Chapter 420 - Piercing Through

Bai was a three-eyed white snake with a bloodline that had the potential to become a Core Formation beast, and perhaps even see the next stage if his will and guts were firm enough. But that all changed when that bastard controlled him with a Sky Grade Technique.

Now here he was in a dark cavern, surrounded by bloodthirsty monsters.

Bai was nailed to the cavern wall by eight wooden spikes piercing through his huge body and drawing out the blood before it could seep from his wounds. At least the areas around the wounds were numb.

A large, human-sized owl stood at the forefront of the crowd of beasts surrounding him.

“As expected, there was a mole. Otherwise, Laba would have never been found,” said the owl.

“But was it worth it to send one of our own out there to die for an answer?” asked a rhino-monkey. “We sacrificed Laba for nothing. So what if we know now that Wisdom Hall was behind this?”

Bai didn't care much that Liu Feng had been exposed or outsmarted. He was only thinking about how to get out of this.

If he didn't say anything, he was going to die. But if he said anything, the mental technique Liu Feng used to control him would also turn his mind to mush.

The shadows of the creatures shifted around like dancing hyenas. It was an eerie sight, and he could only tell what those creatures were by their shapes.

“Knowing who has a technique that can control beasts is information we need to know. Each of us is vulnerable to the technique, though the victim here is a Foundation Establishment beast. Who is to say that Liu Feng hasn't controlled a Core Formation beast?” explained the owl, with a calm voice like that of a leader you knew you could trust.

Heck, he sure sounded much better than Liu Feng, Bai thought.

“Tch,” another beast seemed annoyed. “So we sacrificed Laba for this? We now know the snake is a spy, what next?”

“Obviously we get a dozen of our Core Formation leaders and wipe that Wisdom Hall off the map,” suggested one of the peak Foundation Establishment beasts.

Bai tried sending out mental waves to contact Liu Feng, but for some strange reason, the spikes piercing through his body disrupted everything. He couldn't send back even a word.

He stared at the different shapes and counted half a dozen beasts. From what he sensed, most were Core Formation, with a few at Foundation Establishment.

Talk about bad luck.

“Laba's talisman burned so fast after he sent the signal that he had been found due to proximity. That means there are at least two Core Formation Cultivators outside the Wisdom Hall,” the human-sized owl said, tilting its head as it contemplated something.

“We should attack now!” The humanoid-shaped rhino-monkey walked closer to Bai. It had thick, stone-colored skin, and there was a murderous, animalistic rage in the rhino-monkey's eyes as its head shook in anger.

“All six of us should just go and take out Wisdom Hall in one swoop!” declared the rhino-monkey.

“But why would Liu Feng take out the Blood Witch, who our information says is the strongest combat power he can use?” the owl murmured.

“So what?” The rhino-monkey didn't see reason.

Bai somewhat understood the anger beasts in general had against Liu Feng. He had published books that explained their weaknesses and all that, cataloging what was essentially a kill list for most beast races out there.

“We can hate the enemy, but we must never underestimate them,” the owl said. “Liu Feng is the greatest murderer against our kind, but he is no fool. I suspect that he must have a Nascent Soul powerhouse behind him in Wisdom Hall… at least there is a high chance of that.”

Everyone else went quiet, and the owl continued, “Why would he leave his organization empty-handed otherwise? My suspicion is that the ice-element woman that follows him likely broke through and became a Nascent Soul human.”

The mention of a Nascent Soul powerhouse halted everyone's words and anger in their throats before they could get them out.

“Liu Feng is the same kind of threat as the Azure Frost Sect Leader. He is cunning,” the owl continued. “If we act now, we would just walk into his trap.”

“But he has caused us catastrophic losses with those books. Even if we have to call the great leaders, we must not let someone like that walk around with impunity,” declared a four-armed gorilla with a deep voice.

“Yes,” the owl nodded. “But I still think his real threat hasn't been revealed yet. He is only a bit lower threat to our plans than the leader of the Void Piercing Sect.”

Many of them continued murmuring and discussing amongst themselves. Bai's vision began blurring, with darkness creeping into the corners of his sight.

Was he going to die?

He blamed Liu Feng for all this. If only he hadn't had the misfortune of being enslaved by that man... He could only blame his terrible luck.

“I will now read his memories. Nobody move me or make too much noise. This technique has quite the backlash,” declared the human-sized owl with a hoot.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The owl closed its eyes, and its beak touched Bai's third eye in the middle of his serpentine forehead.

Bai cursed his fate as his consciousness dimmed…

However, the next second, Bai felt all the pain in his body disappear and found himself in a green field with a cloudless blue sky above him.

Huh? Was this the afterlife?

A shadowy figure in front of him twisted and turned like a black flame before finally taking a shape resembling Liu Feng.

What was this? Was it the technique the owl planned to use to read his memories? Then why did it take Liu Feng's shape?

After Bai saw that gross benevolence in the ghost's eyes, he knew this was no imposter. This was some mental energy Liu Feng had left behind in case of a situation like this. A heavy sensation settled over Bai's body, just like eating a large beast or a group of humans and being unable to move until the meal was digested.

“Sorry, but I'm a failsafe in case someone disables the auto-kill effect in the Eight Mind Phantoms Technique and is trying to read your memories,” Liu Feng apologized with that helpful samaritan face he always put on.

