312: Chapter 312 I need you to infiltrate the Soul Palace!

"Betrayal?"

White Charm shook her head, "We are merely seeking a more enlightened master."

Upon hearing this, Scorpion abruptly looked toward Lin Biao.

Lin Biao was his best friend within the Soul Hall!

He truly could not believe... that Lin Biao would deceive him!

Meeting Scorpion's gaze, Lin Biao's expression was complex: "Scorpion, don't blame me. I'm just doing this to stay alive."

"You... You people!"

Scorpion's face instantly turned pale.

Fine, fine, fine!

It turned out he was the ultimate sucker!

He had come with single-minded devotion to rescue his friend, only to be stabbed in the back by that very friend!

It hurt too much!

It was too cruel!

He glared at White Charm and Lin Biao, falling into utter despair... after all.

Facing an expert who could kill someone in the Celestial Master Realm, they were like meat on a chopping block, completely unable to resist... However,

Ye Chen seemed to think of something and smiled slightly.

"Come to think of it."

"It's not that you don't have a chance to live."

Scorpion's whole body jolted, and he snapped his head up.

The eleven people behind him also looked toward Ye Chen in unison, their eyes filled with a desperate desire to survive.

Seeing them like this, Ye Chen began to squint and smile.

"It's simple."

"You can provide more members of the Soul Hall."

"Use whatever method you can to trick them into coming here... and perhaps you can live."

Scorpion: "???"

The eleven others: "???"

The same thought flashed through all their minds at once... Isn't this a pyramid scheme?

This is a goddamn pyramid scheme!

Except other pyramid schemes trick people out of money, while this master's pyramid scheme... tricks people out of their lives!

What was even more fatal was,

Their group had just been tricked into coming here by White Charm and Lin Biao using this exact move!

And now it was their turn to go trick others???

This was practically a nested pig-butchering scam, one ring linked to another, never-ending!

Thud!

Someone knelt down.

It was one of the twelve Soul Emissarys.

"Mr. Ye!"

"I'm willing!"

Ye Chen looked down at him, his eyebrow arching slightly.

"Willing?"

"Being willing isn't just about talking, it's about..."

"Make the call for me right now."

The Soul Ferrying Emissary: "..."

Wait... did it have to be this fast?

Tricking people requires a plan, yet Ye Chen was in such a hurry to have him start deceiving!

This was even more outrageous than a scam compound boss!

Ye Chen was still smiling, but the temperature in that smile plummeted.

"Unwilling?"

"Then you might as well die."

The moment the words left his mouth, he didn't wait for the man to explain. With a flick of his wrist, a streak of silver light shot out from between his fingers as fast as lightning!

Squelch—

The hair-thin Silver Needle accurately pierced the center of the man's forehead.

The needle went in three inches, burying itself up to the tail.

The man's pupils instantly dilated, and he collapsed to the ground, becoming a corpse.

One move, and a Heaven Realm Expert was dead!!!

The entire room was deathly silent.

The pupils of the remaining eleven people contracted to pinpoints at the same instant.

Their breathing stopped, and their hearts skipped a beat.

This master wasn't joking; he was for real... "Now..."

Ye Chen's gaze swept over the remaining eleven, "Does anyone else want to express an opinion?"

No one spoke.

No one dared to speak.

The next second—

The eleven people almost simultaneously reached into their clothes, behind their waists, and into their boot shafts.

Phones!

They were going to make calls!

Regardless of who they called!

Regardless of who they tricked into coming!

Just call first and worry later!

However,

Just as they joyfully grabbed their phones and prepared to make a call... suddenly!

"Did I tell you to call?"

Ye Chen spoke flatly once more.

The movements of the eleven people froze simultaneously.

Immediately after,

Eleven phones, one after another, were dropped onto the carpet.

Ye Chen's smile didn't fade as he continued.

"I've changed my mind."

"I want you to go undercover in the Soul Hall."

"One by one, kill your way through for me."

"When your Soul Hall Master finishes his secluded cultivation and comes out..."

"Let me know."

"I'll go and give him a grand gift."

The eleven: "..."

At this moment, the flesh on their faces all twitched in unison.

Killing the heart! (Psychological warfare!)

This is goddamn killing the heart!

What did he mean by going undercover to kill their own people?

What did he mean by the Hall Master receiving this 'grand gift' as soon as he emerged?

This was intending to skin, debone, and devour the Soul Hall from top to bottom, inside and out!

Someone's Adam's apple bobbed as they struggled to swallow a mouthful of air.

Then,

He spoke.

"Mr. Ye..."

His voice was trembling.

"The Hall Master is at the early stage of the Celestial Master Realm."

"He is in secluded cultivation to break through. If he successfully emerges, by then I'm afraid it will..."

He didn't finish.

He didn't dare to finish.

But the terror in his eyes clearly expressed what he hadn't said... the Hall Master would find out.

The Hall Master would be furious.

The Hall Master would... kill them.

Ye Chen looked at him, looking very seriously.

Then,

Squelch—

Another streak of silver light!

Faster and more ruthless than before!

