Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

"Who are you?"

Zhang Yuanjing's heart sank when he saw that there were Core Formation cultivators among his opponents. The innate fear of death instantly surged from the depths of his heart, gripping his body. He trembled uncontrollably.

Ling Zhijian glanced at him strangely, not understanding why this person was so frightened.

He smiled and said slowly, "I am a cultivator from the Heavenly Devil Abyss, named Ling Zhijian. You may not understand our purpose here, but that's alright, I can explain it to you clearly. Don't panic, as long as you honestly answer my questions, I guarantee I will spare your life."

"What's your name? Which peak of the Xuan Tian Sect are you from?"

Zhang Yuanjing swallowed hard, a strong sense of shame rising within him, which then turned into resentment and anger at the condescending attitude of the person before him. He did not answer Ling Zhijian's question but glared at him instead.

At this moment, Chen Zhen, standing behind Ling Zhijian, said, "If I'm not mistaken, you are Zhang Yuanjing!"

Zhang Yuanjing's eyes quickly glanced at this Core Formation cultivator, revealing a look of surprise. He couldn't understand why this person would know him, an unknown nobody.

"Zhang Yuanjing? Is Elder Chen saying that he is the Zhang Yuanjing who set out from Flowing Cloud Immortal City with Yu Tianwan, a confidant of Wu Yuankui?" Ling Zhijian quickly recalled the information that had come from Flowing Cloud Immortal City and asked with a hint of joy.

"It should be correct. At that time, Senior Brother Sun, Junior Brother Huo, and I intercepted Yu Tianwan, and this person was traveling in the same Wind-Riding Carriage. He later took the opportunity to escape."

Chen Zhen sneered, "I don't know what Guo Jinghong and the others are doing. Five people, with higher cultivation levels than him, and with a Spirit-Seeking Beast, yet they couldn't catch this kid!"

"I'm afraid something unexpected happened." Ling Zhijian tore off Zhang Yuanjing's storage bag, erased the spiritual power mark, and opened it. "Hmph, as expected. The tokens of Senior Brothers Guo Jinghong, Xu Dushan, and Chen Quanzong are here, and even Senior Brother Qi Biao's token from Flowing Cloud Immortal City, along with their spiritual and magical artifacts, are all here."

The others gasped when they heard this, secretly thinking that this old fellow looked timid and afraid of death, but he was actually so tough that he killed even Guo Jinghong, who was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Ling Zhijian rummaged through Zhang Yuanjing's storage bag again and frowned. "This person's cultivation level is average, and his spiritual artifacts and talismans are very ordinary. It's impossible for him to deal with Senior Brother Guo and the others, especially when outnumbered."

Then, as if he thought of something, he stared at Zhang Yuanjing and asked, "Where is the spiritual weapon or talisman you used to escape into the earth?"

Zhang Yuanjing turned his head away, still ignoring him.

"Are you really going to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! We cultivators of the Heavenly Devil Abyss have plenty of ways to make people talk!" A trace of anger flashed across Ling Zhijian's fair face.

"Senior Brother Yu" observed his expression and said, "Junior Brother Ling, this person looks like he cherishes life and fears death. Leave him to me, and I guarantee he'll be obedient!"

Ling Zhijian stared at Zhang Yuanjing for a long time, and when he saw that he was still stubborn, he nodded to "Senior Brother Yu": "Don't kill him. It doesn't matter if he doesn't talk. In a few days, the Real People will arrive, and under the Soul Searching Technique, everything will be clear!"

"Senior Brother Yu" understood his meaning, which was that as long as he didn't kill him or damage his brain, any means could be used. Clearly, Ling Zhijian wanted this credit and didn't want to wait for the Real People to take action themselves.

In the first half of his life, Zhang Yuanjing had encountered danger many times. The most dangerous time was when his fellow disciples tried to kill him, almost costing him his life. In the second half of his life, his timid nature was fully revealed, and he stayed in Competing Ferry Peak, never going out.

The recent encounters with the Four Bears and the Heavenly Devil Abyss cultivators, although dangerous, had ways to retreat and methods to use.

