At that moment, the man felt deeply cheated. The young man in the white coat standing in front of him was clearly just an ordinary person, but the man felt that he was a lot harder to deal with than many cultivators at his level.

　　This keen sense of disparity after suffering a defeat was actually hard to describe… It was like meeting an online friend who had clearly been a pure and cute little sister on the Internet, but in the end turned out to be Gouda Takeshi¹ !

　　With Wang Ming holding a sword to this throat, the man once again tried to struggle free of the long johns and hemp rope, but failed. It was just ordinary rope, but the long johns inside weren’t normal at all, and acted like a partition that completely blocked the flow of his spirit energy.

　　“Stop struggling, these long johns are used for the express purpose of capturing people. It’s in the same style as the ones we’re wearing, but it serves a different purpose,” Wang Ming said with a smile. “Go on then, your real aim is…”

　　The man lowered his head and gritted his teeth, and didn’t reply.

　　With a smirk, Wang Ming infused the Heavenly Materials sword with the spirit energy stored in the ring, then gently gave the man a small cut on his neck.

　　On the side, Odd Zhuo couldn’t help but marvel at the substace the Heavenly Materials sword was made of. The Master of Immortal Mansion had forged a really evil sword. Although it didn’t have a sword spirit, the sword qi which encircled the blade was truly frightening. After pouring spirit energy into the sword, even an ordinary person was able to easily use it to cut a Nascent Soul cultivator.

　　Wang Ming’s move was meant to be a small demonstration. At first, the man didn’t take it seriously, but his expression quickly turned uneasy.

　　That was because he could feel the demonic sword qi flowing through his body and eating away at his internal spirit energy bit by bit.

　　This sword actually sealed spirit energy!

　　Wang Ming had been smirking the whole time, and he said again, “Get it now? As long as I have this sword, I can destroy all your plans without any effort at all. This sword devours spirit energy. This small cut is just a warning. If I strike you down, you probably won’t be able to get out of bed for a few years.”

　　What Wang Ming said was actually a mix of truth and lies. Back then, when Fang Xing had been stabbed during the fierce battle, that persistent seal on his spirit energy in fact had only lasted for three to five days; after the sword qi devoured practically all the spirit energy inside the body, this qi generated by the Heavenly Materials sword would circulate naturally inside the body and then gradually disappear.

　　Of course, Odd Zhuo knew this.

　　Hence, when he heard Wang Ming’s words, he couldn’t help but sigh in his heart… given Wang Ming’s acting ability, it was a waste for him not to perform on Hatching of Performers ² “.

　　The man’s already disfigured face became even more unsightly.

　　“Looks like I was right. You do have secrets.”

　　Wang Ming stared at the man intently. “I’ll ask you one last time. Tell me everything you know.”

　　After about two or three minutes of silence, the man dropped his head and sighed.

　　Wang Ming: “Tch… Who asked you for your name? I just want to know what happened.”

　　“I’m Shuigou Sect’s Chou Shisi.”

　　Chou Shisi chuckled. “Of course there’s a reason why I’m telling you my name. In our Shuigou Sect, it’s not our realms that determine our status – the uglier we are, the higher our rank. My name is Chou Shisi, which means that I’m the fourteenth ugliest person in the sect ³ .”

　　“…”

　　Wang Ming and Odd Zhuo were stunned! Chou Shisi’s disfigured face was already completely shapeless; even the nose and eyes were indistinguishable. But even then, he was still only ranked fourteenth… Then how ugly was the person ranked first?

　　Chou Shisi chuckled. “So, even if you ask me about what’s going on, I don’t actually know much. Even if you take me back, it’s no use trying to forcefully search through my memories. The real key secrets are in the hands of the higher-ups. At most, only the top three know the full plan.”

　　“Is Chou Yi ⁴ Taoist Taotie?” Odd Zhuo asked curiously.

　　“No.”

　　The man shook his head. “The Lord’s ugliness is already beyond words. That is genuine world-destroying ugliness; even we who have seen his appearance will feel nauseated, so the Lord is used to wearing a mask all the time.”

　　Wang Ming and Odd Zhuo: “…”

　　Taking a deep breath, Odd Zhuo continued to ask, “The second question: isn’t your sect called Fruit Sect? Why do you call it Shuigou Sect yourselves?”

　　“When we first started, a brother with an accent called it ‘Shuigou Sect’ ⁵ . Later on, we all felt that this name was more domineering, so we simply called it that.” Chou Shisi sighed. “When we went out to grab the students, we told them that we were Fruit Sect. They weren’t afraid at all at first, and thought that we were Fruit Ninja ⁶ … Shuigou Sect is a much better name!”

　　Wang Ming and Odd Zhuo: “…”

　　Odd Zhuo sighed and slowly drew closer. “Then next, tell me everything you know.”

　　But when Odd Zhuo came near, Chou Shisi suddenly burst into laughter. He opened his mouth, and spat out a silver thread as fine as gossamer.

　　The silver thread abruptly enlarged itself in midair, coalescing into a small screw-like magic weapon that struck Odd Zhuo fiercely in the center of his forehead.

　　This was Chou Shisi’s final trump card as a line of defense. However, its attack range was very limited, so he had been waiting for one of the two individuals to step forward within half a meter before releasing it. In a half-meter range, this was a great surefire move for killing someone!

　　Wang Ming had been cautious the whole time, but during the conversation, Odd Zhuo had let down his guard.

　　However, Chou Shisi was left dumbstruck when this screw weapon hit Odd Zhuo, and there still wasn’t any blood on the latter’s forehead; instead, the man turned to sand and scattered on the wind.

　　…

　　The next moment, he saw Odd Zhuo reappear on the other side as they returned to the previous scene.

　　Wang Ming reappeared, and crouched down in front of him. He put the helmet he was holding on the ground, then looked at him. “I already knew you had other tricks up your sleeve. Did you think you had already escaped my Brain Deduction Technique?”

　　Chou Shisi gritted his teeth. The next moment, Wang Ming walked forward with the sword and gave him a large cut on his neck.

　　“Ah!” The Heavenly Materials sword’s unique sword qi entered Chou Shisi’s body, and burning heat starting to sink from the wound layer by layer into his body, causing him to cry out in pain.

　　Chou Shisi fell hurting to the ground, looking a little desperate… He was slightly regretting trying to court death just now. Given the sword qi that had entered his body this time, even more of his spirit energy was sealed away, and he couldn’t release even the slightest bit of it; now, even an ordinary person could do whatever they wanted to him.

　　From the ground, Odd Zhuo picked up that screw-like magic weapon that had failed to hit its target.

　　“This is the Gyro Needle, ranked tenth of all secret weapons!” Odd Zhuo recognized the small magic weapon; despite its size, it was by no means weak.

　　The shorter the distance, the more explosive its power; in a half-meter range without any protective measures on hand, even an unprotected Soul Formation cultivator could meet an unfortunate end.

　　“You dare trick me…”

　　Odd Zhuo’s lips twitched, and he slapped Chou Shisi across the face in a fit of extreme anger!

　　If Wang Ming hadn’t been here, he would have died!

　　Dying wasn’t a big deal itself, but then he would never see Shifu Wang Ling ever again!

　　Wang Ming couldn’t help laughing at this scene. “At this point, there’s no use beating him up now.”

　　Holding the Gyro Needle between his fingers, Odd Zhuo looked at Wang Ming. “Brother Er, do you know what the meaning behind the Gyro Needle is?”

　　Wang Ming: “Huh?”

　　Odd Zhuo: “Asking to be beaten up!”

　　Wang Ming: “…”