Zhao Wuji's face had gone deathly pale. He looked around at the others. Everyone was staring at him with nothing but indifference and disgust in their eyes. He even turned a pleading gaze toward Yun Jin.
The disciple he once thought he could control at will could now not only defeat him with ease, but also decide whether he lived or died.
Zhao Wuji had a sinking feeling. If Yun Jin were willing to speak on his behalf, he might still have a slim chance of survival.
"Yun Jin," Zhao Wuji forced a smile onto his face. "I was the one who brought you into the sect. Seeing you achieve so much now, I truly feel gratified. If you're willing to put in a good word for me, I'll step down and hand over the position of sect master to Lin Ya immediately. What do you think?"
His face was filled with hopeful anticipation.
Yun Jin let out a cold laugh.
At death's door, Zhao Wuji was really grasping at straws.
She said flatly, "If my master wanted the Tianxing Sect's leadership, it would already be his for the taking. He doesn't need you to give it up. Zhao Wuji, you colluded with the demon race, fell into the demonic path, and harmed your fellow humans. For all these crimes, there is no path left for you to survive. Don't even think about it. But if you want a quicker death, there's still a way. Speak everything you know. Cleanly and completely."
Zhao Wuji gritted his teeth. "If I'm going to die anyway, why should I say anything? Give me a way to live, and I'll tell you everything."
Yun Jin only sneered.
Ji Wusi spoke calmly. "Since he's so stubborn, then we'll use torture. All 188 punishments. Let's see how long he lasts."
The Demon-Slaying Alliance members responded without hesitation.
They took Zhao Wuji away.
"The punishment is cruel. No need to dirty everyone's eyes. Let's wait here for a while," Ji Wusi said.
Everyone nodded.
Very few who fell into the demonic path had any real backbone. Most would barely last through ten rounds before spilling everything. Zhao Wuji likely wouldn't last long either.
In the end, he held out even less time than expected. Barely an hour later, someone came to report that Zhao Wuji couldn't take it anymore. Only then did everyone rise and head toward the temporary punishment hall.
Inside the temporary punishment hall, Zhao Wuji was kneeling on the ground, barely breathing. There were no visible wounds on him, but his breath was faint, and his face was ashen like a corpse. At the sight of the Demon-Slaying Alliance disciples, he trembled, completely overtaken by fear.
Yun Jin couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. The Demon-Slaying Alliance truly lived up to its name. No one knew what method of torture they used, but in just an hour, they had turned a Unity stage cultivator into this.
But Zhao Wuji deserved it.
"Whatever you have to say, now is the time," Ji Wusi said. "Speak, and I'll send you off cleanly."
Hearing that, Zhao Wuji didn't seem afraid at all. Instead, a look of relief surfaced on his face.
Trembling, he spoke. "That liquid… it was given to me by Xue Daoren. I was also curious about it. Xue Daoren told me it came from a mysterious artifact bottle. But… I once saw Xue Daoren meet with a man in black. That man took away his bottle and gave him a new one."
Zhao Wuji's voice trembled. "I suspect that the liquid has another origin. Someone else is behind Xue Daoren."
Ji Wusi's expression grew solemn.
The Blood Dao Sect wasn't particularly powerful. According to the Demon-Slaying Alliance's investigations, they had only been active in the Canglan Kingdom and hadn't yet extended their reach elsewhere.
Still, they had been operating here for nearly a century.
No one knew when Xue Daoren had gotten his hands on that liquid.
If it had been early on…
Then who could say how many demon race infiltrators and demonic cultivators had secretly settled into Canglan Kingdom by now?
And more importantly, someone was backing Xue Daoren.
But who?
This was the territory of the Qingxiao Pavilion.
Ji Wusi suddenly recalled the black mist that appeared after a few Qingxiao Pavilion disciples were killed. His pupils shrank.
If his suspicions were right…
Then this was no small matter.
"Anything else?" Ji Wusi's tone was indifferent as he asked again.
Zhao Wuji hesitated, then continued, "That child really is the Demon Sovereign. He contacted me himself and asked for my cooperation in seizing control of Tianxing Sect. Then, he used that liquid to mask the aura of the demon race, replacing Tianxing Sect disciples with demons bit by bit, turning the sect into a foothold for the demon race within the human realm."
"Is that all?" Ji Wusi raised an eyebrow.
Zhao Wuji gave a defeated look. "You've already investigated the rest."
Experiments involving rogue cultivators and blood research were nothing compared to this.
"Alright." Ji Wusi nodded. Then, he gently raised his hand.
He didn't even touch Zhao Wuji.
In the next instant—
Zhao Wuji's body crumbled into powder. His Yuányīng tried to escape in a flash of panic.
But the sword energy moved even faster. It pierced through him before he could get far. Zhao Wuji's Yuányīng disintegrated completely.
From this moment forward, in all of existence and across all lifetimes, Zhao Wuji would no longer exist.
No one raised any objections.
His soul had been utterly vile. Letting him reincarnate would only create another disaster. Better that his spirit was destroyed completely.
The instant Zhao Wuji died—
In Qingxiao Pavilion—
Zhao Ling sensed something.
He hurriedly took out a life tablet.
It had once been blood-red.
Now—
That red hue was rapidly fading.
"No!!" Zhao Ling cried out in despair.
But his scream changed nothing. In the blink of an eye, the red vanished completely, and the life tablet turned as pale as his face.
Zhao Ling's hand trembled as his eyes locked onto the tablet.
His only son, Zhao Wuji—
Dead.
The white life tablet meant not even a trace of the soul remained.
Annihilation of the soul—leaving no mark on the world.
For a cultivator, this was the cruelest end.
This was the child he had longed for, for so many years.
He had paved a golden path for Zhao Wuji.
Once this matter was over, he had planned to bring him to Qingxiao Pavilion. He had gathered resources over the years, enough to raise Zhao Wuji to the Tribulation stage. Maybe even Mahayana wasn't out of reach.
At that point—
Father and son, both at the Mahayana stage, ascending together into immortality, sharing eternal life.
What a glorious dream.
But now—
Zhao Wuji was dead.
Killed in a mere Tianxing Sect.
How did he die?
How exactly did it happen?
A flicker of madness passed through Zhao Ling's eyes. He immediately activated a secret technique, using the life tablet as a guide to witness Zhao Wuji's death.
Zhao Ling swore—
No matter who it was, they would pay.
His son was not someone who could be killed so easily.
But—
Just as he glimpsed the scene of Zhao Wuji's death, a sharp gaze met his.
In the next instant—
His eyes burned in pain, and his spirit was forcibly expelled.
Just one glance, across such a vast distance—
Yet his soul was shaken, and his cultivation began to show signs of instability.
This had something to do with him having just entered the Mahayana stage and still lacking stability.
Even so, it proved how terrifying the other party was.
Zhao Ling had seen clearly. That person—
Was Ji Wusi.
The foremost figure among the human race: Ji Wusi.