But this time, it was truly a dead end. Moreover, being captured alive by the always evil and ruthless Heavenly Devil Abyss cultivators, he could imagine how miserable his end would be.

The eight Heavenly Devil Abyss cultivators took Zhang Yuanjing back to the entrance of the cave under Horseshoe Valley.

"Senior Brother Yu," named Yu Zemin, was the type who was ruthless and didn't talk much. He took Zhang Yuanjing to his cave, threw him into a stone room two zhang square, then grinned, threw in a leather bag, closed the door, and disappeared.

Zhang Yuanjing was still tightly bound by the Immortal Binding Vine, unable to move at all. He thought, aren't they going to torture me? Why is there no movement? His heart was filled with extreme panic and fear of the unknown fate.

Just as he was thinking, a rustling sound came from the bag left by Yu Zemin. His scalp went numb, and he strained his eyes to look, and he was immediately horrified, letting out a "Ho" sound.

It turned out that various poisonous insects were constantly pouring out of the bag. He recognized centipedes, scorpions, flying ants, poisonous snakes, crocodiles, and more than a dozen other kinds that he didn't recognize.

A dark mass of them instantly climbed to his side, then all over his body, in his hair, on his face, in his neck, in his abdomen, in his crotch, even in his nostrils and ears, there was nowhere without them.

He desperately wanted to struggle, but his hands and feet, as well as his mana, were out of his control.

Hard things, which might be the scorpion's pincers, or the head horns of some kind of poisonous insect; soft things, which might be the poisonous snake's tongue, or the abdomen of some poisonous insect; cold things, which might be the crocodile's short feet, or the mucus of some poisonous insect.

The poisonous insects sensed the abundant spiritual power in his body, like hungry wolves tempted by delicious food, and began to gnaw at every part. In an instant, the intense pain all over his body made him scream heart-wrenchingly, "Ah--".

"Do I want to beg for mercy? Do I want to surrender?"

The persistence that Zhang Yuanjing's heart had produced due to the interweaving of anger and shame quickly weakened, and a thought immediately jumped out. He understood that as long as he begged for mercy, these terrifying insects would leave him, and he could still live and keep his body intact.

At this time, the yellow jade pendant hanging from his belt quietly produced a warm current, which unknowingly poured into his body when Zhang Yuanjing's senses were dulled by the intense pain, alleviating his pain and strengthening his will.

Another thought immediately popped into his mind: Yes, surrendering will save my life, but so what? Even if I save my life, how many more years can I live? For the sake of surviving a few more years, am I going to betray Xuan Tian and betray Senior Brother Yuankui? I do know some secrets, but that's because Senior Brother Yuankui trusts me. How can I betray him? I have what I have today because of Senior Brother. How can I betray him!

Before this thought could settle down, the intense pain made him change his mind again. He wanted to live, and as long as he lived, there was hope. Even if it was just for a few more years, it was better than being bitten to death by poisonous insects. It was better to live poorly than to die well.

The pain in his body and the thoughts in his mind were intertwined. The pain made him afraid, but it also made him angry. The thoughts made him entangled, but they also made him endure...

Zhang Yuanjing's will struggled, constantly persuading himself, trying to drive the thought of greed for life out of his mind. However, this kind of pain was something he had never experienced before. Even when he swallowed the Golden Scale Fruit, he had never experienced it.

He wanted to make himself faint. However, the more these poisonous insects bit him, the clearer his mind became, and the more sensitive his body became. Every bit of pain was so clear, and it was transmitted to his brain without missing a single detail, as if someone had cut off every inch of his skin and every piece of his flesh, chopped it up, and then applied it to his body, whipping it, drilling it, and spraying it with chili water...

The heart-wrenching pain made him lose the ability to breathe, and he could only relieve it with frantic screams and howls.

Gradually, his throat became hoarse, and he couldn't make any sound, only "Ho Ho" sounds.

