He clenched his fist abruptly, and the Profound Iron Gloves emitted a strained CREAK.

In the distance, the Taoist Sect disciples looked up as if sensing something, but they only saw the Captain kicking up clouds of dust as he turned away.

"Withdraw."

The Captain squeezed a single word from between his teeth. As his iron boots trod over the shattered tiles, his steps were as heavy as a man walking to the gallows.

-----------------

A winding trail of blood stained the bluestone floor tiles as Xu Yunfan stepped into the Taoist Sect’s residence, dragging the barely breathing, brocade-robed youth he had taken from the other disciples.

Two disciples on duty were about to salute, but they saw the crimson glow had not yet faded from his eyes. A distorted heat wave radiated from his barely-suppressed aura, and they immediately fell silent and quickly retreated.

"Fetch me three buckets of well water."

He kicked open the wooden door to a side hall. The Dragon Scale Armor on his wrist struck the doorframe with such force that it created sparks.

"Make it ice-cold. And remember to add coarse salt."

When the bone-chilling well water splashed onto the youth’s face, the wastrel who called himself the third son of Prince Mu’s Mansion let out a squeal like a stuck pig.

"You dare touch me?! Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?!"

Xu Yunfan grabbed the back of his neck and slammed him down onto the elmwood table. The violent impact made the youth let out another piercing scream.

"Ready to talk nicely now?"

A wisp of crimson flame, formed from Pure Yang True Qi, ignited on Xu Yunfan’s fingertip. He slowly drew circles with it three inches from the youth’s eyes.

The firelight illuminated the Cyan Phosphorus Chain on his wrist. The eerie, green-glowing organ trembled and contracted along with its master, like a startled viper.

The youth was so frightened his scream died in his throat. He stared fixedly at Xu Yunfan.

The third son of Prince Mu’s Mansion, Zhao Yu, suddenly spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "Worthless slave! In Jade Capital City, my father, the Prince, has three thousand..."

CRACK.

The table suddenly sank half an inch.

Somehow, Xu Yunfan’s Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer was now resting on the youth’s left ankle. The heavy hammer hadn’t even truly dropped; its Evil Qi alone was enough to pulverize the sandalwood floor.

The firelight made the eerie green glow of the Cyan Phosphorus Chain seem all the more sinister. The living organ on Zhao Yu’s wrist spasmed, oozing a foul-smelling slime. As the green light reflected in Xu Yunfan’s pupils, the scales of the Dragon Scale Armor on his right arm flared and contracted with his breath, emitting a harsh, metallic scraping.

"Three thousand what?"

He suddenly leaned down. As his True Qi pulsed, the Evil Qi from the Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer condensed into a tangible black mist that crept up the youth’s ankle. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The sandalwood floor splintered with a CRACK, but the instant the wood shards pierced Zhao Yu’s calf, they were devoured by the Cyan Phosphorus Chain.

Xu Yunfan’s brow twitched at the sight. He couldn’t resist applying more force. The Cyan Phosphorus Chain, a construct of flesh and blood, writhed and issued a sound like tearing silk.

"AH!!!"

Zhao Yu’s scream had barely escaped his throat when Xu Yunfan’s left palm clamped down on his skull. Strength forged by the Ten Extremes Martial Arts, mixed with Pure Yang True Qi, poured into him. The excruciating pain, a mix of fire and ice, made the youth’s eyeballs bulge as veins erupted like a spiderweb of blood across his temples.

The hammer’s handle suddenly rotated ninety degrees.

Earth Vein Power, brought back from the abyss, erupted from the hammer’s head. The bones in Zhao Yu’s left leg let out a rapid series of pops, like beans crackling in a hot pan. The Cyan Phosphorus Chain twisted frantically, but it was unable to repair the shattered bones.

Xu Yunfan’s fingers suddenly clenched, a sound like clashing metal exploding from between his knuckles. The Cyan Phosphorus Chain let out a death-like shriek in his palm.

The Demon Organ writhed madly, trying to lash back up the hammer’s shaft, but the moment it touched his skin, it was vaporized into foul-smelling black smoke by his Pure Yang True Qi.

"CRUNCH!"

