Chapter 20 Cooperation

The destinations led to by the five passages were vastly different.

If one could not accurately determine which passage the Blood Corpse actually used to escape in the first moment, even a slight delay,

would allow the cunning Demon Cultivator, with just this short amount of time, to switch identities and blend into the vast Yuanshan City.

By then, searching for him would not be as easy as it is now.

However, facing this situation, Jiang Rong's face showed not a hint of nervousness.

Instead, he stood in place, waiting for something.

Before long, a wave of green light flashed over the jade pendant at Jiang Rong's waist.

Jiang Rong read the information in the green wave.

"Target has been captured."

A slight smile played upon Jiang Rong's lips.

Demon Cultivators are cunning and would not fail to prepare several escape routes at their hide-outs.

He had known the location of the Blood Corpse for some time, so why had he not acted at once, and instead, had a casual drink in a nearby tavern?

It was to allow time to thoroughly investigate all potential escape routes of the Blood Corpse.

It was not easy to deduce the exits of the escape routes, but clearly, they could not be too far from this small residence, or they would easily be discovered.

Moreover, something as crucial as an escape route would certainly be personally scouted by the Blood Corpse.

Combining these two points, Jiang Rong had his men gather all the locations where the Blood Corpse had appeared near the small residence.

And at those locations, he set a dragnet to ensure that the Blood Corpse would have no escape, and his capture would be flawless.

Jiang Rong had served as the deputy master of Yuanshan Tower for nearly a hundred years, combating the Demon Cultivators of the Netherworld for nearly a century.

His methods had long become shrewd and ruthless.

If Demon Cultivators were cunning, he was even more so.

....

This was a dilapidated courtyard located just two miles from the small residence.

Within the overgrown backyard, once abandoned, now gathered many Cultivators clad in black robes.

"The deputy Tower Master has arrived,"

said someone within the crowd.

The lined-up crowd quickly parted, forming a path and revealing the Blood Corpse, who was tightly bound with golden ropes at the back.

The Supreme Quality Mortal Artifact grade Spirit Binding Rope.

Spirit Binding Rope is one of the standard Magic Artifacts assigned to all members of the Dantai Tower.

It can stretch indefinitely when a Cultivator infuses it with Spiritual Power, its purpose being to trap enemies and prevent them from circulating Spiritual Power within their body.

Spirit Binding Rope is an essential Magic Artifact for capturing Demon Cultivators.

Because Demon Cultivators would never willingly allow themselves to be taken alive, often choosing to incite their internal Spiritual Power to commit suicide when there truly is no escape.

For Lower Grade Demon Cultivators, if they choose suicide, at worst it prevents Dantai Tower from interrogating them for intelligence.

But if a Nascent Soul Realm Demon Cultivator chooses to explode their Nascent Soul, even though they will undoubtedly be dead, the damage caused by the explosion can lead to the sacrifice of many Dantai Tower members, resulting in heavy losses for the tower.

To cope with this situation, the Spirit Binding Rope was researched and created.

Jiang Rong moved through the crowd, looking down at the Blood Corpse lying on the ground, struggling weakly, his gaze indifferent and even carrying a trace of murderous intent.

But Jiang Rong was very calm; the greatest value of a Demon Cultivator taken alive lies not in his life but in the information he possesses.

So, now was not the time to kill him.

Jiang Rong waved his hand: "Take him back to the tower and interrogate him thoroughly."

"Yes, deputy Tower Master," replied the black-robed Cultivators.

Then, the black-robed Cultivators, escorting the Blood Corpse ensnared by the Spirit Binding Rope, quickly departed.

In less than a moment, the courtyard was empty once more.

Action swift and precise, this is Yuanshan Tower, an organization starkly different from the many Sects.

.....

Within Yuanshan Tower.

Dantai Qingrun and Lu Qingshan faced each other without a word.

Jiang Rong opened the door and walked in.

Dantai Qingrun looked toward Jiang Rong, who nodded.

Dantai Qingrun's tone was cool as he began, "State your purpose."

