Chapter 122 - 108: Force Conflict, 2nd Layer Profound Yuan Skill, 3rd Layer Iron Cloth Shirt

Chapter 122: Chapter 108: Force Conflict, 2nd Layer Profound Yuan Skill, 3rd Layer Iron Cloth Shirt

"W-Where am I?"

The man in black spat out a mouthful of dirty water. He shook his head a few times to get rid of the moisture and finally opened his eyes. Suddenly jolting awake, he realized with a shock that he had been stripped naked. He looked at Su Chen in horror and asked in a trembling voice, "W-What did you do to me?"

Su Chen remained silent, stepping forward instead. The man in black struggled desperately to break free from his bonds. Seeing Su Chen walk right up to him and raise a hand, he immediately shouted, "Let’s get one thing straight—not the face! You can ask whatever you want to know."

The sudden cooperation caught Su Chen off guard. He had already prepared to extract a confession through torture.

"Alright. From now on, I ask and you answer," Su Chen said, beginning his interrogation. "Who are you? Who sent you..."

"I’m from the Profound Water Sect. Steward Yu sent me to cripple your cultivation of the Profound Yuan Technique," the man in black answered truthfully.

Hearing this, Su Chen’s eyes darkened, his disgust for the Profound Water Sect deepening. He took out a bottle of pills, his voice turning slightly cold. "What pill is this?"

"A Profound Essence Pill!" the man in black replied after a single glance.

Su Chen looked momentarily stunned, pleasantly surprised by this unexpected windfall. He hadn’t expected this to be the very Profound Essence Pill he needed. He coughed lightly and asked, "Do you have any more of these pills?"

The man in black didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stared at Su Chen as if looking at an idiot. Only when Su Chen raised his hand did he shake his head and say, "Do you think just anyone can have a Profound Essence Pill? This single pill cost me thousands of taels of silver."

"Hey, what’s with that look?"

"The look meant for a broke loser, obviously!" Su Chen answered his own question internally, though his face remained utterly indifferent. He continued his questioning, "Since you are a disciple of the Xuanyuan Sect, you must know the Profound Yuan Technique. Given your strength at the Energy Training stage, you must have reached the second layer by now. Tell me the incantation, and I’ll let you go."

"What?" The man in black was completely stunned by Su Chen’s words, then he sneered. "I’d dare to say it, but would you dare to cultivate it?"

If the people of the Profound Water Sect found out, he would die, and Su Chen wouldn’t survive either. Moreover, it would implicate both of their families.

Su Chen raised his hand, just about to slap him, but was suddenly halted by a shout: "I’ll talk!"

He lowered his hand and stared at the man in black. This was the first time he had met someone so cooperative, which saved him a lot of effort.

"But I’ve only redeemed the Cultivation Technique Essentials for the second layer!"

"Speak!" Su Chen didn’t mind, replying coldly.

"Water takes on myriad forms, both soft and unyielding. In its utmost benevolence, it nourishes all things; in its utmost malevolence, it brings ruin to all things..."

As the man rattled off hundreds of words, Su Chen stood to the side, listening and transcribing, occasionally glancing up to gauge the truthfulness of the recitation. After finishing, the man in black breathed a sigh of relief, having finally appeased his captor.

However, at that moment, Su Chen pulled out a fresh piece of paper and said, "Recite it again!"

"???"

"Recite it again!"

"That’s not how you phrased it last time. Start over!"

SMACK!

"You made a mistake by the fiftieth word. You’re hiding quite a lot, aren’t you? Start over!"

"...Start over!"

The man in black was tortured to the point of numbness. He had lost count of how many times he had been forced to start over, only knowing that Su Chen had filled an entire stack of paper. In the end, it was only after he recited it flawlessly three times out of pure instinct that Su Chen finally let him off the hook.

However, looking at Su Chen’s persistently gloomy face, he couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of dread. He wondered, "Did I recite something wrong again?"

He shook his head and cursed himself inwardly, "No, it’s better if I made a mistake. It’s best if it’s an error even I didn’t notice!"

At that moment, Su Chen looked at him and asked, "’Tempered steel softens to wrap around one’s finger...’ You never mentioned these words earlier. What do they mean?"

Hearing this, the man in black turned deathly pale. He panicked inwardly, "Damn it, how did I end up reciting the Entering the Realm Method too?"

"Speak!"

The man in black opened his mouth, saying somewhat defeatedly, "This is the cultivation method for the second layer of the Profound Yuan Technique. It’s the Entering the Realm Method."

"The method for the second layer? How many layers does the Profound Yuan Technique have in total?" Su Chen feigned curiosity.

"Aside from the general outline, there are at least four layers," the man in black said after some thought. Knowing that Su Chen would continue to press for answers, he elaborated, "The first four layers correspond to Strength Training, Energy Training, Organ Refining, and Bone Forging. Except for Strength Training, each layer has its own corresponding cultivation method. Furthermore, after Organ Refining, the technique branches out into different paths, but that’s beyond what I can currently access."

After speaking, he looked at Su Chen, who was deep in thought, and cautiously reminded him, "I’ve told you everything I should. Can you let me go now?"

Su Chen looked at him with curiosity. "I find it strange. You’re so cooperative, aren’t you afraid of the Profound Water Sect finding out?"

He sneered in his heart, "Heh, once you’re dead, no one will know! Besides, apart from the Cultivation Technique Essentials, the rest isn’t exactly a secret!"

Of course, he would never say this out loud. He simply shook his head and said, "The Profound Water Sect isn’t as strict as you think. The more rules there are, the more loopholes there are, and thus, the more unspoken rules."

"There is one more thing. Aren’t you afraid that I’ll kill you to silence you after I’m done asking?" Su Chen asked again.

The man in black sneered at those words, then shot a long, meaningful look at Su Chen. "In my entire life, I have never seen anyone survive after killing a member of the Profound Water Sect."

"Oh? Is that so? Then I’d like to give it a try."

"No, don’t—"

CRACK.

Before the man in black could finish his sentence, Su Chen slammed a palm down onto the top of the skull, killing him instantly.

Although the man in black had been extremely cooperative, how could Su Chen not know his true intentions? Letting him go would be no different from releasing a tiger back into the mountains; he naturally wouldn’t do something so foolish. As for the Profound Water Sect’s retaliation, there was nothing to worry about. It just meant changing to a new alias, after all.