Chapter 410: Secrets
Chapter 410: Secrets
The tall and thin old man was astonished by Chu Ning's origins, and instead of answering directly, he asked cautiously, "I am Tu Cheng of the Xuanyin Sect. May I ask for your name, Senior?"
"I know you want to inquire about my background, but I'm just a solitary cultivator. Even if I tell you my name, you probably wouldn't know me," Chu Ning replied, his eyebrows furrowing slightly, a hint of displeasure in his tone.
Tu Cheng felt a twinge of unease seeing his reaction. He grit his teeth and said to Chu Ning, "Senior, may I have a word with you in private?"
Chu Ning nodded and prepared to fly towards the outskirts of the compound.
Tu Cheng quickly spoke up, "Senior, there's no need for that. We can speak here. As for these people, now that they know our identities, there's no need to spare them." There was a chill in Tu Cheng's voice as he spoke.
The members of the You family paled upon hearing this. Their gazes towards Chu Ning now held a glimmer of hope.
From the conversation between the two, they had realized that their family seemed to have connections with a protector of the Xuanyin Sect named You.
And this Nascent Soul cultivator before them seemed to have a good relationship with that You protector.
As long as this Nascent Soul cultivator spoke up, they would have a chance to keep their lives.
However, to their disappointment, Chu Ning remained expressionless as he nodded in agreement.
Seeing that Chu Ning did not object, Tu Cheng wasted no time in beginning the slaughter.
The highest cultivation level among these people was merely the mid-Qi Refining stage, and many of them had already been crippled by Wu Changdong and the others.
Facing Tu Cheng, a late-Gold Core cultivator, they had no means to fight back.
Soon, the courtyard was filled with bodies.
Chu Ning felt no sympathy for the You family members.
Those who had appeared were all cultivators of the Xuanyin Sect's demonic arts and had committed numerous atrocities.
When Chu Ning had previously scanned the area with his spiritual sense, he had witnessed all the evil deeds of the You family.
It took only a quarter of an hour for Tu Cheng to clean up the entire compound, leaving no trace of the massacre.
Chu Ning, standing in the courtyard, casually set up an isolation restriction not far from where Tu Cheng had landed.
Tu Cheng hesitated for a moment before looking up at Chu Ning and saying, "Senior must be looking for the You family to uncover Protector You's secrets."
Hearing Tu Cheng's words, Chu Ning nodded noncommittally.
"I wonder what information you have found, Senior. How about we exchange information? I had quite a few encounters with Protector You in the sect, and I'm sure there's something that would interest you," Tu Cheng said, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
Chu Ning glanced at him and replied ambiguously, "Tell me what you know first, and we'll see if it's worth exchanging."
Tu Cheng realized that he had no leverage in this negotiation with the Nascent Soul cultivator before him. "I discovered decades ago that Protector You would often leave the sect to carry out tasks. During one of those trips, I noticed that he frequently ventured outside. So, I kept an eye on him for a while."
"Once, I accidentally witnessed him being pursued by a late-Gold Core cultivator from the Yunxiao Alliance. He had his arm cut off, and I stepped in to save him, even fighting against that cultivator," Tu Cheng continued, his eyes narrowing as if recalling the event.
Hearing this, Chu Ning's heart stirred slightly.
He vaguely guessed that Tu Cheng was referring to the incident when he and Shang Xiaohan were on their way back to the sect from Jin Feng Fortress in Honghu Lake and were stopped by You Jing.
You Jing's arm had been cut off by him, but later, Ao Langtian had happened to be searching for the boundary point of the Golden Spiritual Species spirit domain in that area.
He had almost been discovered by them, and he had escaped using the Divine Forbidden Technique.
Apparently, Ao Langtian had gone after You Jing, only to be intercepted by Tu Cheng.
However, Chu Ning was unaware of these developments.
Tu Cheng continued, "But what surprised me was that Protector You soon reattached his arm, and his strength increased significantly. In a short time, he advanced from the early-Gold Core stage to the mid-Gold Core stage. I also discovered that he was using a powerful demonic art."
Tu Cheng paused for a moment, studying Chu Ning's reaction, before continuing, "Later, he even dared to venture into the Golden Spiritual Species spirit domain alone. However, after that, I never saw him again."
Tu Cheng stopped speaking and glanced at Chu Ning, who remained impassive. "Later, I investigated further and found that both before and after Protector You lost his arm, he had visited this You family in Yunqi Mountain. So, I suspect that he must have some secret hidden here."
Tu Cheng looked at Chu Ning once more and said, "Senior, I have told you everything I know."
"In all these years of being here, have you not discovered anything?" Chu Ning asked calmly.
Tu Cheng shook his head and sighed, "The head of this family is just a distant relative of You Jing. Aside from him, no one else has had any contact with You Jing, not even the head of the family. No one knows what he experienced here."
"Is that so?" Chu Ning's expression was half-smiling, half-serious.
In the next moment, he suddenly reached out and grabbed at Tu Cheng.
"Senior!" Tu Cheng's face drained of color as he tried to dodge.
In the next moment, he fell into Chu Ning's grasp.
Before he could react, a powerful force penetrated his body.
The next instant, he felt a searing pain in his sea of consciousness and dantian.
