Chapter 596: Torment!

Jiang Feng heard it, merely gave a faint smile.

He was quite clear that the person before him was absolutely not joking with him.

But Jiang Feng has always been one who yields to gentleness, not to force.

The more this happened, the less he would yield, so Jiang Feng merely gave a faint smile and said.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of scene your so-called hell is..."

The iron hook pierced his pipa bone, icy cold and piercing to the bone.

Jiang Feng felt his blood dripping down the iron hook drop by drop, falling onto the icy floor and making a faint sound.

That sound was especially clear in this deathly silent cell, as if something were counting down.

He lifted his head, gazing at the blurry figure in the darkness.

"Anticipating?"

The person repeated those two words, seeming to find them somewhat amusing.

"Jiang Feng, you have no idea what you're up against."

Jiang Feng said nothing, merely staring at him in silence.

His gaze was very calm, so calm it didn't resemble someone whose pipa bone had been pierced by an iron hook and whose limbs were bound by iron chains.

That calmness made the person's brow furrow slightly.

"You're quite hard-spirited."

The person spoke lightly, his tone giving no hint of joy or anger.

"However, I've seen too many hard-spirited people like you; at first they fear nothing and care for nothing, but in the end..."

He paused, his voice growing even deeper.

"They all knelt before me, weeping and begging me to spare them."

As his words fell, the cell fell into a brief silence.

The person said nothing, merely staring at Jiang Feng as if examining something.

After a few seconds, he slowly spoke.

"Since you're so eager to know, I'll grant you that."

As soon as his words fell, Jiang Feng felt the surrounding space suddenly tighten.

That feeling was strange, as if an invisible giant hand were squeezing in from all directions, tightly gripping his body.

The air turned viscous, each breath requiring all his strength.

Jiang Feng's pupils contracted slightly.

He sensed that force.

That energy was formless and substance-less, yet truly existent.

It was as if something in the air had come alive, slowly seeping into his body.

Before he could react, a surge of excruciating pain exploded from deep within his mind.

That pain was not of flesh and bone, nor of tendons and bones, but a tearing sensation from deep within his soul.

It was as if something were forcibly tearing his divine soul from his body.

Jiang Feng's body jerked rigidly, his clenched teeth emitting a creaking sound.

Veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.

Pain.

Indescribable pain.

That pain felt like countless needles stabbing into his brain at once, and like countless ants gnawing at his bone marrow; every inch of skin, every bone, every meridian screamed and trembled.

Jiang Feng felt as if he were about to split apart.

Not a metaphor—he really felt he was about to split apart.

His consciousness grew hazy in that excruciating pain, the light before him flickering, while countless shadows swayed in the darkness.

He heard a sound, like wind, like water, and like the wailing of countless people.

That sound surged from all directions, as if it wanted to tear him apart entirely.

Jiang Feng clenched his teeth tightly, refusing to let himself cry out.

His lips were bitten open, fresh blood trickling down the corners of his mouth to stain his collar.

He recalled the Fiery Cave of Kunlun.

That was the place Kunlun disciples feared most—a trial ground where earth-core flames burned year-round, hot enough to melt rock.

Every Kunlun disciple must endure a trial in the Fiery Cave; the agony of being burned by those flames is enough to make even the strongest cultivator collapse.

Jiang Feng remembered the scene when he first entered the Fiery Cave.

But he endured it.

He stayed in the Fiery Cave for a full seven days...

After that, Jiang Feng thought nothing in this world could pain him enough to make him frown.

But now he knew he was wrong.

The suffering in the Fiery Cave, compared to now, is utterly insignificant.

The Fiery Cave burned his body—his flesh and bones.

That pain, though intense, was at least within his capacity to endure.

But now, that force is tearing at his divine soul.

What is the divine soul?

The divine soul is the foundation of a cultivator, more important than flesh and bone.

The body can be reshaped, tendons and bones can regenerate, but once the Divine Soul is damaged, it is an injury that can never be made up for.

That force was like an invisible Surgical Knife, gradually cutting his Divine Soul, pulling his Awareness out of his body.

Jiang Feng felt himself being torn apart.

Not the body, but the Awareness.

His Memory began to turn Obscurity, those things he once thought he would never forget are bit by bit disappearing from his mind.

He could no longer recall Master's face, could no longer recall Kunlun Snow Peak, could no longer recall the days and nights he spent on the Mountain those years.

Everything was turning Obscurity, everything was turning distant.

It was as if a hand was taking these Memories one by one from his mind.

Jiang Feng suddenly opened his eyes, biting the tip of his tongue with all his strength.

The intense pain made his Awareness briefly clear up a bit.

He stared at the shadow in the darkness, his eyes filled with unwillingness and anger.

He was not afraid of pain.

What he feared was Forgetfulness.

If even Memory were gone, would he still be himself?

That force seemed to sense his resistance, becoming even more violent.

The intense pain instantly escalated, as if someone wielded a dull knife and was bit by bit sawing open his skull.

Jiang Feng's body trembled violently, the Iron Chain clanged, echoing in the empty cell.

His breath grew Weak, his face grew paler.

Blood surged from the wound on his Pipa Bone, flowing down his body and pooling into a small puddle at his Foot.

That puddle of blood steamed on the icy ground, quickly freezing into dark red ice shards.

The temperature in the cell kept dropping.

Jiang Feng could feel his blood turning cold, turning viscous. His heartbeat grew Slow, each beat feeling as if he were exerting his last strength.

But he did not yield.

He could not yield.

He was Jiang Feng, he was Kunlun's successor……

He could die, but he would never kneel.

In the darkness, that person silently watched Jiang Feng, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.

He had seen too many people Collapsing under that force, those people, like Jiang Feng, initially were tough-mouthed, claiming they feared nothing.

But soon they would be crying and shouting for mercy, no longer wanting Dignity or backbone.

But Jiang Feng was different.

This person never let out a miserable scream from beginning to end.

His teeth shattered, blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, but he simply would not open his mouth, would not beg for mercy, would not yield.

That person's brows furrowed even tighter.

He knew how terrifying that force was; it was a punishment specifically targeting the Divine Soul, a cruelty a hundred, a thousand times greater than any physical torment.

Those tortured by that force would have their Divine Soul peeled away bit by bit; that pain was like forcibly dragging a person's soul out of his body alive.

No one could endure this pain.

No one.

But Jiang Feng endured it.

Although his body was Trembling, his face was Pale as Paper, his breath so faint it was barely perceptible.

But he endured it.

That person's mouth corner twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he still did not speak.

He simply stood Standing in the darkness, silently watching Jiang Feng.

Only the rattling of the Iron Chain and Jiang Feng's heavy breathing remained in the cell.

That force continued, without the slightest weakening.

Jiang Feng's Awareness grew increasingly Obscurity, the light before him growing dimmer.

He felt as if he were sinking into the deep sea, all around endless darkness and cold, sinking bit by bit, deeper and deeper.

He saw many things.

He saw the snow on Kunlun Mountain, saw Master's back, saw the days of cultivation on the Mountain those years.

Jiang Feng closed his eyes.

He did not cry out.

He gritted his teeth, tensed all his muscles, and in the darkness desperately clung to that sliver of clarity.

Suddenly, a flash of light streaked through the darkness.

Jiang Feng opened his blood‑blurred eyes, yet saw a clear face.

Handsome.

Feminine-looking.