Cultivation of Immortality: Start by Improving Spiritual Root Qualifications

Chapter 995 Zhou Xun interrogates, and we meet again with a thousand faces!
Zhou Xun did not answer, and slowly released the suppression of his own aura.

A vast and powerful pressure, far exceeding the Core Formation level, instantly filled the entire sealed reception room!

Lu Hanqing was the first to be hit, feeling an indescribable and terrifying force pressing down on him, his bones creaking and his soul trembling!
His eyes widened, his face filled with horror!
"Transformation... Transformation God! You are the Transformation God Heavenly Lord!!"

He shouted incoherently:

"Senior! We are complete strangers, there must be some misunderstanding!"

"Please, senior, spare my life for the sake of my Lu family! My Lu family will repay you handsomely! Spirit stones, magic treasures, pills—just ask, senior, and my Lu family will..."

"The Lu family? A generous reward?"

Zhou Xun chuckled and interrupted him.

He stepped forward slowly, looking down at Lu Hanqing, and said, word by word:

"If you knew my real name, would you still say such ridiculous things?"

Lu Hanqing suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with confusion.

Zhou Xun's voice wasn't loud, but it exploded in Lu Hanqing's ears like thunder:

"Listen carefully, I am—the Heavenly Lord of the River of Oblivion!"

"The... Heavenly Lord of the River of Oblivion?!"

Lu Hanqing was struck as if by a bolt of lightning from the heavens, frozen in place, his mind blank!
He knew that name all too well!

Isn't this the senior member whose name is listed at the top of the family's most wanted list?

Is this the very being that Ancestor Lu Xinghai hates to the bone and vows to capture and kill?

If this person were found anywhere else on any normal day, Lu Hanqing would be overjoyed and report it to his family immediately in order to receive a great reward and credit.

But now... now he himself has fallen into the hands of this wicked star!
The other party and the Lu family have a blood feud, and there is absolutely no room for negotiation!

How could I possibly be any better off?

Lu Hanqing felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, his whole body was ice cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cave!
At this moment, he dared not think about any rewards or merits; his only thought was how to save his own life from this god of death!

Zhou Xun straightened up, his gaze cold, and said indifferently:

"You are well aware of my methods, and you understand my relationship with the Lu family even better."

"I ask, you answer."

"Perhaps you still have a sliver of a chance to survive."

Upon hearing this, Lu Hanqing felt as if a drowning man had grasped at the last piece of driftwood.
He hurriedly kowtowed forcefully:

"Senior Wangchuan, please ask! This junior will certainly cooperate and answer to the best of my knowledge."

Zhou Xun nodded slightly and said:

"Name."

“Lu…Lu Hanqing!” he answered quickly, not daring to hesitate for a moment.

"Spiritual root aptitude".

"Sixty-eight points in metal affinity!" This was the foundation of his cultivation, and he dared not conceal it. Hearing this, Zhou Xun was astonished.
With its earth-elemental root aptitude, in the immortal realm, it would indeed be considered a seed for the Nascent Soul stage.

"age."

“Three hundred and eighty-seven years old!” His voice trembled, but he dared not hesitate for a moment.

Lu Hanqing answered the three most basic questions honestly and quickly.

Zhou Xun was extremely satisfied upon hearing this.
"Very good, you've been quite honest. I hope you'll continue to be so!"

Immediately, Zhou Xun's voice turned cold, each word striking Lu Hanqing's heart:

"Now, tell me, after I left Tian Shu City, what exactly did your Lu family do?"

Lu Hanqing trembled, feeling the chilling killing intent that was almost tangible.
He knew that the most crucial, and also the most dangerous, problem had arrived.

He dared not conceal anything, much less embellish, and could only recount everything he knew in a trembling voice:
"Reporting to the Heavenly Lord, after you left back then, Ancestor... Lu Xinghai was extremely furious."

He swallowed hard and continued with difficulty:
"The patriarch immediately ordered the entire city to be sealed off, prohibiting all internal and external transportation, and commanded all members of the Lu clan to leave the city in droves."

"We will conduct a full investigation and find everyone who has had contact with you, Heavenly Lord, even if they have only the slightest connection with you."

"The first to be affected... is the Qin family, where you once served as a guest minister."

At this point, Lu Hanqing's voice grew weaker and weaker, and he almost dared not look up at Zhou Xun's expression.

"The ancestor personally led the team to break through the Qin family's great formation and captured all members of the Qin family, from the Nine Thunder Heavenly Lord to women, children and servants."

"Then they publicly interrogated Nine Thunder Heavenly Lord about information concerning you, Heavenly Lord."

"Nine Thunder Heavenly Lord... frankly admits that he does not know!"

