Volume Three: Rising Fame - Chapter Ninety-One: The True Method Acquired

"Which sect do you actually belong to?!"

"Why on earth did you violate the alliance and sneak in here?!"

Faced with this barrage of interrogations, Li Yu’s expression darkened instantly. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was the one being interrogated.

He narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Do you still think you are the victors?"

The junior disciple who was about to speak again had his sleeve tugged by someone. He glanced sideways and asked with some dissatisfaction, "What is there to fear, Senior Brother? We have soul marks on us; he wouldn't dare do anything to us!"

Hearing this, Li Yu’s heart tightened slightly.

As expected, these people still had some trump cards up their sleeves. He just wondered what kind they were.

Were they meant for deterrence, would they record the attacker, or were they just bluffing? Li Yu wasn't entirely certain, but he understood one thing clearly: he needed to control the rhythm of the situation rather than being led around by the nose by these people.

"Wouldn't dare do anything to you? It seems your Senior Brother is nowhere to be found right now, doesn't it?"

As soon as Li Yu said this, those few people fell silent like ostriches. Even the junior disciple who had shouted the most aggressively earlier no longer dared to raise his head to meet his gaze directly.

"Silence is golden," Li Yu said as his spiritual consciousness swept outward, picking up a few withered branches from the edge of the forest and pulling a few large fish from the water.

*Boom!*

Flames ignited on the dry wood, and Li Yu leisurely began to prepare the fish.

"Come on, let's make introductions so everyone can get acquainted."

"This..."

The four of them exchanged glances, their hearts filled with intense shock. While a common language might have been forced out by the natives, this was the spiritual consciousness of someone who had successfully opened the Muddy Pill Palace.

Such techniques, such true methods of cultivation, were placed under strict prohibitions the moment one learned them; there was simply no possibility of information leakage. By employing this method, Li Yu had achieved his goal.

He deliberately wanted to expose the fact that he was also from Blue Star, but since he was essentially a "rogue cultivator without registration," if any trouble really arose, there would be absolutely no way for his true identity to be exposed!

"Searing Sun Cave, Yang Sheng."

"True Fire Sect, Li Luohua."

"Mirror Moon Mountain, Wu Yonghao."

"Mirror Moon Mountain, Shen Limo."

The four of them reported their affiliations one by one. Li Yu glanced at the two youngest—a junior brother and a junior sister. No wonder Wu Yonghao had been so anxious when he knocked down that female disciple, Shen Limo; they belonged to the same sect and faction.

Moreover, the information he gleaned amounted to much more than just that!

*In other words, there are at least three factions from Blue Star here. I just wonder how powerful they are.*

Various thoughts flashed through Li Yu’s mind, though his expression remained completely calm as he tapped the roasted fish in his hand.

"Why did they send such weaklings like you into the mystic realm?" he asked indifferently.

This...

Hearing this, all four of their faces flushed red with embarrassment.

Especially Wu Yonghao, who turned beet red and retorted, "How are we weak?! We are already core disciples! It's just that you're too strong!"

Li Yu let out a disdainful scoff.

Yet inwardly, he had already extracted useful intelligence.

To the cultivators of Blue Star, these individuals possessed a level of cultivation that was considered up to standard for their age group. Furthermore, they had mentioned being "core disciples," which must be some sort of social hierarchy.

By intentionally pointing this out, could it be that these people were actually much stronger than their peers of the same age back on Blue Star?

Li Yu wasn't entirely clear on this, but it was obvious that these people's backgrounds were by no means insignificant.

***

"Not even a match for a single blow..."

With a meaningful tone and a mocking gaze fixed on Wu Yonghao, Li Yu slowly continued, "Come on, hand over everything useful you have, including your cultivation manuals and secret techniques."

Li Yu swept his gaze around the circle, only to find that not a single person made a move.

After a long while, Yang Sheng spoke up, "Fellow Daoist, do you really think we would carry any treasures with us when coming here? Besides, the rare treasures collected here have already been sent back to our sects long ago."

Wu Yonghao also sneered, "You've come to the wrong place if you want to rob us. Besides, even if I gave you a true cultivation method, would you dare to learn it?"

"I've finally figured it out. Do you really still think you're the one in charge here?!"

Seeming angered by those words, Li Yu raged, "I'll make you see whether I dare to learn it or not!"

As soon as he said this, the expressions of the other three changed. Just as they were about to say more, each of them felt themselves bound by a binding force. Not only that, but the three of them were pulled away in different directions.

Under Li Yu's deliberate control, he ensured these people had no way to concoct a unified story.

Seeing Li Yu's prompt and ruthless methods, Wu Yonghao panicked as well. He could tell that it seemed to be his own attitude that had provoked the other party.

Li Yu tapped his finger and said coldly, "Come on, speak. I want to see what it is that I dare not learn!"

Inwardly, however, he felt a sliver of elation. Although this person was called "Junior Brother" by the others, anyone with discerning eyes could tell that his status was slightly higher than the rest.

That much was clear from how Yang Sheng and Li Luohua had to take Wu Yonghao's feelings into consideration when they wanted to dissuade him, not daring to lecture him too loudly.

"Hmph!"

After a long while, seeing that Wu Yonghao still held his head high with the arrogance of a proud swan, Li Yu refused to pamper him. With a flick of his finger, a bloody hole instantly appeared on the latter's body.

"Ahhh!"

Wu Yonghao wailed in agony.

Li Yu intentionally let the other three hear this miserable sound before sealing their five senses once more. This would be beneficial for increasing the speed and willingness with which the others would talk when their turns came.

"You've got quite a stubborn mouth," Li Yu waved his hand again, intensifying the torment of the still-wailing Wu Yonghao.

