~kacha~

~poosh~

~Slick~

~Shing~

A mix of low noises were heard echoing through the tunnels as a silent slaughter was initiated. The victims didn't even get a chance to let out a cry before their lives were ended. Lin Mu would never give them time to speak their last words, for he didn't think they were worthy of that mercy.

"Now to check on the ones that can actually speak…" Lin Mu said as he flew toward one of the tunnels.

He weaved through the many tunnels that crisscrossed and forked, before finally reaching a wide open cave.

~Cough~

~cough~

"W-who…"

In this cave laid three men. Two of them had their throats slit and only one was somewhat alive. But even then, his life was hanging by a thread and he would die any time now.

The way the man was lying on the ground, he couldn't see Lin Mu, but he could very well feel the wind blowing. This was strange since there shouldn't be any wind in the tunnels deep down.

Finally, Lin Mu came to stand in front of the half-dead man.

"Do you want to live?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Y… y-yes…" The man barely spoke as blood continued to gurgle from his throat.

He couldn't understand how all this had happened. It was very quick, and he didn't even realize that he was attacked. And by the time he did, it was too late and he was already lying on the ground.

His tendons had been severed in all of his limbs, leaving him like a worm… wriggling on the ground. If not for the fact that the spirit weapon that slit the throats of his companions didn't go deeper, he would have already had his head lopped off.

Even then, he didn't lose hope and tried to use his healing pills. But it was then that despair settled in for him… he couldn't even feel the presence of his spatial storage treasure.

Besides, his hands couldn't move very well now either way.

Lin Mu had used Spatial block the moment he had spread his spirit sense inside the mines.

Gazing at the bleeding man as if he were a bug, Lin Mu picked him up by his hair before shoving a healing pill inside his mouth. All rights © .

~shua~

The effect of a high grade healing pill was very quick and in just five seconds, the bleeding stopped. Lin Mu held him mid air for a few seconds until his injuries were sufficiently healed.

Then when the man tried to stimulate his cultivation base, he felt intense pain again.

~SPLAT~

"Not so fast…" Lin Mu said as he pulled back his hand from the man's abdomen.

~drip~ drip~

More blood spilled from the man's abdomen as he felt his dantian breaking apart.

"W-why…?" the man didn't even have energy to scream and could only utter a few words.

"You are not worthy of an answer. You will only speak when spoken to, and only answer when questioned." Lin Mu stated in a firm voice.

His tone was cold and felt like daggers in the ears of the Man.

~shua~

"ARGHHHH!" The man cried out in pain as a hot flame scorched his flesh, stopping the bleeding abdomen.

"That should make you hold out for a bit." Lin Mu said before he dropped the man on the ground.

~THUD~

Dust was knocked up as the man weakly gazed at Lin Mu, fear flowing through his eyes.

"Now then… where was I?" Lin Mu said before taking a look at the blue sphere of runes in one of the corners of the cave.

It seemed to be hiding something inside it and it couldn't be seen from the outside.

"The first question I have is… what is the Gu legion doing here?" Lin Mu asked.

The man didn't speak and seemed to be lost at first, but then he felt pain again.

~KACHA~

"AHHHHHH!!!!" the man screamed in pain as his foot was shattered.

Lin Mu made sure not to break skin and flesh so that the blood would not leak out. This way the man would stay alive longer.

'Besides, he's a Nascent soul realm cultivator, he should have enough vitality to hold on. Those elders of the Long Cloud sect were in a much worse state and yet they were battling at full force…' Lin Mu thought to himself, as the coldness in his eyes increased.

"You avoid a question or say something wrong, you'll feel pain. You answer right and I'll give you a healing pill… understand?" Lin Mu stated.

"Y-yes…" The man said while stammering.

"Good… now answer my previous question if you don't want more of your bones shattered." Lin Mu said.

Hearing this, the man felt a burst of fearful energy and quickly started speaking.

"We were here doing our duties as assigned by lord Gu Yao. We are to gather the sacrifices from nearby regions to be prepared for refinement." The man said hurriedly spoke.

"Sacrifices? What exactly are these and what do you mean by refinement?" Lin Mu questioned.

"We refine the sacrifices, which are the human cultivators, into the Rebirth blood. This is all done by lord Gu Yao's refinement arrays." The man answered while coughing a few times.

Lin Mu's spirit sense could tell that something had changed in the man. His vitality had suddenly dipped before rising back up. But it seemed like the man was unaware of it.

Keeping this in mind, Lin Mu continued asking the man questions.

"And what is the use of this… Rebirth blood?" Lin Mu asked.

"The Rebirth blood is used to make the Reborn… Only Lord Gu Yao knows how to make those though. They need a Rebirth Seed in addition to the Rebirth blood to be made. Though there aren't many that survive that.

Though even the waste and failed products have uses." The man said, giving Lin Mu a bad feeling.

"What happens to the ones that failed?" Lin Mu questioned.

"They get recycled into cultivation base boosting pills.." The man said, infuriating Lin Mu.