Chapter 125: Savior of Life

Sun Lingtong executed continuous flashes, using talismans to seal the two demonic cultivators: the hooked-nose and the triangular-eyed.

Afterward, he leapt lightly and arrived before Han Ming.

He picked up Han Ming’s severed head, brilliant spiritual light blooming in his eyes: "Tell me, how did they find you?"

"You were clearly imprisoned deep within the underground iron dungeon. How did you manage to send out a cry for help?"

Because Han Ming practiced the Immortal Corpse Transformation Art, even with her head separated from her body, she could still linger on the brink of death for a short while.

Her face was filled with panic: "Don't kill me! I am a disciple of the Soul Devouring Sect. If you kill me, you will be branded with a soul imprint, and the Soul Devouring Sect will never spare you."

Sun Lingtong sneered, his murderous intent fully exposed: "You and I are already mortal enemies. Why would I fear a mere soul imprint?"

Han Ming shrieked, "No, don't kill me!"

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you right now!"

"Just don't kill me. I—I have value. I can help you enhance the foundation of your soul."

"Speak."

Sun Lingtong felt an inexplicable irritability. He let out a low bark, growing impatient.

"I can tell you."

Suddenly, a voice echoed from directly behind Sun Lingtong.

In an instant, without even thinking, he attempted to execute the Spatial Piercing Art.

Yet his physical body remained frozen in place, utterly motionless.

"Why can I look down upon my own physical body?"

The bizarre angle filled Sun Lingtong with absolute horror.

When he finally reacted, he was shocked to discover that his soul had already been extracted from his flesh and was being held by the throat, dangled in midair by a mysterious cultivator.

Sun Lingtong turned his head to look, only to see a tall, disheveled man with a head of raven-black hair smiling right at him!

The man wore a black robe, his hair hanging loosely in wild strands.

He had no pupils; his eye sockets were entirely filled with white.

Sun Lingtong gave a start, recalling a piece of intelligence from his memory, and blurted out the man's identity: "Blind Judge, Qi Bai?"

The black-robed man, Qi Bai, chuckled lightly, the breath from his nose carrying an intensely frigid chill: "You know me? That saves me some breath."

"Inner sect disciple Han Ming pays respects to the True Heir!" Han Ming was utterly ecstatic; she had not expected reinforcement to arrive so swiftly.

She had originally thought she was facing death, only to experience a miraculous escape.

Sun Lingtong's physical body stood with its hands hanging down, head bowed, motionless in the same spot.

With his soul pinched between Qi Bai's fingers, he had become a prisoner: "Qi Bai, you are a dignified Golden Core cultivator and a True Heir of the Soul Devouring Sect. You—you must have set your sights on Fire Persimmon Immortal City long ago, which is why you appeared just in time!"

Qi Bai chuckled again: "You are very smart. That's quite good; I like conversing with smart people."

"Correct!"

"Our Soul Devouring Sect has always kept Fire Persimmon Mountain under covert observation."

"Fire Persimmon Mountain was once a barren wasteland. Countless living beings have been buried by wave after wave of volcanic eruptions. The spiritual Qi, geothermal flames, and other heavenly treasures, along with the intensely fertile soil generated by these eruptions, gradually attract living beings to gather and settle here. Then, one day, the volcano erupts once more, creating a slaughterhouse where hundreds of millions of living creatures die tragic deaths."

"Tell me, is this not a meticulously planned murder of all living things orchestrated by heaven and earth itself?"

Qi Bai paused for a moment, then continued: "Since ancient times, how many lives have perished within Fire Persimmon Mountain? Even though their souls were scattered, the residual soul essence still accumulated, forming an incalculable treasury of souls."

"Why are the Crimson Flame Fierce Beasts within Fire Persimmon Mountain endlessly multiplying? It is because their souls are smelted by the geothermal flames, transforming into new seeds that bloom once more with the flowers of life in the shape of beasts!"

"This ought to have been the blessed land of our Soul Devouring Sect, the optimal branch headquarters!"

"Regrettably, the Upper Beings of the Three Sects left behind the Lava Immortal Palace here, and the Nandou Dynasty built an immortal city upon this very ground!"

"Most people keep their eyes fixed on the Lava Immortal Palace, but compared to that, our sect values far more the immeasurable soul treasury hidden deep within Fire Persimmon Mountain!"

