46: Chapter 46 Information about the Tai Xuan Sect

Tuoba Lie's reaction, however, was on an entirely different level.

He flipped up almost instinctively, and the moment his chair tipped backward, his right hand had already grasped the hilt of the saber resting against the table.

The movement was too fast for a burly man of his size; the speed at which the blade left its sheath was at least ten times faster than his movements while drinking tea just moments ago.

His hand gripped the hilt. His eyes locked onto the cloaked figure at the doorway. His legs were already coiled with power, his whole body poised like a leopard about to pounce.

Then, his movements froze.

Thirteen golden needles simultaneously pierced thirteen major acupuncture points across his body—Fengfu, Mingmen, Jianjing, Quchi, Huantiao, Xiyan... The moment the needle tips pierced his skin, the paralyzing Restriction was activated.

Tuoba Lie felt his entire body stiffen, as if a bolt of lightning had struck from the top of his head down to his toes, and his muscles instantly lost control.

His fingers loosened from the hilt, and the saber clattered onto the blue brick floor, the blade bouncing once before settling flat.

He fell straight backward, the back of his head hitting the armrest of the circle chair with a dull thud, before he and the chair crashed to the ground together.

Dust swirled and drifted in the candlelight. The teacup finally slid off the tilted table and shattered into several pieces.

Jiang Yan walked into the study, first sealed Sun Mingyi's mouth with spiritual power, and then threw him into the corner.

He then walked over to Tuoba Lie, crouched down, and reached out to disengage his jaw joint.

Tuoba Lie lay on his back on the floor, eyes glaring at Jiang Yan, the old scar on his left brow bone glowing red in the candlelight.

Jiang Yan looked down at the Face of this Northern Yan veteran, weathered by the elements, his gaze as calm as if looking at a stone.

Tuoba Lie's eyes did not shift; he stared fixedly into Jiang Yan's eyes.

The emotions in those eyes settled from the initial shock, turning into something heavier than fear—it was despair.

He could read no fluctuations in the pupils of this square-faced man; there was no anger, no greed, no threat—there was nothing.

That gaze was exactly the same as when looking at the sword hanging on the wall, the shattered teacup on the floor, or the trembling Sun Mingyi in the corner.

Tuoba Lie's decades of battlefield experience told him that this kind of person was the one who truly knew how to kill.

It was not driven by hatred, profit, or any external force; killing was simply as natural to them as breathing.

"Taixuan Sect," Jiang Yan spoke, his voice flat. "Tell me about it."

Tuoba Lie did not answer. Jiang Yan flicked a strand of spiritual power, piercing into his Meridians.

With a violent spasm, Tuoba Lie's entire body arched on the blue brick floor like a bow, sweat seeping from his forehead and streaming down along that old scar.

Yet he did not cry out.

"Taixuan Sect," Jiang Yan said again.

Tuoba Lie took a few breaths, squeezing a few words through his teeth: "What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

An hour later, Jiang Yan had extracted all the information he needed from Tuoba Lie.

Taixuan Sect was the cultivation Sect behind Northern Yan, with strength comparable to Jinyang Sect, and several Golden Core Immortal Masters within its ranks.

Its sphere of influence covered Northern Yan and several surrounding vassal states, bordering the Jin, Liang, and Chen kingdoms under the jurisdiction of Jinyang Sect.

Although both Sects belonged to the Righteous Path, constant friction had existed for years because their spheres of influence overlapped in several mountain ranges at the border.

Both Sects coveted the Spirit Medicine and mineral materials produced in those mountains, and they often fought over territory in private, only refraining from openly falling out for the sake of the Righteous Path's reputation of mutual support.

The Northern Yan imperial capital also had resident Cultivators stationed by Taixuan Sect, three in total, with cultivation levels at Qi Refining Stage 9, Qi Refining Stage 7, and Qi Refining Stage 5, respectively.

Besides that, in the northern border of Northern Yan, there was a snow-capped mountain range stretching for a thousand miles, which produced a type of cold jade; the highest grade produced had been Medium Grade Tier 1, a spiritual material for refining Magical Artifacts and setting up arrays.

Within Northern Yan, there were also two micro-scale Spirit Stone mines, guarded directly by personnel sent by Taixuan Sect, which no Mortal was allowed to approach.

Jiang Yan cross-checked this information in his mind point by point, pressing for the next detail as soon as one was finished, allowing Tuoba Lie no time to think.

By the end of the questioning, Tuoba Lie's throat was hoarse and his lips were cracked and bleeding, but whenever he hesitated, Jiang Yan's spiritual power would pierce into his Meridians again.

