Chapter 512 - 508: What on Earth Is It?

Upon seeing this, She She snatched her hand back and stood up, her face filled with disgust. She focused for a moment, gathering the surrounding Water Element to form a ball of water in front of her. Then, with a SPLASH, the ball burst, and She She scrubbed her hands clean.

This scene once again deeply shocked the group of people kneeling there. At that moment, who knows how many of them were cursing under their breath. ’What kind of people did the Hai Family provoke? How is every single one of them so terrifying?’

"Kill me... kill me..." The man whom She She had force-fed the Brain God Pill writhed on the ground, frantically clawing at his own body. In moments, his face and body were a bloody pulp, but he couldn’t summon any greater strength. This wasn’t because She She had restrained him; it was an effect of the Brain God Pill itself. Once it activated, it sapped the victim of all their strength.

"Can he last three days like this?" She She asked Leng Yao, a doubtful look on her face.

Leng Yao replied in her cool voice, "Normally, when the Brain God Pill activates, the victim won’t even have the strength to scratch their own skin. They can only endure the immense agony of what feels like ten thousand ants devouring their heart. However, you didn’t apply your strength correctly this time. Still, lasting a day won’t be a problem!"

"Oh, so it was my fault," She She said, a little disappointed. "Then next time, you’ll have to show me how to control it!"

The two stunningly beautiful women ignored the Iron-blooded Hall disciple rolling on the ground and shrieking in agony, instead casually discussing the efficacy of the Brain God Pill. The sight made Qin Suo’s skin crawl.

However, what Qin Suo found strange was that the twenty-five elite Qin Family disciples behind him remained completely expressionless. In fact, if one looked closely, a glint of excitement could be seen in many of their eyes!

Qin Suo scanned their faces but couldn’t find a single trace of sympathy in any of them. He couldn’t help but recall something Qin Li had said: "Mercy to your enemies is cruelty to yourself." He also remembered the story Qin Li told about the farmer and the snake. He was gradually beginning to understand why he hadn’t been chosen as one of the thirty elite Qin Family disciples. It wasn’t just a matter of strength!

Leng Yao shook her head. "I haven’t mastered that level of control either. I’ve never even used this Elixir myself; I just refined it for fun. Why don’t you find someone else to try it on?"

"You’re right!" She She’s eyes lit up, her gaze landing on the seven or eight troublemakers she had just tossed aside.

"Spare me! I was wrong! Spare my life, milady! I’m willing to surrender! I’ll take the poison! I’ll pledge my loyalty to you! Just please, don’t make me end up like him!"

"We were wrong! We’re all willing to take the medicine, just please don’t torture us..."

Not one of these seven or eight men showed the "fight-to-the-death" courage they had just proclaimed. Instead, they all gazed at She She’s group with pleading eyes. This day would likely cast a shadow over their hearts for the rest of their lives. If... they could even have descendants, they would surely warn them never to make enemies of these people. And that when you lack the strength, you must never try to act tough...

She She sneered. With a wave of her delicate hand, she killed the man who was still writhing and wailing on the ground, his voice now an incomprehensible, hoarse wreck.

His purpose had been served. To continue torturing him would only make their group seem excessively vicious and cruel. This was enough.

Sure enough, as soon as the man died, many of the captives showed expressions of profound relief.

Qin Suo had his men distribute the Brain God Pills and watched as the captives swallowed them. The entire process took several hours to complete. Fortunately, Leng Yao had refined a large batch of the Elixirs—a thousand in total—or else they really would have run out.

Some of the captives, whose strength was below the Venerable Realm, weren’t given the pills at all. Even if they were left behind, they had no way of leaving through the entrance gate that Qin Li had destroyed.

Only those at the Shattered Void Realm could tear open the fabric of space to leave this Mysterious Land. For this reason, Qin Li and his group didn’t harm any of the elderly, women, or children of the Iron-blooded Hall.

They were self-sufficient here and wouldn’t starve to death, so they could just be left to fend for themselves. While Qin Li couldn’t bring himself to slaughter an entire clan down to the last person, he had no desire to help the families and descendants of his enemies either.

A headcount afterward revealed that seventeen Shattered Void Realm Martial Artists from the Iron-blooded Hall had surrendered; the rest were all dead. There were also eighty-three from the Venerable Realm. The remaining captives were all Martial Artists below the Venerable Realm. Qin Li left all of these weaker Martial Artists behind in the Mysterious Land, telling them that in one year, someone would return with Brain God Pills to take them away.

In a year’s time, the Qin Family would be powerful enough to control and absorb these people. The Venerable Realm and Shattered Void Realm Martial Artists were the true prize; they represented a formidable force. He could have them lead the charge when confronting the Hai Family. ’I wonder what expressions the Hai Family will make when they see that?’

