Chapter 39: Of Course It Was Senior Wuqing!

Thirty kilometers southwest of Liangzhou City, a black prison transport vehicle was traveling along the highway, flanked by five sedans acting as a security escort.

Outwardly, the vehicle appeared no different from a standard police transport, but its inner walls were layered with complex anti-spiritual arrays, reinforced to withstand the full-force strike of a Nascent Soul cultivator. In terms of criminal status, any cultivator worthy of such a transport was considered a high-profile prisoner; should they be sentenced to death, even their execution would involve a more sophisticated caliber of ammunition.

Beyond the holding cell, the front portion of the vehicle served as the command cabin for the transport specialists. There were six people inside: a driver, a medic responsible for monitoring the prisoner’s physiological state, and four security specialists, all of whom were combatants ranked Tier B or higher.

"Yes... that’s right, it’s the prisoner we captured the day before yesterday. Cultivation level is Golden Core, and the techniques bear the signature of the Peach Blossom Spring. We believe the subject is a direct member of that organization..."

"No problem. If everything goes as planned, we should arrive in Yizhou by tonight. We’ll need your team to handle the handover then... Understood, I’ll fill out the application form right now."

The specialist in the passenger seat hung up the phone, tapped a link on his screen, and began to type.

Over the past week, the Bureau of Environmental Sanitation (BES) had apprehended several direct members of the Peach Blossom Spring. Each had undergone standard interrogation and soul-searching procedures, but the results were far from satisfactory. It was difficult to pry information from them through conventional interrogation, and the soul-searching revealed that their spirits had been systematically wiped. Their memories were shattered into fragments, leaving no coherent leads, and the residual mental imprints nearly compromised the operators themselves.

The BES had seemingly exhausted its available methods, but the path of intelligence gathering could not end here. As a state-backed supernatural agency, they possessed one final, high-ceiling option: calling for outside help.

Much like how they had requested assistance from the Institute of Supernormal Research during the investigation at White Cloud Mountain, they had enlisted the help of the Celestial Phenomenon Observation and Mechanism Bureau, known as the Tianji Bureau. This was the largest and most mysterious official intelligence agency in China’s supernatural world, with headquarters in Yizhou City—700 kilometers from Liangzhou, their current destination.

To safely escort the prisoner on board, the Liangzhou branch had handpicked an elite team to accompany them. The six-vehicle convoy formed a mobile iron cage, gliding from the urban center of Liangzhou into the desolate wilderness.

"Beep—beep—"

The monitor installed in front of the holding cell suddenly blared, drawing the attention of every specialist in the cabin. Instinctively, they gripped their weapons. Only the medic, bearing a red cross insignia, stood up to inspect the monitor, his face suddenly paling.

"The prisoner’s spiritual energy circulation is in chaos... the Great Heavenly Cycle is abnormally blocked, blood pressure spiking... what is going on?"

He muttered to himself, leaning close to the palm-sized, one-way glass to peer into the cell. Inside, a prisoner was strapped to an iron bed etched with array runes, wearing a specialized anti-spiritual straitjacket and connected to dozens of tubes and monitoring leads. The entire bed was vibrating violently, causing the connected cables to shake as if the person strapped within were struggling in a nervous fit.

"Something’s wrong... this is all wrong!"

The medic stared at the monitor, which displayed the prisoner's cyclical flow and spiritual energy flux. These were basic physiological data points for a cultivator, equivalent to a normal human’s heart rate and blood pressure. The current readings were akin to a human having a heart rate of 240 and blood pressure of 180—a state that defied logic.

"What’s happening?" The specialist next to him caught a glimpse of the alarming data. "Did you not administer the sedatives and spiritual suppressants?"

"Impossible. We gave two shots right before departure. The dosage was correct."

"Then why is he suddenly convulsing?"

"I don't know..." The medic’s facial muscles twitched. "But at this rate, he’ll explode from internal pressure if we don't act. Pull over."

The team exchanged glances. The specialist in the passenger seat relayed an order over the radio, and the convoy veered off the highway to a roadside stop. The entire security detail disembarked; one group brandished firearms, while the other held defensive talismans, establishing a perimeter within minutes.

