"Of course, if the other party doesn't tear it apart and continues to supply me with Demonic Qi, I won't bring this up either," Shi Chun reasoned. "If you insist on talking about right and wrong, how can we get along amicably?"

His question touched upon a secret that left Sun Shigang somewhat speechless. How could he possibly admit that he was there to kill Wu Jinliang, especially when he had fallen into the enemy's hands? In an instant, he transitioned from utterly furious to stubbornly insisting, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

If he wouldn't speak, Shi Chun simply asked something else, "Are you still willing to supply me with Demonic Qi?"

With three months to go, only half a month had passed. If the other party was willing to provide Demonic Qi to solidify his cultivation, he was prepared to spend time here continuing his cultivation.

"Ha ha..." Sun Shigang burst into laughter, a laughter tinged with desolation and self-mockery, and retorted, "You can cultivate using Demonic Qi, and now that I know your secret, do you really think you can let me leave alive?"

As he finished speaking, his cheeks puffed out, and Shi Chun's gaze flashed. He quickly grabbed Wu Jinliang and threw himself forward onto the ground.

A beam of light shot out from Sun Shigang's mouth, barely missing the spot where Shi Chun had just stood. Bang! A sound echoed as a basin-sized hole was blasted into the bottom of the stone wall.

It was just a spit, yet its force far surpassed that of arrows, and this was when his Primordial Energy was greatly depleted and his strength had significantly diminished.

He wanted to go on a rampage again, but he could no longer see Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, as the thick iron chains that bound him obscured his view.

It wasn't just a fluke that Shi Chun had dodged the attack; he had always been on high alert during their encounters.

"Ah!" Sun Shigang roared to the sky, and the chain suspending him suddenly bounced. With a thunderous crash, the stone beam collapsed, and the tower-like iron chains plummeted to the ground.

That was it. Broken stones rumbled to the floor, but the tower's chains remained suspended in mid-air, pinned by an immobilization charm stuck to the chain ball.

Only then did Shi Chun and his companion, with dark faces, stand up. Knowing that they had an immobilization charm and still, the other party was pulling a desperate move like this. He was clearly ready to risk it all.

However, another issue arose: the last third-grade immobilization charm was gone, wasted just like that.

The third-grade immobilization charm worked well, especially as the severely weakened Sun Shigang was rendered incapable of moving any longer.

Without saying another word, Shi Chun hopped onto the chain ball and struck a blow to Sun Shigang's head, rendering him unconscious. He then rattled the chains free, extracting Sun Shigang from his bindings, imposed several layers of constraints on him, and retrieved his long sabre and short blade.

Seeing this, Wu Jinliang swept away the lingering dust with his sleeve and exclaimed with a hint of shock, "He's already fighting with the desperation of a cornered rat. Do you really think he'll reveal anything?"

Shi Chun remained silent, first dragging the man away from the dusty chaos to an outer area. After setting him down, he closed his eyes and, once again, channeled a spell using his own blood energy to dissipate the purple haze within him. As the fog shifted, his supernatural abilities in his right eye were reactivated. He stared at the unconscious Sun Shigang, once again seeing the black, flame-like object within his dantian.

Scanning Sun Shigang's body, Shi Chun saw no trace of Demonic Qi, so his attention finally settled on the entity he temporarily called "Demonic Flame," not quite sure what it genuinely was. He guessed that this clump of Demonic Flame was the key to producing Demonic Qi.

The Demonic Flame no longer bore the vigorous presence he had seen before. It had clearly wilted significantly.

Just as Wu Jinliang was about to speak, he saw Shi Chun kneeling beside Sun Shigang, pressing a palm against Sun Shigang's dantian area. The words Wu Jinliang was about to say were immediately held back.

As before, when he helped Wu Jinliang extract the Demonic Qi from his body, Shi Chun was not targeting the Demonic Qi this time but attempting something with the Demonic Flame. His Cultivation Technique indeed touched the Demonic Flame, and during the struggle to absorb it, the flame resisted fiercely, as if fighting for its life.

The Demonic Flame's struggle seemed to affect Sun Shigang's emotions as well. He appeared to be caught in a nightmare, twitching and contorting his face in agony.

Shi Chun immediately intensified the absorption of mana and finally pulled out a thin stream from the Demonic Flame, channeling it into his palm and absorbing it into his meridians. The familiar pleasant sensation he experienced the first time he absorbed Demonic Qi returned.

Feeling that it was right, he knew there was no mistake, so he began to absorb with all his might.

Sun Shigang, who was in a comatose state, suddenly opened his eyes as if jerked awake from a nightmare and cried out, "What are you doing?"

His sudden outburst nearly scared Shi Chun half to death as he thought the constraints had been broken. After realizing they weren't, he disregarded everything and continued to increase the absorption.

The look of terror on Sun Shigang's face grew more pronounced by the second. He could vividly feel the foundation of the Demon Skill he had cultivated for many years quickly draining away. What the hell, why was this happening?

He had never felt anything like this before. The fear was far more intense than having a knife to his throat. He began to scream incessantly, "Stop it, what are you doing, stop..."

Shi Chun was finding the absorption increasingly enjoyable, an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

If absorbing Demonic Qi before was like inhaling mist, then now he was guzzling water greedily.

Wu Jinliang blinked his large eyes, noticing from Sun Shigang's reaction that Shi Chun was doing something terrifying to him. Initially, it was Sun Shigang who was petrified, but even Wu Jinliang himself started to feel a tremor in his heart.

He noticed that Sun Shigang's spirit and energy were rapidly withering, and even his cheeks and eye sockets were beginning to sink. What kind of sorcery was this?

"Stop it, stop it..."

Before long, Sun Shigang became so weak that he could hardly speak.

