Chapter 657: Interrogation
Translator: Radiant Translations Editor: Radiant Translations
"You want me to let a protector of the Ancestor Mother Religion off? I can't make any promises based on most conditions you might provide," Xue Ying's voice continued reverberating within this sealed world. He was starting to negotiate with Protector Huo Zhu.
Naturally, this was done to stall for more time.
Most of his focus was actually placed on his Cultivation Eden. His luminous sun force had entered it directly, where it sealed the soul of the blue-eyed man who was in a deep sleep, his soul lost in the illusory realm.
"Teacher," Xue Ying simultaneously contacted his teacher, the Bloodshed God Emperor.
"Xue Ying, what's the matter?" replied the Bloodshed God Emperor, who was in the middle of cultivating in front of the Cosmos Furnace.
"I've captured a protector from the Ancestor Mother Religion using my illusory realm. How should I handle him?" Xue Ying asked. A protector captured alive would have a much higher value than a dead protector. As for how he could make use of this value, Xue Ying really had no clue. After all, he was clear that directly asking for information was not an option.
A superpower like the Ancestor Mother Religion was bound to have preventive methods in place. As such, he had decided to ask his teacher for help.
Situated in front of the Cosmos Furnace, the crimson-robed Bloodshed God Emperor fell in a daze. 'This brat captured a protector from the Ancestor Mother Religion? When did it become so easy to deal with those protectors?'
Even though he paid great importance to this disciple of his, he was still inwardly comparing him with his Eldest Disciple Brother, Monarch Green—in other words, he was only paying attention to Xue Ying's potential for growth!
In the Bloodshed God Emperor's heart, this little disciple of his was still too tender; he had only just opened his Dao path, so he could, at most, be considered a new Paragon. Compared to peak Paragons like Monarch Hex Cricket, the White Sovereign King, and the White Devil King, there was still a considerable gap. As for Monarch Green, who could even fight against Rulers, the difference in combat power was even more significant! Forget combat power, even their experience and horizons were just too far apart.
Even he, the Bloodshed God Emperor, had experienced many dangers and opportunities as a Paragon. He had also been to two other cosmoses.
Pang Yi too had been to other cosmoses and encountered many opportunities.
Compared to these old men…
Xue Ying indeed was too tender. He had only recently breached a million years of cultivation and had just opened his Dao path. The only opportunity he had was his entering of the Starting Ground, and the trial he took there was one meant for stage four World Deities! Thus, in the eyes of the Bloodshed God Emperor, the Temporal Island Lord, and the other rulers, Xue Ying was a tender little flower.
So young and fragile that it would take a very long time for the soil to nourish it, for the water to feed it, and for the sun to protect it, before eventually blooming with incomparable beauty.
'This disciple of mine has just opened his Dao path, yet he already killed one protector and now even captured another one alive? The Ancestor Mother Religion should most likely be speechless.' The Bloodshed God Emperor could not help but laugh. 'Even the Primal Master, the Abyss Primogenitor, and the others will be left speechless by this news.'
All of these elders together had managed to get rid of just two protectors from the Ancestor Mother Religion over a very long time.
But now, Xue Ying went and dealt with two protectors by himself.
"Xue Ying." The Bloodshed God Emperor was inwardly shocked and sighing, but he still managed to ask Xue Ying to do something. "You should hurry up and proceed with your interrogation. The people from the Ancestor Mother Religion are definitely already seeking out the true body of this protector you captured alive! They'll be waking him up forcibly as soon as they can."
"How can I interrogate him?" Xue Ying asked.
"Ask him about the way they proceeded from their home cosmos to our cosmos, and where the route that led them here is," the Bloodshed God Emperor replied. "Try thinking up a non-conventional way of interrogating him. Don't be too direct. I've once captured a protector but asking him a single question led to his soul crumbling apart. It seems they have some preventive measures in place that work similar to our oath-breaking punishments."
"Alright."
"This position of their cosmos passage is vital. Asking him directly won't help in any way. It will all come down to the method you employ," the Bloodshed God Emperor said. "Xue Ying, your teacher believes in you."
...
Within the Cultivation Eden.
"Hu."
A luminous sun force avatar appeared on a mountain peak looking at the blue-eyed man who was fast asleep.
Xue Ying was at a loss. He had asked his teacher about how he should proceed with the interrogation, but he now understood that even his teacher knew of no sure way of succeeding. After all, his own attempt at it had caused the protector's soul to crumble.
