My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: I Will Be This Great Terror

”Interrogate them separately.”

Wu Chen glanced at the Demon Sect disciple. Liu Linshan had cut him down and severed the tendons in his arms and legs, but he was still breathing. Wu Chen said flatly.

Liu Linshan nodded. His cultivation realm might be lacking, but he was quick-witted.

He understood that Wu Chen wanted him to interrogate the Demon Sect disciple about how many of their people had entered the mountain, how many Elders or Stewards had come, and the cultivation realms of their leaders.

By questioning them separately, there would be no chance for them to coordinate their stories.

Once Liu Linshan had disappeared into the distance, dragging the Demon Sect disciple with him, Wu Chen finally lifted his foot, releasing the Demon Sect woman whose ankle he had crushed.

With the immense pressure gone from her head, her filth-stained face could finally be lifted from the rotting leaves.

GASP! GASP!

She pushed herself up, gasping for air and spitting out the filth from her mouth.

’This is supposed to be our prime target?’

’What the hell did Steward Qian get us into?!’

’...’

Tao E recalled their brief exchange, her shock immeasurable.

’Even with my strength at the Initial Realm of the Flesh Refining Realm, I was completely powerless against him!’

As her thoughts raced, she suddenly felt a tightness in her chest.

She looked down and saw that the young man before her had thrust his hand into her robes!

Tao E was about to cry out in alarm, but then a thought struck her:

’”Interrogate them separately”? It was just a trick to get the other guy to leave!’

’So he’s as bold as he is lecherous!’

’So what if I let him? If I can just hold out long enough, maybe another disciple will pass by and save me!’

In this life-or-death situation, she couldn’t afford to be picky.

She knew exactly what her advantages were. With that in mind, she softened her body and leaned into Wu Chen, hoping to buy herself more time to live.

SMACK!

Tao E didn’t even see what happened. Stars exploded in her vision as blood sprayed from her nose.

She had just pushed herself up, only to fall flat on her back again.

When she managed to sit up again and get a clear look, the young man was holding a dark red booklet.

Ghost Howl Blade Technique.

”I’ll ask, you’ll answer.”

Wu Chen interrogated her as he flipped through the book. As for the girl’s earlier... advances...

He wouldn’t dare.

Who knew what kind of poison someone from the Demon Sect might use as a trap?

”How many of your disciples entered the mountain?”

”How strong are the disciples?”

”How many Elders are leading them?”

”How strong are the Elders?”

”Answer my questions, and I’ll give you a quick death.”

Tao E’s vision swam between black and white from the blow. She clutched her bloody nose and mouth.

Hearing his words, she laughed.

”Since I’m going to die either way, why should I—Ugh!”

CRACK!

Wu Chen placed a hand on her shoulder. With a gentle squeeze, he shattered her shoulder blade. The pain rendered her speechless; she could only let out a choked groan.

Under his immense strength, the bone was crushed to splinters. Even if she survived, she would never be able to hold a blade again.

Tao E’s eyes rolled back in their sockets from the pain as the detached voice continued:

”If I don’t have the answers I want by the time I finish this book...”

”You’ll watch as I scatter your limbs around you. You’ll feel worms and snakes crawling between your legs.”

”Just as you people harvest the cores of your ’prime targets,’ I will pull out your organs and arrange them one by one before your eyes.”

”Then, I’ll use your own intestines to hang you from a tree and let you sway in the wind.”

”And don’t worry. With my skill with a blade, you’ll probably still be alive after all that is done.”

”You will experience the full, unadulterated pain of every single moment.”

Wu Chen nonchalantly turned a page, the words spoken with casual indifference.

Whether he would actually do it or not was irrelevant; the threats had to be made.

Besides, from the moment he’d first opened his eyes to see a Demon Corpse to everything that had happened since, he had come to understand a great deal.

If he didn’t want to die, he had to be more ruthless than these ruthless bastards.

He felt no psychological burden threatening to do this to members of the Demon Sect, who had committed countless bloody atrocities.

Tao E’s body began to tremble uncontrollably. For an instant, she had to wonder who the real monster was here.

And she believed with absolute certainty that the young man before her meant every single word.

