233: Deducing the backlash

Deep within the Yin Demon Sect, an underground altar.

This place was even darker and damper than the main hall, with a thick, cloying scent of blood and a sickly sweet incense that was nauseating. The floor was paved with an unknown dark red stone, carved with layers of squirming, twisted runes. In the center stood a raised circular altar, its material neither metal nor stone, possessing a dull hue that seemed to absorb light.

At this moment, around the altar, twelve copper pillars carved with images of malevolent ghosts each had a Martial Artist bound to them. There were both men and women of varying ages, but their cultivation levels were all at the Grand Martial Master Realm. Some were dressed in luxurious clothing, vaguely recognizable as former leaders or Elders of small Gangs; others had fierce countenances, clearly outlaws who lived by the blade. Their common identity was that they were all peripheral members recruited or controlled by the Yin Demon Sect through various means.

These Martial Artists, who were once influential figures in their own right, were now like livestock waiting for slaughter, firmly bound to the copper pillars by coarse runic iron chains. With cloth strips soaked in medicinal liquid stuffed into their mouths, they could only let out desperate and muffled "wuwu" sounds. Their eyes were filled with endless fear and entreaty, and their bodies struggled in vain, only causing the iron chains to emit cold clanking sounds.

Standing directly in front of the altar was a woman. She wore a pure black robe embroidered with mysterious silver runes and fringed with small bone ornaments. Her hood was pulled down, concealing most of her face and only revealing a pale, bloodless chin and a pair of pitch-black eyes devoid of any light. She was the "Saintess" of this generation of the Yin Demon Sect, born on the Yin hour of the Yin day of the Yin month of the Yin year. Possessing the rare "Psychic Yin Body," she had an extraordinary talent for Souls, curses, and tracking-type evil arts, and her cultivation had also reached the Mid-stage Martial King Realm. However, the price for her to perform certain forbidden arts often required fresh lives and Souls as sacrifices. The higher the Rank of the target to be deduced, the higher the level of the sacrifice required, the greater the power of the technique, and the more terrifying the backlash.

The Corpse Demon Sect Master personally escorted a man bound like a zongzi with special chains; it was none other than Wu Li, who had fled after being defeated in a clash with Qin Feng and the others at the southern branch! At this moment, Wu Li's face was devoid of color, and his eyes were full of terror. With his cultivation sealed, he couldn't even speak and could only make "he-he" sounds of begging for mercy. He was roughly hoisted by three expressionless Corpse Demon Sect Branch Masters (all of whom were at the Late Stage Martial King Realm) and dragged toward a specially reserved, even more complex runic array in the center of the altar.

"Brother Zhongli, although this waste Wu Li was defeated, he fought those four face-to-face, and his Aura connection is the tightest. Using him as a guide, we will surely be able to deduce the exact whereabouts of those four little brats!" The Corpse Demon Sect Master's voice carried a cruel excitement.

Zhongli Wu stood in the shadows at the edge of the altar, his gaze under the hood indifferently sweeping over the struggling Wu Li as he said flatly, "Begin."

The Saintess nodded slightly, her black robe fluttering without any wind. She raised both arms, her slender and pale fingers forming a complex and eerie hand seal, and began to chant obscure and strange incantations that seemed to come from the Nine Serenities. As she chanted, every rune on the altar lit up one by one, emitting a faint, ominous dark red glow, and the sweet fragrance in the air suddenly became sharp and pungent.

"Wuu—!!"

The first to let out shrill screams that didn't sound human were the twelve Grand Martial Masters tied to the copper pillars! Their bodies twitched violently, and their exposed skin shriveled at a visible rate. Their eyeballs bulged as their life essence, mixed with their Soul Origin, was forcibly extracted from their seven orifices and even the pores of their entire bodies, turning into twelve streams of air of various colors, all filled with painful resentment, screaming as they were swallowed by the runic array in the center of the altar!

Fixed at the center of the array, Wu Li witnessed this terrifying scene and was scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. He struggled even more desperately, tears of blood flowing from his eyes in despair. However, in the next moment, a suction force ten times stronger than before suddenly acted upon him! He felt his true yuan, blood qi, and even some invisible mark deep within his Soul being crazily torn and stripped away! That was the trace of Karma and Aura connection remaining after his clash with Qin Feng and the others!

"Aaaaah—!" A piercingly shrill howl finally broke through the Restriction. Wu Li's entire body seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand, twisting violently as his skin cracked. Before his blood could even flow out, it was evaporated into a blood mist and sucked into the array. His Aura withered rapidly, and his Realm dropped visibly. He was on the verge of being completely drained and turned into an empty shell.

The light of the altar grew brighter and brighter, the dark red turning into a piercing crimson. All the swallowed essence and Souls swirled crazily within the array, converging toward the Saintess. The Saintess's body trembled slightly, her cheeks under the black robe becoming even paler, but her pitch-black eyes were terrifyingly bright, as if countless images were flashing rapidly within them—she was capturing, analyzing, and deducing all the information about Qin Feng's group of four transmitted through Wu Li as a medium!

