Ah ah!!

With a series of agonizing screams, the fox-faced figure's face twisted and distorted in pain.

Countless black chains slithered swiftly like venomous snakes over the fox-faced figure’s body, tightly binding him within.

“It hurts, it hurts, I’m done for, I’m done for.”

One by one, soul nails fell like raindrops from the sky, piercing into the fox-faced figure’s body.

Then came the silver needles, each with a long, thin thread trailing behind, like tails.

Once the fox-faced figure stopped moving, a humanoid puppet wrapped him tightly, sealed without a single gap.

Seal!

A dense cloud of smoke suddenly burst open,

The smoke quickly spread, enveloping everything around.

The thick smoke acted like a massive curtain, and when it was drawn up,

The fox-faced figure, the chains, all the battle traces, even the corpses of the sword insects vanished without a trace.

...........

When the fox-faced figure woke up, he found himself hanging.

The sound of water droplets deep inside the cave roused him.

The fox-faced figure slowly opened his eyes.

Huh?

Where am I?

An old woman was below, cooking in a pot of oil.

“Y-you… who are you?” the fox-faced figure struggled to ask.

The old woman said nothing, only continued to cook the pot silently.

No matter how much the fox-faced figure spoke, the old woman remained silent.

For several consecutive days, the fox-faced figure endured agony as if being cut into pieces.

Pure torture, no questions asked.

After several days of such torment, the fox-faced figure thought it was just a test.

Back in the day, before officially becoming a disciple, he had faced countless similar tortures.

Kidnapped mysteriously midway, locked in a pitch-black dungeon, tortured madly.

Clenching his teeth, he endured.

In the end, the master would open the door and tell them they passed the test.

Those who couldn’t endure the test were directly killed by the master.

This time was also a test…

Far more realistic than before.

Come on, now is the time for questions.

This time, they should ask.

No, maybe tomorrow, or the day after…

The fox-faced figure quickly realized this trial was different from the rest.

The other party only hit him, didn’t ask anything.

Hit after hit, not a single word spoken.

It made the fox-faced figure start doubting his life, as if the other side just enjoyed torturing others.

At last, the fox-faced figure could no longer bear it.

“Why don’t you ask a few questions?”

The other party remained silent, only continued the torture.

“Ahhhhhh~”

Screams kept coming.

After who knows how long, the fox-faced figure painfully opened his eyes.

........

One month had passed.

Tsk~

Li Xuanxiao thought about the punishments over those days.

He was kind-hearted and couldn’t bear too cruel a punishment.

So he could only think of implanting worm eggs inside the other party’s internal organs, letting them feel the sensation of baby snakes gnawing through their viscera every day.

Then using medicine to treat the fox-faced figure, repeating the cycle.

Planting seeds behind the eyeballs, the seeds slowly absorbing flesh and blood, sprouting little by little. When the eyeball was hanging, the seeds would be removed, then regrown, repeating again and again…

A whole month had passed, yet the other party hadn’t said a single word. Truly tough.

Li Xuanxiao couldn’t help but sigh.

Beside him, the sword spirit asked, “You haven’t asked anything these days, have you?”

Li Xuanxiao shook his head, “You don’t understand. Even if I asked, he wouldn’t say. I can tell from his eyes—clearly professionally trained.”

Li Xuanxiao said, “Looks like it’s time to initiate the ultimate plan.”

“Ultimate plan?” the sword spirit asked, puzzled.

Li Xuanxiao stared intently at the sword spirit.

The sword spirit blinked.

Li Xuanxiao recalled the sword spirit’s “Questioning Heart Array,” a powerful ability that constructs a fictional world for the protagonist to immerse in.

“Our dungeon instance is just like that…”

“Too complicated,” the sword spirit frowned.

Many things Li Xuanxiao mentioned were beyond the sword spirit’s understanding.

Li Xuanxiao fell silent for a moment, then said, “Can I personally participate in the construction?”

The sword spirit nodded, “Of course.”

Li Xuanxiao recalled his previous life experiences, “Hehe.”

He already had a plan.

He had to crush the fox-faced figure’s will and make him speak willingly, but it wouldn’t be easy.

.........

The fox-faced figure opened his eyes, looking around in confusion.

W-where am I again?

He struggled to open his eyes.

Soon, the fox-faced figure remembered.

His name was Li Xuanxiao, a disciple of Silver Sword Peak of Mount Shushan.

He was saved by the old sect leader, who picked him up and saved his life.

He had vowed to protect Mount Shushan, to protect peace in the world.

The fox-faced figure vaguely remembered he had to guard an important secret, a secret that must never be revealed to anyone.

“I must protect Mount Shushan, protect this world, and not let it be destroyed by love-stricken fools.”

The fox-faced figure made up his mind.

“Kill me, and your old man will die too! Don’t forget, he raised you!”

The fox-faced figure held a box, his expression cold and indifferent, walking forward.

Not far away, the mountain peak flowed with the Three Radiance Divine Water;

if this box was thrown into it, it could completely kill the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord inside.

But if the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord died, the old man would die too.

The fox-faced figure couldn’t help but daydream.

On one hand, he felt gratitude toward the old man.

On the other, selfishly, the old man was his backing.

If the old man died, wouldn’t he lose his support in Mount Shushan?

Moreover, if he killed the old man today, which senior would dare approach him in the future?

Even the sect leader of Mount Shushan who saved him and raised him like a father—he just killed him.

Who else would dare approach him?

So, the fox-faced figure chose to abandon this mission.

Soon, the sect leader’s inner demon erupted.

The old man activated the Mount Shushan Sword Formation, joined forces with the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord to overthrow the Demon Suppression Tower, slaughtering Mount Shushan.

The fox-faced figure died.

“........”

“Hu hu hu!!”

The fox-faced figure suddenly opened his eyes and found he was still alive.

Moreover, he was holding the square box imprisoning the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord, standing beside the Three Radiance Divine Water.

The fox-faced figure suddenly realized.

This time, facing the Sky-Devouring Demon Lord’s persuasion, the fox-faced figure threw the box into the Three Radiance Divine Water.

The old sect leader died, and the Mount Shushan crisis was resolved.

The fox-faced figure breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn’t know why he was still alive;

perhaps what he experienced before was just a dream.

The fox-faced figure didn’t know his nightmare was only just beginning.

Soon after, the fox-faced figure encountered the matter where Su Wan was framed by Jiang Luoshui.

The fox-faced figure thought for a moment: each should sweep their own doorstep and not bother with others’ troubles.

So, Su Wan was stripped of her cultivation and left Mount Shushan.

The fox-faced figure continued his cultivation, hoping to ascend and attain enlightenment soon.

Years later, while carrying out a mission, the fox-faced figure was killed by Su Wan.

The reason was, everyone present that day must die.

The fox-faced figure: ........