“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…” Puyang Bo’s breath was faint, but as an Exalted being, his consciousness remained sharp and clear.
Creak.
The iron door of the torture chamber swung open, and a hunched old man walked in. As soon as he entered, the old man began silently chanting incantations. Soon, the runes on Puyang Bo’s skin began to glow. Black streams of energy surfaced over the runes, forming the vague shape of a black skull. Puyang Bo involuntarily let out a cry of agony.
“Ahh, kill me! If you have the guts, kill me! I will never join you, never! Kill me, kill me now!” Puyang Bo screamed and cursed.
“Great Exalted being, how dare a mere servant like me kill you,” the hunched old man rasped with a laugh, his voice dry and grating, as if squeezed from his throat. “I am simply following orders!”
“Cursed, cursed!”
Puyang Bo continued to scream and curse in pain and fury.
He, a proud Exalted being, now had his entire soul sealed, unable to summon even a trace of combat energy or draw upon the powers of heaven and earth.
“Cursed winter, forgive me, forgive me. I… I can’t bear this, I can’t bear this at all!” The most painful thought in Puyang Bo’s heart was about the female Exalted, Xi Dong, whom he had pursued. Xi Dong was a female sorceress younger than him. Not until the Demon War began, when no Exalted knew when death might come, had Xi Dong cast aside her reservations and been with Puyang Bo.
They had been very loving and happy together.
Puyang Bo had been extremely proud, often boasting to his friends—Yu Feng, Zhang Peng, Dongbo Xueying, and others—about her!
But now?
“I’m ruined.”
“Finished… When my communication ring was shattered, the Xia Clan probably already believes I’m dead. If I were to ‘resurrect’ now, they would surely suspect me. They would never let me return. Even if I did, I would live forever in the shadows.”
“Cursed, cursed!” Puyang Bo felt as if insects were gnawing at his very heart.
At that moment—
“How’s it going? Has the brat finally submitted?” A voice rang out as a gray-robed man, his body shrouded in black mist, strode in.
“Reporting to you, honored sir, he hasn’t submitted. He still seeks death!” the hunched old man replied respectfully, for he was merely an ordinary mage, while the gray-robed man before him was an Exalted being.
“You may leave now,” the gray-robed man ordered.
“Yes,” the old man obediently departed.
The gray-robed man shut the iron door behind him, then dissipated the black mist around his body, revealing a cold and sinister face. It was Situ Hong, the eldest among the group of brothers in the Chiyun Mountains, and the one whom Chi Qiu Bai had once declared had little hope of mastering true essence.
“Situ Hong!” Puyang Bo, bound and hanging his head, suddenly raised his face, his expression twisted with fury as he glared at Situ Hong and spat out through clenched teeth, “You dare come again? This is already the third time you’ve come in just three short months!”
“I just love seeing you in this pitiful state, watching you clench your teeth and go mad. It makes me even happier,” Situ Hong sneered standing there. “Back in Chiyun Mountain, weren’t you always opposing me? Haha, oppose me and you’ll never end well. Don’t worry, you’re only the first! More Exalted beings will soon follow and keep you company!”
“You will be discovered! The Xia Clan will never forgive you!” Puyang Bo’s eyes burned with hatred. The thought of more Exalted beings being captured by this traitor only fueled his rage.
“Discovered? Haha, didn’t you fail to discover it yourself?” Situ Hong’s eyes gleamed with madness. “I will choose carefully, take my time, capture one every few decades. In a few centuries, I could have ten! The more I capture, the greater my merit!”
“Traitor! The Xia Clan treated you well, yet you betray them and harm other Exalted!” Puyang Bo’s voice was hoarse.
“Hmph, Chi Qiubai, Sikong Yang, none of them ever respected me!” Situ Hong sneered. “They never cared about me at all. In their eyes, Dongbo Xueying was always the most important! Just as Chi Qiubai said, my cultivation has indeed slowed. In the war against the demons, I might even be killed by a fifth-stage demon’s magical avatar. If that’s the case, why not join the Demon God Cult?”
“But Dongbo already destroyed the demon nest!” Puyang Bo roared.
“That happened after I had already joined them,” Situ Hong sneered. “And don’t mention Dongbo Xueying to me again!”
The more he saw Dongbo Xueying grow stronger…
The more Situ Hong’s heart burned with hatred! Cursed be you, Dongbo Xueying! Why didn’t you destroy the demon nest sooner? Why wait until after I had already joined them before you acted?
“Puyang Bo, I advise you to submit willingly. What’s the point of enduring like this?” Situ Hong said.
“Even if I submitted, I’d live forever in the shadows, worse than death!” Puyang Bo gritted his teeth. “You want me to serve you? Dream on!”
“Living in darkness—what of it? You could even try to trick your woman, that female sorceress called Xi Dong, to come join you… and then you two could be together again,” Situ Hong said with a sly smile.
“Get out!!!” Puyang Bo’s face twisted with fury. “Don’t you dare touch Xi Dong! Don’t!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk… So loving! Just for how devoted you are, dear junior brother, I, as your senior brother, will help you and dear Xi Dong,” Situ Hong grinned even more broadly.
“You will die, you will die!” Puyang Bo seethed with hatred.
“The punishments of the Demon God Cult are truly too weak. Three months and still you haven’t submitted. Don’t worry, the Demon God Cult has inherited endless ages of knowledge. The dark and destructive sorcerers have devised countless methods of torment!” Situ Hong said. “Apply every method, and it will take over a hundred years! A hundred years of torment—just thinking about it makes me shudder. And if even then you still refuse to submit? No problem. Your body can be used for experiments by those mad sorcerers! Even after your body collapses, your soul can still be captured for further experimentation… Your body and soul will not be wasted by the Demon God Cult at all!”
“You will be exposed, you will die! Your triumph won’t last long!” Puyang Bo growled, his voice like a curse.
“Hmph, no one knows! Only the High Priest and you know that I am a member of the Demon God Cult,” Situ Hong smiled. “I will never be exposed!”
Situ Hong was brimming with self-satisfaction.
“I don’t know why…”
“Watching you, dear junior brother, screaming and wailing like this, makes me extremely, extremely happy! What a pity though, that it’s not Dongbo Xueying locked up here. If it were Dongbo Xueying—the most illustrious among our brothers from Chiyun Mountain—who was imprisoned here, I would be even happier!” At this moment, Situ Hong completely cast aside his usual mask of pretense.
The evil, selfishness, and cruelty in his heart were laid bare without restraint!
…
In the Void Realm.
Dongbo Xueying, the young man in black robes, watched the entire scene with cold, piercing eyes!
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