Zhongli Wu and the Corpse Demon Sect Master stared intently at the Saintess and the violently glowing altar, their eyes flashing with expectation and ruthlessness.

However, just as the deduction seemed about to touch upon a core key and the images in the Saintess's eyes began to become clear—

A sudden change occurred!

In the center of the altar, the crimson light that was crazily swirling and had gathered the massive essence, Souls, and karmic power of thirteen people (the twelve Grand Martial Masters plus Wu Li) suddenly stagnated!

It was as if it had hit an invisible but incredibly solid barrier that even carried a certain supreme power of backlash!

"Pfft—!" The Saintess's body jolted violently, and she suddenly spat out a large mouthful of dark red blood, which was actually mixed with tiny fragments of internal organs! The images in her eyes shattered instantly, replaced by a look of horrified blankness and extreme agony.

"Im... impossible... what... is that..." she managed to squeeze out a few words, her voice hoarse and broken.

Immediately after—

"BOOM—!!!"

An earth-shaking roar! The entire underground altar shook violently, and rubble fell in showers. Instead of successfully completing the deduction, the crimson light that had gathered terrifying energy backfired and exploded in an even more violent and chaotic manner!

The Saintess was the first to bear the brunt! The black robe on her body was instantly torn to shreds by an invisible force, revealing the skeletal body beneath, covered in eerie black markings. Blood sprayed wildly from her seven orifices, and the pitch-black light in her eyes was completely extinguished, replaced by a deathly gray.

"Saintess!" Zhongli Wu's expression changed drastically as he cried out.

But it was all too late. The energy of the backlash, like the sharpest of shredding blades, instantly swept through the Saintess's body, completely crushing and annihilating her fragile form along with her Soul! Only a pool of foul blood and a few bone fragments remained where she had stood.

And Wu Li, who was at the core of the explosion, couldn't even let out another scream before he was blown into the tiniest of fragments within the violent energy turbulence, leaving not even a corpse behind!

The mummified corpses on the twelve copper pillars also turned to dust under the energy impact.

The solid altar itself was covered in a dense, spiderweb-like network of cracks, and the central runic array completely dimmed and collapsed.

As the aftershocks of the explosion surged in all directions, Zhongli Wu and the Corpse Demon Sect Master both shouted, erupting with the majestic Aura of the Martial Emperor level. They joined forces to set up layers of defense, only just managing to withstand this terrifying energy turbulence. However, both of them were involuntarily forced back several steps, their blood qi churning, and their faces were filled with unbelievable shock.

The dust and chaotic energy slowly dissipated, revealing the mess and tragic scene in the center of the altar.

"How... could this happen?!" The Corpse Demon Sect Master's voice was dry as he looked at the place where the Saintess and Wu Li had completely vanished, and then at the collapsed altar. The ghost fire in his eye sockets flickered violently. "The Soul Life Deduction Art... actually failed? And suffered such a terrifying backlash! Even the Saintess..."

Zhongli Wu stared fixedly at the center of the altar, his body under the black robe trembling slightly, whether from shock or rage. He walked step by step toward the wreckage, his gaze sharp as a hawk's, sweeping over every inch of the ground.

Suddenly, his gaze froze beside the pool of foul blood left by the Saintess.

There, there seemed to be a few extremely faint and barely recognizable marks drawn with a finger dipped in blood.

He crouched down and looked intently.

It was a character, or rather, an unfinished character. The strokes were twisted and trembling, and she had only had time to write a small part before being interrupted by death.

Was it the beginning of the character "Bai"? Or a part of some more complex character? The bloodstain was blurred and difficult to determine.

"'Bai'?" Zhongli Wu murmured, his voice bone-chillingly cold, filled with endless doubt and frostiness. "What did she want to hint at before she died? 'Bai'... a location? A surname? Or..."

He stood up and looked around this space, which had become deathly silent and filled with an ominous air due to the failure and backlash of the forbidden art. The wariness and killing intent in his heart, instead of diminishing, grew crazily like a wildfire.

"Qin Feng... what secret are you actually hiding?!"

Zhongli Wu spoke each word slowly, as if wanting to crush the name. "Even with the Blood Soul Altar, the Psychic Yin Body, and the blood sacrifice of Grand Martial Masters, using a Martial King as a guide, the Soul Life Deduction could still suffer a backlash... Good, very good!"

He turned abruptly, his black robe snapping. Facing the equally suspicious and uncertain Corpse Demon Sect Master, his voice was decisive, no longer showing any of his previous "lack of urgency":

"Order all available hidden agents and scouts! Focus on investigating all powers, locations, and figures with the surname 'Bai'! Strengthen the monitoring of all routes leading to the Imperial Capital! No matter the cost, find them for me!"

"This child... must not be allowed to grow any further! He must be strangled as soon as possible!"