At this point, Qi Bai looked up toward the summit of the mountain, a mixture of greed, curiosity, and yearning flashing across his expression.

Han Ming could not help but cry out for rescue: "Lord Qi Bai, save me!"

"Calm yourself!"

Qi Bai flicked his finger gently, directly drawing out the souls of the three defeated Soul Devouring Sect members.

Seeing him accomplish this with such effortless ease, Sun Lingtong could not help but remark: "As expected of the Blind Judge, you have truly pushed Soul-Extraction Arts to their absolute pinnacle, mastering a divine ability seed while still in the Golden Core stage!"

Had it been an ordinary spell, Sun Lingtong might still have had a sliver of a chance under Qi Bai's sneak attack to evade it using the Spatial Piercing Art.

However, a Soul-Extraction Art at the level of a divine ability seed instantly reduced Sun Lingtong to a helpless captive.

The souls of the three defeated individuals floated in the air. Realizing what had happened, the hooked-nose and triangular-eyed cultivators were overjoyed and bowed to Qi Bai.

The hooked-nose cultivator spoke first: "I was numb and careless, never expecting that this crafty thief actually possessed the ability to steal the might of the immortal city's grand array."

"The array he set up in his own courtyard was something I had inspected long ago; it was thoroughly mediocre."

"Yet this was likely a deliberate camouflage on his part. In reality, this courtyard-guarding minor array was capable of linking up with the grand array of the immortal city!"

"Precisely so. As I laid down my array in the courtyard, the prolonged battle gradually stimulated his minor array, which in turn indirectly triggered the grand array. The might of the immortal city's grand array was vast and majestic, breaking my array from the outside in and causing me to suffer a fierce backlash."

"Indeed!" Qi Bai nodded, "Return!"

With a single, effortless word from him, the hooked-nose's soul flew back into his physical body, snapping back to wakefulness in the blink of an eye.

"Let me speak!"

The triangular-eyed cultivator hurriedly responded: "We were defeated by infighting."

"If the three of us had pressed the attack in one go and cooperated sincerely, we would have taken down Sun Lingtong long ago!"

"It was simply because the two of us resented Han Ming's arrogance and willfully withdrew from the fight that we gave the enemy a chance to catch their breath!"

Qi Bai nodded: "You did not witness the latter stage of the battle and still misjudged Sun Lingtong's combat power. However, what you described is indeed one of the reasons for defeat. Return as well!"

"Many thanks, Milord!"

The triangular-eyed cultivator was immensely joyous. The next moment, his soul returned to his flesh, and he scrambled to his feet.

"Han Ming, what are your thoughts?"

Qi Bai turned his gaze toward Han Ming's soul.

"Hateful..."

Hidden within Han Ming's soul was a deep resentment: "This Qi Bai is merely trying to use this opportunity to put me in my place and force me to submit to him."

Han Ming saw right through Qi Bai's intentions.

She was a proud person, but she was also a pragmatic one.

Had she not been rescued, she would have ended up submitting to the Temple-Eyed Guest.

Having been rescued, her very first thought had been to settle accounts with the Temple-Eyed Guest.

The momentum field of sitting on the mountain and watching tigers fight had fully incited Han Ming's desire for revenge, blinding her to the risks involved.

Now, pressed by Qi Bai, she instantly realized she had been used as a spear, reduced to a mere pawn scouting the path ahead.

Qi Bai intended to use this pressure to bend her to his will and make her serve him.

"Fundamentally, how is this any different from how the Temple-Eyed Guest treated me?"

"Let them bite each other like dogs!"

"One is a celestial prodigy, and the other is a Golden Core cultivator. Heh!"

Thinking up to this point, Han Ming feigned compliance in her response: "My defeat lay entirely in being too eager for revenge, which caused my state of mind to lose its balance."

"Was it not simply a lack of strength?"

Qi Bai interrupted her bluntly!

"It was!" Han Ming gritted her teeth. After admitting it, she proactively added that as long as Qi Bai helped her exact revenge and kill the Temple-Eyed Guest, she would be willing to submit to him for a hundred years and swear a soul oath.

Qi Bai smiled: "You are still somewhat clever!"

He indeed valued Han Ming; she possessed heavenly aptitude. Even if it was only lower-grade heavenly aptitude, taking her in as a subordinate still held considerable value.