Indeed, Yuanshan Tower lived up to its reputation. Within less than two hours of receiving his intelligence, they had located the lair of the Blood Corpse Real Person and captured him.

Lu Qingshan couldn't help but inwardly praise the efficiency of Yuanshan Tower.

After composing himself, Lu Qingshan slowly said, "Cooperation."

"Cooperation? You mean you want us at Yuanshan Tower to cooperate with you, a second level Qi Refinement Cultivator?"

Lu Qingshan shook his finger, speaking softly, "Tower Master Dantai, that's not the way to calculate it.

My Cultivation may indeed be low, but what I'm offering is not myself, but intelligence."

Pausing for a moment, Lu Qingshan spoke again, "I have a lot of classified intelligence. With my help, you can precisely strike at the hidden forces of the Netherworld.

Even if you do not feel such a deep sense of duty to strike against the Netherworld, the merits of eradicating their forces could at least help you rise rapidly within Yuanshan Tower."

Dantai Qingrun and Jiang Rong exchanged glances.

"We need to consider this," Jiang Rong said to Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan nodded and replied, "Of course."

Lu Qingshan turned and left the room, giving the two space.

Watching Lu Qingshan leave the room, Jiang Rong flicked his sleeve, and a puff of grey mist flew out, quickly spreading and filling the room.

This was a silencing enchantment used to prevent eavesdropping.

"How about that Blood Corpse Real Person, is the information accurate?" Dantai Qingrun asked with a frown.

Jiang Rong nodded, "We're arranging for personnel to interrogate him for intelligence. Although he hasn't confessed anything yet, his identity as a Demon Cultivator is certain."

"This Blood Corpse Real Person has been lurking in Yuanshan City for over a decade, outwardly posing as a Loose Cultivator. With years of careful operation, there wasn't a single slip-up. If it wasn't for this Lu Qingshan, our intelligence system would have found it very difficult to uncover his real identity."

"This Lu Qingshan is no simple character."

Dantai Qingrun tapped the desk lightly with his finger and asked, "Have we clarified Lu Qingshan's identity?"

"All cleared up. Just as he claimed, he is indeed a member of the Lu Family. However, what's strange is that three months ago, he was just an ordinary mortal taking care of the Lu Family's secular business. On his way transporting goods, their caravan was attacked, and he vanished without a trace."

"When he reappeared, he was already in Yuanshan City and had suddenly become a second level Qi Refinement Cultivator," Jiang Rong said gravely.

"Three months... second level Qi Refinement, interesting..." Dantai Qingrun murmured thoughtfully.

Jiang Rong pondered before adding, "The key point is, Lu Qingshan has no reason to know so much. The intelligence on the Netherworld that even our Yuanshan Tower's system finds hard to clarify, how did he come by it?"

"But he seems to be quite sincere. Before proposing a collaboration, he gave us a piece of intelligence."

Jiang Rong nodded, "That's true."

"I think we can try a preliminary cooperation with him." Dantai Qingrun offered his thoughts.

Jiang Rong was silent for a moment before asking, "What if this Lu Qingshan is actually from the Netherworld, feigning cooperation with us, and subsequently provides false intelligence to mislead our actions?"

"The chances of that are very slim. The Netherworld wouldn't send a second level Qi Refinement Cultivator for such a task, nor would they make it so suspicious. They have many more reasonable ways to send us false intelligence."

Jiang Rong's tone turned frosty, "An unlikely chance still means it could happen.

We could choose to control Lu Qingshan, make him divulge what he knows.

If he's uncooperative, we could even employ the Soul Search Technique to pry out intelligence."

Dantai Qingrun looked at Jiang Rong and explained, "But if we do that, it will inevitably cause his fierce resistance, and we might cause some unforeseen accidents because of these harsh measures.

Even if we could get intelligence through the Soul Search Technique, as you know, the information obtained would only be fragmented and uncontrollable, possibly even useless, with all key intelligence missing.

Lu Qingshan seems to be quite sincere in his apparent desire to cooperate with us. It wouldn't be wise to push aside an aid that should belong to us because of his unpredictability."