Ning Zhuo’s dull, repressed life had begun to blossom with color.

With each successful theft, Sun Lingtong grew increasingly pleased with Ning Zhuo’s progress. “Little Zhuo, you learn so fast. You truly have a gift.”

“Why don’t you just join the Bukong Sect with me?”

Ning Zhuo hesitated, a troubled look on his face. “Though the Bukong Sect is your sect, Little Sun, its reputation isn’t the best.”

“I only want to rob the rich to aid the poor, to punish evil and promote good. I don’t want to truly become a thief.”

“Ah, this… Little Sun, I’m not talking about you. You’re different from the others, truly.”

“Alright, alright!” Sun Lingtong waved his hand dismissively. “I was just suggesting it. Forget it if you don’t want to.”

“You said you want to rob the rich to aid the poor, so let’s try something even more exciting. Hehe!”

Ning Zhuo was curious. “What’s more exciting?”

“Robbery!” Sun Lingtong’s eyes shone with fervor.

In a narrow alley, Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong, one in front and one behind, suddenly jumped out and surrounded a burly thug.

“Robbery!” Sun Lingtong shouted.

“Yes, yes!” Ning Zhuo nodded, a bit nervous on his first robbery.

The thug was initially startled, but then burst into laughter. “You two kids want to rob me?”

Sun Lingtong grew indignant. “How dare you underestimate me? Little Zhuo, get him!”

“Okay.” Ning Zhuo charged forward.

He was a Qi Refinement cultivator, but only at the first level.

The thug, on the other hand, was a martial artist, wielding inner Qi.

The two were evenly matched. But as the stalemate persisted, Sun Lingtong slammed a brick into the back of the thug’s head, knocking him unconscious.

Ning Zhuo was shocked. “He, he isn’t dead, is he?”

Sun Lingtong confidently brushed off the dust from his hands. “Don’t worry, I know my limits.”

Ning Zhuo succeeded in his robbery, but his spirits were low. He often seemed distracted, filled with worry.

Sun Lingtong noticed and chuckled, grabbing his hand. “Come on, let’s go back.”

“Go back? Why?”

Sun Lingtong led him back the way they came, guiding Ning Zhuo to witness the thug waking up!

The thug discovered that his belongings were gone, and flew into a rage, hurling curses!

He returned to his gang’s territory and proceeded to extort and swindle small stall owners to make up for his losses.

Ning Zhuo followed behind, his fists clenching in anger. “Let’s rob him again!”

A glint flashed in Sun Lingtong’s eyes, and he suddenly said, “Little Zhuo, have you considered that if we rob him, he’ll just become even more ruthless in harming the common folk!”

“Why don’t we just kill him directly, and erase him from this world altogether? There’s a better way.”

Ning Zhuo was taken aback, his face filled with shock. He stammered, “K-kill someone? That’s not right!”

He had never thought about killing.

Sun Lingtong smiled faintly and patted Ning Zhuo’s shoulder. “If you don’t want to, then forget it. I was just mentioning it in passing.”

Ning Zhuo’s face paled. “We can… we can teach him a lesson, give him a deep impression, and ensure he faces severe punishment.”

As the number of thefts and robberies grew, Ning Zhuo also matured rapidly in actual combat, shedding his former naiveté.

“Your mindset is still unstable and needs training! Follow me!” Sun Lingtong pulled Ning Zhuo along, affixing talismans to both of them, transforming them into two middle-aged men.

He took Ning Zhuo into a mortal gambling den, where they gambled heavily, sometimes winning, sometimes losing.

The intense atmosphere of the gambling house opened Ning Zhuo’s eyes.

After several hours of gambling, Sun Lingtong took Ning Zhuo home and asked him what he thought.

Ning Zhuo said he was enlightened. “So, that’s what these people are thinking.”

“Little Sun, you’re really amazing, as if you have mind-reading abilities!”

“You transmitted your voice to me, constantly analyzing the gamblers’ mindsets. From the changes in their expressions, you could deduce the size of their hands. It’s as magical as a spell.”

Sun Lingtong asked the crucial question: “How do you feel about gambling?”

Ning Zhuo shook his head. “I don’t like gambling. I prefer to follow a set path, accumulating step by step, to achieve success.”

“As long as you enter a gambling game, there’s a chance of losing. But if you become the person running the casino, then you’re the chess player. I’d rather be the chess player!”

“However, I also know that sometimes you have no choice but to gamble.”

Sun Lingtong clicked his tongue. “You don’t like the feeling of gambling? Just like my master?”

Every time they gambled, Sun Lingtong always won more than he lost. Occasionally, he would take Ning Zhuo to upscale restaurants and order a table full of delicacies to nourish Ning Zhuo’s body.

“Come on, little brother, let your big brother treat you to a drink!” Sun Lingtong pushed a wine cup towards Ning Zhuo. Both of them were transformed into adult men by the illusion talismans.

Ning Zhuo took a sip and coughed repeatedly. “Too spicy, it’s awful!”

Sun Lingtong shook his head. “You don’t understand. Alcohol is a good thing! He didn’t like drinking at first either, but in recent years, he’s repeatedly entered the cave, always waiting for his master, and gradually began to drown his sorrows in alcohol, experiencing the benefits of it.”

“I have a solution!” Sun Lingtong ordered sweet wine.

Ning Zhuo was able to drink this time.

The wine was sweet and not at all harsh, and then he got drunk.

His eyes were blurry, and his face flushed red.

Sun Lingtong helped him leave the restaurant.