Once everything was set, the squad leader gave the order. The medic, clad in specialized protective gear and shielded by the specialists, cautiously opened the cell door and rushed to the iron bed. The prisoner was indeed spasming violently; blood vessels on his face were bulging and leaking droplets of blood, as if he were inflating like a balloon.

"What is this affliction?"

"Unclear. Regardless, administer a dose of sedative first. We’ll examine him once he’s calm."

As the medic reached for the instrument panel to adjust the settings, the prisoner suddenly turned his head, his unfocused gaze locking onto the medic.

An ambush?!

The medic, highly experienced, turned away instantly, channeling his spiritual energy to guard his spirit center and prevent mental shock. But as he turned, he met another pair of eyes.

The owner of those eyes looked like an elderly man in his twilight years, wearing rough hemp clothing and holding a dirt-caked hoe, as if he had just finished tilling a field. But this was a modern highway! Where did a peasant come from?

The medic’s heart pounded. He turned to avoid the old man, only to lock eyes with someone else. This time, it was a child with disheveled hair, holding a wooden pinwheel and tilting his head at him. He turned again, and there were more eyes.

He was surrounded. It was only then that he realized he was standing in the middle of an open field, surrounded by primitive thatched huts, with peach blossom forests swaying in the distance. People were coming and going, tilling the land, the elderly and the young, all seemingly content and joyous.

*Clatter.* His medical kit fell to the ground with a dull thud.

The next second, a deafening explosion swallowed everything.

*BOOM!*

A massive pillar of light erupted from the roadside. The prison vehicle disintegrated within the halo, and amidst the cries of the team, a tornado of flower petals soared into the sky, engulfing everything in its path.

...

...

"Supervisor Lyu, you have reviewed the secret history of our sect. Then you must know that there truly exist methods within the Peach Blossom Spring to rapidly enhance a cultivator's strength."

Inside the car, Lyu Zhenhai nodded slightly toward Jiang Ruifeng, who was speaking beside him.

"Yes. The records indicate that the Peach Blossom Spring possesses a unique secret technique..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "It is said that this technique relies on infecting and devouring the souls of others to strengthen oneself. If the devoured soul comes from a cultivator, one can even directly obtain the victim's cultivation level."

This was the conclusion drawn from the BES database, matching the Peach Blossom Spring’s behavior of targeting souls. Further research showed that this devouring had limitations: the higher the cultivation of the victim, the greater the chance of failure, unless the victim voluntarily surrendered and offered themselves up.

The latter scenario sounded absurd, but reality often proved that history was never short of absurdity. It was for this reason that the BES, when holding captured members of the Peach Blossom Spring, kept them strictly isolated, with no one nearby except for the jailers, to prevent any further devouring.

"Precisely so," Jiang Ruifeng said. "I spent the last few days reviewing our sect's secret archives. One entry indicates that a thousand years ago, the Peach Blossom Spring relied on this very method, sacrificing thousands of lives to elevate a Golden Core cultivator to near Nascent Soul levels in a short period."

Though he had seen similar descriptions before, hearing it directly from Jiang Ruifeng made Lyu Zhenhai’s expression darken.

He whispered, "In that case, the fact that we are finding fewer members, yet they are becoming stronger, could it be because..."

"I fear it is exactly as you suspect, Supervisor Lyu." Jiang Ruifeng sighed. "According to our elders, a thousand years ago, our sect faced a similar situation. The further the war progressed, the stronger the enemies became. Fortunately, many fellow immortal sects responded, constantly strengthening the Immortal Alliance, which allowed us to maintain the resistance."

Lyu Zhenhai remained silent. He had viewed the "devouring" process in the database as a case of evil cultivators using souls as fodder, but he had never imagined that the Peach Blossom Spring itself was a giant field for raising "gu" (venomous insects). From his perspective as an observer and a descendant, he knew that the Peach Blossom Spring of that era had been fractured by infighting among the immortal, Buddhist, and barbarian factions, which likely hindered the "gu-raising" process and ultimately led to their defeat by the Jiuli Immortal Alliance.