After some thought, Qin Li decided to first send this group to the Mysterious Land where the Qin Family was based. He didn’t want word of the Brain God Pill to spread for the time being. Even the Hai Family, when cultivating Blood Hemp, had chosen a minor, secular nation far from the Land of the Far West and operated through a puppet Sect.

If word of the Brain God Pill ever got out, he would truly become a public enemy. It wouldn’t be because others were so righteous, but because they would all be terrified.

They would fear that one day, when Qin Li grew powerful, he would force them to consume a wicked, mind-controlling Elixir like the Brain God Pill as well!

As for those left behind in this Mysterious Land, with the entrance gate destroyed, outsiders had no way of getting in. Tearing space open at random would likely just lead to a different location. Even Qin Li himself needed to memorize the precise coordinates to enter again.

Moreover, and most importantly, Qin Li knew something else. That Ancient Pill Formula did indeed record many vicious Elixirs. The Black Demon Pill, for instance, was something feared even by supreme Great Powers at the Earth Immortal Realm! A single one could poison an entire group of Thunder Tribulation Realm Martial Artists!

But Qin Li had never seen any text or notes about the Brain God Pill in that formula. That was why he had been suspicious. However, seeing Leng Yao’s dead-serious expression, it didn’t seem like she was faking it.

Only after the Qin Family disciples had led the group from the Iron-blooded Hall out of the Mysterious Land did Qin Li find an opportunity to pull Leng Yao aside. "This Brain God Pill..." he asked, "does it really work the way you said it does?"

Leng Yao nodded, looking at Qin Li with an innocent face. "Of course!"

"..." Qin Li was speechless as he looked at her. "How come I’ve never heard you mention it before?"

"You never asked!" Leng Yao’s gorgeous eyes were brimming with innocence. Then, a smile slowly blossomed within them, and she giggled. Once she had her fill of laughter, she said, "I was starting to think you wouldn’t ask. I was just looking for a chance to tell you the truth. I didn’t realize even you had moments where you couldn’t contain your curiosity."

"Heh heh." Qin Li let out a foolish chuckle. He could accept being teased by his own woman.

Leng Yao let out a soft sigh. "A poison like that doesn’t exist. Even if it did, I would have discussed it with you before ever trying to refine it. If I created such a vicious Elixir, even our own Qin Family disciples would become suspicious. They’d start to wonder if something similar could be slipped into their food one day."

"Then why did you announce it in front of everyone?" Qin Li asked, looking at her with confusion.

Leng Yao smiled faintly, looped her arm through Qin Li’s, and kicked a small pebble from her path. "I was just helping you test the character of those elite disciples you chose," she said casually. "I can tell you plan to entrust them with great responsibility. Even though Big Brother Qin Suo is managing the family, everyone knows you are its true core! You might not be ambitious, but in the future... our future..."

Leng Yao blushed and continued shyly, "In the future, when we have children, and Big Brother Qin Suo has children, what if they start fighting with each other? I have no interest in the family’s power, but I want the elite disciples you’ve chosen to be loyal to you and you alone!"

Seeing Qin Li’s dazed expression, Leng Yao said slowly, "This is a bottom line for me and Sister Shiyu! We don’t need any of the family’s assets or power, but we must maintain a transcendent status within it! Until the day we decide we no longer wish to be a part of this family!"

A wave of emotion washed over Qin Li. For all these years, he had been constantly on the move, while at home, it was Shiyu, Leng Yao, and his parents who handled everything for him.

With this thought, Qin Li pulled Leng Yao’s slender frame into his embrace and whispered, "This has been hard on you."

Leng Yao smiled slightly. "You should say it’s been hard on *us*. Sister Shiyu has also been doing so much behind the scenes. Did you really think you could have achieved such high prestige in the family through martial might alone?"

Qin Li nodded, not saying a word, simply holding Leng Yao tighter.

After a moment, Qin Li suddenly remembered his earlier question. "If it wasn’t the Brain God Pill, then what exactly did you give that man to eat?"

"Oh, nothing special. Just a common strength-enhancing Elixir!" Leng Yao said with a smile. "However, this Elixir needs to be taken in conjunction with several others. Taken alone, it acts as a poison, and the poison takes effect in exactly one year! So, if they don’t take the antidote in a year, they will indeed die... But as long as they take the antidote, there will be no issues. As for what happens in a year, by then, I trust that those who are willing to submit will have done so. For any who still insist on making trouble... well, we’ll just have to ’clean them up’!"

At this, Qin Li could only shake his head with a helpless, wry smile. ’When someone who never lies tells a fib,’ he thought, ’even I get completely taken in...’