The endeavor could be said to have taken considerable effort. After all, neither the Heavenly Court nor the Jiang clan could intervene directly. Doing so risked alerting the enemy, so utmost prudence was essential.
Furthermore, the two major factions were bound to keep a close watch on the movements of the Heavenly Court and the Jiang clan. If they noticed anything, they would certainly take precautions. As a result, the capture had to be left to outsiders, and none of them could be powerful figures.
This naturally made things exceedingly troublesome and required time. Fortunately, they had succeeded in the end.
Jiang Huanyun had enlisted another clan to take action, capturing a member of the Ji clan. His status was not particularly high—merely an ordinary clansman, not even close to a sequence prodigy—yet that was already sufficient.
For now, at least, all they needed to ascertain was whether the two major factions had truly accepted the power of the extraterrestrial heavenly demons.
Upon receiving word, Lu Yuan and the Jiang siblings set out immediately.
"It took some doing, but we finally caught one." Seeing the three arrive, a smile appeared on Jiang Huanyun's face.
Taking a living captive without inflicting severe injuries had indeed been somewhat difficult. Lu Yuan and the others then turned their gaze toward the captured Ji clansman.
He was a young man in the Saint Realm. Aside from a slightly weakened aura, he was essentially uninjured.
He did not recognize the Jiang clan's Divine Son and Holy Maiden, but he certainly knew Lu Yuan. The moment he laid eyes on him, astonishment and terror instantly surfaced in his eyes.
There was no helping it; Lu Yuan's fame was simply too great, especially given all he had done recently. Nearly any enemy of inferior strength who laid eyes on him would react this way. After all, the Divine Sons of both the Ji clan and the Eternal Clan had perished at his hands.
"Speak. Moving against the great clans of the various star sectors—what exactly is your Ji clan plotting?" Jiang Haokong spoke first, waves of formidable aura rising from his body.
He was already a Grotto-Heaven Immortal now, countless times beyond the Saint Realm. To the Ji clansman, the aura he exuded felt like towering mountains, leaving no room to resist.
The young man's body could not help but tremble, cold sweat beading on his skin. Yet he still clenched his teeth and refused to utter a word.
Seeing this, Jiang Haokong narrowed his eyes slightly, and the aura radiating from him grew even heavier.
Rays of light surged from his frame, bearing peerless might. This pressure was even more overwhelming than before, leaving the Ji clansman deathly pale and visibly unable to endure it.
Even so, he said nothing, appearing fully resigned to death. This was only natural; he was, after all, a clansman of the Ji.
If there truly was some grand plan, confessing it now would be treason to his clan. Moreover, the figures standing before him were their sworn enemies in the truest sense.
"It's useless," Jiang Ningxian said, shaking her head. She too could see it. Though she harbored little fondness for the Ji clan, relying solely on force was bound to fail.
Such measures were meaningless if they wanted him to yield, so she told her brother to stop. Jiang Haokong had no choice but to stand down. They still needed information from the captive's mouth; continuing in this manner would very likely shatter his mind.
If that happened, all their prior efforts would go to waste, so they had to find another way. Lu Yuan, on the other hand, appeared calm and composed as he looked over at Jiang Huanyun.
After a brief thought, he asked directly, "Is there any unique aura emanating from him?"
This was naturally what he cared about most. The power of the extraterrestrial heavenly demons did not belong to this universe, and with Jiang Huanyun's realm of cultivation, he should have been able to sense it immediately.
However, Jiang Huanyun shook his head slightly. "None at all. Everything appears normal."
This was precisely what troubled him so deeply.
He clearly felt something was amiss, yet could detect nothing, which was truly frustrating. Or could it be that the suspicions they had harbored were entirely mistaken from the start?
"Is that so?" Lu Yuan frowned faintly upon hearing this. Without saying another word, he walked straight up to the Ji clansman.
"What are you trying to do?" The captive's heart jolted violently at the sight. Even though Lu Yuan was not revealing the slightest wisp of an aura, sheer panic seized him completely.
After all, Lu Yuan's reputation preceded him and was known throughout virtually the entire universe. In particular, the enmity between the Ji clan and Lu Yuan was extraordinarily deep, which lent him an inexplicable aura of ferocity in the captive's eyes. Even though he had done nothing at all, he still inspired boundless dread in the young man.
Yet Lu Yuan's voice was gentle as he continued, "I will give you a chance. Tell me: what have the Ji clan and the Eternal Clan been doing lately?"
He was not aggressive in the least, speaking as if in casual conversation, without a single threat.
This left Jiang Haokong beside him speechless, feeling that this approach would never work. A Ji clansman possessed some backbone; questioning him like this would yield nothing.
Sure enough, after hearing Lu Yuan's words, the captive forced himself to calm down and sneered, "Don't think you can pry any useful information from me. Just kill me."
Rather than betray his clan, he preferred death—that was the sole thought in his mind.
"Very well." Lu Yuan simply shook his head upon hearing this. He seemed genuinely disinclined to press further, straightening his posture.
Yet just as everyone was looking on in confusion, brilliant purple rays of light abruptly surged from his body.
These rays carried an aura that was vast, mighty, and magnificent. When the onlookers felt it, they all felt as if the figure standing before them was not Lu Yuan, but a supreme existence.
All of this was brought about by that purple light. Before they could fully register what was happening, the radiance surged directly into the Ji clansman's body, coursing through his limbs and bones.
"Aaargh!" The Ji clansman screamed in excruciating agony, his entire body shuddering violently. Before long, the purple radiance returned to Lu Yuan.
At the same time, the three members of the Jiang clan watched as a drop of black blood bearing an inexplicable aura emerged above the Ji clansman's head.
This drop of black blood filled them with an overwhelming sense of revulsion. Even the power within their bodies was stirred by it, as though born with innate hostility toward it.
"This is..." Sensing the aura within it, astonishment surfaced in Jiang Ningxian's eyes. She had seen this black blood before; though this droplet was far weaker, its source aura was identical.
"Indeed. It is just as you imagine," Lu Yuan said, his tone utterly calm. At this moment, he finally confirmed that the Ji clan had indeed accepted the power of the extraterrestrial heavenly demons.
For this black blood was identical to what had been unleashed when the Black Dragon attacked him. What was once mere speculation had now been confirmed. More importantly, not only had the two Domain Lords accepted it, but even their ordinary clansmen had as well.
What did this signify? Lu Yuan already held the answer in his heart!
Chapter 434