novelraw Chapter 1008 - 1007 - Dark Truth
Chapter 1008 - 1007 - Dark Truth
Lind was proud of Teegan but the leader of the Starhide Wolves surprised him. Her aura was not how she saw the world but her acute senses as a wolf! She was able to evade his attacks before he even launched them!
He had dealt with such acute senses before but she had been ready to fight back until he had her whole back under his sway.
The tight knit bonds held them together and could be used against them.
Still, his prey had come to him which made life a lot easier. He used binding artifacts to lock up his Qi and Laws so tightly he was basically reduced to a mortal!
The man had then screamed several uninventive threats so he covered his mouth as well. His once handsome features were all a mask.
He could See the truth.
Teegan and he left and returned to the Golden Vermillion Inn. The once crowded courtyards were fairly empty as they were preparing to leave the inn to Tsunade and her people. As they were also beasts at the top, it was likely the Starhide Wolves would not object to their presence.
"You did well." He praised Teegan but she looked frustrated.
"If not for you, they would have just trampled me. I need to get stronger!" He smiled at her words. It was true of all cultivators. No matter their rank in their powers, the strong will always make the rules.
To negotiate, one has to have the power to back up their words.
"Then do so. It is all any of us can do." She nodded at his words and moved to her quarters. He dragged his cargo behind him on the ground. The wiggling man looked incensed but Lind did not care as he came to the Oberon Suite once more.
A woman with broad shoulders and pale eyes looked at him intently. She was cold and distant at that moment but he smiled as he kicked the chained up man in front of her.
"Promise made, promise kept." She looked at him and a smirk broke out but the cold eyes only looked at the fool at her feet.
"It has been a long time, Gareth. I have a great deal to discuss with you." She picked him up by the neck and he followed after them. He knew it was best not to interfere but there were things he had to tell her.
A few of the demon girls noticed their passing but did not approach as the air about both of them was grim.
Delenn entered her courtyard and Lind sealed it behind them. He also activated his personal wards to keep even Tsunade out from what was about to happen.
"Were his eyes always black?" She shook her head but then motioned to unchain Gareth's body. He sighed and manipulated the artifact to allow her some leeway.
As soon as his stomach was exposed, a swift hit with a hammer followed. He expected her to kick him but the hammer did seem more appropriate.
The robes acted to keep him alive but Lind had disabled enough of the inscriptions to let pain through. He moved to the side and left her to vent a bit.
He poured some tea for frayed nerves and kept it warm. The sounds of someone being nearly beaten to death was clear but cultivators were made of tougher stuff than mortals.
Immortals even more so.
He turned after the tea was ready to find blood trailing from the gag and nose but the man was still defiant.
Delenn was heaving her breath but she seemed like a great weight had been lifted.
"Here." He gave her the tea and she moved back.
"Why is that robe keeping him alive? I thought I would get to kill him my way?" He nodded at her but again pointed at his eyes.
"I think you need to know something." He set out an artifact that looked like a small orb on a tripod. It lit up and swept Qi over Gareth. It then projected an image any cultivator would recognize.
It was the dantian but Delenn frowned as she saw more than she expected. A crystal in the shape of a spiral was also odd. It felt wrong to her.
"What is that black essence around his crystal? Qi should not look like that and darkness was not an element he was proficient in." Lind nodded but then produced a jade slip.
"When I first ascended to the Heaven Realm, you know I was trapped in a Law Binding where I encountered humans called Soulmancers. Despite researching history extensively, those techniques were not found anywhere else." He then looked at Gareth. "Until now."
It had been thousands of years but Lind knew who had truly created the Soulmancers, but compared to the half-wit ones that made up the majority, Gareth more closely matched Shi and her brother's techniques that Xing forced them to use.
It could not be a coincidence.
He removed the gag from Gareth's mouth but before the man could speak, an aura spread in the room that refused any will but its own!
