "living water" to be poured in.

And the pure Spiritual Qi in the spring was the most suitable source of water.

Right now, he sat cross-legged at the center of the spring, the Spiritual Qi around him had condensed into a tangible cocoon; every breath drew vast amounts of Spiritual Qi into his body through mouth, nose, and pores, rushing through his meridians to his entire being—his bones emitted a slight "crackling" sound as the Spiritual Qi washed over, his muscle fibers repeatedly stretched and tempered by the Spiritual Qi, with resilience and Explosive Power rising at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye; even the Spiritual Power in the depths of his sea of consciousness expanded and refined silently, like a sponge soaked in warm water.

For him, this wasn't a bottleneck, but a storing period.

The water level of the spring was visibly dropping, the originally full spring now exposing a small semicircle of wet rocks, yet the "reservoir" within Qin Tian remained unfilled.

The purple light at his brow was becoming increasingly bright, which was a sign of his Spiritual Power and Spiritual Qi merging to the utmost degree, as if at any moment, it would break through a hidden boundary.

When the spring's water level dropped nearly halfway, the "reservoir" within Qin Tian finally reached its critical point.

Boom!

A metamorphosis occurred.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.