On the way home, Ning Zhuo saw someone beckoning to him. “Two sirs, come and have some fun!”

He curiously pointed to the sign of the Red Blossom Pavilion. “Little Sun, this place should be a lot of fun.”

“Every time I pass by, I see people going in and out, and I can hear people singing and playing instruments inside.”

“It’s most lively here at night!”

“Let’s go in and have some fun, shall we? It should be very fun!”

But this time, Sun Lingtong’s face darkened. “No, we’re not going!”

“Little brother, how old are you? It’s too early for you for that!”

“Let’s go home. I’ll take you home!”

The Soul Searching continued.

In Sun Lingtong’s home, he was a prisoner, his soul separated from his body, held in the hands of the Inspecting Judge.

“The Inspecting Judge is one of the Four Great Ghost Deity Judges.”

“Even if I only summon an incarnation using the Treasure Seal to Summon the Divine, it’s not something a Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator like Sun Lingtong can withstand.”

“Even if the Empty, Empty, Nothingness Seal is powerful, it shouldn’t be able to withstand such intense, continuous Soul Searching from me!”

The Blind Judge Qi Bai’s face was cold.

However, even though Sun Lingtong’s soul constantly endured the agonizing pain of Soul Searching, even after half a day, Qi Bai had still not gained any progress.

“How can this be?”
Qi Bai was taken aback.

He snorted coldly, finally resorting to his superior innate talent.

“Nether-Piercing Death Gaze!”

In an instant, he could see again.

What appeared in his vision was a dim, gray world.

Only ghostly existences emanated eerie glows of green, blue, and other hues.

Qi Bai saw the Inspector Judge and Sun Lingtong’s souls!

The Inspector Judge’s avatar radiated a magnificent blue light, extremely stable, like a sparkling gem.

Sun Lingtong’s soul, on the other hand, emitted a green light, a rapidly surging wave.

This indicated that his soul was suffering intense harm, his emotions and mind in violent turmoil.

Whenever a wave threatened to break free, a seal would manifest deep within Sun Lingtong’s soul.

The seal, though faint, was resilient. When the wave tried to escape, it was influenced by the seal and immediately dissipated into nothingness.

Seeing this, Qi Bai immediately understood, “The Inspector Judge’s divine power is earth-shattering. Sun Lingtong cannot prevent the soul interrogation.”

“But the information gleaned from the soul search is all being illuminated by the Emptiness Seal, rendered blank.”

“An ordinary outer sect disciple could never achieve this!”

“I didn’t expect that Sun Lingtong, though not cultivating the orthodox Empty Sect’s techniques, has such profound comprehension of the sect’s Great Dao.”

“Pity, he specializes in the Virgin Boy Art! If he cultivated the Empty Sect’s orthodox techniques, his achievements would be astonishing.”

Qi Bai only glanced twice before immediately ceasing his use of the talent.

The Nether-Piercing Death Gaze talent was exceptionally powerful, definitely at the level of a celestial talent in terms of might.

However, it had a significant drawback, one that was difficult to avoid.

That was, each use consumed his eyes.

Over time, not only would his eyesight decline, but his eyes would eventually become completely necrotic.

Qi Bai’s excessive use of the talent had caused his blindness, which was extremely difficult to cure.

Many powerful healing methods, though capable of restoring his normal vision, would damage his talent.

After both eyes were blind, each time he used the Nether-Piercing Death Gaze, it would diminish his lifespan.

Thus, each use shortened his life.

The cost was very high.

“One use is enough!”

Qi Bai retrieved Sun Lingtong’s soul and stuffed it back into his physical body.

Qi Bai revealed a cold smile, “Next, Sun Lingtong, scream to your heart’s content!”

“My soul torture is unique within the entire sect!”

Qi Bai activated a spell, summoning various imps to climb onto Sun Lingtong’s body and pin him down.

His entire body surged with power, surrounded by a chilling wind.

He took out coffin nails and hammered them fiercely into the back of Sun Lingtong’s hands.

*Chih chih!*

With two soft sounds, Sun Lingtong’s hands were nailed to the pillars, his small body suspended in the air, his feet dangling.

Sun Lingtong’s eyes widened, a guttural sound escaping his throat. He stared fixedly at Qi Bai with eyes filled with fury.

Qi Bai, however, was surprised, “Why aren’t you screaming?”

“It doesn’t make sense!”

“I specifically returned your soul to your body, using physical torment to influence your soul, to amplify your pain!”

“Under my soul torture, you haven’t uttered a single sound?”

“Did you use some special magic to isolate the pain?”

“No, that’s not right. If you truly did, I couldn’t have failed to notice when I activated my talent just now.”

Qi Bai was suspicious and summoned Triangular Eyes and Hook Nose into the room.

He cast spells on the two of them, one with coffin nails, the other with soul torture!

Triangular Eyes screamed in agonizing misery, while Hook Nose’s eyes rolled back, frothing at the mouth, collapsing into unconsciousness after only a few breaths.

“That’s more like it!”

Qi Bai was relieved, turning to look at Sun Lingtong, his face cold and twisted, “I didn’t expect such a small body to house such a tough character!”

“Hehehe, I’ll see how long you can hold out!”

Qi Bai’s competitive spirit was aroused by Sun Lingtong.

He began to torture Sun Lingtong, employing all sorts of cruel punishments. He wanted to see Sun Lingtong weeping bitterly, he wanted to hear Sun Lingtong’s screams.

End of Chapter…