It was a large hall, with three circles and a pentagram in the middle. The first circle was where the straight lines intersected, the second where the tips ended, and the third one the same distance even further out. Runes were scribbled in the empty spaces between the circles and five Ferrite chains were anchored, one in each of the five arms of the pentagram.

Racks and shelves on the wall carried all kinds of torture tools and implements, giving the place a sinister vibe.

An even larger Formation lay beyond the first one, encasing the entire room like a big cage. And in the middle of that room, just before the smaller Formation, stood a woman in white robes. She was not a young one anymore, nor was she an old one. She was somewhere in between. Like a well-aging 40-year-old Mortal girl.

Her smile was brilliantly white, with small dimples on her cheeks. Beside her stood two Core Disciples, male and female, dressed in similar white robes, with a special badge pinned just below their left shoulder.

An open eye inside the pentagram. Truth Seekers, Law Enforcement Hall.

[Oh, great… A Tortured Soul Formation.] I rolled my eyes after seeing the familiar lines carved into stone. The two guards escorting me held me tight, not letting me even a tiny bit of space.

“Oh, so you are familiar with it? That makes it simple then. Since you know what it is, you know what it can do. Why don’t you spare us the trouble and tell the truth?” The female Elder said.

I just lightly scoffed and continued observing the things in the hall.

[I already told the truth, lady. It’s not my fault my words are too amazing to be believed.]

I glanced at the stack of papers on a nearby table that no doubt contained all the relevant information about me. The Elder’s eyes shifted and she looked at the same stack of papers.

“They are indeed too amazing to be believed. But not to worry, after we check your memories we will know for sure. It will be painful, but it shouldn’t leave any permanent damage. But I’m sure you already know that.” She smiled brilliantly.

I smiled back and didn’t say a thing.

“Well then!” She clapped her hands. “Shall we begin?”

With the help of the two guards, I was stripped down, with only a loincloth covering my privates, and then I was once again chained with the damn Ferrite chains. Only this time I couldn’t use magic. Not even a little bit.

“What is that thing growing on his chest?” The male Disciple asked, pointing at the black crystal. It was part of my skeleton, an extra growth on my ribcage. And it was indestructible. Much like the rest of my bones. Even Elder De Danw couldn’t break them when he attacked me, so I wasn’t worried.

I loudly sighed trying to shift their attention. [Let’s just get this over with, shall we?]

Like hell I was going to go around spilling my secrets! I decided to be as annoying as I could because they deserved it.

“But, of course!” The female Elder smiled. She gestured with her hand and the guards stepped back while her two assistants began preparing some kind of herbs and incense sticks. Soon a delicious aroma began spreading through the hall. It was a trap. I knew that the brew they were preparing was actually awful. But the smoke from the incense masked its smell.

“Here, drink.” The girl brought a bowl of green goo to my lips and I obediently drank. There was no point resisting since then they would just force it down my throat either way. I had plenty of memories from the spies who died to know what happened during the special interrogation.

I also knew it was completely pointless.

After finally gulping down the last drop, they all stepped back and the Elder finally activated the Formation. I was encased in a gentle glow and almost immediately felt a pressure descend onto my Soul.

A terrifying pressure that was meant to crush the spirit and remove any resistance from the Soul of a person so it could be examined. Also, the same pressure I used to advance to the Golden Core Realm. But back then I required extra help to compress my Soul, to form my Dantian.

We all waited in silence for something to happen. The Elder took a seat and was humming to herself while looking through the papers. Her two helpers just stood at the side and watched, and the guards stood at either side of the door, clearly uninterested.

They must have experienced the same thing hundreds of times before.

[Hey. How long do I need to lay here? I’m hungry.]

“Oh? You can still talk?” The Elder lifted her head. “Looks like we have to wait a bit more.” And she went back to reading.

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[Wait for what? The Formation is already active, and that disgusting crap you made me drink is not working. At least let me get some food from my pouch. It should be just over there…] I pointed at my clothes, yet nobody moved. Heck, they didn’t even acknowledge my request.

[Over there, on the right. Can you bring it here?] I looked at the girl standing not far away. [Hellooooo?]

“Stop bothering my Disciples, you criminal.” The Elder said without bothering to shift her gaze. “We’ll wait long until the sedatives kick in and then begin our interrogation.”

[But I’m telling you! It doesn’t work!] Being ignored once more pissed me off and I sat up, pulling the chains tight.

[You! Girl!] I pointed at the female Disciple. [Bring me my food.]

She turned around and walked wordlessly to my pile of clothes and rummaged through a pouch, bringing out a large chunk of flesh. The Golden Core's meaty aroma spread through the hall, and the Elder lifted her head in surprise.

“Stop!” She shouted, her voice thick with a Soul order. “What do you think you are doing?”

The girl twitched and dropped the meat. “I- I… I don’t know…” She stammered out.

[Man! My meat!] I looked at the Elder hatefully. [I don’t like you. You are a bad person.]

“Hmph… Okay.” The Elder was not amused and turned to the girl. “And you… Stop listening to his complaints. He’s not going to die by just fasting a little.”

