As soon as Xiao Feng cried out, Brother Sun Li and Liu Kang also let out exclamations as they recognized Yin Na. All of the cultivators came out of the Six Worlds Bead necklace, naked and filled with killing intent.
Yin Na watched all of them growing slowly to size, and understood that it was some kind of Soul Transfer technique, but he did not move nor take action.
“Villain!” Brother Liu Kang and Sun Li cried. “You have fled to the end of your rope, there is no escape for you today!”
“You will die where you stand!” shouted Ying Er, eyes red with fury, completely ignoring her own nakedness.
Only Xiao Feng was cautious and silent.
Even though he was filled with hatred, he was evaluating Yin Na with his Qi Sense. He confirmed nothing unusual for an ordinary martial artist of the Qi Formation stage. He felt guilt and frustration at being unable to recognize him earlier, but even with shorter hair this person was unmistakably Yin Na. The strangest thing is that somehow he had lost all his cultivation base.
Yin Na showed no reaction from the moment he was exposed and the other cultivators manifested from Chen Zixi’s necklace. He stared coldly at the Golden Core cultivator standing in front of him like a lamb before a tiger.
“Hmph, so ultimately I could not run nor hide from the avenging force of the Heavenly Sword sect,” thought Yin Na. “Perhaps Chen Zixi knew of my performance all along, but what does it matter?”
Yin Na felt like meat on the chopping block.
“But I will not give up!” Yin Na decided.
Even though the other cultivators looked as if to strike Yin Na, they did not take action. They subconsciously waited for Chen Zixi’s approval.
“Hehehe,” chuckled Chen Zixi. “What have you to say for yourself, Yin Na? No, I don’t want to hear any of your negotiating. Let’s start with covering what we missed. Where is Tian Ji Han’s body?”
Yin Na spoke: “He exploded from self-detonation.”
“What kind of technique did Master Tian Ji Han have that he’d be able to explode with the diameter of a li?” Chen Zixi appeared to voice the question in everyone else’s heads. “Very well, whether you spoke the truth or not, it does not matter since I will simply search your soul once you’re dead.”
“...” Yin Na’s expression remained unchanged at the promise of death. After all, he had almost experienced it multiple times in the prolonged flames of Tian Ji Han’s detonated Golden Core explosion!
Chen Zixi snorted:
“Just because I forbid any of your desperate groveling or bribes, I hope not all your responses will just be defiant silence. Since you will not be able to escape your death, I can spare you from a long, agonizing one if you please me with your answers. You will tell us the truth and the whole truth.”
Chen Zixi stroked his beard.
“Let’s start with that Desolate beast’s whereabouts!”
Yin Na’s eyes momentarily flashed, before resuming their murky stillness.
“I chopped it up into pieces and buried them,” said Yin Na. “The Spicy Oil Boar was wounded from the explosion from Tian Ji Han’s suicide. It was also completely loyal to me, it did not even suspect me delivering the killing blow.”
“You think we’re dumb?! It seems you really are courting death,” said Brother Liu Kang. “There was no way you’d have time to kill and cut up a Desolate beast by the time you sensed our pursuit-”
Chen Zixi looked at Brother Liu Kang, who shut up instantly. Then he turned his gaze slowly back to Yin Na.
“To kill and eat a Desolate beast mount just so that your foes won’t get them,” said Chen Zixi. “This action speaks more of spite than of practical necessity to hide your presence. A demonic action, indeed! But you’re not that kind of demonic cultivator, are you, Yin Na?”
Yin Na grinned, as he spoke the truth: “The Ancient Desolate beast has already fled out of this valley. I had one of my Yao Guai companions ride it away to safety.”
“By sending your Desolate beast mount away, your actions implied that you think you’d be able to survive this encounter with me.” Chen Zixi said. “Nevermind how many Yao Guai you have that are still remaining and loyal to you. But regarding the Spicy Oil Boar’s escape, my instincts from years spent cultivating and battling enemies and traveling the world tell me that you are now telling the truth. Now tell me, Yin Na: do your instincts say that you will survive this encounter?”
Yin Na’s eyes flashed again, this time with delight.
“This crafty Cultivator who used to be a Demonic cultivator cannot shed his original nature. Is he daring me to placate a wolf by offering enough meat in return?”
Yin Na chuckled on the inside. Even in the face of total obliteration, he was not worried. Even in the prospect of total victory, this Golden Core cultivator wanted to milk him for every benefit he had. A Demon recognizes a former Demon, indeed!
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After all, that was why the first question Chen Zixi asked him was about his valuable missing mount.
This was a fact that did not go unnoticed by Xiao Feng either.
Chen Zixi put the implication of recovering benefits up front first, instead of inquiring about details regarding Tian Ji Han’s battle and demise, and Yin Na’s total loss of cultivation base.
Emotions were running high amidst everyone else. They all wanted to kill Yin Na at a moment’s notice from Chen Zixi, but Xiao Feng was the first to recognize what was going on between the man he called his new Master and the monster who killed his old one.
“If you kill me, all my memories will be intact, making the locations of all my cultivation resources and treasures available to soul searching indeed,” said Yin Na. “But aren’t you also lying to me, Chen Zixi?”
Everyone else could not believe their ears. Yin Na was provoking Chen Zixi even when threatened with annihilation!
“You’re a Core Cultivator of the Heavenly Sect now. While I do not doubt your prestige and prominence in that Righteous Sect, wouldn’t your standing mean that your training and skills are under tight scrutiny by the Nascent Soul cultivators and Elders of the Sect?”
