Pfft—
Zhou Lie spat out a mouthful of blood, his breath rapidly weakening. Even if Ye Kunlun didn't kill him, he likely wouldn't live much longer.
As Ye Kunlun's voice fell, a golden light flashed.
Gua gua—
The Golden Toad appeared, resembling a lump of gold with bright red eyes. "Little one, suck out his soul!"
Ever since the Golden Toad had devoured the soul of the black shadow last time, Ye Kunlun knew the little fellow could consume souls.
Upon seeing the Golden Toad, Zhou Lie seemed to recall something, a trace of terror appearing in his eyes.
Gua gua—
The Golden Toad croaked again, and a golden power emanated from it, entering Zhou Lie's body!
"No!"
Zhou Lie cried out in despair, his eyes filled with immense fear.
The next second, his voice abruptly ceased as his soul was forcefully ripped out by the Golden Toad's power.
A green light flowed within Ye Kunlun's eyes; the soul contract on Zhou Lie's soul was still there.
This meant he still couldn't obtain the information he desired from Zhou Lie's soul.
If he forcibly extracted memories from his soul, the soul contract would completely erase it.
Ye Kunlun's brow furrowed slightly, seemingly contemplating a solution.
Gua gua—
The Golden Toad opened its mouth and sucked, about to devour Zhou Lie's soul.
"Wait a moment!" Ye Kunlun quickly called out to stop it.
However, the Golden Toad showed no intention of stopping.
The next scene, however, brought a look of pleasant surprise to Ye Kunlun's face. The Golden Toad's tongue acted like a straw, absorbing the soul contract from Zhou Lie's soul.
Watching the soul contract grow fainter, Ye Kunlun was overjoyed, not expecting the Golden Toad to have such a useful ability.
"Little one, you've made a great contribution!"
Ye Kunlun praised the Golden Toad.
Gua gua—
The Golden Toad clearly understood Ye Kunlun's words. After absorbing the soul contract, it transformed into a golden beam and returned to the ring.
Zhou Lie's soul, transitioning from terror to confusion, and now to shock, vibrated violently.
He gazed at the vanished soul contract on his arm and looked up at Ye Kunlun.
"Can you speak now?" Ye Kunlun's eyes, like cold stars, nodded. "If you don't speak, I will let you thoroughly enjoy the pain of soul-burning fire."
As he spoke, Ye Kunlun snapped his fingers, and a wisp of flame instantly ignited beneath Zhou Lie.
Ah!!
The searing heat caused Zhou Lie's soul to emit a painful cry.
Of course, only Ye Kunlun could hear this sound.
To Wu Dao, who was healing nearby, Ye Kunlun appeared to be talking to the air, unable to see Zhou Lie's soul at all.
"Speak!"
Ye Kunlun's face was filled with a murderous aura, like Yama emerging from hell, causing Zhou Lie's soul to tremble, nearly dissipating.
"Kill me! Kill me!"
Zhou Lie's soul trembled, roaring at Ye Kunlun.
Ye Kunlun hadn't expected Zhou Lie to remain silent even after his soul contract was destroyed.
Hoo—
The flames burned more intensely, and Zhou Lie let out a piercing scream. The agony of being unable to live or die, the unbearable suffering, made him wish he could drink Ye Kunlun's blood.
But he was restrained by Ye Kunlun, unable to do anything.
"I... I'll speak!"
Zhou Lie could no longer bear the pain of his soul being scorched by the flames; his willpower had finally been shattered.
Ye Kunlun extinguished the flames and looked coldly at Zhou Lie.
"Back then..."
The moment Zhou Lie opened his mouth, a purple beam shot out from the room, aiming directly for Zhou Lie's soul.
Ye Kunlun had long been prepared for any unexpected occurrences.
The instant the purple beam appeared, he acted, intercepting it!
"It's this nameless memorial tablet?" Ye Kunlun looked at the tablet in his hand and frowned slightly.
At that moment, Ye Kunlun felt a sharp pain in his palm, as if he had been stung.
He looked closely and found a small black spot on his palm, accompanied by a piercing pain!
Hahaha—
Zhou Lie laughed heartily, "Ye Kunlun, you've finally fallen into my trap!"
Ye Kunlun looked at the spreading blackness on his palm and circulated the spiritual energy within his body, attempting to expel it.
"It's useless!"
Zhou Lie's soul chuckled triumphantly, "This is a living poison refined from a thousand-year-old ancient corpse. It has life, and it will be like a maggot gnawing at your flesh and blood. There is no antidote, haha..."
Ye Kunlun hadn't expected such a living poison refined from an ancient corpse to exist in this world.
During his time in Kunlun, his master had told him about the poisons of this world, and ancient corpse living poison was among the most potent.
The older the ancient corpse, the more terrifying the refined living poison!
His master had also told him that in ancient times, powerful beings had refined living poison from ten-thousand-year-old ancient corpses.
When the living poison was refined, no life survived within a thousand-mile radius. It was also unpredictable, capable of condensing into human form and possessing human intelligence, making it extremely terrifying.
Although it was a legend, it indirectly reflected the horror of ancient corpse living poison!
Furthermore, ancient corpse living poison, like curse arts, originated from the Wu clan.
Ye Kunlun hadn't expected to encounter it here and was even more certain that the person behind all this had an inseparable connection with the Wu clan.
His master had once told him that although the world had experienced several great calamities, the lineage of the Wu clan was highly likely to still exist.
Seeing the Wu clan's curse arts and ancient corpse living poison at this moment, Ye Kunlun was thoroughly convinced that the Wu clan was still active.
His spiritual energy transformed into a spiritual dragon, directly devouring the ancient corpse living poison within his body. Under the incineration of the Zero Fire, Ye Kunlun seemed to hear sharp, piercing screams.
The living poison had life!
A few breaths later, the blackness on Ye Kunlun's palm disappeared, and the ancient corpse living poison was expelled.
"It seems your benefactor is indeed from the Wu clan."
Ye Kunlun looked indifferently at Zhou Lie, who showed a look of shock. "I guess he must be in the capital, right?"
Zhou Lie's gaze was somewhat dazed. Ye Kunlun's methods had brought him to complete despair.
Creak—
At that moment, the courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open.
A child of seven or eight ran in, heading straight for Zhou Lie's residual soul.
Ye Kunlun's gaze subtly sharpened; he did not intervene.
The child passed through Zhou Lie's soul and threw himself onto Zhou Lie's physical body, a childish voice ringing out.
"Grandpa Zhou, what's wrong? Wake up quickly... Grandpa Zhou..."
Ye Kunlun acutely sensed that Zhou Lie's soul trembled slightly when the child ran in.
He seemed to fear something.
"Big brother, what happened to Grandpa Zhou?"
The child looked at Ye Kunlun, his clear, bright eyes welling up with tears, filled with anxiety. "Can you save Grandpa Zhou?"
"Alright."
Ye Kunlun smiled and walked over to the child.
Then, he struck at the child with his palm!
Whoosh—
The child vanished from Ye Kunlun's presence.
Reappearing moments later several meters away, his face was no longer that of a child.
His clear eyes were entirely black, gazing at Ye Kunlun. "Hand over that item, and I will spare your life."
The childish voice now carried an adult's resonance, as if two voices were layered together.
Ye Kunlun looked at him and said coldly, "You've finally revealed yourself!"