Chapter 861: The Ultimate Combo?

"Who sent you? How many of you are there?" Lu Ran asked coldly.

"I I." The man stammered.

The man had first died, then been bound as a soul into the Evil Art: Soul Prison—everything far exceeded his expectations.

How could he possibly react in such a short time?

Lu Ran didn't care about his excuses!

He waved his hand casually, summoning an ancient bronze mirror.

As the floor-length mirror materialized beside Lu Ran, another floor-length mirror opened directly inside the mountain, appearing in an empty meditation chamber.

There were seven meditation stone chambers within Yunhai Cliff.

They were scattered across different regions of the mountain, spaced far apart to allow multiple cultivators to meditate in quiet solitude.

Lu Ran held the black mist cluster in one hand and reached the other into the floor-length mirror.

Evil Art: Soul Fire!

"Ahh! Aaaaaaah!" Instantly, the man screamed.

A faint black flame burned his soul from another dimension—a hundred times more cruel than physical torment!

Yet his screams echoed only within the dark, empty stone chamber, unable to pass through the floor-length mirror.

Five seconds later, Lu Ran extinguished the soul fire.

He waited a few more seconds before retrieving his hand, clutching the black mist cluster from within the mirror.

"Ahh"

"Shut up!" Lu Ran growled.

The man immediately fell silent, biting his teeth so hard his face twisted in agony.

"Speak. How many of you are there?" Lu Ran demanded again.

"I we." The man still stammered, gasping for breath.

Lu Ran's gaze turned icy as he reached again toward the floor-length mirror.

"No!" The man finally realized the danger, "Don't—Ahh! Aaaaaaah!"

The piercing screams echoed once more through the dark, empty meditation chamber.

Above, Yunhai Cliff remained utterly silent.

No one knew a soul was shrieking and wailing in agony deep within the mountain.

Ten seconds later, Lu Ran extinguished the soul fire again.

And when he pulled his hand back from the mirror, clutching the black mist cluster, the man was utterly broken.

The man immediately trembled: "I'll tell! I'll tell! Please, don't—I'll say everything!"

Lu Ran stared at the soul in his palm: "How many of you are there?"

"Thirty-three people!"

"Three?" Lu Ran's tone turned dangerous; he raised the Soul Prison, as if to thrust it into the floor-length mirror.

"No, really three! Including me, only three! I wouldn't dare lie to you, Wuwu... please..." The man sobbed and begged uncontrollably.

"Their cultivation realms. Their sects."

"They're siblings. Shi Guangwei is a follower of Lie Tian, at Sea Stage Five. Shi Yali is a follower of Tian Luan, at Sea Stage—exact level unknown."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ran's heart tightened.

A follower of Lie Tian?

And a Sea Stage cultivator, a devotee of the Second-Rank Divine Bird, Tian Luan?

The Tian Luan sect was an extremely powerful auxiliary sect, excelling in healing, control, and calming the spirit!

Together with Lie Tian, the two were a perfect combo!

The man seized the chance to beg: "My lord, please release me! They're powerful, ruthless killers—I couldn't resist!"

I was forced to gather intelligence!"

I'm just a servant—I was coerced! Please, have mercy..."

"You were coerced?" A voice suddenly spoke.

Lu Ran turned to see Yu Changsheng approaching.

In the pitch-black environment, Yu Changsheng hadn't activated any divine art and could see nothing—but his divine artifact, the paper fan, provided him with ample information.

Yu Changsheng walked to the man's corpse, bent down, and grasped his necklace: "You have quite a few divine power beads."

This didn't seem like the treatment of a slave?

The man hesitated, then hurriedly said: "They had extras—they gave them to me..."

Yu Changsheng smiled: "You're a Wu Ya follower—you can fly and vanish. Why didn't you run?"

"I I." The man stammered, unable to speak.

Yu Changsheng: "You didn't run because there's profit in it, isn't there? You're an elite scout—you know how valuable you are to them, know they won't kill you easily."

So while they feast on meat, you hope to keep drinking the broth?"

"No! No, that's not true!" The man panicked, loudly denying it.

Yu Changsheng stepped beside Lu Ran, his tone still calm: "Are you thinking that if they give you extra divine power beads, they'll one day give you a divine artifact too?"

The man fell silent.

This newcomer was terrifying—he felt as if his soul had been stripped bare.

Hearing his strategist's words, Lu Ran immediately asked: "You said they kill indiscriminately—how many divine artifacts do they have now?"

"Two or three!"

"Hmm?"

"Shi Yali has a pair of Cold Moon Sword and Dagger—both divine artifacts! Shi Guangwei has a monk's staff, but it's only a divine artifact embryo—no spirit has formed yet!" The man dared not delay or lie.

Lu Ran's expression turned grave: "Have they activated their divine artifact domains?"

"No! All stolen—no domains activated!"

"You're certain?"

"I swear! I wouldn't dare lie—not a single falsehood!"

Yu Changsheng suddenly spoke: "They killed so many people—and only have two divine artifacts and one embryo?"

"Ah! There's more!" The man suddenly remembered, "Shi Yali has another artifact—a treasure pearl, hidden on her divine power bead necklace!"

Lu Ran's face darkened: "Why didn't you mention that earlier?"

"I didn't mean to hide it, my lord! After Shi Yali stole the Wind Pearl, she never used it—maybe she hasn't communicated with the pearl's spirit yet! I'm sorry, I truly didn't mean to conceal it..."

Lu Ran cut him off: "What is the pearl's ability?"

"It can summon a wind barrier for defense."

Lu Ran's head rang.