The sticky sound of tearing flesh was exceptionally clear in the Quiet Chamber. The end of the spine, where the chain was rooted, was brutally ripped out. Black blood splattered onto the sandalwood floor like a toxic slurry, corroding honeycomb-like holes into the wood.

Xu Yunfan narrowed his eyes, looking at the still-twitching Demon Organ in his hand. The Cyan Phosphorus Chain coiled and struggled like a living creature. Countless fleshy tendrils sprouted from the severed end, trying to regenerate, only to be seared with a SIZZLE by the residual Evil Qi on the hammer’s head.

"Interesting. It seems this Demon Fiend’s recovery powers are quite strong."

He sneered, withdrew the Shaking Mountain Sea-Suppressing Hammer, and tapped the organ lightly with his Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace. The red patterns on the mace’s body flared, and the chain instantly went rigid, like a viper seized by a branding iron.

The moment he slammed it onto the table, green flames erupted. Within the blaze, hundreds of twisted human faces materialized on the sandalwood surface, letting out screams as faint as gossamer.

Xu Yunfan’s brow furrowed. It was the first time he had ever seen such an unholy object, born of Supreme Yin and pure evil.

If the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi hadn’t been stirred up by the Earth Veins, it would have been impossible for such things to manifest in the world.

Xu Yunfan’s fingertip brushed over the bony spurs protruding from the chain’s surface. It felt as cold and slick as a snake’s scale.

This was no ordinary cursed object; it was bizarre. Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi flowed within its very flesh, yet it had been tainted to an ink-green hue by some strange Secret Technique.

The most horrifying part was the tiny eyeballs embedded in the links of the chain, which opened, closed, and turned with the flow of Spiritual Qi, as if recording everything they saw.

Zhao Yu broke faster than expected.

While studying the chain of flesh and blood, Xu Yunfan’s fingers clamped around the youth’s wrist like an iron pincer.

Before the boy could even react, he heard his own bones let out a rapid-fire crackling, like beans in a hot pan.

Xu Yunfan released a slight pulse of Strength, grinding every joint in his right arm to dust, inch by inch.

"AH!!"

The scream had barely left his throat before Xu Yunfan slapped it back into his chest.

Zhao Yu convulsed and fell back, the crotch of his pants already soaked with urine. The foul-smelling liquid dripped down the golden threads of his brocade robe.

"I’ll talk, I’ll talk!!!"

The brocade-robed youth’s expression twisted, completely broken.

Hearing this, Xu Yunfan finally loosened his grip slightly.

Zhao Yu’s face was a mess of tears and snot as he looked up.

"Whatever you want to ask, I’ll tell you everything."

Xu Yunfan snapped back to his senses, momentarily speechless. He then said, almost apologetically, "My mistake. I made you suffer more than you needed to. I was so focused on torturing you when I came in that I forgot I had questions to ask."

Zhao Yu was so stunned he nearly choked and passed out. How could he not understand? It was clear Xu Yunfan had done all this purely for the sake of torturing him.

"First question: why did you scheme against me?"

Zhao Yu’s throat worked. The bloody foam trickling from the corner of his mouth was mixed with the bitter, foul taste of bile.

His arm, its wrist shattered, twitched occasionally like a decapitated snake.

"Scheme against you?"

He laughed hoarsely, his voice like air wheezing from a broken bellows. "Xu Yunfan... you’re nothing but a lowborn cur, a house slave’s whelp. What gives you the right?"

Xu Yunfan narrowed his eyes, and the red patterns on the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace began to glow faintly.

Zhao Yu suddenly started coughing violently, as if his lungs were filled with shards of glass.

He struggled to raise his head, his eyes shot with blood. "The Jiang Mansion raised you for over a decade, and you were nothing more than a miner, a common laborer! But me? I am the third son of the Prince’s Mansion!"

He slammed his fist on the ground, his knuckles cracking the Bronze floor tiles. "But Father wouldn’t even give me the time of day... and you! You actually became a True Inheritor of the Taoist Sect! Even the Imperial City Department has to bow to you! Even Father said we have to show you respect! I won’t accept it!!"

Xu Yunfan felt no anger at these words, only a slight surprise.

’Is the reason really that simple?’