Forced Confession

Han Li paid no attention to the man's shock and anger. He dispersed the azure light that had enveloped the Soul Summoning Bell, then reached out a finger and lightly tapped the small bell with a dang.

With a thud, Qu Hun, who had been trying to seize the opportunity to flee, immediately collapsed to the ground.

"A lifebound artifact! You're holding that body's lifebound artifact!" Qu Hun exclaimed, fear plain on his face.

"You understand well, then. If you don't want to suffer, you'll explain your origins properly. I'm quite curious how you managed to seize this body. Can't cultivators possess mortals?" Han Li said calmly, his voice utterly flat, as if he were chatting with a friend.

But Qu Hun involuntarily shivered upon hearing this. In the cultivation world, cultivators who had undergone possession were universally despised. While they weren't necessarily hunted down and killed, they were never given any respect. Han Li's unnatural calm only made him more uneasy, and his mind raced for a way to escape.

"Forgive me, fellow Daoist. I was once a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but I lost my original body in a battle with an enemy and was forced to take this one," the man said, forcing a smile as he stood up, avoiding Han Li's question.

"Is that so?" Han Li replied noncommittally.

Hearing that the opponent had been a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Han Li was slightly surprised.

But Qu Hun couldn't read Han Li's thoughts. Seeing his indifferent attitude, he began to panic and hurriedly added, "Although my cultivation has fallen to the lower levels of Qi Condensation, I still have some magical tools and spirit stones. If you're willing to let this matter go, I'd be happy to offer them to you!" This was said with a humble, placating tone. He clearly understood the principle of bowing one's head when under another's roof.

But Han Li ignored the bait. Instead, he fell into thought for a moment before suddenly asking, "Are you a cultivator from one of the Seven Sects?"

Han Li asked as if casually. To his knowledge, there were very few Foundation Establishment cultivators outside the Seven Sects, though some large cultivation families, like the Yan Clan, had a considerable number.

"The Seven Sects… Oh, yes, I'm from Spirit Beast Mountain. Are you perhaps also from one of the Seven Sects, fellow Daoist?" Qu Hun's expression remained normal as he spoke, but Han Li caught a flicker of panic in his eyes, which aroused his suspicion.

"So you're a fellow Daoist from Spirit Beast Mountain. I wonder, is Miss Han Yunzhi of your sect still well?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

"Han Yunzhi… I'm terribly sorry, but I've been in seclusion for years, so I don't have much impression of the younger disciples." Qu Hun was momentarily stunned by the question, then gave a few dry, insincere laughs.

"You don't know her? Then who do you know? Just name a few disciples for me. I know quite a few people from Spirit Beast Mountain, so I might recognize someone," Han Li pressed on, his expression unchanged.

"This…" Qu Hun's face showed panic again, and his eyes began to dart around, clearly being dishonest.

Watching him stammer, Han Li's face turned cold, his expression grim.

"How disappointing. It seems you prefer a forced drink to a toast," Han Li said bluntly. Then, he moved his body forward in a blur, and in another flash, he was back.

Qu Hun stood frozen in place. A Spirit-Fixing Talisman had been plastered onto his chest, and he hadn't even had a chance to react. This made him change color and shout, "Fellow Daoist, what is the meaning of this? We can discuss this!"

When used on a mortal, the Spirit-Fixing Talisman would completely stiffen their body, even preventing them from speaking. But against a cultivator with some magical power, it was less effective. While it could still immobilize a low-level cultivator, their ability to speak and make facial expressions was unaffected.

Han Li completely ignored the man's shouting. Instead, he pulled a jet-black bowl from his storage pouch.

As soon as the object appeared, a dense,阴森 aura spread out, causing the temperature in the vicinity to drop by several degrees. Then, a chorus of ghostly wails and howls rose from within the bowl, and eerie black mist swirled around it, making the magical tool seem utterly sinister. This was the Soul-Gathering Bowl Han Li had recently acquired.

Holding the magical tool in one hand, Han Li cast a dark look at his captive, then approached him expressionlessly.

The man stared at the bowl's ominous display, first with confusion and suspicion. But then, seemingly recalling something, his expression tensed up, and he said awkwardly, "What are you going to do? Are you going to use the Soul Refining Technique?"

When he uttered the words "Soul Refining Technique," a look of extreme terror appeared in his eyes.