"The ancestor didn't believe it, and in his fury... he used the secret technique of soul searching..."

"Soul search!"

Zhou Xun's pupils suddenly contracted. He knew that after being subjected to such a secret technique, the best outcome would be damage to his soul, and the worst outcome would be death!

Immediately afterwards, a violent killing intent swept out as if it were a tangible force.

"Heavenly Lord, spare me! Spare me!" He was terrified.

Zhou Xun remained silent for a long while before calming himself down and saying coldly:

"Keep talking."

Lu Hanqing felt as if he had been granted a pardon, but dared not relax in the slightest, and continued to confess in a trembling voice:
"However, the soul search... also failed to yield the information the Ancestor desired, further enraging him, who believed that the Nine Thunder Heavenly Lord harbored malicious intentions,"

"Then, the Nine Thunder Heavenly Lord was publicly... publicly tortured and killed, as a warning to others."

"Including all the captured members of the Qin family, regardless of age or gender, they were all... all slaughtered. The entire Qin family, numbering one million... not a single chicken or dog was spared...!"

Zhou Xun forcibly suppressed his surging blood and qi, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth:

"anything else?"

Lu Hanqing didn't dare to pause and quickly said:
"And then... the Ancestor was still not satisfied, believing that anyone who befriended you, Heavenly Lord, might harbor malicious intentions."

"Therefore, an order was issued to conduct a thorough investigation. The Crimson Sun Heavenly Lord... and many others who were recorded as having had dealings with you, Heavenly Lord,"

“Even some cultivators who had only appeared at the same event before, regardless of their identity or cultivation level, were all found and killed…!”

really!

The Lu family, Lu Xinghai!

Zhou Xun knew that wallowing in anger would be useless; only by knowing himself and his enemy could he find an opportunity for revenge.

He continued to ask:
"Now, I will explain the situation of the Lu family in detail."

"Your Lu family must not conceal in the slightest the number of high-level cultivators, their cultivation levels, their preferred techniques and magical treasures, and their current locations."

Upon hearing this, Lu Hanqing dared not be negligent in the slightest, as it concerned his life.

He struggled to calm his trembling voice and laid out all the core intelligence he knew:

"Yes...yes, Heavenly Lord." "My Lu family...after what happened back then, although its power has increased, it has also lost some strength. Currently...currently, there are still two experts in the Void Refinement Realm in the family."

He carefully observed Zhou Xun's expression and continued:
"The first one is naturally Ancestor Lu Xinghai, whose cultivation has reached the peak of the mid-stage of the Void Refinement realm. It is said that... it is said that he is only one step away from the late stage."

"Our ancestor... he has vanished into the heavens, and we have no idea where he is!"

"The other one is Ancestor Xinghe, Lu Xinghe, whose cultivation is at the peak of the early stage of the Void Refinement realm. He has been stationed in the clan's territory for many years, overseeing all the clan's affairs here."

Zhou Xun's gaze narrowed slightly. With Lu Xinghe guarding the stronghold and the clan's sixth-order grand formation in place, unless a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator intervened,

Otherwise, there's nothing we can do about the Lu family!
"What about the Nascent Soul cultivators?" Zhou Xun pressed.

"Currently, there are thirteen Nascent Soul cultivators remaining in the direct lineage of our family." Lu Hanqing dared not conceal the truth.

"Among them, there are three at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, four at the middle stage, and the remaining six are all at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm,"

"They are……"

Next, Lu Hanqing recounted all the information he knew.

It is worth mentioning that his great-great-grandfather was actually a Nascent Soul cultivator of the Lu family, which explains why he was able to obtain the position of ruling Tian Shu City.

How could they know so much about the secrets of the Lu family's top leadership?

This has made things much easier for me in terms of my upcoming plans.

"In addition to the direct descendants, in recent years, in order to consolidate its power and deal with possible challenges, the family has also recruited many non-family members who have reached the Nascent Soul stage, offering them great benefits."

Lu Hanqing added, "As for the exact number, I haven't been in Tian Shu City for the past few years and have been far away from the family, so I'm not really sure!"

"However... as long as you give me time, I'm sure I can find out!"

Zhou Xun nodded slightly. The power of the guest elders should not be underestimated. Although their loyalty may not be high, they are still a huge threat when driven by interests.

Zhou Xun listened quietly, his eyes deep and unfathomable, like a still ancient well, engraving every word of this information concerning life and death, success and failure, into his heart.

The enemy is indeed powerful.

With his current strength, he is indeed incapable of completely destroying the Lu family.
However, he was quite confident that he could cripple the Lu family.

After all, with his current strength,

As long as a Void Refinement cultivator doesn't appear, basically no one can defeat him!
Lu Hanqing nervously recounted all the information he knew, and then the cave fell into a deathly silence.
Only his heavy, fearful breathing could be clearly heard.

