Mortal: Starting with the Golden Jade Book

Watching Lin Zui transform two Heavenly Fire Talismans into a giant scythe of magical power, the man in black finally understood. It turned out that Lin Zui wasn't using his own magical power, but was merely manipulating the talismans. However, being able to control the talismans to this extent was already quite unbelievable.

The man in black didn't believe that a single defensive talisman could stop the attack, and immediately forgot about preparing any trump cards or killer moves.

He recalled the shield that had been knocked aside and held it in front of him, pouring all his magical power into the protective barrier in front of him, ready to hide outside the barrier as soon as he had the chance.

If the formation still can't defeat the opponent, leave the formation and these subordinates behind to delay them, and then immediately escape. It seems the opponent might not be able to catch up with him.

However, despite his good intentions, he underestimated the power of Lin Zui's attack.

The top-tier magical artifact-level Yin Soul Shield shattered inch by inch the moment the scythe struck, and at the same time, the scythe also broke into two pieces in the violent collision.

However, before the man in black could show any joy, Lin Zui, who had followed closely behind, grabbed the broken half of the scythe and slashed at the shield formed by the defensive talisman once again.

The firelight and the shield's aura faded and disappeared. Before the man in black could make another move, the "talisman armor" around Lin Zui lit up with a spiritual light, and golden threads and wooden vines emerged, instantly binding the man in black tightly.

Lin Zui flicked out several talismans that restricted magical power and stuck them on the man in black. Then he looked at the henchmen around him.

Lin Zui's movements were so fast that these people didn't even have time to react before the man in black was captured.

At this moment, the group exchanged glances, realizing they were no match for the enemy. They immediately abandoned their efforts to maintain the formation and turned to flee in different directions.

"Hmph, trying to escape?"

Lin Zui snorted coldly, and the "rune armor" on his legs lit up with spiritual light, instantly pushing Lin Zui's speed to the limit. He rushed out with a trail of afterimages and caught up with one of them in an instant.

After a slight hesitation, instead of killing him directly, he used the golden threads generated by the golden thread talisman to bind the other person, and then turned to chase after the other person.

A moment later, the man in black and his six subordinates were neatly tied together, their bodies covered with various restrictive talismans.

They took out a black flying boat, threw the group onto it, and the flying boat immediately soared into the sky, heading towards the outside of the city.

……

Several hours later, in a valley deep within Yanliang Mountain, the interrogation was drawing to a close.

Lin Zui sat to the side, holding two similarly shaped, jet-black soul banners in his hands, and shook his head with a wry smile.

"I never imagined that this thing would expose my whereabouts. Who would have thought?"

Of the two soul banners in Lin Zui's hands, one was naturally the Blood Soul Banner he obtained several years ago after killing the Ghost Spirit Sect's envoy. As for the other banner, it belonged to the black-clad man Ming Luo in front of him.

According to Mingluo, the two soul banners were originally one, which could be separated into two magical artifacts or combined to attack enemies, unleashing even greater power. Because the two of them were going to infiltrate the Yue Kingdom, they were given this magical artifact by their superiors.

In order to control Yan Feng, Lin Zui used the Yin spirit in the Blood Soul Banner to perform a soul-possessing technique on him. Originally, this soul-possessing technique was completely without trace, and no abnormality could be seen from the surface. However, Ming Luo sensed the abnormality in Yan Feng's body due to the mutual resonance between the two banners.

After being tortured, Yan Feng, though quite afraid of the Seven Ghosts Devouring Souls, eventually succumbed to the pressure from the Ghost Spirit Sect and confessed everything about Lin Zui.

"So, the reason you led your men to ambush me was to retrieve this Blood Soul Banner and avenge that dead man from back then?"

"Fellow Daoist, you jest. I only wanted to retrieve the Blood Soul Banner. As for revenge... I have no time for such thoughts."

"Hmph, as expected of the Ghost Spirit Sect, they're really pragmatic."

Lin Zui chuckled, then suddenly realized something.

"Besides you, who else knows about this? You can report this to the higher-ups of the Ghost Spirit Sect."