A red dot appeared on the man's forehead, and his body leaned back, slamming onto the floor.

Ye Chen withdrew his hand, a hint of impatience appearing on his face.

"I hate it most when people interrupt me. Did I tell you to speak?"

"Blindly chiming in."

The ten remaining people were like quails being strangled by the throat, all lowering their heads, not daring to make a sound.

No one dared to look at the two corpses on the ground, and no one even dared to swallow their saliva.

White Charm kept her eyes lowered, as if she hadn't seen anything.

Lin Biao was even more drenched in sweat.

He had almost forgotten... back then, Ye Chen was just this black-bellied, making White Charm kill off the other Soul Emissarys one by one!

A shudder from the depths of his soul made his entire body go cold.

Scorpion's knees were now weak, and cold sweat poured down his forehead like rain.

He finally understood.

Why Black Fiend would self-destruct.

Why White Charm would defect.

Why Lin Biao would say those four words, 'to stay alive.'

It wasn't because they were weak.

It was because the man before them... truly wasn't human.

Killing without blinking was one thing, but he was treating them like playthings!

"Mr. Ye!"

He suddenly knelt down, "I'm willing! I'm willing to work for you! I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

"I'm willing too!"

"I'm willing too!"

"Mr. Ye, from now on, if you tell me to go east, I will never go west!"

...The other nine people scrambled to kneel down and spoke up in unison.

Taking a stand!

They had to take a stand immediately!

A second late, and those two still-warm corpses on the ground would be their fate!

Ye Chen leaned against the doorframe, waiting until they were mostly done shouting before leisurely picking his ear.

"So noisy."

The ten people instantly went silent.

Ye Chen lowered his hand, his gaze lazily sweeping over them.

"I don't like verbal agreements."

"Give me something more substantial."

"For example..."

"Hand over your life souls."

"Understand?"

Understand!

They understood all too well!

They knew better than anyone what a life soul was.

It was a forbidden technique used by the Soul Hall to control subordinates, where a wisp of the source soul is extracted and sealed in the controller's hand.

With the soul in hand, life and death are at the controller's whim.

Once the life soul is destroyed, at best one's cultivation is completely lost, and at worst the soul is dissipated.

But now, they simply didn't have a second choice.

Hand over the life soul, and at least they could live for now.

Don't hand it over... and the two corpses on the ground were the answer.

Scorpion was the first to act.

He bit his fingertip and quickly drew a complex blood-colored rune in his palm, closing his eyes to concentrate.

A few seconds later, an ethereal wisp of light-green glow slowly drifted out from his forehead and merged into Ye Chen's forehead.

At that moment... his life was no longer his own.

Seeing this scene, the other nine no longer hesitated.

One by one, beads of light of various colors drifted out from their foreheads and merged into Ye Chen's forehead.

Ye Chen felt the divine souls within him and couldn't help but smile: "You guys are quite clever. It seems there's no reason to continue killing today."

Scorpion lowered his head, his forehead touching the cool carpet.

"Thank you, Mr. Ye, for your mercy."

The other nine also bowed their heads in unison: "Thank you, Mr. Ye, for your mercy."

It wasn't that they didn't feel hate.

It was that they didn't dare to hate.

White Charm and Lin Biao stood by Ye Chen's side, their eyes lowered.

They both remembered the day they handed over their life souls.

It was just such a scene.

Just such fear and submission.

But looking at these former comrades-in-arms kneeling on the ground now, the two of them surprisingly felt no ripples in their hearts.

Just as Ye Chen said... no snowflake in the world is innocent.

They knew in their own hearts what they had done.

To have such an ending was already a blessing from eight lifetimes... Ye Chen withdrew his hand and spoke flatly.

"Fine."

"I'll keep the life souls for now."

"If you do your job well, there might be a possibility of returning them to you in the future."

"But if you mess up... you know the consequences."

The ten people buried their heads even lower: "Yes!"

After speaking, none of the ten dared to move.

They kept their heads down, waiting for Ye Chen's next word.

They waited for a few seconds.

Ye Chen waved his hand, like shooing away a swarm of annoying flies.

"Scram."

Only then did the ten dare to move.

Scorpion was the first to scramble up, stumbling back toward the door, and the other nine followed suit, fearing that if they were a step slow, that silver light would fly over again.

Suddenly!

Ye Chen's voice unexpectedly rang out again: "Hold it."

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

The ten people knelt back down without hesitation.

That posture!

That stance!

That movement!

It was as if they had practiced it countless times, leaving one dumbfounded.

Scorpion swallowed hard and asked fearfully, "Master... are there any other instructions?"

Ye Chen pointed at the corpses on the ground.

"Take them all away."

"Are you leaving them here for me to call a cleaning service for you?"

The ten: "..."

They were stunned for a moment, then rushed toward the two corpses like rabid dogs pouncing on food.

Some grabbed arms, some dragged legs, nearly tearing the corpses apart.

Quickly,

The two corpses were hoisted up by many hands and feet and carried away... When the door closed,

White Charm withdrew her gaze, came to Ye Chen's side, and asked softly, "Master, do you plan to destroy the Soul Hall?"