Chen Zixi stopped stroking his beard.
Yin Na continued: “Under close eyes, you are unable to practice your former Demonic skills, lest you get punished or even killed by the Heavenly Sword Sect. Soul searching is a Demonic Skill at its very core, and is usually only accessible to Nascent Soul cultivators and above. You’re telling me that the Heavenly Sword Sect allows cultivators of your level to engage in Soul Searching? Don’t bullshit with me, unless you plan to kill everyone here as well after searching my soul. Then you can become a lone cultivator again, and bring down the wrath of the Heavenly Sword Sect on yourself.”
“Courting death!” Chen Zixi roared.
But Yin Na continued: “Yes, in your heart, you are a Loner, Chen Zixi. I won’t ask your story of how a proud Demonic cultivator ended up in the control of the Heavenly Sword Sect. But most likely, my assessment is correct: you’ve always lacked funds, when you were a loner, and even now in the Heavenly Sword Sect while keeping up the appearance of a ‘righteous’ cultivator. I presume this brat offered you his entire life’s savings in order to rescue Tian Ji Han, eh?”
Yin Na looked at Xiao Feng for the first time, and it sent waves of nausea throughout the young cultivator’s head. Even though Xiao Feng was stronger than Yin Na in cultivation level, he felt humiliated and endangered.
“I knew Tian Ji Han. I knew him better than anybody,” said Yin Na, and Xiao Feng realized with horror that Yin Na was addressing him directly. “I estimate…about two hundred thousand spirit stones for this mission, no?”
Everyone, even Chen Zixi was shocked at how Yin Na guessed the exact price of their mission. Yin Na chuckled.
“And I bet that the majority of those funds were from this Qi Condensation brat right here, most of it probably being Spirit Stones that he doesn't even own. What’s the current Heavenly Sword Sect Loan interest rate? I knew Tian Ji Han’s finances were poor, and that his stupid pigheaded adherence to virtues earned him few friends amongst his ‘righteous’ sect. Such is the way of Righteous Sects! But that is not the way of Chen Zixi, is it?”
Chen Zixi’s killing intent rose in intensity.
“You better not talk rot in your next few words, lest I kill you on the spot,” said Chen Zixi.
“Forget about the Spicy Oil Boar,” said Yin Na. “Forget about the cultivation resources that I’ve hidden or planted across all over the Southern region. Kill me, and you’ll lose your biggest chance of all.”
Chen Zixi: “...And what would that be?”
“Freedom,” said Yin Na.
The air cooled in temperature as Chen Zixi relaxed his killing intent, and asked: “How so?”
“If one had enough Spirit Stones, they would not need to cater to the whims of a bureaucracy. If one had enough Spirit Stones, they’d have enough wealth to cultivate so that one individual can have the strength and economic power that would surpass the Heavenly Sect within a very short time. But even if you extracted every Spirit Stone from all of the hiding places I’ve made under Heaven, you’d not have enough to cultivate as a loner.
“This is because you have not heard of the Dao of Benefits,” Yin Na revealed dramatically. “True freedom only comes from Financial Freedom, and how can you achieve this without years of experience or wisdom? Fortunately, I practice what I preach, otherwise, how could I have amassed this much wealth? I even avoided death because I had enough expensive and rare pills that saved me from the immolating fires of Tian Ji Han’s explosion.
“What I offer is partnership.” Yin Na extended his hand in a very strange manner unfamiliar to people in the Southern Region. “With me by your side, you will have more funding than whatever this…child promised you, and you can multiply it a thousandfold with my teachings. I’ll teach you everything that I know, no strings attached. You can pay off your debts, and expend great wealth in cultivating, and become free of the Heavenly Sword Sect. You certainly won’t have to take orders from a prepubescent boy.”
At that moment, Xiao Feng felt despair crushing his very soul. Even after promising his life to Chen Zixi via Spirit Stone loans with the Heavenly Sword Sect, this Golden Core cultivator was not dutifully fulfilling the end of his bargain by killing Yin Na immediately.
This was simply too much, this was like having the orator at your father’s funeral openly share wine and praise with his murderers!
With a lungful of despair, Xiao Feng coughed blood!
“Xiao Feng!” Brother Liu Kang, Sun Li and Ying Er rushed to the kneeling Xiao Feng.
This was the best he could do to spur Chen Zixi to action. He could not beg, but he could give some of his own blood, if it meant avenging Master Ji Han as soon as possible!
Chen Zixi saw what was happening in his peripherals, and sighed.
“You reason really well, Yin Na,” Chen Zixi said. “And I can almost believe that with your Dao of Benefits, I would resume cultivating independently, at a rate far exceeding that of those chained by the rules of a Sect. But ultimately, you fail to see the bigger picture.
“Even if you can manifest your Dao of Benefits into reality, there are certain elements which govern the fabrics of our reality and all rules under Heaven. I am referring to the fact that the Righteous have always dominated and oversaw the development of Earth and Heaven since time immemorial.”
Yin Na felt sweat break out on his forehead.
Chen Zixi suddenly looked wistful as he let out a tired sigh. “You cannot go against the Dao of Heaven. All things are to be balanced, and any lone individuals who threaten this balance are to be rooted out. If you become the most powerful, wealthiest individual, the Righteous Sects will figure out a way to turn all under Heaven against you. Even if you were a group of Loners that minded your own business, you are threatened with either annihilation or assimilation.”
Yin Na suddenly realized he was going to die!