"No, no, the higher-ups are preparing for something important. How could I dare to trouble them with such trivial matters?"

Minglu shook his head repeatedly, appearing to be telling the truth.

"The big deal you're talking about, is it that your Ghost Spirit Sect wants to turn the Yan Family Fortress against you?"

Lin Zui suddenly changed the subject, and as soon as he asked that question, Ming Luo's eyes widened in surprise.

"This...this matter..."

"How did I find out about this, didn't I?"

"I not only know that your Ghost Spirit Sect wants to turn the Yan Family Fortress against its leader, but I also know that your Ghost Spirit Sect's young master, Wang Chan, wants to cultivate the Blood Spirit Technique with Yan Ruyan."

Lin Zui stared intently into Ming Luo's eyes, his words threatening to shock.

"I also know that the six sects of the demonic path have been eager to make their move for a long time. They have probably already started to attack small countries like Jiang and Cheqi. After they have pacified these countries, it will be my Yue Kingdom's turn. And turning Yan Family Fortress against them is the prelude to your demonic invasion."

Mingluo broke out in a cold sweat. He had only vaguely heard about most of the things Lin Zui was talking about and was not sure how this person knew them.

Just as he was wondering whether to make up some excuse to cover it up, Lin Zui flicked his finger and a spark of spiritual light entered Ming Luo's brow.

After the spiritual light entered the body, it instantly transformed into countless fine strands of spiritual energy, which rapidly traveled within the body and quickly pierced into various vital acupoints of the Netherworld.

Mingluo's body stiffened, and the excruciating pain caused him to scream and roll around.

Lin Zui remained indifferent, allowing Ming Luo to be relentlessly tormented by the thousand needles for a quarter of an hour before finally waving his hand to withdraw the spiritual light.

"I am not one of those pedantic and boring orthodox cultivators who have many taboos in their actions. I have plenty of methods here that are as torturous as these thousand-hair needles. If you don't want to experience them one by one, you'd better not have any ulterior motives."

"Yes...yes...I will never dare to do it again."

Exhausted and weak, Mingluo answered, his gaze towards Lin Zui filled with nothing but fear.

"Tell me, what is your real mission in Yan Family Fortress?"

"Originally, my Ghost Spirit Sect had no interest in Yan Family Fortress. Like the other seven sects, we sent several spies to infiltrate and pass on information. It was only a few years ago, because of Yan Feng, that we learned that Yan Family Fortress had produced a girl with a Heavenly Spirit Root. That's why the young master sent more people over, preparing to find an opportunity to kidnap Yan Ruyan and take her back."

"Oh, kidnapping?"

Lin Zui's eyes flickered; he hadn't expected that Wang Chan had the same idea as him.

"Yes, we originally intended to just capture that woman, but for some reason, the young master seemed to have taken an interest in the entire Yan Family Fortress, so we all went into hiding. We did manage to subdue some of the lower-ranking disciples of the Yan Family Fortress, but we didn't take any drastic actions until further instructions were given..."

Mingluo dared not conceal anything and recounted everything in detail. As Lin Zui listened, he had already begun to have other ideas in his mind.

He had originally planned to recruit a group of Yan Family Fortress disciples as spies to work together from the inside and outside, and then use them to plot against Yan Ruyan. But now it seems that the Ghost Spirit Sect spies in front of him are more suitable than the Yan Family Fortress cultivators.

Carrying the banner of the Ghost Spirit Sect, even if the people of Yan Family Fortress discover that they are doing something underhanded, they dare not go too far because of the power of the Ghost Spirit Sect. They can hide behind the scenes and secretly control some key figures in Yan Family Fortress, which will make it much safer when they want to take advantage of the situation in the future.

Moreover, with them around, they might be able to add fuel to the fire when Wang Chan sets up the Blood Spirit Array to sacrifice the disciples of the seven sects. In the event of chaos, they would have a better chance of escaping.

Having figured all this out, Lin Zui smiled and looked at Ming Luo and his men.

"Do you... want to live or die?"