Han Li ignored the man’s shock and fury, dispersing the green light enveloping the Soul-Guiding Bell. He then extended a finger and lightly flicked the small bell, producing a clear *ding*.
*Thump!* “Qu Hun,” who had been trying to seize the chance to escape, immediately toppled over and crashed to the ground.
“A Lifebound Magical Artifact! What you’re holding is this body’s Lifebound Magical Artifact!” “Qu Hun” cried out, his face filled with fear.
“Good that you know! If you don’t want to suffer, you’d better explain your origins clearly. I’m quite curious—how were you able to possess this body? Aren’t cultivators unable to seize the bodies of mortals?” Han Li spoke calmly, his tone extremely even, as if he were chatting with a close friend.
Yet when “Qu Hun” heard this, he couldn’t help but shudder. In the cultivation world, body-snatching cultivators were universally despised. While they weren’t necessarily hunted down to the last, they were certainly never treated kindly. Han Li’s unusually calm expression made “Qu Hun” even more uneasy, and his mind raced frantically for a way to escape.
“Fellow Daoist, please forgive me! I was once a Foundation Establishment cultivator myself, but my body was destroyed in a fight with an enemy. I had no choice but to take over this body,” the man said, rising to his feet and forcing a smile as he explained, avoiding Han Li’s question.
“Is that so?” Han Li replied indifferently.
In truth, Han Li was slightly surprised to hear that the other party had been a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
But “Qu Hun” couldn’t read Han Li’s thoughts. Seeing Han Li’s unmoved expression, he grew increasingly nervous and hurriedly added, “Although my cultivation has fallen to the lower levels of Qi Refinement, I still have some magical artifacts and spirit stones. If Fellow Daoist is willing to let this matter go, I would be happy to offer them to you!” His tone was noticeably submissive, clearly understanding the principle of bowing to circumstances.
However, Han Li ignored the other’s attempts at bribery. After a moment of thought, he suddenly asked, “Are you a cultivator from one of the Seven Sects?”
Han Li posed the question casually. As far as he knew, there were very few Foundation Establishment cultivators outside the Seven Sects, though some major cultivation families, like the Yan Family, had quite a few.
“The Seven Sects… Oh, yes, I’m from the Spirit Beast Mountain. Are you also from one of the Seven Sects, sir?” “Qu Hun” said this with a calm expression, but Han Li detected a flicker of panic in his eyes, which raised his suspicions.
“So you’re a fellow Daoist from Spirit Beast Mountain! I wonder, how is Miss Han Yunzhi doing?” Han Li asked with a light laugh, his tone unhurried.
“Han Yunzhi… I apologize. I’ve been in closed-door cultivation for many years and have little impression of the younger disciples,” “Qu Hun” replied after a moment of stunned silence, forcing a dry laugh and speaking somewhat insincerely.
“You don’t know her? Then who do you know? Feel free to name a few disciples. I know many fellow Daoists from Spirit Beast Mountain—perhaps I might recognize some of them,” Han Li pressed on expressionlessly.
“This…” Panic flashed across “Qu Hun’s” face, and his eyes darted around shiftily.
Seeing the man’s evasive demeanor, Han Li’s expression turned cold and grim.
“Fellow Daoist, you disappoint me. It seems you prefer hardship over courtesy,” Han Li said bluntly. His body swayed forward and then back in a flash.
“Qu Hun” stood motionless, a “Spirit Stabilizing Talisman” now affixed to his chest. He hadn’t even had a chance to react, and his face paled as he hurriedly cried out, “Fellow Daoist, what is the meaning of this? We can discuss this—”
The Spirit Stabilizing Talisman could completely immobilize a mortal, even preventing them from speaking. However, its effect on cultivators with some level of cultivation was weaker. While it could still restrain low-level cultivators, it didn’t affect their ability to speak or express emotions.
Han Li ignored the man’s protests and retrieved a pitch-black bowl from his storage pouch.
As soon as the bowl appeared, a sinister aura spread out, causing the temperature in the immediate vicinity to drop sharply. Ghostly wails and howls emanated from the bowl, accompanied by eerie black mist swirling around it, giving the artifact a distinctly ghostly appearance. This was the “Soul Gathering Bowl” Han Li had recently acquired.
Holding the artifact in one hand, Han Li cast a cold glance at the other man and expressionlessly stepped closer to “Qu Hun.”