The "Soul Refining Technique" was an infamous spell in the cultivation world, universally feared and avoided. Even some of the most venomous oaths between cultivators were sworn using this technique.

Every sect and large family had someone specially trained in this art. It was the most severe punishment and deterrent for those who betrayed their sect or clan, and it was renowned throughout the cultivation world for its cruelty.

It was said that practitioners of this technique could extract a person's primordial soul and torment it with specialized spells. The direct stimulation of the soul's pain was something even the strongest will could not endure for even a short while. Moreover, the stronger a cultivator's primordial soul, the more intense the pain. It was a subject that made all cultivators pale in fear.

Rumors about the Soul Refining Technique were widespread. The most common tale was that a cultivator who practiced it must first refine a "Soul Vessel" that was intimately connected to their own primordial soul. Only with this vessel could they perform the technique, making the victim's soul wish for death.

Few had ever seen such a Soul Vessel, but most cultivators imagined it as a dark, ghostly object, exactly matching the appearance of the Soul-Gathering Bowl, which contained the souls of over a hundred cultivators.

Therefore, when Han Li produced the bowl with its accompanying omens, and combined it with his earlier threat, Qu Hun mistakenly believed that Han Li had mastered the terrifying Soul Refining Technique.

It was no wonder he thought so. For anyone who considered the torment of a primordial soul, this was the first technique that came to mind. How could he not be terrified out of his wits?

Han Li's face remained completely blank, but inwardly he was somewhat surprised.

To be honest, he hadn't taken out the magical tool with the intention of using the threat of the "Soul Refining Technique." He had only planned to use the bowl's阴寒 energy to give the opponent's primordial soul a little taste of suffering. But now that the man believed he knew the technique and was terrified of it, Han Li decided to go along with the misunderstanding.

"I'll ask you one more time. What is your origin, and why did you pretend to be a Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator?" Han Li didn't answer whether he would use the technique, but instead asked coldly.

Han Li's evasive response only confirmed the man's suspicions. His face turned ashen, but his lips moved a few times without uttering a word.

Seeing this, Han Li stopped wasting words. He muttered a few syllables of a spell he himself didn't understand, then unceremoniously raised the Soul-Gathering Bowl and brought it close to the man's face.

The阴寒 energy from the bowl had been enough to make even a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Han Li shiver when he first touched it. For Qu Hun, whose cultivation had fallen to the Qi Condensation stage, it was naturally unbearable.

The moment the bowl was placed in front of him, he felt an intense, bone-chilling cold, as if his very primordial soul were about to freeze solid. It felt like thousands of steel needles were simultaneously stabbing into the depths of his soul.

After just a few seconds, the man could no longer bear the pain. He let out a miserable scream, and the muscles on his face twisted grotesquely.

"Don't worry, I haven't even begun to cast the spell yet. The pain then will be a hundred times worse," Han Li's ethereal voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

"A hundred times!" The man nearly fainted from terror at Han Li's words.

He couldn't even endure the current pain for a moment. A hundred times that would surely cause his primordial soul to dissipate in agony on the spot. This was definitely the legendary Soul Refining Technique!

Having tasted the bitterness, Qu Hun no longer had any doubt. So, when he saw Han Li forming another hand seal, he didn't dare to tough it out any longer and quickly changed his tune, "Have mercy, fellow Daoist! I'll talk! Can you please put away your Soul Vessel and not use the Soul Refining Technique?"

The cold energy of the bowl had frozen his voice into a distorted rasp. If not for the spiritual power protecting his body and Qu Hun's far superior physical constitution, he would have already been frozen stiff.

"If you'd been this sensible from the start, you could have avoided this suffering," Han Li said, putting on an air of "you brought this on yourself," before casually putting the bowl away.

Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Even if the man hadn't spoken, Han Li would have put away the Soul-Gathering Bowl soon anyway. The武器's阴寒 energy was equally unbearable for him to hold directly, and he couldn't continue holding it for long.

Seeing Han Li actually put away what he believed to be the Soul Vessel, Qu Hun let out a long sigh of relief.

"It would be best if you didn't try to fool me with lies. I can naturally test the truth of your words with the relevant spells. I don't think you're foolish enough to risk having your soul scattered and never being reincarnated, just to protect some secret," Han Li's voice was ice-cold.

These words, combined with the memory of the pain he had just endured, made Qu Hun shudder and his face turn extremely ugly.