Chapter 51 of 100

Chapter 51: Soul-Stabilizing Pill

14 min read3,542 words

Ding Hao was furious in his heart.

It was clear that Tang Dazhanggui and his companions had already uncovered the truth, but to frame Ding Hao, they had killed the female shopkeeper to eliminate a witness.

Dugu knew he had misspoken and was left speechless, unable to say a word.

Ling Yunxiao understood the situation and was enraged. He said, "In the will of heaven, to kill a citizen of Wuzhou without cause! Dugu, you cannot explain this matter, and I will hold you accountable with your life!"

Dugu vehemently denied, "I didn't kill her!"

Ding Hao angrily retorted, "Then why did you know about the Wu family seed shop as soon as I mentioned it?"

"What are you barking about?" Tang Dazhanggui also stood up, secretly cursing Dugu for his incompetence. He then continued, "City Lord Ling, this is what happened. After discovering that Ding Hao was a demon cultivator, I sent Dugu to investigate in the border village. That's why he knew about the Wu family seed shop, and then he found out that the female shopkeeper was already dead."

His explanation seemed logical. He pointed at Ding Hao and shouted again, "Little beast! Did you kill her to eliminate a witness? You, a demon and a devil, are capable of anything!"

Ding Hao's eyes were cold as he looked at Tang Dazhanggui and said, "Demons and devils are not as ruthless as you. The most ruthless people in the world are those like you, who appear righteous on the surface but act like beasts! You will be punished!"

Tang Dazhanggui was furious and accused, "City Lord Ling, look at this Wuzhou genius openly supporting demons and slandering our righteous immortal masters!" He slapped his storage pouch and took out a small golden copper furnace.

"Little beast, don't think that just because you have the blessing of an immortal, you can escape. Once you enter my treasure furnace, I will refine you for three days, and you will surely confess!"

Seeing that he was about to act, Ling Yunxiao quickly stepped forward.

"Tang Dazhanggui, hold on!" Ling Yunxiao stood in front of Ding Hao and said, "Tang Dazhanggui, you are a senior, and I respect you. But now, without evidence or a clear understanding of the facts, you want to refine a Wuzhou genius. I cannot agree to this!"

Tang Dazhanggui pointed at him and roared, "Isn't this evidence? This is the evidence that my clan member Dulong risked his life to obtain, and it cannot be questioned!"

Ling Yunxiao waved his hand and said, "This is not evidence. The doubts inside have already been explained by Ding Hao! He is not a demon cultivator! Tang Dazhanggui, this is Wuzhou, not Tangzhou!"

"You!" Tang Dazhanggui's white beard fluttered as he shouted in anger, "City Lord Ling, are you protecting him?"

Ling Yunxiao proudly said, "I have nothing to hide."

Tang Dazhanggui shouted again, "What about his cultivation? As far as I know, he was only at the First Stage of Innate when he left Wuzhou City, and he was at the Third Stage of Innate when he left the border village. In just a few days, he broke through to the Seventh Stage of Innate! This kind of improvement is unprecedented! Ling Yunxiao, I want to ask you, how long did it take you to go from the First Stage of Innate to the Seventh Stage?"

Ding Hao's heart sank. He had always feared that his rapid cultivation breakthrough would be a weakness, and it had come to this.

His rapid cultivation progress was probably the only thing that could be used against him.

Ling Yunxiao was very calm, "He is a genius, with a spirit aperture that can reach twenty meters high! Have you ever seen such a genius before? Geniuses have their special qualities. What's wrong with rapid advancement? You say he is a demon cultivator, but are all demon cultivators necessarily fast in their cultivation?"

Tang Dazhanggui gritted his teeth and held the small copper furnace, "City Lord Ling, step aside! Let me catch him and put him in the furnace. I will break his protective aura and make him suffer until he speaks!"

Ling Yunxiao shouted, "Where are the Iron Hoof Eighty Riders?"

"Here!" A loud voice came from outside, and the Iron Hoof Eighty Riders entered, surrounding Ding Hao.

Tang Dazhanggui's white beard fluttered violently as he roared, "Ling Yunxiao, are you rebelling? Do you look down on Emperor Tang?"

Ling Yunxiao said, "If Emperor Tang comes and wants to take my people, he must give a reason!"

"Fine, fine, fine!"

Tang Dazhanggui was furious and paced back and forth for a while. Then he suddenly took out a small bottle and said, "This is a bottle of Soul-Stabilizing Pills. After taking one, the spirit will be locked, and he will answer any question! City Lord Ling, this is my final request. If you do not agree, I will report to Emperor Tang!"

"This..." Ling Yunxiao hesitated.

Ding Hao stepped forward and said loudly, "Soul-Stabilizing Pill! Fine! I can accept the interrogation with the Soul-Stabilizing Pill! But I have one condition: after I take it, Dugu must also take it! I have a few questions for him too!"

Tang Dazhanggui was furious, "You are still making conditions?"

Ling Yunxiao said, "I think this is a reasonable request. If Ding Hao can take it, why can't Dugu?"

Tang Dazhanggui said, "Let him take it first!"

Ding Hao stepped forward, took a Soul-Stabilizing Pill, and said loudly, "My name, Hao, means righteousness and grandeur! The Soul-Stabilizing Pill is just about telling the truth, and I am not afraid!"

With that, the pill spun in his hand and he swallowed it.

Ling Yunxiao and the Iron Hoof Eighty Riders burst out, "Good! Truly a fine man of Wuzhou!"

