Following Lu Kangnian's furious shout, an immense pressure abruptly descended upon the grand hall!
Beneath this crushing weight, an involuntary sense of panic took root in the chest.
Yu Mu's expression shifted slightly, his eyes brimming with struggle.
He gritted his teeth, yet remained entirely silent.
Lu Kangnian barked in profound disappointment and rage, "Yu Mu! You have served this sect diligently for hundreds of years. Why were you eavesdropping on Li Guanqi's conversation today?"
"Are you going to speak or not?!"
Rising to his feet, Lu Kangnian glared fiercely at Yu Mu.
Yu Mu had entered the sect not long after him. Their bond had once been just like that between Li Guanqi and Zhong Lin—fellow martial brothers of the same generation!
No matter how hard he thought, he could not fathom why Yu Mu would do such a thing.
The only certainty for now was that Yu Mu had harbored no killing intent. Besides, with his strength alone, he could never have killed Li Guanqi.
In his fury, Lu Kangnian raised a hand and unleashed a long earthen-yellow sword of spiritual power!
*Swoosh!*
The spiritual sword shot forward with explosive force, piercing straight through Yu Mu's shoulder and sending blood splattering several feet!
"Ugh..."
Pained by the blow, Yu Mu could not help but let out a muffled groan.
Even so, he maintained his stubborn silence.
Seeing this, Qin Xian roared in fury, "Are you not afraid I will execute you right here?!"
"What on earth could make you refuse to speak, even at the cost of your life?"
Yu Mu kept his head bowed, not uttering a single word, clearly set on playing the mute to the very end.
A glint of cold light flashed in Li Guanqi's eyes. Looking up at Lu Kangnian, he said softly, "Sect Master, would you like me to handle this personally?"
A sharp glimmer crossed Lu Kangnian's gaze. He knew all too well...
Once Li Guanqi stepped in, given the youth's temperament, he would certainly unearth answers. But... Yu Mu would likely not survive it.
Lu Kangnian closed his eyes, a flicker of anguish crossing his features.
Yet it vanished almost instantly. From the moment he resolved to lead the Great Xia Sword Sect to greatness, he had anticipated scenes like this.
It was only that... he had imagined some mid-level disciple being led astray into crime, not a fellow brother who had stood with him for centuries.
Turning around, Lu Kangnian cast a deep look at Yu Mu and sent a low voice transmission: "Spare his life, if you can. All right?"
Seeing how the sect master seemed to have aged in an instant, Li Guanqi gave a slight nod.
Then, Li Guanqi raised a hand and directly tore open the void, dragging Yu Mu inside.
Constructing a stable pocket of space within the nothingness, Li Guanqi slowly walked up to Yu Mu and crouched down before him.
Looking at the middle-aged man, Li Guanqi wasted no words, speaking in an even tone.
"What was your purpose? Who instructed you?"
Yu Mu merely looked at him with a placid gaze, keeping his lips sealed.
Li Guanqi did not waste words either. With a single kick, he knocked Yu Mu onto his back. As Li Guanqi raised his hand, the fingernails on all five of Yu Mu's fingers were wrenched backward as if plucked by an invisible force.
The nails ripped away from the flesh, dragging out ribbons of bloody meat. Yu Mu's entire body shuddered, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Li Guanqi said casually, "I know. Physical pain like this is utterly trivial to you."
Pausing there, he continued as if chatting with himself.
"You should know by now that I am no virtuous man."
"Back when I dealt with those scoundrels from Ziyang Palace, I captured two of them."
"I buried them in the ground with only their heads exposed, and smeared their faces with honey."
"Do you know why?"
Yu Mu's bloodshot eyes glared fixedly at Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi continued, "Because I buried them right in front of a cave belonging to vicious bears."
"You know what a bear's tongue is like—covered in barbs."
"A single lick leaves you dripping with blood, taking skin and flesh with it."
"Heh, but rest assured, I won't do that to you."
Li Guanqi's eyes gradually turned cold, his countenance darkening.
"I do not have much patience. Though the sect master asked me to spare your life..."
"Whether you live or die still depends entirely on my whim. Besides... you probably don't want to become a useless cripple, do you?"
As those words landed, Yu Mu's body began to tremble uncontrollably!
As he hung his head, sheer terror flooded his eyes!
Li Guanqi continued, "Think about it. I could shatter that not-yet-fully-integrated Nascent Soul of yours, lop off your four limbs, and turn you into a human stump."
"Then I'll casually dump you at the foot of the mountain, leaving you to beg for scraps until you die."
"Don't worry. If it really comes to that, with your pitiful state, you'll easily win people's sympathy when begging."
Yu Mu finally spoke his first words.
He lifted his head, his bloodshot eyes glaring savagely at Li Guanqi.
"You are ruthless!"
Suddenly, Li Guanqi made an unexpected remark.
"This Soul Formation Realm of yours... it has something to do with the person behind you, doesn't it?"
Hearing that, Yu Mu's pupils constricted violently, a look of utter horror flashing across his eyes.
Before Yu Mu could react, Li Guanqi pressed his fingers together like a blade and plunged his hand into the man's abdomen with a sickening squelch!
Instantly, Yu Mu's limbs convulsed, his facial features twisting violently.
Wild lightning began rampaging through his meridians, tearing them apart.
At the same time, an invisible hand gripped the Nascent Soul within his body and began to squeeze!
Within a single breath, the strained sound of cracking emanated from the Nascent Soul inside Yu Mu!
Yu Mu was terrified. Looking at Li Guanqi's impassive face, he was gripped by an unprecedented horror.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Don't! Don't ruin my cultivation...!"
Li Guanqi slowly eased his grip and said softly, "Then speak properly, speak slowly, and speak thoroughly."
"My patience is limited, and you only get one chance."
His voice was calm, yet hearing it sent a chill down to the marrow of the bone.
Li Guanqi withdrew his hand. Immediately afterward, several Thunder Spears abruptly pierced through Yu Mu's body, hoisting him into midair.
The man trembled all over. Suspended in the air, he could only look down at Li Guanqi and stammer in a rush.
"I don't know who he is..."
"About a year ago, he found me and promised that as long as I worked for him, he would help me break through the bottleneck into the Soul Formation Realm."
"I... my talent is mediocre. On the great path of cultivation, without some miraculous encounter, I would have been stuck in the Nascent Soul realm forever."
"For the past two hundred years, my cultivation hasn't progressed by a single inch. You have no idea how desperately I yearned to reach Soul Formation!"
Li Guanqi's gaze turned chilling. Several more Thunder Spears skewered through Yu Mu's body as he said without a shred of emotion, "Get to the point."
Yu Mu took a long time to catch his breath before continuing.
"Later, he gave me some pills. With the help of those extraordinary pills, my strength began to advance by leaps and bounds."
"Yet that mysterious figure never showed his true face. Even during that single meeting, he concealed his appearance and aura."
"After giving me the pills, he vanished... Throughout this entire year, aside from pills that would occasionally appear inside my room, he never asked me to do anything at all..."
"Except... except for today."
Li Guanqi's brows knit tighter and tighter. Within his perception, Yu Mu's mental fluctuations remained steady.
Which meant that everything the man had just said was the truth.
Chapter 387