Poison God's Heritage

Tao Yang headed forward without a second glance, her posture rigid with purpose. The Jade Dragon, ever composed, moved alongside her, while the Fire King, who had just arrived, descended in a burst of flames. He shot Meng Hao a mocking smirk, the flames dancing in his eyes as though daring him to react.

"Calm down," I said quietly, sensing the familiar rise of tension.

Meng Hao's reply was steady, devoid of the usual anger that used to grip him so easily. "I am calm," he said, his voice controlled. "There are times to fight, and this isn't one of them."

It was a surprising display of self-restraint.

Progress,

I thought, noting how different he seemed from the man I first knew. He was growing, learning when to pick his battles.

I followed along with my group as we joined the others. Liang Yu and Yu Yu flanked me on either side, while the Slave, always silent and imposing, trailed behind Law and Meng Hao. As we walked through the dimly lit underground passageways, I couldn't help but notice the scurrying figures of the townspeople. They ran in fear, ducking into shadowy doorways and hiding from Tao Yang as though she were a specter of death.

We pressed on toward the far end of the cavern, where a tunnel dug even deeper into the ground, its entrance yawning before us like the mouth of some ancient beast. The moss that clung to the stone walls emitted a faint, ghostly glow, illuminating our path, but only just enough to guide us forward. Each footstep echoed, the sound bouncing off the stone walls, creating an eerie sense of how deep underground we truly were.

As we descended deeper, the temperature dropped, and the air grew stale, heavy with the scent of damp earth and decay. Almost an hour passed, and we finally emerged into a vast circular chamber. The space was domed, its ceiling rising high above, disappearing into the shadows. In the center of the chamber stood a lone figure, his back turned to us.

"You've brought more this time," the man said without turning, his voice calm and unconcerned. "The Liberator will be pleased, and the beast will be satisfied."

Silence followed. The man, expecting an answer, finally turned around to face us. His eyes widened in shock as realization dawned on him—this was no ordinary delivery. His face paled, and without hesitation, he bolted toward the far side of the cave, his movements frantic and uncoordinated.

I sighed. "For an Ascendant cultivator, you're pretty slow," I muttered before taking a single step forward. In the blink of an eye, I caught up to him, grabbing him by the scruff of his robes. His eyes bulged in panic as I threw him back into the room with a single motion.

The man tumbled across the floor, coming to a painful halt at the Jade Dragon's feet.

Tao Yang wasted no time. She reached down, her hand wrapping around the man's neck, lifting him effortlessly off the ground. Her eyes were like shards of ice as she stared into his panicked face. "Tell me," she said, her voice as cold as the arctic winds, "what did you do to my people?"

"D-Dread Princess!" the man stammered, his face twisting in terror as he recognized her. He tried to speak further, but before he could, Tao Yang's fist smashed into his mouth, silencing him with a sickening crack. Blood sprayed as she yanked several of his molars out with a single movement, preventing him from biting down on the suicide pill hidden in his teeth.

Quick learner,

I thought, impressed by her efficiency. She wasn't about to let this one escape through death.

Tao Yang followed up with a brutal punch to the man's abdomen, and the sound of his cultivation base shattering echoed in the chamber. The man wailed in agony as the force of the blow severed his Qi flow, rendering him powerless. breaking his cultivation base served to stop him from reversing his Qi and committing suicide. Now, he was totally and completely a mortal, all the effort he had made in reaching the ascendant stage was wasted in a single moment.

"Do we need to interrogate him?" Tao Yang asked, her voice calm despite the vicious display.

"No need," I replied, stepping forward. "It'll take too long. I'll Soul Search him instead."

"No! Please!" the man shrieked, desperation thick in his voice. "I'll tell you anything you want to know! Just don't—"

I didn't bother to listen to his pleas. My hand slammed down onto his face, and I unleashed my soul energy with brutal efficiency. The man's screams echoed through the chamber as his mind was torn apart, his memories laid bare before me. The pain of a Soul Search was indescribable, a torment that no mortal could ever hope to withstand. His body convulsed violently, his eyes rolling back in his head as I rifled through his thoughts.

To explain Soul Search, it was as if you used your own hands to scramble one's brain while they watched, the horror and terror of the pains induced upon those who went under Soul Search echoes forever in their desperate screams.

When I was done, the man was nothing more than a drooling husk. His mind had been shattered, leaving him a rambling, incoherent shell of a person.

I stepped back, flicking my fingers as if brushing away dust. "He was nothing more than another link in the chain. But I've got more information."

Tao Yang's expression darkened. "What did you learn?"

"There are multiple hubs like this one," I explained. "They're spread all over Solarous. These underground settlements are all part of a network designed by the Liberator. The people are bred like cattle, kept alive only to be fed to the rakshasa."

"Fed to the rakshasa?" Tao Yang's eyes widened in horror.

I nodded grimly. "Yes. The Liberator designed the system to sustain the rakshasa population. The humans are bred for food, sacrificed in small numbers to keep the beasts fed. The rakshasa have no way to spread beyond this planet due to the lockdown, so they've had to manage their resources carefully."

Tao Yang's fists clenched, the air around her growing tense. "How could anyone allow this to happen? The Liberator is keeping these people alive just to feed them to monsters?"

"It's worse than that," I continued. "The Liberator is a Sun Stage cultivator, powerful enough to hold the rakshasa in check. He's created this system to control both the people and the beasts, preventing the total annihilation of the human race while allowing the rakshasa to thrive. It's a delicate balance—one that's been maintained for centuries."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"How far away is this Liberator?" Tao Yang asked, her voice trembling with barely restrained anger.

"I don't know," I admitted. "The man I Soul Searched had only seen him once. But from what I gathered, the next chamber from here is the feeding ground for the rakshasa. If we cause enough of a disturbance, a stronger cultivator will come to investigate. Once we capture and interrogate that one, we'll have more information."

Tao Yang's gaze followed mine toward the dark tunnel leading to the next chamber. Her jaw tightened, her eyes blazing with fury. "By all means, a commotion it is."