Chapter 56 – Torture and Torment

Su Xing saw this and gave a slight nod.

Although he already had a cultivation technique, he still needed a great deal of time to practice before he could raise his cultivation level. Now was not the time to get cocky.

“First, find a way to condense the Nine-Revolution Golden Core, then break through to the Nascent Soul stage. That’s what I should be focusing on next…”

Su Xing continued the simulation.

【Year Six: You continued working hard to raise your cultivation, setting aside one week each month to refine pills. Your cultivation progressed further.】

【Year Seven: Your cultivation advanced to Golden Core Stage, Fourth Layer.】

【Year Eight: You trained diligently, but your cultivation remained at Golden Core Stage, Fourth Layer.】

【Year Nine: Your cultivation advanced to Golden Core Stage, Fifth Layer.】

【Year Ten: The cult suddenly increased its demand for Organ Tempering Pills. This was good news for you, as it meant you could skim even more Yellow Immortal Essence.】

【Year Eleven: Your cultivation remained at Golden Core Stage, Fifth Layer, but the quality of your Golden Core continued to improve, approaching high-grade.】

【Over the years, you noticed that Grand Protector Zong looked at you with an increasingly strange gaze, as if harboring some deep craving within, making you thoroughly uncomfortable.】

【Since you had already obtained the Eternal Spring Art you wanted, Grand Protector Zong no longer had any utility value to you. You began gradually distancing yourself from him.】

【Grand Protector Zong didn’t say much about this, but he was still your direct superior, and you would see each other once or twice a month.】

【Year Twelve: Your cultivation remained at Golden Core Stage, Fifth Layer. You realized it might be because your aptitude was insufficient, so you devoted most of your energy to improving the quality of your Golden Core.】

【Year Thirteen: Your cultivation remained at Golden Core Stage, Fifth Layer, and the quality of your Golden Core showed no further improvement either.】

【One day, Grand Protector Zong sought you out privately. You had a bad feeling about it, but since he was your direct superior, you had no right to refuse.】

【Grand Protector Zong brought you to a remote location. The way he looked at you was no longer concealed — his gaze had become wild and greedy.】

【He told you that from the very first moment he laid eyes on you, he knew you had been cultivating the Eternal Spring Art.】

【You had a premonition that Grand Protector Zong harbored ill intentions toward you, but with your strength, there was simply no way to resist. So you forced yourself to stay calm and asked him how he knew you were cultivating the Eternal Spring Art.】

【Grand Protector Zong smiled hideously, baring a row of ghastly white teeth. He said it was because he too had cultivated the Eternal Spring Art.】

【Your heart trembled, but you still told him with confusion that you should be the only cultivator in the world.】

【Grand Protector Zong stated bluntly that you were as good as dead. He was willing to let you die with full understanding. He told you that he was not a person of this world, but a cultivator from another world.】

【His sole purpose in joining the Advent Cult was to find the severed path of immortality. You were the second cultivator he had encountered in all these years, and your vigorous qi and blood made you perfectly suited to help him extend his lifespan.】

【You had already anticipated what he intended to do to you, but you had no intention of sitting idle and awaiting death. You channeled all the qi and blood in your body, launching a full-force attack at Grand Protector Zong.】

【But the gap between you was simply too vast. Grand Protector Zong didn’t even need to use his full strength before knocking you unconscious.】

【When you regained consciousness, you found yourself in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by instruments of torture. You were bound tightly, your tendons in all four limbs severed, completely unable to move.】

【Elder Zong was not wearing his mask, revealing a gaunt, skeletal face covered in wrinkles. His mouthful of yellowed teeth was an unsettling sight.】

【He interrogated you about how you were able to cultivate, since the real world had no spiritual energy.】

【You knew you were dead regardless, so you clenched your teeth and said nothing.】

【Elder Zong carefully took out a bamboo tube. Inside was a thumb-thick, pitch-black insect. The insect slowly crawled up your body, and finally burrowed into you through your eye.】

【You fought desperately to resist, but found you couldn’t muster any strength at all — even the spiritual energy within your body had vanished completely.】

【The pitch-black venomous gu burrowed into your body. You felt pain as though ten thousand ants were devouring your heart, yet you couldn’t resist at all — you couldn’t even manage to kill yourself.】

【You clenched your teeth. Your unyielding spirit came into play at this moment, allowing you to hold on a little longer.】

【Meanwhile, Grand Protector Zong’s teeth-gratingly grating voice continued to echo in your ears. He told you that he knew you must have discovered a dungeon that still contained spiritual energy. If you would just hand over the coordinates to that dungeon, he would grant you a swift death.】

【You were already delirious with pain. At this moment, only one thought remained in your mind — even if you died, you would never reveal the dungeon’s coordinates, because you refused to leave this advantage to Elder Zong.】

【You refused to give up, your mind still searching for a way to escape, but you simply couldn’t gather your focus.】

【Just then, a voice reached your ears. You froze for a moment, then realized — it was the voice of the gu insect.】

【You suddenly remembered your Level 10 Beast Tongue talent. The gu insect clearly fell under the category of beasts. So you patiently coaxed the gu insect, hoping it would leave your body.】

【To your surprise, the gu insect actually agreed. It crawled out through your mouth and even turned back to look at you curiously.】

【As the gu insect left your body, the pain within you rapidly faded. However, you could feel that your internal organs had been gnawed into a riddled mess by the gu insect.】

【Fortunately, this particular gu insect was only meant for torture, not for killing. And as an Organ Tempering realm cultivator, your internal organs could slowly recover on their own.】

【Grand Protector Zong’s expression changed drastically. He hadn’t expected that you could actually command the gu insect. He asked if you had received the inheritance of the Gu Tribe.】

【You let out a cold laugh and paid Grand Protector Zong no attention.】

【Over the next three days, Grand Protector Zong tried dozens of different tortures on you, but your willpower held firm. You never spoke a word.】

Su Xing paused in surprise when he saw this, and asked in bewilderment:

“Am I really some once-in-a-millennium tough guy?”

That definitely couldn’t be it! Su Xing shook his head slightly.

“Could it be that the unyielding spirit talent is that powerful… able to withstand torture? No, a mere green talent shouldn’t have that kind of effect!”

Su Xing pondered for a long time before it dawned on him.

“Perhaps it’s because the me in the simulator acts according to the thoughts of the real-world me, and since I don’t want to compromise, the me in the simulator won’t surrender either?”

Su Xing nodded slightly. For now, that was the only explanation that made sense.

Su Xing continued the simulation.

【Elder Zong, seeing that he couldn’t extract any useful information from you, gave up.】

【But he didn’t kill you outright. Instead, he produced an enormous pill-refining furnace. You were thrown inside — he intended to refine you into a Human Pill!】