225: Chapter 225 You're being very...disrespectful to me.

Lightning pierced in from behind his heart and exited through his chest, leaving a slender arc of electricity in the air before dissipating into a few scattered specks of light.

Deputy Commander Lin He's body suddenly stiffened, his mouth still agape, his fingers still pointing in the direction of the bone bead.

He lowered his head to look at the hole in his chest.

The edges were charred black, devoid of blood, as if it had been burned through by something.

"You..."

He pointed painfully at Commander Su Qin, then his knees buckled, and he knelt straight down, as if the supports holding his body up had been pulled out from behind him. He then toppled to the side, falling onto the gravel with a dull thud.

Wu Li slowly turned his head, his blood-red pupils reflecting the figure of Commander Su Qin, who was still maintaining his sword-thrusting posture.

The tip of the sword was still pointing forward, and the lightning on the blade was slowly fading, like a mist blown away by the wind.

Commander Su Qin's breathing was unstable, his knuckles white as he gripped the sword hilt. He did not look down at Deputy Commander Lin He's corpse, his gaze fixed on Wu Li.

Wu Li stared at him for two breaths, a layer of coldness rising in his eyes.

"I hadn't finished speaking yet, and you already made a move."

"You are... very disrespectful to me."

Commander Su Qin opened his mouth to say something, but Wu Li did not give him the chance.

The Blood Fiend Primal Wheel behind him spun violently, and grey-red Evil Qi surged out, like an invisible giant hand sweeping in from the side, wrapping around Commander Su Qin's waist and abdomen, lifting him off the ground and suspending him in mid-air.

The Evil Qi tightened along his limbs, chest, waist, and abdomen simultaneously, like countless fine sheets of sandpaper covering his skin all at once.

"Argh!"

Commander Su Qin's pupils contracted violently, and a muffled groan was squeezed from his throat. A sharp pain struck him, as if something was being scraped away layer by layer from the surface of his skin.

His body stiffened in mid-air for a moment before beginning to tremble violently. His fingers clawed at the air, but grasped nothing.

The Evil Qi continued to tighten and grind, like a whetstone moving back and forth on iron, but every pass carried a clear sensation—neither too deep nor too shallow, just enough to scrape off a layer of flesh.

Commander Su Qin clenched his teeth tightly, the veins on his forehead bulging. Beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead, mixing with strands of blood.

Fortunately, Wu Li did not intend to kill him.

After a few breaths, when there was no intact skin left on the surface of Commander Su Qin's body, Wu Li finally withdrew the Evil Qi.

Commander Su Qin fell from mid-air, landing on his knees. He braced his hands on the ground, panting for a long while as blood streamed down his body, soaking into the gravel and forming a small, dark red stain.

"If there is a next time, I will definitely kill you."

Wu Li warned calmly.

Commander Su Qin nodded slowly. Weak, he braced his hands on the ground, blood and sweat mixing and streaming down from his temples, dripping onto the gravel and staining it dark red.

He caught his breath, his fingers trembling as he reached to his waist, pulled out a cyan-green Medicinal Pill, shoved it into his mouth, and swallowed it dry.

The moment the Medicinal Pill entered his throat, a layer of pale green spiritual light welled up from within his body, like a basin of warm water poured over his head, flowing along his Meridians to every part of his body.

The surface of the skin that had been ground away by the Evil Qi began to regrow. First, fine granulation tissue emerged from the edges of the wounds, interlacing, layer upon layer, covering the exposed flesh. The color slowly turned from bright red to light pink, and then back to a normal skin tone.

His exposed skin seemed to have been recast by a layer of flowing green light. The ruptured capillaries and damaged tissues gradually recovered after the spiritual light flowed over them; although not as resilient as before, at least they were no longer oozing blood.

He braced himself against the ground to straighten his upper body, wiped the blood and sweat from his face with his cuff, and looked up at Wu Li's back. When he spoke, his voice was still a bit hoarse, but his breathing was much steadier than before.

"There won't be a next time."

His legs were still trembling slightly when he stood up, but he quickly steadied himself.

"Deputy Commander Lin He is dead. The people he brought are also dead. It will take time for the news to be sent back, and even if the higher-ups investigate, they will first investigate his unauthorized mobilization of the Xuan Kun Guards. During this time, I call the shots in Beiling County."

"And it will continue to be me in the future!"

Wu Li turned around, his blood-red pupils landing on Commander Su Qin.

"I don't believe anything you just said."

"I still need something to ensure it."

As he finished speaking, Wu Li raised his right hand, extending his sword fingers, a point of scarlet light gathering at his fingertips.

The Blood Eye Pagoda Sutra circulated within his body, and that scarlet light shot out from his fingertips, fast as a fine thread, flashing through the night and merging into Commander Su Qin's chest.

Commander Su Qin's body suddenly stiffened. He lowered his head to look at his chest; no trace was left there, but a warm sensation spread outward from his heart.

Wu Li withdrew his hand, his blood-red pupils devoid of extra emotion.

"This blood seal will attach itself to the outer layer of your Meridians and internal organs."

"If you fulfill your promise, I will not touch it. If you make any unusual moves, I only need a single thought, and the blood seal will detonate on its own. At that time, your internal organs and Meridians will be crushed simultaneously. Of course, you don't need to be afraid; after all, you should be clear that if I had the intention to kill you, I could do it at any time."

Commander Su Qin stood in place, looking down at his chest, raising his hand to press on his heart, as if trying to confirm whether that blood seal was still there.

He remained silent for a long time before lowering his hand and looking up at Wu Li, his gaze heavier than before, as if re-evaluating this raven before him.

"An unreasonable means. It is hard to imagine that you come from that backward Dachuan Dynasty."

Wu Li crouched on a rock by the cave entrance, his blood-red pupils calm, his claws tapping lightly on the stone surface: "Why, is the Youyue Dynasty much stronger than the Dachuan Dynasty?"

Commander Su Qin nodded.

He braced himself against the nearby stone wall and slowly sat down; the previous injuries made it difficult for him to even stand, but his tone remained steady.

"That is natural."

"The Youyue Dynasty has been established for 5,700 years; its foundation is far beyond what the Dachuan Dynasty can compare to. The Dynasty has Soul Transformation experts guarding it, and not just one."

"Any one of the six major Sects has a Grand Elder who possesses the cultivation of the Early Stage of Soul Transformation."

"Over in the Dachuan Dynasty, a character like Shangguan Hong, if placed in the Youyue Dynasty—let alone the core of the Dynasty—could be annihilated by any random Grand Elder dispatched from the six major Sects."

"You can walk sideways in the Dachuan Dynasty, but not here in the Youyue Dynasty. The pond here is much deeper than you think, so..."

He paused... as if deliberating whether to say the second half of his sentence, "You sparing my life was the right thing to do."

"I am more useful alive than dead."

After Commander Su Qin finished saying this, he did not say anything more, leaning against the stone wall and closing his eyes, as if waiting for the strength in his body to slowly recover.

The night breeze blew over from the pool, carrying a trace of moisture, carrying away the residual warmth of the stone wall, and continued to drift toward the distant mountain ridge.