After drawing the last trace of black flame from Sun Shigang's body into his own, Shi Chun took a deep breath and finally ceased his actions, loosening the sustaining rotation of the purple haze and his blood energy. Indeed, without the forced extraction of blood energy, he didn't feel the pain, but he couldn't avoid the weakness from using up a great deal of blood energy.

Let's put that aside for now. He drew his legs in and sat cross-legged right on the spot, his face brimming with contentment and even a hint of unexpected joy.

In contrast, Sun Shigang seemed to have shrunk considerably, his complexion waxy yellow, his eyes lifeless and his gaze scattered, barely hanging on as if by a thread. He mumbled something incomprehensible.

Wu Jinliang naturally saw that Shi Chun's cultivation technique had caused this and couldn't help but be secretly alarmed. Demon Skills truly lived up to their name; the Demon Skill Shi Chun employed seemed rather terrifying.

"I may need to enter retreat for a few days; deal with him and those other four. Interrogate them however you like and try to dig up something useful," said Shi Chun as he pulled out three Longevity Pills and swallowed them all in one gulp.

"I'll handle it," Wu Jinliang agreed, dragging the half-dead Sun Shigang away right then and there.

In the Royal Court of Shengshen Continent, half a month later at the drill ground, the atmosphere had notably changed with people from various sects all on tenterhooks.

Several armored warriors flew to the center of the ground, immediately causing many spectators to stand and watch.

As everyone expected, one of the warriors released several corpses from a Qiankun Bag onto the ground, with someone using magic to shout, "Members of the Qingbo Sect, come collect your dead."

Many breathed sighs of relief, while three people swiftly flew out from among the group, landing in the center of the ground.

After the bodies were claimed, the bracelets on the corpses' wrists were also cut off and collected by the armored warriors using divine weapons.

Members from the related sects dejectedly left the ground with the bodies.

Similar scenes, initially occurring several times a day, were now happening constantly, truly keeping the various sects on edge.

As more and more Insect Extreme Crystals were found, unsurprisingly, driven by desire, killings had begun; some of these murderous acts were even blatantly occurring in mirrored images on the drill ground.

Over at the West Pole, the emissaries from the Royal Court who were overseeing the event had already entered the fray. They would not interfere with the competition but were dispatched to various locations to investigate points on the "Ultimate Mountain and River Map" that remained stationary.

Because stationary lights likely indicated that the person in question had died. Confirming the death was one thing, to give an account to the respective sects, but they also needed to collect items like Magical Treasures and bracelets.

There were simply too many participants; if they didn't start collecting now, things would get confused later on.

"Elder, here they come, look, Senior Sister Bian and Senior Brother Gan," exclaimed a disciple seated next to Elder Ke, Ke Yizong, pointing at the image and alerting him of the scene they had paid to watch, finally coming into view.

With sects constantly receiving their dead, they could no longer remain indifferent; they worried about Bian Weiyin and the others, after all, she was the Sect Master's daughter.

Sects that had initially thought paying for this was laughable were now scrambling to pay for viewing rights, even fighting for their turn as the queue was too long. Even if it was night, clarity didn't matter so long as they could verify that their disciples were still alright.

Seeing that Bian Weiyin and Gan Tangyu were intact and with a large group, appearing relatively safe, Elder Ke nodded slightly, finally feeling somewhat relieved.

A disciple voiced with surprise, "Elder, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang are gone; they aren't among the people in the image."

Elder Ke, stroking his beard, also noticed and wondered whether they were standing too far away to be captured by the limited range of the image, whether something had happened, or if Bian Weiyin had taken his advice to heart and actually eliminated them.

Enshrouded in her cloak, Feng Chi also noticed and was concerned that Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang were missing. Her worried gaze shifted back and forth; had Sun Shigang already succeeded? It wasn't possible that Shi Chun had been killed too, was it?

On the spectator stand atop the mountain, Miao Yilan also saw and suddenly exclaimed, "Mother, it's the people from Wukang Mountain. But where are Shi Chun and the tall guy?"

Initially not having paid much attention, Lan Qiaoyan, reminded by her daughter and confirming through Xiang Laner's appearance, reassured herself. Having paid close attention when the famed courtesan made her appearance, she had scrutinized the woman to see what made her so appealing to men.

Unsure about the absence of Shi Chun and the others, she suggested uncertainly, "Maybe they're standing too far away, out of view."

Though she felt a bit concerned herself, having invested in the matter and been called "mother" for a long time.

Miao Dingyi didn't remember the other outsiders. As mother and daughter confirmed their thoughts, he offered a rational response, "Don't worry. If there had been trouble, they would have been carried back here."

Indeed, this logic eased their minds considerably.

"It's the same request, Wu Kang Mountain Envoy, Shi Chun; let Yang cut in line."

The voice of Young Master Nan suddenly resounded again behind them; the family of three turned to see Young Master Nan once again instructing the person in charge on this mountain peak, who promptly left on his orders.

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

"Brother Miao, there's no need for formality," Young Master Nan said dismissively waving his hand, and he told Miao Yilan, "Lan Lan, watch whenever you want. Just talk to the person in charge; I've arranged everything. You can cut in line anytime."

His own channels of information were not to be underestimated. Over these days, he had more or less figured out the relationship between this family and Shi Chun, learning that Shi Chun might become Miao Dingyi's son-in-law. He had thought the rumor absurd – how could someone from the absolute bottom amount to anything?

Yet, the reality was evident, making it impossible for him not to believe. Others might be in the dark, but was he? Could really a nonentity compel someone like Miao Dingyi to wager ten thousand gold? Relationships had to be significant. Therefore, he found Miao Yilan's concerned actions especially understandable, though he still had trouble comprehending this family's taste in choosing a son-in-law. What was so good about such a lowly person?

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.