Tang Dazhanggui gritted his teeth and asked, "Ding Hao, how do you feel now?"

Ding Hao's eyes were vacant, and his pupils moved slowly. He replied, "My head feels very heavy."

Tang Dazhanggui, who had never taken it himself, felt it was about right and asked, "Did you practice demon techniques?"

"No."

"Did you practice demonic techniques?"

"No."

"Did you practice ghostly techniques?"

"No."

"Then why did you advance so quickly? What is your secret?"

"Yes, I have a secret!"

Ding Hao's words made Tang Dazhanggui's heart leap with joy. He thought, "I've finally gotten your secret out." His old eyes flashed with light, "What secret? Speak quickly!"

Ding Hao said, "My secret is my growth-type immortal root, the Flame Beast! No one knows, but my immortal root also has a skill! My immortal root skill is called 'Rapid Ascension.' When I cultivate, my progress is extremely fast, and breaking through bottlenecks is much easier than for others..."

Hearing this, Ling Yunxiao burst out laughing, "Heaven blesses Wuzhou! Wuzhou is fortunate! The immortal root skill, 'Rapid Ascension'! With such an immortal root skill, it's natural for him to advance quickly. This child is a genius that Wuzhou encounters once in a million years!"

The Iron Hoof Eighty Riders below were all excited and shouted, "Heaven blesses Wuzhou! Wuzhou is fortunate!"

Tang Dazhanggui's suspicious eyes flashed, and he shouted, "Nonsense! I have never heard of an immortal root skill called 'Rapid Ascension'!"

Ling Yunxiao mocked, "If you knew everything, Tang Dazhanggui, you would have long ventured into the Immortal Refinement World."

Tang Dazhanggui was furious, "Are you mocking me for not being qualified to stay in the Immortal Refinement World? Didn't you also get eliminated?"

Ling Yunxiao proudly said, "Being eliminated is not a problem. But my junior, a descendant of Wuzhou, is such a genius, and that is enough! I will tell you, Dazhanggui, since Ding Hao has such an immortal root, I will protect him! Such a genius is the pride of Wuzhou and will not be suppressed or destroyed by petty people!"

Tang Dazhanggui was furious at being called a petty person. He was very suspicious of Ding Hao's words, but Ding Hao had clearly taken the Soul-Stabilizing Pill. Could this boy have a way to suppress the effects of the pill?

He decided to test him and asked, "Ding Hao, what do you think of me?"

Ding Hao's eyes were still vacant, and he said slowly, "You are an old beast, utterly shameless, a white-haired rascal who has done countless evil deeds and deserves to be punished by all!"

Tang Dazhanggui almost spat out a mouthful of blood and jumped up, "I will kill you!"

Ling Yunxiao laughed, "Tang Dazhanggui, although Ding Hao's words were disrespectful, doesn't this prove that the Soul-Stabilizing Pill is effective? If it were ineffective, he would never dare to say such things! Now that Ding Hao has passed the Soul-Stabilizing Pill test, let's end this matter here!"

Tang Dazhanggui was furious, but the Soul-Stabilizing Pill had been used, and he had not gotten any information. The world is vast, but it cannot escape the word 'reason.' If he continued to cause trouble, he would only lose face.

However, Ding Hao did not stop. He said slowly, "City Lord Ling, it was agreed that after I take it, Dugu will take it."

Ling Yunxiao came to his senses and shouted, "That's right, Dugu, take one, and I will ask you some questions..."

Before Ling Yunxiao could finish, a general ran in and knelt down, "City Lord, please do me justice! My sister-in-law runs a seed shop in the border village, and she was killed! City Lord, please find the murderer and make him pay!"

"Good!" Ling Yunxiao pointed at Dugu and said, "Now the aggrieved party is here. Dugu, take a Soul-Stabilizing Pill and let the aggrieved party ask you a few questions! It's that simple!"

Dugu's face was filled with panic, and he took two steps back, "No, no, no, I won't take it! I didn't kill anyone, I don't need to take it."

Seeing this, the city lord's deputy general was even more convinced. He stood up and shouted, "You beast! What grudge did you have with my sister-in-law that you had to kill her! You must pay with your life, pay with your life!"

Tang Dazhanggui, with his white hair and beard, stood to the side, his face awkward. He did not expect the situation to turn around. He stepped forward and said, "City Lord Ling, I think we should end this matter here. We will not disturb you further."

Ling Yunxiao slammed the table, "Tang Dazhanggui, do you think the people of Wuzhou are easy to bully?"

"This..." Tang Dazhanggui's face was very ugly, but at this moment, he knew he had to stand firm. He coldly said, "City Lord Ling, what do you mean?"

"Nothing, just seeking justice!" Ling Yunxiao's eyes were filled with anger.

Tang Dazhanggui sneered, "It's just one person who died. Dugu is an immortal master! The one who died was just at the Innate stage! Does an immortal master need to pay with his life for killing an Innate? Is that the rule in Wuzhou?"

In this world, immortal masters and Innate cultivators are absolutely different! An Innate killing an immortal master will surely die; an immortal master killing an Innate is nothing; geniuses are the exception!

Since Tang Dazhanggui had said this, Ling Yunxiao could not insist on making Dugu pay with his life. He said, "Since that's the case, the death penalty can be waived! But the Soul-Stabilizing Pill must be taken! I can spare his life, but I must hear the truth from him! Tang Dazhanggui, are you afraid to speak the truth?"

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