'Let's try this.' Xue Ying began guiding the illusory realm, granting him easy control of the deceived soul.
'Cosmos Star Map.'
Xue Ying began transmitting a part of the cosmos star map directly into the man's soul.
He was sending it out bit by bit, yet for the sake of saving time, he even used the Cultivation Eden's ability to maintain a hundred-times accelerated flow of time. He could not go any faster because of the protector's strength—both in terms of body and of the soul—made it much more energy-expensive to control the flow of time.
Xue Ying had split the cosmos star map into ten thousand pieces, with the Deity world occupying 99% of them. The remaining places were all in the material realm and the Dark Abyss.
He continued sending over bits of the star map until, just moments later when he was transmitting the 6345th piece…
"Hou~"
The blue-eyed man who had been initially hoodwinked suddenly started to roar and countless blood strands appeared on his soul. He shortly regained his consciousness and began staring at Xue Ying.
"I can tell—this location is significant to you, right?" Xue Ying asked staring straight back at him.
The blue-eyed man let out a low growl in response: "It's useless. Nothing you do matters."
The blood strands finally began cutting up his soul, causing it to crumble apart.
'Dead already.' Xue Ying frowned. 'I even sealed his soul, but it was still able to crumble by itself. This Ancestor Mother Religion is truly strict and secretive.'
He had not even dared ask any direct questions, knowing that when his teacher had done so, it led to the protector's instant crumbling of the soul.
As such, he decided he would rather send over bits and pieces of a star map; normal maps might not lead to any outcome, but any important location would lead to the oath punishment effect to his soul.
******
Within a towering, ancient bronze palace hall owned by the Ancestor Mother Religion.
The fanged religious leader was sitting here in silence when an extreme pressure suddenly descended on the entire hall.
A fanged teenager wearing silver robes appeared in mid-air and said in a low voice, "I rushed over to find Protector Zhong She's as fast as I could, but I still did not manage to wake him up in time. His avatar has already crumbled to death. After he woke up, Zong She took the initiative to inform me… that Dong Bo Xue Ying has found out about a relevant region of the star map."
"A region of the star map?" The fanged religious leader frowned.
"Right. It should be a region of about ten starfields," the silver-robed teenager said. "We're stationed here and concealed, but their cultivation cosmos will definitely start a large-scale investigation on this region sooner or later. I did not even consider Dong Bo Xue Ying would actually think to send out pieces of a map into Protector Zhong She's to find out which region led to his soul's crumbling. They will naturally be paying great importance to this point. Regardless, he divided the cosmos into just ten thousand parts and was clearly rushing for time. Had he been slower even by a bit, I would have been able to wake Protector Zhong She and allow him to sever the connection with his avatar."
The huge fanged hunk sighed. "A puny Paragon like Dong Bo Xue Ying actually managed to cause us such huge losses. We've already lost two protectors, and there was even a leak regarding the location of our territory."
"Still, such a small leak shouldn't mean much—it is a region of ten starfields after all. It is almost impossible that they might find us," the silver-robed teenager said. "Furthermore, this territory we're stationed at is concealed using the most powerful treasures our cosmos could provide in many epochs. Even if they do reach our location, they simply won't be able to see us."
"Indeed, they should not be able to discover us, but there's always the chance an accident might occur!" the fanged hunk said.
The Bloodshed God Emperor had investigated the entire cosmos time and time again, but he never succeeded in finding where the people of the Ancestor Mother Religion were hiding.
But now that the region was reduced to just ten starfields, it would be exponentially more straightforward to find them.
"Who would have thought…" the huge fanged-hunk muttered, "we would be so careless. From this day onwards, we cannot be too careless even when dealing with stage four World Deities."
This whole ordeal had happened because of a stage four World Deity.
"Our losses are indeed huge." The silver-robed teenager squinted his eyes which held a silver glimmer akin to a cocoon. He muttered, "Dong Bo Xue Ying, I will etch this brat's name into my mind."
The religious leaders and protectors of the Ancestor Mother Religion had long etched Xue Ying's name into their minds. After all, it was this tender and young cultivator who had only just opened his own Dao path that led to them suffering such grave losses. From now on, they would pay more attention and would never again dare to be careless against him. One who could walk in another world and even specialize in illusory techniques was a cultivator the Ancestor Mother Religion did not dare underestimate.