“Yes, I’m terribly sorry, Elder.” The girl lowered her head.

[Bad! Don’t listen to her. Instead, bring me the meat.] I ordered. The girl obediently nodded and went forward to pick up the chunk of raw food.

“Hey! I said stop!” the elder shouted and jumped on her feet. The girl immediately stopped and I groaned. “Are you seriously ordering around my Disciple?! How dare you!”

[Why wouldn’t I dare?! I’m hungry! This is abuse! I am a human, I have rights you know?!]

“Rights?! What rights? A criminal doesn’t have any rig-!”

[You there! Guy! Go pee on the Elder!] I shouted.

The male Disciple immediately started walking while taking off his robe. The Elder panicked.

“Stop! Stop! Do not move a single step!”

[Don’t listen to her! Do it! Guards! Attack the Elder with your strongest attacks! Girl, bring me my meat!]

You could imagine the chaos that ensued. With my superior Soul powers, I easily ordered around the Disciples as well as the guards who were in the Golden Core Realm. The guards took attacking positions and began rapidly gathering Qi while aiming at the Elder. The male Disciple threw off his robe and was just about to pull out his noodle when the Elder roared at the top of her lungs.

“Enough! Stop! Everybody freeze!” A wave of Soul power burst out of her, stunning everybody into stillness. Well, almost everybody. I began to laugh.

[Is that all you got? Wow, impressive.] I then stretched a tiny bit and took the meat into my hands. The distance was just right for the chains. The girl brought it just close enough. I took a satisfied bite and chewed loudly while looking at the Elder.

“You!” She growled.

[Yes, dear? What is it? Want a bite?] I sank my pointy teeth into the succulent flesh while looking at her with a smile.

The Elder disappeared and reappeared beside me, slapping the meat out of my hand in one swift motion. It splattered against the wall and slowly slid down as I watched. A real tragedy I tell you. Oh, she slapped my hand too, that stung a little bit. I just frowned at her in silent defiance.

She appeared surprised. Maybe she expected to take off my hand too? I don’t know. Anyway, I didn’t like her. Not even one bit. Damn wench, wasting good food.

[Guys, shoot-]

Her hand clamped around my neck, preventing the words from ever being spoken.

“Not another word or I’ll crush your throat!” She hissed.

I just smiled and my eyes shifted to the side. Then we heard the sound of water running and her eyes enlarged into saucers.

I was thrown back by an explosion of Qi, as was everyone else in the hall, and with her body shaking, the Elder turned around looking at her pristine white robe carrying a damp spot in the back.

[Haha…] I quietly chuckled and rubbed my neck. [I don’t need to speak to give out orders, fool. But I’m sure you already knew that.]

The Elder didn’t say anything, she just began shaking in anger as she gathered her Qi. Blood vessels burst in her eyes and she looked just about ready to murder me. Oh, whoops.

The front door opened just as she was about to launch into an attack.

“Elder Wei Ying? Is everything alright? I heard-” The old man who entered looked around and his eyes landed on the unconscious Disciples and guards just as Elder Wei Ying screamed and launched herself at me. “Wait... Elder, Stop! What are you doing?!”

He jumped forward, intercepting her, and encasing himself and the female Elder into a spherical barrier. Energy exploded, nearly shattering his barrier while he took the brunt of the attack.

“Elder Wei Ying! Get a hold of yourself!”

“Get off me! I’ll kill him! I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him!”

But the old Cultivator didn’t let her. Instead, he tried to reason with her as his Qi wrapped around her, trying to constrain her. “Your Disciples, Elder! Look at them! Are you trying to kill everybody here?!”

Indeed, her two helpers were in bad shape. Being in the Golden Core, they took heavy damage when she exploded. The guards too, were unconscious, and bleeding harshly. I took some damage too, it was inevitable, after all, she was a mature Cultivator in the Spirit Realm. But, being a Body Cultivator who focused on defense, my wounds were superficial at best, and nothing I couldn’t manage.

The old Elder didn’t know that though. He only saw one of his colleagues going nuts, she screamed like a banshee as he tried to hold her down, and tried to kill everyone for no apparent reason.

I trembled and attempted to distance myself from her, donning the most frightened face I could muster.

Eventually, the old Elder overpowered Elder Wei Ying and knocked her unconscious. He then wrapped her in a thick Spirit Qi barrier and carried her out slumped over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes.

Soon other Disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall came in and took care of the four wounded. I then watched them clean up the blood and return the torture room to its spotless appearance. Weird flex, but okay.

After waiting for a while longer, another person came in. Another old man, one that carried a curious smile.

“We meet again, young one.”

I sucked in a breath of cold air. I recognized the man before me. I only met him once before, but I will never forget it. Grandpa of that snotty young Cultivator who once tried to bully me, that Sum Ting.

But, the problem was that the Elder was something more. He was an important part of the Law Enforcement Hall. Grand Elder Ge Ting. And he came to personally scrutinize me. I think I went too far and messed up.

Oops.