After repeatedly verifying the information three times and matching every detail, Jiang Yan finally confirmed that he was not lying.

In the silence, Jiang Yan reached out and pressed his hand against Tuoba Lie's chest. The Bloodthirsty Demon Scripture was set in motion.

Tuoba Lie's entire body of Innate True Qi, along with his essence blood, transformed into a scalding torrent and surged into Jiang Yan's Dantian.

The dark golden vortex of spiritual power trembled slightly, swallowing this mass of fresh essence blood.

The vortex grew slightly, spun a few times, and then returned to stability.

The essence blood of an Innate Middle Stage was far inferior to General Jiang Ce's Xiantian Perfection, which was comparable to Qi Refining Stage 4, but it had the advantage of being fresh.

Jiang Yan withdrew his hand and stood up.

Tuoba Lie lay on his back on the floor, his eye sockets deeply sunken, and the wrinkles carved by the elements on his Face were particularly glaring against his shriveled skin.

Jiang Yan turned and walked toward the corner.

Sun Mingyi was curled up in the corner between the bookshelf and the wall, his right arm still hanging limply, the fingers of his left hand gripping the ground tightly, knuckles white.

The spiritual Seal on his mouth had not yet been removed; seeing Jiang Yan approach, he emitted a series of muffled whimpers from his throat, the blood vessels in the whites of his eyes bulging one by one, and his body shrank another half-inch into the corner, as if trying to embed himself into the wall.

Jiang Yan looked down at him for a moment.

Then, with one palm strike, he shattered his heart Meridians.

Sun Mingyi's body slid down the wall, collapsing in the corner, his neatly groomed three-stranded long beard crooked across his chest, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth and streaming down along his beard.

The study fell silent. The candle on the lamp stand had burned down to just a small stub, the flame flickering a few times, casting the shadows of the two corpses into a twisted black mass on the wall.

After searching the secret room for a few pieces of semi-spiritual jade.

Jiang Yan cast a Fireball Technique onto the table.

The exploding flames of the fireball instantly engulfed the tabletop, the tongues of fire licking at the bookshelf, swallowing all the calligraphy, paintings, and classics that Sun Mingyi had collected for decades into an orange-red light.

Thick smoke rolled up to the rafters, and sparks crackled and splattered onto the window paper, making the window lattice creak as it burned.

When he walked out of the Assistant Prefect's residence, the firelight from the third courtyard behind him had already illuminated half the sky red.

In the distance, people were shouting to put out the fire, gongs were clanging, and footsteps were rushing in from all directions in chaos.

Jiang Yan wrapped his cloak tighter and walked out along the depths of the alley.

The dark red firelight burned brighter and brighter behind him, stretching his shadow thin and long on the bluestone paved road.

By dawn, he had already left Yun Prefecture City and stopped in a pine forest outside the city.

The late autumn morning mist had not yet dispersed, and the dew on the pine trees was blown off by the wind, dripping onto his shoulders.

He took out the unfolded map from his Storage Pouch; the map was marked with the distribution of the Jin Kingdom's counties.

The blank spaces on the map now had a new batch of text and symbols.

Northern Yan Taixuan Sect — several Golden Core (Cultivators).

Imperial capital guards, three people — Qi Refining Stage 9, 7, and 5.

Northern border snow mountains — cold jade mine, highest grade Medium Grade Tier 1.

Micro-scale Spirit Stone mines — two locations, guarded directly by Taixuan Sect.

He used a pen tip to mark the information provided by Tuoba Lie one by one on the map of Northern Yan on the back—adding the Taixuan Sect's power marker next to the Northern Yan capital, drawing a few circles on the snow-capped mountain range, and dotting the locations of the Spirit Stone mines one by one.

After finishing all this, he put the map away, leaned against a pine tree trunk, and closed his eyes to rest for a while.

The scent of pine resin permeated the morning mist, and the rustling sound of pine needles being blown off by the wind drifted from afar.

There were still more than three months until the cloud ship arrived.

Three paths—crossing the Manghuang Mountains, sneaking onto the Jinyang Sect cloud ship, or going into the Northern Yan Kingdom to explore new possibilities.

Now, he had the general information for the third path; the Taixuan Sect's power distribution, the strength of the resident Cultivators, the cold jade mines in the northern snow mountains, and the locations of several Spirit Stone mines were all marked on the map.

When he made his decision, this information would be more valuable than any gold, silver, or treasure.

As for whether the Jin Kingdom perished, how many people died at the border, or how many monstrous catastrophes that traitorous dead man in Yun Prefecture City should have committed—it had nothing to do with him.

He opened his eyes, stood up from the tree trunk, and brushed the pine needles off his shoulders.

He continued on his journey.