Chapter 891: Demonic Purpose, Guessing the Identity

“That’s hard to say. I think you’ll loot the Nether Soul Sect clean sooner or later, sir.” The Evil Soul’s face was full of joy as he offered a few words of flattery.

The more Souls there were, the stronger his strength as the Main Soul would become. He naturally hoped that Li Chang’an would go and loot the Nether Soul Sect as soon as possible, tossing the Souls of the entire sect into the Venerable Soul Banner.

A moment later, he reported the number of Souls inside the soul banner to Li Chang’an. The total number of Souls had surpassed sixty-one million, inching ever closer to the one hundred million milestone.

Rubbing his hands together, the Evil Soul urged, “Sir, you hold the Three Treasures of Soul Destruction and possess strength no less than a True Soul. Why not go slay a few more Fake Souls from the Nether Soul Sect and gather the one hundred million Souls as soon as possible?”

“How could the Nether Soul Sect have that many Fake Souls for me to slay?” Li Chang’an shook his head slightly, unmoved.

On the surface, the entire Nether Soul Sect only had six Nascent Soul True Monarchs. Qian Shi True Monarch was exactly one of them. Besides him, among the other five, there was Celestial Nether True Monarch, whose strength was elusive and hard to fathom. There was also one at the Middle Stage of Nascent Soul, and two veteran experts at the Early Stage of Nascent Soul. Only one Fake Soul remained.

In the short term, Li Chang’an didn’t plan to make another move.

“Although Qian Shi True Monarch isn’t dead, his Nascent Soul has been sealed. The Soul Lamp he left in the Nether Soul Sect will definitely dim. I’m afraid the other Nascent Souls have already noticed.”

Just as he was thinking this, several Communication Treasures inside Qian Shi True Monarch’s Storage Pouch began to heat up one after another. Li Chang’an probed them with his Divine Sense one by one and heard the voices of the other Nascent Souls from the Nether Soul Sect.

“Junior Brother, where are you? Why is your Soul Fire so dim? Have you encountered danger?”

“Daoist Qian Shi, are you trapped in a Secret Realm?”

“Qian Shi…”

“…”

A total of four people had sent messages inquiring about his situation.

Li Chang’an didn’t reply, simply tossing these Communication Treasures into a corner of the Storage Pouch. He had already erased all marks and auras from them and wasn’t worried about being tracked. Even if the other party asked a Tier Four Divination Grandmaster to deduce it, they wouldn’t be able to calculate Qian Shi True Monarch’s location. After all, his Nascent Soul was with Li Chang’an, meaning it would also be shielded by his Divination.

Afterward, Li Chang’an entered a secluded hidden room. He transformed back into the appearance of Lin Fan, took out Qian Shi True Monarch’s Nascent Soul, and began his interrogation.

“Daoist Qian Shi, what is the Demon Sect’s goal?”

“Goal?” Qian Shi True Monarch sneered coldly. “Lin Fan, even if I die, I won’t tell you!”

He knew he couldn’t escape death, so he kept his mouth tightly shut. Once he spilled all his secrets, he would lose his value and only die sooner.

Li Chang’an smiled faintly. “It seems Daoist Qian Shi doesn’t plan to cooperate.”

As he spoke, a dark light flashed in his hand, and seven Soul Suppression Nails appeared.

Upon seeing these seven long nails, a trace of panic immediately surfaced on Qian Shi True Monarch’s face. He truly didn’t want to experience the agony of having them nailed into his Nascent Soul a second time.

“Lin Fan, I’m just a Fake Soul. My status in the Sect can’t compare to those True Souls and the revived Ancient Cultivators. I simply don’t know… Ah!”

Before he could finish, he suddenly cried out in pain. A Soul Suppression Nail descended from the sky, entered the Forbidden Soul Bottle, and was driven straight into his Celestial Spirit.

That extreme agony and biting cold instantly swept through Qian Shi True Monarch’s entire body. His facial features contorted, and even his voice trembled. “Quick, withdraw this Soul Suppression Nail! I can consider… Ah!”

A second Soul Suppression Nail descended from above, driving into his Celestial Spirit once again. Immediately after, one Soul Suppression Nail after another was hammered down. Qian Shi True Monarch’s wails echoed throughout the hidden room.

This time, Li Chang’an didn’t let him freeze. He manipulated the seven Soul Suppression Nails, continuously driving them into the Nascent Soul over and over again, persisting for a full three hours.

Qian Shi True Monarch almost suffered a mental breakdown. As early as when the second Soul Suppression Nail was driven in, he had been ready to spill everything. But Li Chang’an turned a deaf ear to his words; he stopped asking questions and merely subjected him to blind torment.

By the end, Qian Shi True Monarch’s Nascent Soul was dim and devoid of light, on the verge of perishing. He wailed weakly, “I… I’m willing to talk! Ask away… Why aren’t you asking anymore…”

“It seems Daoist Qian Shi is willing to cooperate.” Li Chang’an revealed a smile and withdrew the seven Soul Suppression Nails.

He resumed his previous questioning. “Daoist Qian Shi, what is the Demonic Dao’s purpose in starting this Battle of Righteous and Evil?”

“Naturally, it’s to suppress the Righteous Dao. Even if we can’t unify the Three Kingdoms, we must occupy the Central Domain of Zhao Country.”

“Be more specific.” Li Chang’an looked at the Qian Shi Nascent Soul and probed, “Which part of the Central Domain?”

“Thousand Mines Cave.” Qian Shi True Monarch was truly terrified and answered honestly. He informed Li Chang’an that Celestial Nether True Monarch had ordered them to fight their way to the Thousand Mines Cave and occupy the entire territory where it was located.

Li Chang’an asked again, “Why the Thousand Mines Cave? What does Celestial Nether True Monarch want to do?”

“He wants to open those few large mines at the very center of the Thousand Mines Cave.”

“For what purpose?”

“I don’t know either. He has never mentioned it to us.”

As a Nascent Soul Powerhouse, what Qian Shi True Monarch knew was far more than Wu Zhe, Teng Ying, and the others, but it was still limited. He only knew that Celestial Nether True Monarch placed great importance on those few large mines. As for the specific reason, let alone him, even his senior brother, Ten Thousand Souls True Monarch, was clueless.

“Celestial Nether said that as long as we can occupy those large mines, all of us will receive unimaginable benefits.

“Therefore, we speculated that there must be some sort of Treasure beneath those mines.

“There might even be a legacy pointing toward the path of Divinity Transformation!”

Qian Shi True Monarch spoke of the speculations shared by the many Demonic True Monarchs. Most of them believed this: there had to be something related to the Divinity Transformation Realm beneath that large mining area, otherwise, there would be no need for Celestial Nether True Monarch to stir up this Battle of Righteous and Evil.

Among the many Nascent Souls in both the Righteous and Demonic Dao, Celestial Nether was the Cultivator most likely to reach the stage of Divinity Transformation.