Lin Xiao Tian found a deserted cave and brought in the three surviving Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Xu family, including the one from Guangdong.
All three had been injured by the Soul Vanquishing Bell, their souls damaged, rendering them unable to advance further in their cultivation in this lifetime, but at least they were alive.
"Wake up quickly!"
Lin Xiao Tian patted the men in front of him.
The Guangdong native was the first to open his eyes.
Upon seeing Lin Xiao Tian, he was utterly stunned, spouting local dialect incessantly.
"Speak something I can understand!" Lin Xiao Tian bonked him on the head.
At this moment, the Guangdong native was both shocked and terrified facing Lin Xiao Tian. Lin Xiao Tian had used the Soul Vanquishing Bell to annihilate the entire Xu family, and if nothing unexpected happened, he would likely die next.
"Young man, spare my life, and I promise I will never appear before you again." The Guangdong native pleaded desperately.
Lin Xiao Tian narrowed his eyes.
"That depends on your cooperation."
"I'll cooperate! Absolutely! What do you want?"
"Just answer a few questions honestly, and I'll let you go."
"Not just a few, dozens or hundreds, I have no problem," the Guangdong native stammered fearfully.
Lin Xiao Tian smiled, clearly satisfied. Although the Guangdong native might not tell the truth, this would save him the trouble of forcing the information out.
The other two cultivators beside them were still unconscious. Lin Xiao Tian sealed their senses with his spiritual power and began questioning the Guangdong native.
"I ask you, why did you attack me? Answer truthfully. I will ask the remaining two later. If your answers differ, you know the consequences!" Lin Xiao Tian made a throat-slitting gesture.
The Guangdong native swallowed with difficulty.
Lin Xiao Tian had just killed so many people from the Xu family; he was clearly a god of slaughter. If he said he would kill, he would kill.
"If I answer truthfully, will you really let me go?"
"I promise I'll let you go," Lin Xiao Tian smiled faintly.
The Guangdong native breathed a sigh of relief and began to answer Lin Xiao Tian's questions. He was truly afraid of dying.
"You are an outsider, and your flesh and blood have miraculous effects for us."
"What miraculous effects?"
"Your flesh and blood can cause our physiques to undergo a transformation; it's a rare medicinal ingredient for body refinement."
Lin Xiao Tian recalled the Guangdong native's previous obsession with his flesh and blood; this explanation made sense.
However, why did the Xu family immediately discover he was an outsider?
When they were in the forest, Lin Xiao Tian's identity should have been seen through. Otherwise, they wouldn't have escorted Lin Xiao Tian all the way to the Xu family. Yet, Lin Xiao Tian believed he had hidden himself extremely well and shouldn't have been discovered by a few Qi Refining stage cultivators.
"How did you know I was an outsider?" Lin Xiao Tian asked.
"You appeared in the forest. That's the exit of the outsider teleportation array. Over the past few thousand years, many outsiders have been found there. Cultivators on the Eastern Continent have known this since childhood. Also, your accents, our teachers taught us from a young age. I even have a certificate..."
After speaking, the Guangdong native produced a small jade token.
"What is this?" Lin Xiao Tian pointed at the jade token.
"This is an identity jade token, a universal proof of identity for the various empires on the Eastern Continent. It records the holder's identity and uses the same origin spiritual power as the user, along with complex formations. It is extremely difficult to forge."
Listening to the Guangdong native's explanation, Lin Xiao Tian carefully sensed the jade token.
Indeed, within the jade token, there was a section similar to text, which should be the introduction of the holder as the Guangdong native had said.
Besides the text, the jade token was filled with various formations, each using a different spell technique. Lin Xiao Tian observed closely and found a total of seven spell techniques.
This meant that creating such a jade token required the participation of seven spell masters from different traditions.
With such intricate design, it would be impossible for anyone without experienced spell masters to forge it.
Even Lin Xiao Tian couldn't create one in a short time. Furthermore, according to the Guangdong native, the materials for these jade tokens were strictly controlled by each empire. Apart from the black market, they were rarely circulated among civilians.
Listening to the Guangdong native's explanation, Lin Xiao Tian gradually understood that this item was equivalent to an ID card in his previous world.
Empires used these identity jade tokens to prevent people from other continents from infiltrating the Eastern Continent, and also to more quickly apprehend criminals.
Subsequently, Lin Xiao Tian asked about other matters in this world, such as the power dynamics of various factions. The Guangdong native was quite honest, telling Lin Xiao Tian everything.
The place where Lin Xiao Tian was located was the Xu Kingdom, one of the Seven Kingdoms, and the weakest among them, possessing the fewest cultivation resources. The main resources were concentrated in three major factions: the Empire, the Academy, and the Merchant Guild.
The Empire was the royal family of the Xu Kingdom and the strongest of the three factions, possessing an army and numerous powerful cultivators. The strongest among them was the Old Grand Tutor of the Xu Kingdom, a peak Nascent Soul stage cultivator, rumored to have reached the God Transformation stage.
The Academy and the Merchant Guild were of similar strength, with their strongest cultivators also at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, but they possessed fewer Nascent Soul stage cultivators than the Empire.
The Academy, as its name suggested, was a school that imparted various knowledge. Almost everyone in the Xu Kingdom had received education at the Academy. Afterward, the Academy would conduct selections, with the talented ones entering the inner court for further studies, while others were dismissed. The Guangdong native had learned Chinese in his childhood at the Academy. They not only knew Chinese but also English, French, and over a dozen other languages. The purpose of this extensive learning was to immediately identify outsiders like Lin Xiao Tian!
The Merchant Guild was a group formed by merchants from various regions. Compared to the Academy, the internal organization of the Merchant Guild was loose, and there was considerable competition among its members. The reason they gathered to form a Merchant Guild was primarily to counter the Empire and the Academy. Before the existence of the Merchant Guild, the Empire frequently suppressed merchants.
The Xu family was also a member of the Merchant Guild.
Lin Xiao Tian also inquired about the black towers he had seen when he left the forest earlier.
"Brother, those towers you mentioned, Wu Ta City, are jointly controlled by the Seven Kingdoms. The cultivators there also come from the Seven Kingdoms and are specifically responsible for managing the forest."
The Guangdong native was still talking volubly when another Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Xu family woke up.
Lin Xiao Tian gestured for the Guangdong native to be quiet. Now, he needed to re-ask the questions he had previously posed to ensure the Guangdong native hadn't lied.
"I have a few questions for you. Answer truthfully, and I might consider letting you go." While saying this, Lin Xiao Tian also isolated the Guangdong native's senses, so he could only see them but not hear their local dialect.
"You're talking nonsense, I won't say a word!" The other party was somewhat defiant.
Lin Xiao Tian had no choice but to resort to a bit of force.
A few seconds later, a faint smile finally appeared on the pale face of the Xu family cultivator.
"My lord, I'll tell you everything."
Lin Xiao Tian smiled faintly. Wouldn't it have been better to do this from the start?