“Sorry…” Liu Feng said again, as a piercing headache tore through Bai's mind.

Bai was not in the mood to scream in pain. This was, after all, just a projection, and even Liu Feng's face became blurred in all his memories. Bai suddenly realized that the face of the humanoid shadow had been blurry all along, and his mind had simply filled in the gaps.

This was just in case someone got this far. Meticulous as always.

“You bastard!” Bai couldn't hold in his thoughts, even knowing this was just a projection Liu Feng would never hear. “Saying all these righteous-sounding words, while at the same time sacrificing our lives within the blink of an eye!”

The faceless man didn't move, even as Bai began forgetting what that man's face looked like.

What was his name…? Its name…?

Yet the words that came out in this mental space were things he deeply wanted to say.

"All the words you ever said were all lip service! Serving the man himself! The mad bastard! To make himself feel special, and not like the monsters he surrounded himself with," Bai hollered, until everything cut to black.

******

Days passed since killing the unicorn, and I had nothing else to do out there in the marshes. So I returned to Wisdom Hall. I was in my secret laboratory, with the lights above me flickering as the auxiliary array set up for the creepy effect in the lab misfired.

Not that bright light mattered much with my eyesight. But the vibe…

My hands shook and halted for a split second as I sensed my connection with Bai severed.

Huh? He passed? That was a shame…

Did they read his memories? I had a failsafe there. But if someone discovered him, they were likely at least a Core Formation beast. Not like Bai knew much about me, but it was best to be careful from now on.

We might even get attacked by the numerous beast armies. I didn’t want a battle on my doorstep, but if they came, then I might have to get involved in this war. With Ni Shi here and his Nascent Soul power, I was not too worried. But preparation was a must.

Still, my thoughts only lingered for a second, and I sent a short prayer to Bai.

I liked the guy. He had potential, and if it wasn't for this perilous Beast Sect and all that, I wouldn't have sent him into such a dangerous situation. He was a beast who had eaten humans. So initially, I looked down on him, or the more correct term would be that I didn't like the three-eyed snake. But as he was a good spy, we talked more often, and I realized I had been judgmental.

Just because someone ate people didn't make them subhuman or unintelligent. This world was different. He didn't even like eating humans that much because their clothes tasted gross. He opened my eyes to a new perspective. Beasts didn't necessarily hate humans. They were just easy prey.

Either way, the guy had helped me a bunch.

Should I have a grave and a tombstone made with his name on it? Probably. His contributions should be remembered and passed on.

I looked at the Pure Heart Vein in a glass tube filled with purple liquid and decided to put those gloomy thoughts in the back of my mind and continue with my research.

The Pure Heart Vein from the unicorn had dense Qi that wasn't disappearing anytime soon. The leakage was almost unnoticeable, and I wouldn't have noticed it at all if I didn't have my Foundation Technique that helped me see Qi at a microscopic level.

I pulled out a small cage from under the table and took out an albino rat with red eyes and white fur.

In my previous life, I was not much of a fan of animals, except dogs. Cats were monsters. Perhaps since having that big lovable turtle Speedy as a companion, I had developed a soft spot for animals.

I petted the albino rat's head gently as it tried to bite my fingers. It failed, as my body's defenses were absurd by normal standards.

“If you survive this, I will give you a lifetime of snacks and good living,” I told the little guy.

Then I returned my attention to the glowing vein in the test tube and gently took it out before placing it on the albino rat's back and activating it with my Qi. There was a bright flash as the Pure Heart Vein was absorbed by the rat. But with my enhanced vision, I saw the Qi inside the rat grow erratic as its cells became hyperactive.

At the last second, I created a jade dome around the rat as it burst like a balloon. Blood, meat, bone, and scrambled organs splattered across the inside of the barrier.

Yikes!

But I didn't let the grotesque sight interrupt my observations, as the seconds immediately after an effect like this were the best time to analyze everything.

It was not harmful to other living material and cells like some beast parts were. It also retained a strong vitality, even after the unicorn had died. Surprisingly, the Pure Heart Vein hadn't lost any Qi even after causing the rat to explode. Meaning that the change it caused in the body was likely an attempt to make it possible for the vein to be absorbed. Of course, the rat couldn't handle it, but someone like a cultivator easily could.

How would it affect mortal humans, and how would those effects differ when used by cultivators? Well, I didn’t have any human test subjects and would never have any. So I marked this part as inconclusive in my little notebook. Also, I didn’t have many Pure Heart Veins either.

“Technically, there is one human test subject…”

I murmured, pinching the Pure Heart Vein between my fingers. The Qi inside the Pure Heart Vein had no instinctive reaction when I tried to imbue it with my own Qi. It was like something handmade for cultivators to consume, with little to no side effects.

I cut off a small part of it.

Immediately, the severed piece began losing Qi and vitality rapidly, so I consumed it without hesitation.

Shit!

I brought the Pure Heart Vein to my belly button, following the prescribed method for absorbing it.

As soon as it touched my skin, the vein reacted. The porcelain-white strand seemed to soften before pushing its way inside, slipping through my belly button as naturally as if there had always been an opening waiting for it. A sharp sting followed, and a small cut appeared around the point of entry, releasing a few drops of blood, but the wound began closing almost immediately. Within moments, there was no sign that something had just entered my body.