Before the other could speak, Li Yu muttered to himself, "I underestimated you. I didn't expect you to have such a backbone!"

He raised his finger slightly, and three more bloody holes instantly bloomed on the latter's body.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Wu Yonghao saw Li Yu's finger lifting once more. His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly cried out, "I'll talk, I'll talk!"

Sensing that he wouldn't be subjected to further severe injuries for the moment, he let out a mental sigh of relief: *Damn it, you didn't even give me a chance to breathe, how was I supposed to confess?*

He took a breath, just preparing to figure out how to frame his words regarding the matter, when suddenly two more bloody holes burst open on his body.

Wu Yonghao raised his head in shock, looking at the youth who was like a demon, his finger already pointing directly at him.

Moreover, the youth's devilishly cold voice drifted over.

"You took so long to speak, are you harboring some bad intentions?"

This time, Wu Yonghao didn't hesitate. Like beans spilling from a broken gourd, he blurted out everything he could say, and even quite a few things he shouldn't have.

He was terrified!

Judging by the other party's attitude, it was completely clear that he didn't genuinely want to learn their sect's true methods. It was blatantly obvious that the youth just found him unpleasing to the eye and had simply found a pretext to torture him.

Since that was the case, he might as well just hand over the true method directly. Anyway, the other party wouldn't dare to practice it. The most important thing was sparing himself from further torture—why not?

"Finished?"

Seeing that Wu Yonghao had finally stopped flapping his little jaw which had been running nonstop for five minutes, Li Yu flicked his wrist, sending the latter flying directly to hang from a distant tree.

Following that, Wu Yonghao's junior sister, Shen Limo, was moved up in order.

***

When she was being shifted, Shen Limo caught sight of Wu Yonghao hanging on the tree in the distance. Although it was just a fleeting glance, a cultivator's eyesight was sharp, and she instantly noticed the bloodstains on his clothing.

While her heart tightened, she also felt a sense of relief. Li Yu's attacks had acted directly upon the physical body without destroying the black robes they used to conceal themselves. Clearly, the latter had no intention of committing any truly heinous acts.

However, it was painfully obvious that her Senior Brother must have thoroughly provoked the other party, given that such brutal torture methods had been deployed.

"Your Senior Brother told me quite a lot," Li Yu said as he took a bite of the roasted fish. Finding the flavor slightly lacking, he casually sprinkled a bit more cumin powder before looking up. "I told him that if even a single detail is incorrect, I'll make sure he suffers dearly!"

Shen Limo nodded, "I understand. What do you want to ask?"

Her gaze lingered on the roasted fish for a long time before she finally raised her head.

"What's wrong? Do you want some roasted fish?" Li Yu waved the fragrant grilled fish in his hand.

"No, I haven't reached the level where I can eat these yet," Shen Limo shook her head.

"Then let's begin. Why don't you start by telling me what you think your Senior Brother said!" Li Yu dug into the meal with gusto, waiting for her reply as he added, "Oh, and don't take too long. If you exceed the time limit in my mind, I'll start taking it out on your Senior Brother!"

*Whoosh!*

Before Shen Limo could speak, she heard a muffled groan from Wu Yonghao in the distance.

Her expression shifted dramatically. That had only taken three breaths of time—wouldn't even give her that much grace?

Just as her expression flickered with panic, another miserable moan of agony echoed from Wu Yonghao behind her.

"..."

Now she didn't dare hesitate in the slightest, spilling every piece of intelligence she could possibly recall.

When she reached the part concerning the true cultivation method, she paused slightly before continuing downward. Yet just because of that micro-pause, Wu Yonghao's voice suddenly erupted from behind—a shriek of agony several times more wretched than before.

*Damn it, did Senior Brother even blurt out the genuine true method?* Shock rippled through Shen Limo's heart.

When learning true cultivation methods, everyone was taught two versions: one was the authentic version that allowed for proper cultivation, and the other was a specialized decoy version meant to be memorized precisely for contingencies like this.

Overall, the two looked largely identical, preventing casual eavesdroppers from noticing anything amiss, but subtle textual discrepancies would cause anyone unaware to suffer a cultivation deviation!

Shen Limo truly never expected that Wu Yonghao would have the sheer audacity to leak the genuine cultivation method.

Yet considering his grandfather, she supposed such an outrageous move was normal; she doubted the latter had ever even deigned to look at the fake manual, let alone bother memorizing it.

"You really aren't being honest!"

Li Yu sneered.

Initially, he had assumed that under these circumstances, with the prisoners separated, they wouldn't dare lie. He hadn't expected that when it came to vital matters, these two would actually dare to give conflicting accounts.

He had originally planned to find an excuse to punish Wu Yonghao regardless of whether the answers matched, purely to intimidate Shen Limo. To his surprise, these two really possessed the gall of bears and leopards, babbling nonsense without even coordinating their stories beforehand.

With a thought from Li Yu, the agonizing roars of Wu Yonghao in the distance grew even louder.

"Be honest and think it through carefully before you speak," Li Yu snapped his fingers amidst Shen Limo's pleading cries, finally halting the torture.

He looked at the young woman before him with a cold expression.

He genuinely intended to study this true method, so he couldn't afford a single oversight; no one could treat such a matter as a joke with their life on the line.

"Don't let me hear a single word of discrepancy!" Li Yu reprimanded sternly.

After Shen Limo finished speaking, he posed a few more questions, even looping back to topics he had asked about earlier to verify that neither of them had given contradictory details. Only then did he flick his sleeve.

Shen Limo was sent flying backward through the air, while Yang Sheng was manipulated by invisible forces to float right before Li Yu.

"Come on, tell me your story," Li Yu said with a look of intrigued amusement.