{Silence.}
Lind spoke a single word and Gareth could not speak. Fear actually spread on his face as there seemed to be understanding on his face.
"To expedite things, I am a True Lord of the dragon race. Furthermore, I know your current techniques very well. Based on the information I gathered while here before, I know your sect had no such techniques before." He knelt down and his emerald eyes were now vertical slits that were ice cold.
Even Delenn felt a tremor of fear enough to shiver. Lind focused only on his target. He was not letting this man slip away.
"Fiends created those techniques but you are not a thrall. You are a Soulmancer of incredible caliber. You also followed the pattern of spreading far less effective techniques to your followers." Shock spread on Gareth's face but he still could not speak.
"When I release you, the only thing you will speak on is who gave you your instructions. If you try to tell me you found it or simply adapted to it, know that I can hurt you in ways that will make you scream for death. It will never come." His voice was ice. Delenn had never seen him like that before!
Angry, yes. Upset, frustrated, and even desperate, but never so cold. What had happened inside that Law Binding for him to act like that?
{Speak.}
A single word and the aura retracted but Gareth stayed silent. He looked terrified but Lind suddenly put his fingers into a claw shape and emerald light lit up.
The instant that happened, the displayed crystal seemed to shimmer with emerald light. Instead of healing or purification, Gareth screamed. The black essence reacted violently as well and Delenn understood what it was!
Fiend Qi! There was Fiend Qi inside his dantian!
"Stop! Please stop! I can't tell you anything! I am not allowed to!" Lind stopped instantly as his eyes narrowed.
"Is that so? If you are listening, I need him to speak. Release him." Delenn was only confused a moment when the pressure from above descended.
Vile black lightning suddenly struck out from the dantian! Lind's emerald harmony flared and it transformed the lightning into harmless natural Qi. The pressure increased until the sound of shattering glass was heard.
"So, you really did make a deal with them. Where are they?!" Lind's voice was full of rage but Delenn felt sick. A Fiend agent! Gareth was a Fiend agent!
His eyes were bleeding but he was alive! Heaven had answered Lind's call!
"Interesting, that cost me nothing. You have really pissed Heaven off. Now, answer me!" Gareth tried to speak but only blood came out. He was suddenly being killed.
"Nice try!" Emerald light flared and covered Gareth from top to bottom. His color improved as black ichor flooded from his body. He was screaming the entire time and Delenn understood his cells were being purified forcibly!
"I told you at the start, death would be denied! Now speak!" Gareth finally seemed to deflate. She recalled him being so arrogant and strong. Even when he was whining that she denied him, he kept some dignity, but it was all gone at that moment.
"You are worse than them. They promised to protect me from the Corruption but have not said a word since. I just kept using what they gave me! It made me strong and I no longer felt the fear of death! You can't fight them! None of us can!" Lind was unmoved. He had heard it all before.
It was just an excuse.
Long before he came along, cultivators had been able to kill Fiends stone dead. It was still costly but it could be done.
"Where are they?" Gareth looked at him and smiled wide.
"No one knows! I killed all my contacts in case they would lead back to me but none knew where they were! Somewhere to the west. They all fled suddenly from their places of power and then the Corruption came. All my artifacts were destroyed in an instant if they were outside my ring!" He ranted on about things they already knew but Lind lost all his rage.
He knew nothing. He just took a technique and used it to rise up once his masters were gone.
"He is all yours." He left Delenn with him but shortly after she appeared with a bloody hammer. She looked pale but better too.
"Was he a Soulmancer the whole time?" Lind shook his head.
"He would have to be a legitimate weaver when he banished you and in his frustration they came to him. They probably promised he could get the power to retrieve you or to simply outlive his enemies. It does not matter. All he did was confirm the Fiend agents have been left to themselves for the most part. Only when they need something do they use those lairs." He felt tired.
The leads kept hitting deadends.
They were out there, and he needed to find them. He sighed and left the Oberson Suite to see how things were going on outside. He had decisions to make.