Then, he lost consciousness.
Chu Ning looked at the Xuan Yin Sect's protector, whom he had effortlessly captured and even shattered his Golden Core with a casual move of his hand and foot.
His expression remained calm and unperturbed.
An ordinary late-stage Golden Core cultivator had absolutely no chance against him.
After all, not everyone could possess the various means that Chu Ning had to challenge higher-level cultivators beyond their own stage.
The gap in their spiritual power was simply too vast. All it took was for Chu Ning to casually use a Spirit Sting and combine it with a punch infused with the secrets of the Nine Transformation Body Refining Art.
That was enough to completely destroy the late-stage Golden Core cultivator's dantian and sea of consciousness.
Without hesitation, Chu Ning once again employed the Soul Refining Technique on his opponent.
Chu Ning had no intention of letting him off the hook, and he knew that the other party would not willingly divulge everything he knew. Thus, the Soul Refining Technique was the simplest and most direct approach.
Using the Soul Refining Technique on a late-stage Golden Core cultivator was far easier than doing so on a Nascent Soul cultivator.
However, as a demonic cultivator, this man brought with him a plethora of negative emotions.
Especially as a member of the Xuan Yin Sect, he had committed countless atrocities, including rape and abduction. The unsightly scenes that flashed through Chu Ning's mind were too numerous to count.
Chu Ning felt greatly disturbed by them.
From his memory, Chu Ning even uncovered several techniques for replenishing one's cultivation, as well as dual cultivation methods, which caused him to fall silent for a long while.
After a considerable amount of time, Chu Ning finally retained some of the important information from Tu Cheng's memory while forcibly discarding the negative content using the Spirit Refining Technique.
"There's an underground chamber beneath the Yu family residence. According to Tu Cheng, Yu Jing had come here to cultivate and seclude himself multiple times.
However, although Tu Cheng came here many times as well, he didn't discover anything unusual.
Could it be that Yu Jing's black chain made from Black Mysterious Gold and the Outer Realm Demon are somehow related to this place?"
Chu Ning pondered silently.
If it had just been an ordinary protector of the demonic path, Chu Ning wouldn't have cared much, nor would it have been worth using the Soul Refining Technique.
However, there was no doubt that Yu Jing held some secrets. It was from him that Chu Ning had obtained the Black Mysterious Gold, and it was Yu Jing who had brought the Outer Realm Demon into the Golden Spiritual Species spirit domain.
With these thoughts in mind, Chu Ning casually created a fireball and turned Tu Cheng's corpse into ashes.
Then, based on Tu Cheng's memory, Chu Ning made his way into the inner quarters of the Yu family residence.
From there, he entered the backyard and descended into an underground chamber.
According to Tu Cheng's memory, this secret chamber was originally a natural cave. When the Yu family built their residence, they had made use of this cave and turned it into an underground chamber.
Of course, this so-called underground chamber was no longer a secret.
After all, Wu Changdong and the others had come here several times, and as Nascent Soul cultivators, they wouldn't have missed this place.
However, just like Tu Cheng, they hadn't found anything unusual.
Chu Ning stood in the stone chamber, which was only a few dozen feet in size, and scanned the area with his spiritual sense, but he still didn't find anything.
This underground chamber, connected to the surrounding mountain, didn't seem to have any hidden areas, nor did he detect any traces of formations or restrictions.
This caused Chu Ning to frown slightly.
If it hadn't been for Tu Cheng's reminder, Chu Ning would have assumed this was an ordinary cave and left without a second thought.
However, after sensing the area and finding nothing unusual, Chu Ning summoned Bai Ling.
"Master, where are we?"
Bai Ling transformed into her human form, looked around, and asked Chu Ning.
Chu Ning briefly explained the situation and asked Bai Ling to carefully sense the surroundings.
"I don't sense any restrictions or formations here either," Bai Ling said after closing her eyes and concentrating for a moment.
Just as Chu Ning was about to feel disappointed, Bai Ling suddenly spoke up.
"Wait, there is a restriction here. It almost managed to conceal itself from me."
As she spoke, Bai Ling's body flashed, and she reverted to her true form.
Her entire body glowed with a white light, and her pair of lively eyes seemed to shine with the same radiance.
After a few breaths, Bai Ling suddenly leaped to the very center of the cave.
"Master, there's an ancient restriction here."
Hearing Bai Ling's words, Chu Ning immediately stepped forward.
He stared at the unremarkable ground, his eyes filled with astonishment.
With his current spiritual sense and proficiency in formations and restrictions, he hadn't detected the presence of a restriction in this place.
Clearly, this restriction was extraordinary.
After staring at the ground for a while, Chu Ning's eyes flickered as he asked, "Can you get in?"
After Bai Ling nodded, Chu Ning summoned the Five Elements Spirit Sword and held it in his right hand.
Then, with his left hand, he reached into his storage bag and took out the Yellow Courtyard Imprint.
"Take me in and be careful. If anything feels off, we'll retreat immediately," Chu Ning instructed Bai Ling as he held the Yellow Courtyard Imprint.
"Okay," Bai Ling replied softly.
A white light shone from the top of her head, enveloping Chu Ning, and her body drilled into the ground, disappearing from view.
(End of Chapter)
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