He cautiously raised his head and looked at that ominous figure.

Zhou Xun's eyes were slightly closed, his face expressionless.
Time slipped away bit by bit, and every breath was like torture for Lu Hanqing.

He felt his heart was about to leap out of his chest, and cold sweat had already soaked through his inner shirt.

It felt like an eternity.
Zhou Xun slowly opened his eyes and looked at him.

Lu Hanqing humbly begged:

"S-senpai, I've told you everything I know, without holding anything back!"

"You...you promised before, could you...could you spare my life? I swear, I will immediately flee overseas and never reveal a word of what happened today!"

"Of course!"

"I promised to give you a chance to live."

"but……"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Xun's figure approached again like a ghost!
A hand crackling with purple lightning moved with lightning speed, ignoring all his fear and despair, and pressed directly onto the top of his head!
"Ugh—!"

Lu Hanqing only had time to let out a short, shrill scream.

He then felt an irresistible and terrifying force rush into his body, violently tearing apart his dantian!

Excruciating pain swept through my entire body, and my consciousness began to blur.

His nascent soul had been forcibly extracted from his body by Zhou Xun.

The nascent soul's face was filled with extreme fear and pain; it opened its mouth as if to cry out, but no sound came out.

At the same time, his life experiences began to unfold like a fleeting glimpse.
"Soul extraction!"

After a long while, they finally stopped.
'This Lu Hanqing is quite honest; what he said just now basically matches the information I obtained from the soul search, so he didn't deceive me.' He felt a chill in his heart.

"It's a pity you're so unlucky; your surname is Lu."

Zhou Xun's eyes were cold as he moved his fingertips, sending strands of restrictive spiritual light into the Nascent Soul's body.

It instantly sealed all the power of the nascent soul, and even its consciousness fell into a state of confusion and imprisonment.

After doing all this, Zhou Xun sealed the nascent soul into a specially made jade bottle that had been prepared beforehand.

Without even glancing at the lifeless, stiffening body on the ground, he raised his hand and unleashed a blazing purple lightning bolt.

In an instant, it turned to ashes.

Along with his clothes, storage bags, and everything else that might leave a trace, everything was burned completely, leaving no trace whatsoever.

The Lu family members, especially the core members, usually leave behind a soul lamp within the clan. Once they perish, the soul lamp will go out, immediately alerting the family.

Zhou Xun's decision not to immediately destroy Lu Hanqing's body and soul, but instead to preserve his nascent soul, naturally had its profound meaning.

What he wanted was to use Lu Hanqing's identity!
With a thought, Zhou Xun communicated with the Thousand Faces Mask.

A ripple like water spread across his face, his bones made a faint "clicking" sound, and his muscles and skin began to writhe and reshape as if they were alive.

In just a moment, the light faded, and standing there was another "Lu Hanqing"!
Whether it was his appearance, physique, demeanor, or the arrogant, metallic aura emanating from him,
Even some of the subtle, habitual movements were exactly the same as Lu Hanqing's before, so lifelike that it was hard to tell the difference!
Lu Hanqing moved his hands and feet, getting used to his "new" body.

“Very good, from this day forward, I shall be Lu Hanqing.”

He muttered to himself, his voice indistinguishable from the real person's.

With this identity, he could infiltrate the Lu family more deeply, gather information more easily, and even... seize the opportunity to act!

This planted seed might, in the future, bring unexpected "surprises" to the vast Lu family.

……

After doing all this, 'Lu Hanqing' carefully cleaned up all traces in the reception room, making sure that no magical fluctuations or clues were left behind.

He adjusted his facial expression before slowly pushing open the door to the reception room and walking out.

When the maid Yunshang, who was waiting outside, saw him come out, she quickly bowed and bowed, keeping her eyes downcast and not daring to look at him for long.

Lu Hanqing gave a faint "hmm," didn't even look at her, and walked straight out of the cave, his steps steady, just as when he came.

He then rode a golden beam of light befitting his status and flew towards the Forget-Worry Pavilion.

Soon after, a piece of news quietly spread within the Forget-Worry Pavilion:

The newly appointed guest alchemist, Chen Ping, has been recommended by Young Master Lu Hanqing due to his superb skills and extraordinary potential.

They were selected to go to the core ancestral home of the Lu clan for further study.
at the same time,

Young Master Lu Hanqing seems to have made some progress in his cultivation recently, and has gained some insights.
I have decided to begin my seclusion immediately, hoping to make further progress in my cultivation.

In fact, a figure had already quietly left Tian Shu City and flew towards the Lu clan's territory!

(End of this chapter)