Chapter 742: The Fiend's Scheme

Chapter 742: Chapter 223: The Fiend’s Scheme

In front of the building that housed the Ten Thousand Gu Insects, Shen Bai clutched the Grand Elder by the neck, his voice incredibly sinister.

The Grand Elder was restrained by Shen Bai. Just as he was about to resist, he felt a terrifying poison spread from Shen Bai’s hand and throughout his entire body.

In an instant, he had lost all ability to resist, and Shen Bai brought him down to the ground.

Shen Bai released his grip. The Grand Elder lay powerlessly on the ground, twitching intermittently.

The whole scene unfolded with extreme speed. From the Grand Elder being forced to flee by Shen Bai’s words, to Shen Bai severing the Grand Elder’s legs, to capturing him in mid-air and bringing him to the ground—it all took no more than a few breaths’ time.

Chief Wan took in the entire scene, utterly shocked.

“Lord Shen, what is the meaning of this? Why have you captured the Grand Elder?”

Seeing this, he was at a loss.

Rumors in the Jianghu claimed that Shen Bai was temperamental and unpredictable. He worried that Shen Bai had been seized by a murderous impulse and intended to execute the Grand Elder on the spot.

Shen Bai glanced back at Chief Wan and said flatly, “Having reached your position, you should know a thing or two about the Era of Ten Thousand Cities.”

Chief Wan was stunned for a moment. Then, his gaze toward the Grand Elder filled with astonishment. “Lord Shen, are you saying he’s from the Era of Ten Thousand Cities? Impossible. The Grand Elder and I grew up together. He couldn’t have joined them.”

Shen Bai looked at the Grand Elder twitching on the ground and said slowly, “When you were young, didn’t this Grand Elder display an extraordinary talent for Cultivation, even surpassing you in the ways of Gu Insects?”

After hearing Shen Bai’s words, Chief Wan thought for a moment before nodding. “That’s right.”

There wasn’t a single flaw in what Shen Bai had just described.

Ever since they were young, Chief Wan’s talent for Cultivation had been no match for the Grand Elder’s.

By all rights, the position of Village Chief should have been passed down to the Grand Elder.

But for some unknown reason, the Grand Elder had yielded the position to him.

Shen Bai nodded. “If that’s the case, then I’m not mistaken.”

“You don’t need to dwell on the specifics. Just know that my guess was correct. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have tried to flee instantly over a single sentence from me.”

‘This Grand Elder before me has clearly awakened the Innate Wisdom of a past life and been successfully possessed. He is no longer the Grand Elder he once was, but a remnant of the Era of Ten Thousand Cities.’

Although Shen Bai was unwilling to elaborate, Chief Wan connected his words with the Grand Elder’s recent abnormal behavior and began to see the truth of the matter.

‘Perhaps it’s just as Shen Bai said. The Grand Elder really isn’t one of our Gu Village people.’

Shen Bai’s gaze returned to the Grand Elder. “Start talking,” he said flatly. “Tell me what you remnants are planning. After you’ve explained everything, I might consider letting you live. Or, at the very least, I’ll give you a quick death. Better than being tortured like this, wouldn’t you say?”

The Grand Elder’s body was wracked with convulsions under the assault of the poison.

Hearing Shen Bai’s words, he turned his head with great difficulty to stare at him, a look of contempt in his eyes. “You damn butcher. If you have the guts, then just kill me.”

“It’s impossible for you to get any information about us.”

The corners of Shen Bai’s mouth lifted slightly. “You’ve got some backbone. But you should know that sometimes, death is far simpler—and more comfortable—than life.”

As he spoke, the poison from the Poison Avoidance and Spirit Recovery Skill that Shen Bai had left in the Grand Elder’s body erupted violently.

Shen Bai controlled it perfectly, keeping the Grand Elder from dying while ensuring he suffered the ultimate agony.

The Grand Elder let out a series of screams, convulsing ceaselessly on the ground.

Blood sprayed from his severed legs.

But he was an expert of the Celestial Spirit Realm. The Life Energy of masters at this level was extremely tenacious, allowing them to remain conscious even when severely injured.

And it was precisely this consciousness that was his undoing.

Shen Bai said flatly, “Just confess. At least then you’ll get a quick death. It’s far better than barely clinging to life like this.”

The Grand Elder’s gaze, fixed on Shen Bai, was filled with venomous hatred.

Suddenly, he spread his arms, lay back on the ground, and began to laugh uproariously.

“We’ve long known how potent your poison is, and we knew you would use this method. Since that’s the case, I’ll be on my way. I’ll be waiting for you in hell, Shen Bai.”

The moment the Grand Elder finished speaking, something strange happened.

The Grand Elder’s life force was fading at a rate visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, the Grand Elder became a corpse.

Shen Bai frowned.

His poison should have controlled all the Qi in the Grand Elder’s body, making it impossible for him to circulate it to commit suicide.

And yet, the Grand Elder was dead.

Upon closer inspection, Shen Bai noticed the anomaly.

He possessed two Divine Powers, the Soul-Annihilating Sword and the Flawless Divine Soul Body, giving him profound attainments in the domain of the Divine Soul.

He could perceive a core of energy hidden within the Grand Elder’s Divine Soul.

With a single thought, the Grand Elder had been able to connect with that energy, causing his entire Divine Soul to self-destruct.

‘A clever method,’ Shen Bai thought. ‘It seems I’m on your radar, and you’ve already devised plenty of countermeasures.’

Then, he moved his fingers and began to perform a divination.

Under the control of his Infinite Divination Skill, invisible threads bored into the Grand Elder’s body.

The threads then pierced through the Grand Elder’s body and spread out, all of them pointing toward the small building up ahead.