"To think such a twisted path could exist..." Lyu Zhenhai muttered.

"You are not the first to lament this." Jiang Ruifeng continued, "As early as the North-South War a millennium ago, our sect sent people to deconstruct the arts used by the Peach Blossom Spring. But the method seemed to have restrictions; even within the Peach Blossom Spring, only a few could use it, and outsiders were completely unable to fathom it. We exhausted many resources and methods, yet could not replicate the principle, knowing only its function—the 'devouring' you see."

"In my view, the BES should act decisively. While these rats are being forced into the open, you should annihilate them entirely to prevent them from acting out of desperation."

"That is exactly what we intend to do." Lyu Zhenhai nodded. "Speaking of which, how did your sect deal with that cultivator who rose to the Nascent Soul level in such a short time? That detail seems to be missing from the historical records I've seen."

"At the time, our sect was unaware of the Peach Blossom Spring's methods and was caught off guard, nearly allowing the enemy to strike at our heart..." Jiang Ruifeng’s tone lifted. "In that moment of life and death, Senior Wuqing entered the fray alone. He sparred with the enemy for hundreds of rounds and, with his own Nascent Soul cultivation, killed the enemy while overcoming the level gap. It was a legendary feat!"

"I see..." Lyu Zhenhai replied with a smile. That, he thought, was not surprising in the slightest.

He turned to look out the window. The sunset that had blanketed the sky had faded, but to those in the know, the invisible tide still held its lingering threat. Over the past few days, the members of the Peach Blossom Spring they encountered only dared to loiter on the outskirts of Liangzhou; none dared to enter the city, allowing the BES to freely deploy various heavy weapons.

He had considered asking Zhou Qing to intervene, but ultimately abandoned the thought. Although he had witnessed Zhou Qing’s capabilities and no longer doubted his status or strength, the BES, as the "white glove" of the state in the supernatural realm, could not rely on him in the way the sects of old did.

Not to mention whether he would be willing to act, the subsequent impact of such a move would invite all sorts of trouble.

The domestic supernatural scene might appear peaceful on the surface, with many cultivators willing to identify as official personnel, as if the lofty ancient cultivators had turned over a new leaf and were living in harmony with the masses. But anyone with a modicum of awareness knew this peace was not built on the compassion of the ancient cultivators; the foundation of all peace was within the range of heavy artillery.

Undeniably, there were ancient cultivators who cared for the mundane and were willing to cooperate sincerely—the Jiuli Sect being one such example. But ancient cultivators were, after all, ancient cultivators, and the BES had its own logic of negotiation.

Be friendly, but not weak; cooperate, but do not rely. This had been the core principle of the state’s dealings with cultivators for years. Unless it involved internal disputes among cultivators, they prioritized solving problems themselves. They would not let external forces intervene unless absolutely necessary.

Unlike the Jiuli Sect, with whom there was a long history, Zhou Wuqing—or rather, Zhou Qing—was incredibly strong, but he had no desire to join the official system nor shown interest in returning to the Jiuli Sect. To the BES, he was ultimately an "outsider."

As an official representative, the BES could not appear to be leaning on others, betting the safety of Liangzhou on an outsider with whom they had little interaction.

Ultimately, the existence of the BES was a testament to the state’s monopoly on violence. As an executor of that violence, Lyu Zhenhai understood the confidence it provided. The nation would keep turning regardless of any individual; it was merely a matter of speed.

His phone rang. Lyu Zhenhai answered, and a specialist’s report came through.

"Supervisor Lyu, emergency!" The voice on the other end was trembling. "The four observation stations just reported simultaneously: the Peach Blossom Spring members held inside have all died suddenly. The interval between deaths was less than five minutes. The cause of death in all cases was that their spirit centers had been completely drained."

"A high-energy spiritual reaction has appeared 20 kilometers outside the city... the team escorting the prisoner to Yizhou has completely lost contact... all units in the city are moving to provide backup!"