He thought, I will persist for one more breath, just one more breath, and that will be enough to be worthy of Senior Brother Yuankui. I was originally a cowardly person, and even if I give up, Senior Brother will definitely understand me and forgive me; I want to persist for one more breath, so that I will have less guilt and less sense of sin, and I will not regret it in the future, and I will not look down on myself for giving up easily; I want to persist for one more breath, so that others cannot say that I am a coward, that I am a useless waste who is greedy for life and afraid of death; I want to persist for one more breath, so that I am not a "Rat Taoist", but a true Qi Refiner who dares to fight with the heavens...

The poison of all these poisonous insects used for torture had been removed, but no matter what, they still had poison. Over time, these accumulated poisons gradually approached his heart, endangering Zhang Yuanjing's life.

Yu Zemin had been listening outside the stone room, and the screams were the most beautiful music to him, giving him supreme enjoyment.

In the beginning, he was very worried that the guy inside would not be able to persist for a few breaths before crying out for mercy, so he would not be able to enjoy an "auditory feast."

However, as time went by, the person inside gave him a surprise. He sat on a stone bench, crossed his legs, and shook his head, completely immersed in the purest screams of human pain.

But the final result was far beyond his expectations. Zhang Yuanjing was able to endure for a hundred breaths, which he, Yu, had only seen in a few people in his torture career, all of whom were extremely determined to die. He didn't expect this seemingly greedy, timid, and unremarkable guy to be so tough.

"Well, the poisonous insects still need to be nursed, and the time is still too short." Yu Zemin sighed and had to open the door and walk into the stone room, whistling. When those poisonous insects heard the whistle, they immediately retreated like a tide and crawled back into the leather bag.

Yu Zemin lowered his head and pried open Zhang Yuanjing's eyelids, frowning. "Fortunately, he's not dead yet! Otherwise, it would be troublesome. What kind of trick should I change to next? I can't delay for too long, otherwise Young Master Ling will think I'm incompetent!"

He took out a black pill from his pocket and forced it into Zhang Yuanjing's mouth with his mana. Zhang Yuanjing coughed twice and spat out more than a dozen mouthfuls of black liquid before falling into a deep sleep.

After half a quarter of an hour, a basin of cold water was splashed on Zhang Yuanjing's face, instantly waking him up. He shook his head weakly, wanting to shake off the water droplets on his face so he could see the situation in front of him clearly. However, his eyelids were heavy, as if there was a large iron ball attached to them, and he couldn't lift them up at all.

"Ah--" A burst of severe pain rushed from his muscles and bones into his brain, causing him, who was unprepared, to let out the most miserable scream he had made today.

His tears gushed out like a spring. It was too painful, and he couldn't control his body. Then, there was pain from his muscles and bones, piercing pain, and pain that caused his whole body to spasm. He lost control of his bowels, and a stench filled the stone room.

This pain continued to attack, again and again, so fast that there seemed to be no break. He howled in an extremely hoarse voice. He only had the feeling of his body, and his mind was blank, with nothing in it, even forgetting who he was.

However, whenever he couldn't hold on and was about to beg for mercy, the jade pendant on his waist would silently release a warm current, helping him relieve the pain and strengthen his will.

The torture of poisonous insects, the torture of tearing tendons, the torture of dislocating bones, and the torture of the five senses, these were the four physical tortures used by Yu Zemin. He might be a master of torture, but he was not a master of interrogation. He was immersed in the torture and forgot the purpose of the punishment.

Therefore, the completely numb Zhang Yuanjing, let him torture him, but he never said a word.

After the four physical tortures, there were the five magical tortures, the tortures of the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Generally, after using these five tortures, even if the person being tortured had deep cultivation, they would basically be crippled.

Yu Zemin had used four kinds of cruel torture in a row and was quite tired. To perform the five elemental tortures, he had to have plenty of mana. Therefore, he had to stop and rest for a while.

However, with this rest, the opportunity to continue enjoying the "auditory feast" was gone.

Because Ling Zhijian informed him that the Real People and Elders of the Heavenly Devil Abyss had arrived and were waiting for everyone to welcome them.