Chapter 189: Crack! "What broke?" "Your life."

The darkness deep within the cave seemed to take on a life of its own, silently coalescing the instant Hu Huxu's voice fell.

It pressed down on the air between the two men until it was almost solid.

Lu Yuan listened quietly, his face devoid of any expression, as if hearing a story unrelated to him with a long-since guessed ending.

Only after Hu Huxu finished his mocking words about the Ten Families' blood oath and his own "naivety" did the cave fall into another brief silence.

Only the heart-palpitating sound of dripping water remained.

"This scheme."

Lu Yuan spoke again, his voice flat, with no discernible emotional fluctuation.

"From when did it begin?"

Hu Huxu raised an eyebrow, seeming slightly surprised that Lu Yuan still had the mind to pursue this detail at this moment.

He thought about it. The prey was already in the bag anyway, his zhenran was locked, he was severely injured, and there was no escape.

Saying a bit more, letting this self-righteous Daoist Celestial Master die with clarity, didn't seem so bad.

"When?"

Hu Huxu tilted his head, feigning recollection.

That deliberately imitated simple and honest posture looked especially eerie on his currently cold and sinister face.

"Hmm... let me think."

"If we really want to trace it back to the root, from... the first time Tutu appeared at the foot of your Zhenlong Temple, this game, was already in motion."

A barely perceptible flicker passed through Lu Yuan's eyes.

Tutu appearing at the foot of Zhenlong Temple to plead for help was his first contact with the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp, and also the trigger that led to the old man leaving to investigate the Liu Family, ultimately leading to his capture.

Before Lu Yuan could react, Hu Huxu suddenly shook his head again, wearing an earnest expression.

"Not quite."

"To be precise, it started from when those village wild deities came to the foot of your Zhenlong Temple."

Hearing this, even Lu Yuan, who had maintained his composure, couldn't help but tense up a little.

It started from those village wild deities?!

Lu Yuan knew he might have unknowingly stepped into the trap very early, but what he hadn't expected was...

It actually started from those wild deities at Zhenlong Temple?!?

At this moment, Hu Huxu suddenly grinned again, a cold smile tinged with smugness.

"Of course, don't misunderstand."

"Tutu didn't know about these things, Yangyang didn't know, and those exploited 'wild deities' certainly didn't know either."

"Even the Liu Family didn't know about this. It was all me, alone, planning and pushing it forward."

"After all, if too many people knew the inside story, flaws would inevitably show."

"Only by letting everyone involved 'perform' their most genuine state, say their most genuine words, and make their most genuine reactions."

"Could this act fool you, Lu Yuan, fool Li Xiuye, fool you self-proclaimed, keen-eyed Daoist Celestial Masters."

Hu Huxu looked at Lu Yuan, his eyes holding a near-cruel "candor."

"Aren't you wondering why your insight, your intuition, your various Daoist detection methods, didn't find any major flaws along the way?"

"Because apart from me being fake, the other people and events were all real."

"Real suffering, real danger, real despair, real... human nature."

"Tutu was real, Yangyang was real, my obsession and pain over Xiu'e were also real."

"Even the dangers, the life-and-death struggles I led you through to get here were real."

"However, behind all this 'truth,' there was an invisible thread, pulling you, to be precise, pulling you, Lu Yuan, onto this final stage."

He spread his arms, making a slightly exaggerated gesture of embracing the dim cave.

"Now, the stage is set, and it's time to make an entrance."

"Only, you are the lead, and the ending has already been written."

After speaking, he lowered his arms, returning to that cold, sinister look, watching Lu Yuan.

As if waiting for him to digest this massive information, or for his final breakdown, questioning, or futile resistance.

Lu Yuan still sat there quietly, the dim light casting half his face in shadow, half in light.

Lu Yuan digested Hu Huxu's words, from Tutu's appearance, to the various "coincidences" and "crises" along the way.

To now, trapped in a hopeless situation, his zhenran locked...

A clear, chilling chain of conspiracy gradually completed itself in his mind.

After a long while, Lu Yuan finally spoke slowly, his voice still terrifyingly calm.

"So, my master... where exactly is he now?"

"Alive or dead?"

Hu Huxu grinned, revealing an even colder smile.

"Him?"

"Don't worry, he's still alive."

"The Liu Family went to so much trouble, how could they let him die easily?"

"He's the best 'material' for becoming a Malevolent Deity."

"But as for exactly where, alive or dead, you'll find out naturally once you go down."