Artifact? Treasure pearl?

Its ability is to summon a wind barrier?

Isn't that one of the top ten prizes from this year's Heavenly Prodigy competition?

The Great Xia authorities named it the Wind Barrier Treasure Pearl.

Lu Ran remembered: as the number one Heavenly Prodigy, he chose the Divine Artifact: Fiery Phoenix Pattern Gourd—while the second-ranked prodigy immediately took the Wind Barrier Treasure Pearl.

The second-ranked prodigy on the overall list? That Wu Seng girl.

The Wu Seng sect never accepted female disciples—but this was Great Xia's only female Wu Seng disciple, and Lu Ran had some memory of her.

He'd even met her at the award ceremony.

She gripped his hand tightly, repeatedly challenging him to a sparring match.

What was her name again?

He Qi Feng?

Something like that.

"Men zhu?" Yu Changsheng spoke softly.

Lu Ran snapped back to attention: "Who did they steal the pearl from?"

The man didn't hesitate: "A Wu Seng follower! A woman—I'd never seen a female Wu Seng disciple before."

Lu Ran's heart gave a slight tremor.

Was it really He Qi?

Had the Divine Wu Seng also sent her into Sheng Ling Mountain?

Lu Ran had no real connection with He Qi—just someone he'd known before.

But suddenly hearing news of a fellow contestant's death... Wait!

"What happened to that female Wu Seng? Did you kill her?" Lu Ran asked urgently.

"No! Her sect members rescued her!" The man sensed Lu Ran's unease and answered quickly, "She was badly injured by a hammer, but her companions saved her!"

Yu Changsheng also realized something and said: "Men zhu, we can interrogate further once we return."

Lu Ran grunted and asked: "Do they have any other divine artifacts or tools?"

"None!" The man hurried to reply, "My lord, please release me..."

Lu Ran cut him off sharply: "Where are they?"

"Right..."

After obtaining the approximate location of the enemy, Lu Ran immediately sent a mental message: 【Sis?】

【Is there trouble outside?】 Deng Yuxiang's tone was grave.

【You don't need to worry. I'm opening the mirror now—I'll send you a soul. Keep it safe with a Soul-Returning Coin.】

【Understood.】

As soon as Deng Yuxiang replied, a full-length mirror opened beside her.

Lu Ran reached one hand into the mirror and instantly dispersed the black mist: 【Now.】

With the Evil Art: Soul Prison canceled, the souls trapped within were released.

Deng Yuxiang could not see the dead spirits, but following Lu Ran's command, she immediately summoned Soul-Returning Coins to trap the newly freed souls within the ancient coins.

"No, no, no!" the man screamed in terror, shaking his head wildly, his face etched with despair.

Meanwhile, beside the ancient tree on the cliff's peak.

Yu Changsheng's expression was grim: "Master, the Lie Tian Sect and the Tian Luan Sect complement each other perfectly—this combination is extremely dangerous!"

Lu Ran replied in a low voice: "If they weren't powerful, how could they have seized so many divine weapons?"

If only Lie Tian disciples were present, no matter how strong their output, Lu Ran could outmaneuver and destroy them with spiritual pressure alone!

If only Tian Luan disciples were present, even if they were Sea Realm, no matter how astonishing their healing, Lu Ran's followers could still slay this major support!

But these two had merged together.

"Break them apart!" Lu Ran said at once.

Yu Changsheng nodded immediately—he had thought the same.

Lu Ran said gravely: "I'll strike first—I'll blast them open. You all focus on the Sea Realm Tian Luan disciple; I'll confront the Lie Tian believer!"

Yu Changsheng frowned deeply: "Master…"

A Level Five River Realm Lie Tian disciple was utterly perilous—even capable of slaying Sea Realm cultivators!

Against such a formidable opponent, all of Lu Ran's defensive measures would be as fragile as paper.

Lu Ran added: "Master, don't worry! If all else fails, I still have a trump card!"

Yu Changsheng asked curiously: "What ability of yours hasn't been revealed yet?"

Lu Ran shook his head: "No—I mean the divine art of my Xian Yang sect."

Yu Changsheng pondered carefully—Xian Yang sect had no technique worthy of being called a trump card…

Divine Art: Scapegoat Body?

Lu Ran probably couldn't use it!

This was Holy Spirit Mountain—far from heaven, the connection between deity and believer was extremely weak.

Lu Ran could still cast other divine arts, but summoning the actual presence of Lord Xian Yang to shield him and aid him in slaying the Lie Tian believer? Impossible.

Yu Changsheng was certain Lu Ran knew this—and so he guessed: "Sheep?"

Lu Ran's gaze turned icy: "Sheep!"

As everyone knew: the fewer the words, the bigger the matter!

Yu Changsheng's face paled—he hurriedly urged: "Master, you must not!"

Let me clarify: the subplot I mentioned is when the protagonist arrives at Holy Spirit Mountain, shifting from battling demons to human conflicts (such as the events involving the Tian Tu Mountain disciples, Jian Shan Feng, Dao Ji Feng, and others).

Compared to his time in the mortal world, the protagonist's fate has changed drastically—the plot has shifted significantly, and the conflicts have intensified.

But no one thought this counted as a "slow-burn subplot," so I didn't dare mention it.

Then somehow, someone spread the rumor that my subplot was about to explode with updates?

I'm a damn procrastinator! It takes me over four hours to write one chapter—how am I supposed to explode with updates? I really am…

But honestly, since I changed my update schedule, I've been punctual every single time!

Not a single delay!

PS: Another chapter at 10 PM.

(End of Chapter)