Afterward, he released Han Ming's soul, pieced her physical body back together, and administered a brief treatment.

Han Ming finally regained the ability to move freely.

Qi Bai turned his gaze to Sun Lingtong: "Speak, where is the Temple-Eyed Guest!"

Sun Lingtong tried his best to buy time: "You said earlier that you would tell me how Han Ming sent out her cry for help!"

"You still remember that!" Qi Bai smiled and revealed the details.

The issue lay within a batch of materials.

Han Ming had proactively mentioned the soul oath to Ning Zhuo, and forging a soul oath required many critical ingredients.

Among these materials, certain rare items were actually monopolized covertly by the Soul Devouring Sect.

After Han Ming was captured, Ning Zhuo set about gathering the vital materials for the soul oath.

The moment those procurement inquiries were spread outward, they immediately alerted and drew the attention of the hidden forces of the Soul Devouring Sect.

Coupled with Han Ming losing contact, it was effortless to deduce that she had been captured alive and was in desperate need of rescue.

Do not forget, Qi Bai had all along been covertly monitoring Fire Persimmon Immortal City.

"So it was that simple!"

Sun Lingtong let out a long sigh.

"Often, simple and straightforward arrangements are far more reliable than spells or magical treasures."

Qi Bai stated, "Now it is your turn to resolve my doubts!"

Sun Lingtong shook his head and spread his hands: "We didn't agree on that beforehand."

"You are unwilling to cooperate?" Qi Bai felt a slight hint of surprise. "You know who I am. I bear the title of Blind Judge—of that, you are well aware."

Sun Lingtong replied: "Then go right ahead."

"You may never have experienced the agony of soul-searching; it is not something an ordinary person can possibly imagine!"

Qi Bai smiled coldly: "Since you wish to experience it a little, I will grant your wish."

Clutching Sun Lingtong's soul, he stepped into the room.

He produced a seal, poured his spiritual power into it, and tossed it into the air.

The seal floated in midair, and Qi Bai performed hand incantations, bowing toward the seal: "Humbly inviting the Inspecting Judge."

The seal erupted with majestic ghostly Qi, rapidly condensing into a towering, massive figure.

Invocation Art—Inspecting Judge.

The ghostly judge looked fierce and terrifying, sitting cross-legged like a temple idol as it looked down condescendingly upon Sun Lingtong.

The judge's eyes flashed with lightning, piercing directly through Sun Lingtong's soul and wantonly ransacking every inch of his memories.

Sun Lingtong was unable to resist, instantly plunging into a realm of utter darkness.

When he opened his eyes as a young child, the first person he saw was his master.

His master looked at him with eyes full of deep affection and pity: "Sigh, you little glutton, after eating the Youth-Preserving Pill, you can only practice the Pure Boy Skill from now on!"

His memory was violently jolted, as if an invisible giant hand were forcibly rewinding Sun Lingtong's recollections.

Sun Lingtong was situated within a crimson flame monster cavern, staring fixedly at a corner of the Lava Immortal Palace, waiting anxiously.

"Master, Master, why haven't you come out yet?"

His memory was jolted once more, the scene shifting from Fire Persimmon Mountain to an alleyway within an immortal city.

Sun Lingtong lay on the ground, severely wounded and on the verge of death, ignored by all.

A two-year-old toddler discovered him, cautiously crept closer, and then, using every ounce of strength he had, dragged Sun Lingtong into his home.

The memory flashed again. Sun Lingtong was already lying on a bed, looking weakly at his savior.

That same two-year-old toddler was holding a bowl, offering it to Sun Lingtong to drink.

"You're finally awake!"

"Drink up!"

"This is medicine I brewed for you; it's good for your recovery!"

With a vacant expression, Sun Lingtong was still processing the situation.

"Little brother, what's your name?"

"My name is Ning Zhuo!"

"Where is your home? Do you still remember your parents' names?"

Sun Lingtong's emotions were stirred, and he subconsciously murmured: "Mas—Master."

The two-year-old Ning Zhuo immediately nodded: "Yes, yes, while you were unconscious, you kept calling for Master. Where is your master?"

Sun Lingtong's eyes instantly reddened: "My master didn't come out. I have to find him and bring him back."

With that, he tried to push himself up.

Yet he was far too weak; his palms lacked the strength to support him, and he collapsed back onto the bed.