Hearing Hu Huxu's words "he's still alive," the string that had been taut in Lu Yuan's heart suddenly loosened.

The old man was alive! No matter how dangerous the situation, as long as he was alive, there was still hope!

This confirmation was more important than anything.

The previous shock, the belated fear, the anger of betrayal, were all replaced in this moment by a deeper, colder calm.

The old man being alive was the bottom line.

And although he was trapped in a hopeless situation, his zhenran locked... it wasn't completely without opportunity.

He still had one last trump card, one that Hu Huxu absolutely did not know about and absolutely could not guard against.

Only, before playing that card, he needed to gather more information.

Hu Huxu seemed to enjoy this feeling of "revealing secrets" and control, so why not ask a few more questions.

Muddy the waters a bit more, and give himself a clearer grasp of the overall situation.

Lu Yuan slowly raised his head, his gaze settling once more on Hu Huxu's cold, smug face.

He showed no excitement or relief at the news that the old man was "alive," maintaining that same calm, almost indifferent expression.

"Still alive... good."

Lu Yuan nodded, as if merely confirming an insignificant detail.

Then, he shifted the topic, posing a new question, one he had always harbored doubts about.

"However, I am a bit curious."

Lu Yuan's voice carried no emotion, as if discussing an academic problem.

"Since you set up such an elaborate trap, with a super Malevolent Deity like that 'Blood-Skeleton Spirit Lord' guarding outside."

"Why not just let it capture me directly, or seize me when I broke into the village, and then 'deliver' me in?"

"Why go through all this trouble, having you lead me all the way here, acting out this whole play, 'forcing' me in, 'driving' me in?"

"Even letting me expend massive energy outside, sustaining not-light injuries."

As he spoke, Lu Yuan moved his bandaged right hand, which still throbbed with piercing pain.

His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, as if feeling the inconvenience caused by the injury.

"Isn't doing that riskier?"

Lu Yuan looked at Hu Huxu, his eyes holding a trace of perfectly measured confusion, that of "prey" towards "hunter" logic.

"What if I had been killed by those evil creatures during the breakout outside, or directly corroded by the Blood-Skeleton Spirit Lord's blood-skeleton ghost qi?"

"The 'material' you wanted would have been lost, wouldn't it?"

Listening to Lu Yuan's question, the cold smile on Hu Huxu's face deepened.

He seemed quite pleased that Lu Yuan could think of this level, proving Lu Yuan was indeed thinking seriously.

It also proved his "prey" wasn't a complete fool, which heightened his interest in "revealing secrets" and "teaching."

"Good question."

Hu Huxu nodded, took half a step forward, closer to Lu Yuan, lowered his voice, and spoke in a tone almost of "heart-to-heart" sincerity.

"Priest Lu, are you perhaps underestimating yourself?"

"And also underestimating the Liu Family, or rather, our Ten Families' pickiness and... cherishment of 'materials'?"

He looked Lu Yuan up and down, his gaze no longer purely cold.

It now held an undisguised greed, like appraising a rare treasure.

"Your master, Li Xiuye, is a veteran Celestial Master, with deep foundations and pure Dao resonance."

"He is an excellent 'main ingredient' for refining certain specific Malevolent Deities, or strengthening existing ones."

"As for you..."

Hu Huxu paused, the greed in his eyes intensifying.

"You, Lu Yuan, a Celestial Master at nineteen, a Two-Star Celestial Master at twenty!"

"The record holder for the fastest promotion to Celestial Master in the history beyond the Great Wall!"

"The publicly recognized, once-in-a-century super genius of the entire Daoist community beyond the Great Wall right now!"

"Your potential, your talent, this body and soul of yours."

"For certain Malevolent Deities pursuing 'perfection,' 'the ultimate,' or needing 'fresh blood,' 'powerful potential.'"

"Its value might even be higher than your master's!"

"Two such 'rare materials'..."

Hu Huxu's voice held a near-fanatical whisper.

"How could we bear the slightest damage?"

"How could we tolerate them being touched, contaminated by those low-level evil creatures who only know killing and devouring, or by an existence like the 'Blood-Skeleton Spirit Lord,' powerful but too violent and filthy?"

He pointed in the direction of the cave entrance.

"Let the 'Blood Spirit Lord' or the evil creatures outside act directly?"

"What if, knowing you were no match, you cornered like a dog, desperate to jump over a wall, fought to self-destruct, or used some forbidden Daoist secret technique we don't know about to destroy your own body and severely damage your soul?"