The man stared at the bowl’s strange phenomena, first with suspicion, then suddenly tensed up as if remembering something. Uneasily, he asked, “What are you doing? Are you going to use Soul Refinement Art?”
As he uttered the words “Soul Refinement Art,” extreme fear flashed in his eyes.
The infamous Soul Refinement Art was a technique feared and avoided by all in the cultivation world. Even some of the most severe oaths among cultivators were sworn using this art.
Typically, every major sect and family had specialists trained in this art, as it was the most severe punishment and deterrent against traitors, notorious throughout the cultivation world for its cruelty.
It was said that practitioners of this art could extract a person’s primordial soul and torment it with specific spells. The pain directly inflicted on the soul was said to be unbearable even for those with the strongest willpower. Moreover, the stronger the cultivator’s primordial soul, the greater the suffering, making it a topic that struck fear into the hearts of all cultivators.
Rumors about Soul Refinement Art were widespread in the cultivation world, with the most common being that its practitioners always cultivated a “Soul Artifact” closely linked to their own primordial soul. Only with this artifact could they perform Soul Refinement Art, making the victim’s soul wish for death.
Few outside practitioners had ever seen a Soul Artifact, but most cultivators described it as emanating a sinister, ghostly aura—very similar to the “Soul Gathering Bowl” that contained the souls of over a hundred cultivators.
Thus, when Han Li produced the bowl with its eerie phenomena and combined it with his earlier threats, “Qu Hun” mistakenly believed Han Li was capable of that terrifying Soul Refinement Art.
It was no wonder he thought so—any mention of tormenting the primordial soul would immediately bring this art to mind, terrifying him to the core.
Hearing “Qu Hun’s” words, Han Li’s expression remained unchanged, though inwardly he was somewhat surprised.
Truthfully, he had brought out the artifact not to intimidate the other party with Soul Refinement Art but to use its Yin cold energy to make the man’s primordial soul suffer. However, since the other party had jumped to that conclusion and was utterly terrified, Han Li decided to go along with it.
“I’ll ask you one more time: what is your origin, and why are you pretending to be a Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator?” Han Li coldly repeated his question, avoiding any confirmation or denial about Soul Refinement Art.
Han Li’s evasive response made the man even more certain of his fears. His face turned ashen, and though his lips moved several times, he still refused to speak.
Seeing this, Han Li wasted no more words. He muttered a few incomprehensible incantations and unceremoniously brought the “Soul Gathering Bowl” close to the man’s face.
The Yin cold energy within the bowl had once made even Han Li, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, shudder upon contact. Now that “Qu Hun’s” cultivation had fallen to Qi Refinement, he stood no chance of resisting it.
As soon as the bowl was placed before him, the man felt an intense, bone-chilling cold, as if his primordial soul were freezing solid. It was as though countless steel needles were piercing deep into his soul.
After just a moment, he could no longer endure the pain. With a agonized scream, the muscles on his face twisted grotesquely.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t even started the formal art yet. The pain then will be a hundred times worse than this,” Han Li’s voice drifted eerily into his ear.
“A hundred times!” The man nearly fainted from terror at these words.
If he couldn’t endure the current pain for even a short while, a hundred times worse would surely cause his primordial soul to dissipate from agony on the spot. This had to be the legendary Soul Refinement Art.
Having tasted the suffering, “Qu Hun” no longer had any doubts. Seeing Han Li begin to form hand seals, he didn’t dare hold out any longer and hastily cried, “Fellow Daoist, have mercy! I’ll talk! Could you please put away the Soul Artifact? Please, no more Soul Refinement Art!”
The invasive cold from the bowl had altered his voice. If not for the residual spiritual energy protecting him and Qu Hun’s body being far sturdier than a normal person’s, he would have already been frozen stiff.
“If you had been this cooperative earlier, you could have avoided all this suffering,” Han Li said with a “you brought this on yourself” expression, casually putting the bowl away.
In truth, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Even if the man hadn’t spoken up, Han Li would have had to put the “Soul Gathering Bowl” away soon. The Yin cold energy was becoming unbearable even for him, making it impossible to hold any longer.
Seeing Han Li actually put away what he believed to be the Soul Artifact, “Qu Hun” let out a long sigh of relief.
“Better not think about lying your way through this. I have ways to test the truth of your words. I doubt you’re foolish enough to risk soul annihilation and eternal damnation for the sake of some secret,” Han Li’s voice was icy.
These words made “Qu Hun” tremble uncontrollably as he recalled the pain he had just endured, his face twisting in horror.
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