Test Subject

The power of Dugu's 10th Sword swirled around Wu Qianyu's body. It was a clear message. Anybody who approached her was going to pay. However, the attendants of the marriage ceremony were too invested. Their honor was on the line. Their peers were around them. Nobody felt like they could back down when nobody else did. A pack of sheep would have fled in the face of a single wolf but humans were different. They could think, they were arrogant. But they should have followed their instincts instead.

A random middle-aged man stepped in her way, dumbly trying to be brave. His body glowed red as flames appeared in his palms. He spouted something dumb but Wu Qianyu wasn't even listening.

The Purple Jade Sword flashed and the nondescript man flew away, spraying blood all over. A grievous slash wound was left diagonally on his chest but she had spared her life.

"Little girl! You dare?" Ao Yuanli shouted and raised a bullwhip.

It snaped out at Wu Qianyu's feet. The mercenary leader tried to stop her movements but her sword easily sliced through the whip like it was a piece of string.

"What… ahhhh!" Ao Yuanli's disbelief turned into horror as she was blown away by a strand of sword energy.

"Take them!" Wu Qianyu said as she advanced towards her target.

"Yes, Governor Wu!" Her enforcers responded and swarmed over the two that had fallen.

The people who still remained in front of her looked at each other apprehensively. Her strength was far beyond their expectations. The weapon she carried was too powerful, her sword energy was too strong. They all then turned to Hong Tian, the principal of the Black River Canyon School. It was the strongest sect and he was the strongest cultivator among them all.

"Young lady, you are simply too unruly! Let me instruct you properly!" Hong Tian declared and drew his sword.

It flashed out and danced in the air in an intricate pattern.

"Black River Sword!"

"Wow!"

The audience shouted their praises. It was the strongest sword style in the province. It was filled with designed poses and movements like a choreographed dance. It was many times more impressive than Dugu's 10th Sword which focused on nothing else besides simple power and principle of the sword, which was for killing!

"Black River Snake Fang!" Hong Tiang shouted and made his move.

His steps were fancy. His movements were pretty. His sword made a lot of noise as it whirled in the air. But in the end, it was still a trashy mortal art created by a mortal cultivator to satisfy his own vanity. It was nothing compared to a true immortal sword art!

First Movement, Slash the World!

Nobody saw what happened. One moment, Hong Tian was about to teach Wu Qianyu a lesson. The next, his sword was shattered and he was almost split into two, falling back with a vertical wound that extended from the top of his head down to his groin. He could let out a weak, bloody gurgle as he fainted.

The resistance broke. Their will to fight disappeared. It was as if everyone suddenly realized that Wu Qianyu was an immortal disciple once again. She was simply an untouchable existence. Who knew what other secrets she held?

The first one to kneel, ironically, was Ye Zongxie. The sect master of the Shattered Peak Sect, known for their cowardice during the monster invasion, was a coward. It wasn't surprising anyone except for one.

"Father?" Ye Wuzhi said incredulously, the pain of betrayal evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry, son." Ye Zongxie muttered, his head pressed firmly on the ground in capitulation.

The rest of the people in the engagement ceremony gave up soon after. Ye Wuzhi was tied up and dragged out of the build into the waiting carriages outside. The same happened to Ao Yuanli and Hong Tian.

"Where is Nalan Wan'er?" Wu Qianyu asked.

"She is in the back room. She is currently sedated with medicine."

"Why?"

Ye Zongxie muttered something intelligible and refused to say anything else. Wu Qianyu guessed that the bride was unwilling and was being forced.

"Uncle San, take this man away too."

"Why! But…"

"Yes, at once!"

---

Wu Qianyu left with the enforcers and returned to the Crime and Punishment Department. The lesser characters were given to San Huming to lock up for a while. She didn't really care about people standing up for themselves. The most Ao Yuanli and Hong Tian would suffer was being locked up for a few days. She even sent them some medicine to recover.

The main culprits, Ye Wuzhi and Ye Zongxie, were hers. She was going to interrogate them personally. She was going to find out the truth and at the same time, she was going to test out her Dao of pain.

Wu Qianyu walked into an enclosed stone chamber. There was only one entrance, the doorway which she came from. Several lamps hung from the walls, providing weak flickering light which illuminated a man limply hanging from chains that were attached to the ceiling. It was Ye Wuzhi.

The man was still wearing his wedding regalia but his hair was now a mess and his face sported a few bruises from rough treatment by the enforcers. Unlike his father, Ye Wuzhi was only at the beginning levels of the Spirit Initiate Realm, the third to be exact. He was the perfect test subject.

"You…" He said weakly. He raised his head and glared at her, "You can't do this to me!"

Wu Qianyu didn't reply. Him being stubborn made her feel better. If he started spewing his guts at the first sign of trouble, she would lose someone to experiment on.

She closed her eyes and meditated for a while. She recalled the experiences of pain she had gone through in her past as well as the countless times within the dream array. She recalled the feeling she had as she broke through, the way she was able to connect with pain.

Pain was a strange thing. It was mental but it was also physical. It was capable of affecting the body, mind, and spirit at the same time. Its power was profound and held infinite potential.

Wu Qianyu wasn't armed. She couldn't use the Purple Jade Sword as the soul within it cultivate Dugu's 10th Sword. It would interfere with her Dao too much.

She held out two fingers in one hand and aimed at Ye Wuzhi's right arm. She closed her eyes and summoned spiritual energy from deep within her. At first, it was simply formless and without any attributes. She persisted, injecting her memories and experiences into the ball of spiritual energy that began to form on the tip of her fingers.

Poof!

The spiritual energy gathered suddenly dissipated. She had tried too hard, forced too much.

She tried again, forming a smaller ball. It was stable this time and she could sense the familiar aura within, one of pain.

She then pressed the ball of energy against Ye Wuzhi's arm. His spiritual aura surged, trying to resist. But soon, his face contorted. Veins popped out in his arms. His fingers twisted in odd directions as he strained against his shackles.

"Ahhhh! Shittttt!!!!" He howled over and over again until the agony passed.

He went limp, panting heavily, "What… what did you do to me?"

Wu Qianyu simply summoned another ball of pain on the tip of her fingers.

"No!" He shouted, "No! Don't… AhhhHHH!!"

---

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