"Even without self-destruction, under fierce resistance and evil energy erosion, your body, your foundation would inevitably suffer irreversible damage, greatly reducing your value."

"Therefore, the best method..."

A smile of confident wisdom appeared on Hu Huxu's face.

"Is to have you 'actively' come in."

"To have you, driven by the strong will to 'survive' and 'rescue your master,' fight with all your might to break through here yourself."

"Along this journey, what you consumed was your zhen, what you sustained were 'external injuries' that could be controlled and treated."

"Your fighting spirit, your will to survive would be stimulated to the extreme, your body and soul would be in an extremely 'active' and 'condensed' state under high pressure."

"This is actually beneficial for the subsequent 'processing.'"

"And this place..."

Hu Huxu pointed at his feet.

"The Spirit-Locking Forbidden Land. Once inside, zhenran locks itself, all Daoist techniques are rendered useless."

"No matter how great your abilities, you can't use them."

"Self-destruct?"

"Without zhen to drive it, you can't even self-destruct!"

"Destroy yourself?"

"In your current state, severely injured and weak, completely devoid of zhenran, you might not even be able to kill yourself instantly."

After speaking, Hu Huxu took a step back, gave a sinister chuckle, and resumed that cold, controlling posture.

Hu Huxu looked at Lu Yuan as if admiring a precious raw material already packaged, just waiting to be fed into the furnace.

"Do you understand now, Priest Lu?"

Hu Huxu's tone carried a hint of mockery.

"It's not that we didn't want to use simpler, cruder methods, but... you are too precious."

"So precious that we had to use the safest, most 'gentle' way to 'invite' you in."

"Now, your condition is just right, injured but not dead, exhausted but not broken."

"Your soul, caught between hope and despair, is in a strange 'active' period... it's practically the perfect 'time for entering the medicine.'"

After listening to Hu Huxu's words, Lu Yuan nodded seriously, as if finally solving a puzzle.

"No wonder you went to such great lengths, being so careful."

"So that's it."

"So, I must come in 'intact,' must maintain the 'activity' of my body and soul, without the slightest damage."

"Because any damage would affect the final 'product's' quality."

Hu Huxu clapped his hands, his eyes full of satisfaction.

"Correct!"

"Talking with smart people saves effort."

"Now, do you understand everything?"

"Should you also... give up hope?"

He turned sideways, once again making way for the path deeper into the cave, making a "please" gesture.

This time, his posture carried more undeniable pressure.

Deep in the cave, the thick yin energy seemed drawn by something, beginning to slowly churn.

Faintly, the dull sound of dragging chains could be heard, and... a low, painful groan, as if suppressed to the extreme.

It was the old man's voice!

Lu Yuan's heart clenched violently.

The voice was extremely faint, intermittent, yet like the sharpest needle, it stabbed hard into his eardrums.

Such a long period of torment, the suffering of yin malevolence refining the soul...

The old man was down there, enduring unimaginable torture.

At this moment, Hu Huxu looked at Lu Yuan with a sinister expression and said:

"You've asked all you should ask, and I've told you everything."

"So, will you walk down yourself, witness your master's 'transformation,' and also welcome your own 'new life'?"

"Or, will you wait for the Liu Family's friends to personally come out to 'receive' you?"

"They aren't as easy to talk to as I am. When the time comes, there might be some... roughness."

Lu Yuan slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The cold, damp air, heavy with yin energy, flooded his lungs, bringing a stabbing pain.

When Lu Yuan opened his eyes again and looked at Hu Huxu, he suddenly asked a seemingly completely unrelated question.

"This 'Spirit-Locking Forbidden Land,' it locks Daoist zhenran."

"Does it affect your Hu Family's methods of communicating with 'gods' and commanding yin souls?"

Hu Huxu was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Lu Yuan to suddenly ask this.

But he then chuckled, with a hint of pride.

"Naturally, it has no effect."

"This formation is a relic from ancient times, modified by the Liu Family, specifically designed to counter the Daoist methods of heavenly cycle circulation and drawing qi into the body."

"Our Hu Family's methods rely on bloodline resonance, talisman contracts, and offering exchanges. They are not of the same path as this formation."

"What, Priest Lu, even at this moment, still wants to probe my capabilities?"

A crisp cracking sound suddenly rang out abruptly within the cave.

This sound came from within Lu Yuan's body.

This sound made Hu Huxu inexplicably startled. Then, somewhat warily, he looked at Lu Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, and asked:

"What broke?"

At this moment, Lu Yuan looked expressionlessly at Hu Huxu and said with utter detachment:

"Your life."