"From the Shadow Hall..."
Upon hearing Zhao Fugui's answer, Ye Ling immediately lost interest in him.
Regarding the Shadow Hall, Ye Ling already had Xue Lian Xuan Nü as an inside informant. It wouldn't be long before he dealt with the Twelve Sacred Pillars of the Shadow Hall and then moved on to Xuan Xiao.
As for Zhao Fugui, he was at most a low-level operative at the fringes of the Shadow Hall, unlikely to possess any useful information. Moreover, the Shadow Hall probably wouldn't care about Zhao Fugui's life or death.
Holding Zhao Fugui hostage would only be a waste of time.
With this thought, Ye Ling casually conjured a demonic blade with his demonic energy and said to Zhao Fugui, "I don't think you're of much use. However, since you're from the Shadow Hall, I can't let you go. Leave a last word, and I'll send you on your way."
Seeing the demonic blade entwined with demonic energy in Ye Ling's hand, Zhao Fugui began to tremble all over. He felt an urge to urinate, almost unable to hold it in.
Zhao Fugui quickly begged Ye Ling for mercy, "Emperor... Emperor Lord... Don't, don't..."
Unfortunately, Ye Ling remained unmoved. He raised his demonic blade and said indifferently, "It seems these are your last words. It's a pity they're so uninspired. Don't choose the wrong side in your next life."
With that, Ye Ling swung his blade down without hesitation!
As Zhao Fugui watched the descending demonic blade, his lower body instantly became wet. The fear of death made him unable to keep any secrets any longer. He quickly blurted out, "Emperor Lord, I know where there are more of these stone doors!"
As Zhao Fugui shouted, Ye Ling's demonic blade stopped precisely at his neck, and scarlet blood flowed from the cut made by the blade.
Feeling the slight pain on his neck, Zhao Fugui's face turned deathly pale. His body went limp, and he collapsed onto the ground.
He had narrowly escaped beheading!
The other Dragon Department cultivators around, seeing Zhao Fugui sprawled on the ground like a puddle of mud, were all stunned. They never imagined that someone who could command the winds and rain in the southwestern region would be in such a pathetic state.
More importantly, none of the Dragon Department cultivators present dared to step forward and stop Ye Ling!
Zhao Fugui was already the strongest among them. Now that even Zhao Fugui was in such a sorry state, anyone who dared to step up would be throwing their life away!
Ye Ling dispelled the demonic blade and looked at the collapsed Zhao Fugui, narrowing his eyes and smiling, "Do you know the consequences of deceiving me?"
"If you hadn't said that just now, you might have passed on to reincarnation without even feeling pain. But the situation is different now. If I find out you're lying, you'll wish you were dead."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Zhao Fugui swallowed hard. He ignored his wet pants and quickly scrambled to his feet, kneeling before Ye Ling. He said frantically, "I, I wouldn't dare to deceive the Emperor Lord! I really have seen similar stone doors! They all had the same statues carved on them."
"Those?" Ye Ling raised an eyebrow. "You mean you saw more than one stone door?"
Zhao Fugui nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes! I saw more than one stone door; there were many there!"
"This is quite interesting. Stone doors containing information about the Creation God, and there are others..." Ye Ling's interest was piqued by Zhao Fugui's words. He waved a gentle breeze to lift Zhao Fugui up. "Does the Shadow Hall know about the existence of other stone doors?"
Zhao Fugui stammered, "I, I didn't have time to report it yet..."
"Excellent." Ye Ling nodded, then released his Nameless Void Realm, accelerating the time flow within the village and isolating it from the outside. He then said to Zhao Fugui, "You'll enter the secret realm with us later. The other Dragon Department members will wait outside. After we're done here, you'll take us to where those stone doors are located."
Zhao Fugui wiped the sweat from his forehead and said tremblingly, "Understood... Understood... But Emperor Lord..."
Ye Ling inquired, "Do you have anything else?"
Zhao Fugui glanced at his pants, pursed his lips, and said somewhat sheepishly, "Could you allow me to go change my pants?"
As soon as Zhao Fugui uttered this, the air instantly froze. Ye Ling's mouth twitched, unsure how to respond to Zhao Fugui's request.
However, Ye Qingyan behind him couldn't hold back and let out a chuckle, breaking the awkward atmosphere. Even the surrounding Dragon Department cultivators were drawn in by Ye Qingyan's bell-like laughter and couldn't help but smile.
Laughter erupted all around, and Zhao Fugui's face turned bright red. He wished he could find a hole to crawl into!
Ye Ling also shook his head and smiled, saying, "I'll give you five minutes to sort yourself out."
"Thank you, Emperor Lord, for your magnanimity!"
Zhao Fugui repeatedly thanked Ye Ling and then quickly ran back to the helicopter to change into a new set of clothes.
After Zhao Fugui boarded the helicopter, Ye Qingyan asked Ye Ling, "He's from the Shadow Hall, after all. Is it safe to let him into the secret realm?"
Ye Ling chuckled, "It's fine. With his strength, he won't cause any trouble even if he enters the secret realm. Letting him follow us in will also prevent him from reporting to the Shadow Hall."
Ye Qingyan asked again, "Then why not just search his soul? Why keep him alive?"
Ye Ling replied, "The inheritance of creation is different from others. The conditions for opening the inheritance vary. The fact that Zhao Fugui could see the stone doors indicates that he himself or some action of his triggered the conditions required to open the inheritance. Even if we extract Zhao Fugui's memories and replicate all his actions, we might not be able to see those stone doors."
Ye Qingyan nodded as if she understood, "In other words, we have to let this fellow go to the place he mentioned to see those stone doors?"
"Yes, that's roughly the idea," Ye Ling chuckled. "When we obtain the inheritance here and find out he was lying, it won't take much time to deal with him."
"Mhm..." Ye Qingyan nodded in agreement and then looked towards the helicopter not far away, just as Zhao Fugui, having changed his clothes, came down.
Zhao Fugui seemed to have mentally prepared himself during the process of changing clothes. His legs no longer trembled, and he jogged up to Ye Ling, saying respectfully, "Emperor Lord, I'm ready. We can depart anytime."
"Good." Ye Ling nodded slightly and turned towards the two stone doors in the center of the plaza, saying indifferently, "Follow me."
"Yes, yes..."
Zhao Fugui did not dare to hesitate and quickly followed Ye Ling's footsteps. Ye Qingyan remained wary of Zhao Fugui and stayed behind him, preventing him from making any sly moves.
Ye Ling walked up to the stone doors, put the stone door he had brought from the Dragon Department headquarters into his spatial ring, and then placed his hand on the other stone door, carefully sensing the space connected behind it.
"Found it!"
Ye Ling located the spatial node and immediately injected his spiritual energy into it, pushing the great door open!
Rumble...
As the stone door opened wide, a blue vortex appeared before them!