Chapter 7 — The Spirit Beast I Adopted Is the Baby Demon Lord

The following day, Elder Tu personally presided over the interrogation. It was no longer a matter of questioning, but rather a brutal attempt at a forced confession. The questions hammered down, icy and relentless, carrying with them a crushing weight of mental pressure.

"Speak! Where is the lair of that demonic beast?"

"You infiltrated the sect; what is your true intent?"

"Who are your accomplices?"

I gritted my teeth, repeating again and again the truth: I had purchased it at the Myriad Beast Market. The enforcement disciples intentionally, or perhaps through sheer negligence, pressed down upon the fresh wounds on my chest. The searing pain brought cold sweat pouring down my skin, and my consciousness began to drift into a murky haze.

"You stubborn fool, you refuse to see the truth!"

Elder Tu’s patience ran thin; a chilling glint flickered in his eyes.

"It seems that without a taste of true agony, you will never open your mouth."

He cast a sidelong glance at one of the enforcement disciples beside him. The disciple, his face devoid of emotion, stepped forward carrying a bronze basin. Inside was a turbid, viscous liquid that emitted a pungent, acrid stench. It was Spirit Dissolving Venom—a lethal concoction capable of corroding one's spiritual power and inflicting unbearable torment. It was typically reserved for rogue cultivators and dark practitioners.

"This is the Spirit Dissolving Venom," Elder Tu said coldly.

"For those who carry spiritual power, this liquid will eat away at your bones and wither your heart! Han-nuan Fang, if you do not confess immediately, do not blame this old man for using this to pry your mouth open!"

Gazing at the murky sludge, my pupils constricted violently! No disciple in the outer sect was ignorant of the terror of the Spirit Dissolving Venom. It was a vile poison that could destroy a cultivator’s foundations, leaving one in a state worse than death. A cold fear gripped my heart instantly. I was merely a low-level cultivator at the sixth stage of Qi Refinement; how could I possibly endure such a horrific ordeal?

"Elder! I am innocent! I truly know nothing…"

My voice trembled with hollow despair.

"Know nothing?" Elder Tu roared.

"Then why did that demonic beast recognize you as its master? Why did it go berserk when you were injured? If there is nothing on you that attracts such creatures, then you yourself have already succumbed to the demonic path! Pour it!"

Two enforcement disciples lunged forward like starving wolves, pinning my shoulders and arms down! Another disciple carried the basin of acrid poison, a savage grin curling his lips as he bore down on me!

"No! Let me go!"

I struggled with everything I had. The sharp pain of my fractures made the world go black before my eyes. Under such absolute suppression, my strength felt pitifully small. The cold dread, like a venomous serpent, coiled tightly around my heart! In that final, fleeting moment—just as the bronze basin of poison was about to be doused upon me—a thunderous boom shook the very foundations of the earth! It was a sound like divine lightning from the nine heavens, detonating right beside my ears! The entire dungeon of the Discipline Hall shuddered violently! Loose stones and dust rained down from the ceiling!

"What is happening?!"

Elder Tu’s face drained of all color, etched with sudden terror. The disciples who had been restraining me were staggered by the sudden upheaval, their grip loosening. In the next heartbeat, with a deafening crash and the screech of rending metal, the heavy iron door of the dungeon—engraved with intricate prohibition runes—was struck by an invisible, gargantuan force. It exploded inward! Countless shards of iron and splinters of wood scattered like shrapnel!

A terrifying, indescribable pressure surged into the room. It was icy, silent, and felt as though it could freeze the very soul. Like a black flood breaking through a dam, this aura filled the dungeon instantly! It was vast, pure, and carried a will intent on the absolute annihilation of all living things. It was a hundred times more potent than the presence I had felt on the Martial Training Grounds!

Thud! Thud! Except for Elder Tu, who managed to remain standing—though his face was ashen and his body trembled uncontrollably—the remaining enforcement disciples, including the one holding the poison, collapsed to the floor the moment the pressure descended, as if their skeletons had been stripped away. Blood gushed from their noses and mouths, their eyes rolled back, and they didn't even have the strength to scream before passing out cold. The oil lamps flickered and died, plunging the dungeon into absolute darkness.

Only at the entrance did a figure slowly advance. No, not walking—hovering. Mo-Yu. But at this moment, it was no longer the small, grey, unremarkable creature I knew. It drifted three feet above the ground, its body wreathed in a thick, suffocating shroud of black demonic energy that had become almost tangible. The energy roiled and surged, and within the darkness, one could dimly perceive its true form—grown many times larger, fierce and majestic!

Within the darkness, a pair of eyes ignited like two cold, flickering purple flames. They were indifferent, staring down at us as if we were nothing more than ants. Its form was far larger than before, though not truly titanic, yet the overwhelming pressure radiating from its core essence defied the mortal realm, making the very walls of the dungeon groan under its weight!

"De... Demonic Lord..."

Elder Tu’s teeth chattered violently as he poured all his spiritual energy into a desperate, futile attempt to resist the crushing aura, but it was no different than a mantis trying to stop a carriage. His eyes were wide with boundless fear and disbelief as he stared into those burning, purple-lit depths.

"You... who are you..."

"Noisy."

A cold, deep voice, as if rising from the depths of the nine hells, resonated directly within the depths of everyone’s souls! It was not heard through the ears, but through a direct vibration of the spirit! At that utterance, Mo-Yu—or rather, the entity within that black aura—merely glanced casually at Elder Tu.

Snap! Elder Tu was struck as if by a thousand charging armies! He vomited a massive mouthful of blood, his body flying backward like a discarded ragdoll, slamming into the stone wall behind him! The solid rock face shattered instantly into a spiderweb of deep cracks. Elder Tu remained embedded in the wall, his head lolling to one side, his fate uncertain.