The way he had stomped her head to the ground in a single move, leaving her with no way to struggle, had already told her she was no match for him.

Tao E spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. Unwilling to give up so easily, her eyes darted as a plan formed in her mind. She said:

”Over a thousand of our disciples came. The strongest among them have reached the Ninth Layer of the Flesh Refining Realm. I’m considered one of the weakest.”

”Every hundred disciples is led by an Elder, so ten Elders came in total. Every single one of them is a Meridian Passage Realm expert!”

Regardless, Tao E decided to fight for her last sliver of hope. She would try to intimidate him, to see if she could frighten him into letting her go.

That meant giving him an exaggerated, yet still plausible, number.

The goal was to make him so afraid that he would need her help to escape Broken Blade Mountain.

’That way, I’ll have a chance to live!’

But she quickly realized something was wrong.

The young man closed the book, his eyes blazing with an unusual fervor.

”So many disciples came!”

”And even experts at the third realm of Martial Arts, the Meridian Passage Realm!”

”Does that mean I have a chance to reach the third realm, too?!”

Once he had his answer—true or not—Wu Chen’s hand was already wrapped around the woman’s slender, pale neck.

”You...”

SNAP!

Tao E’s head lolled to the side as her life expired. Even in death, she couldn’t fathom Wu Chen’s thoughts.

”If there are a lot of them, I’ll just kill them one by one. A thousand people means a thousand Martial Arts manuals!”

”Even if I cut that number in half, and then in half again... forget about getting a lot, I should be able to scrape together ten Martial Arts manuals, right?”

Wu Chen dusted off his hands and stood up. There wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes; instead, he looked eager for a challenge.

’After all, if I’m really trapped on this mountain, can I seriously expect a Demon Sect disciple to help me escape?’

Wu Chen figured fighting his way out with his own two hands had a much higher chance of success.

He focused his gaze on his status panel:

[Ghost Howl Blade Technique entry-level Proficiency +1]

[Ghost Howl Blade Technique entry-level Proficiency +1]

[...]

[Ghost Howl Blade Technique entry-level (69/300)]

’The entry-level stage is taking longer. It seems this blade technique is pretty good. Raising my realm another layer shouldn’t be a problem. There must be a reason it’s taking longer.’

Wu Chen wasn’t worried. Instead, he nodded in satisfaction.

Just then, Liu Linshan returned from the woods in the distance. He had finished his interrogation and disposed of the Demon Sect disciple’s body.

”Young Master Wu, the one I questioned said that six hundred disciples came, led by three people.”

”Most of the disciples are in the late stage of the Body Tempering Realm. The six strongest, their personal disciples, are only at the Initial Realm of the Flesh Refining Realm.”

”The one you just dealt with was one of those personal disciples!”

”As for the three leaders, they’re the masters of those personal disciples. He said they’re around the sixth or seventh layer of the Flesh Refining Realm.”

”I was going to ask what kind of techniques those leaders have, but the guy couldn’t handle it and died on me.”

”No matter. What you learned is enough.”

Wu Chen nodded. ”Your information is more credible. This woman claimed a thousand disciples, that she was the weakest, and that they were led by Meridian Passage Realm experts. How could anyone believe that?!”

”If she was the weakest, then what does that make the monkey-faced guy you fought earlier? Was I completely mistaken about him?”

”Heh heh heh!”

Liu Linshan chuckled. ”Demon Sect disciples are naturally treacherous. It’s hard to get a single straight answer out of them.”

He then asked curiously, ”So, what’s our next move?”

”If the Demon Sect disciples are only at the Initial Realm of Flesh Refining and the Body Tempering Realm...”

Wu Chen stroked his chin. A large number of disciples meant a large number of Martial Arts.

The grin on his face grew wider and wider, until he couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

”Kyeheheh! Kyeheheh!”

”Since there’s no great terror on this mountain, then of course it’s up to me—the strongest one here—to become that great terror!”

”Since these people are all from the Demon Sect, and they’ve committed every evil imaginable, then of course we’ll kill every last one of them!”

”Along the way, we’ll find Zhou Yuntao and his men, then go to the Zhuangzi to get your daughter, and finally, we’ll all head south to Cangzhou together!”

Liu Linshan shivered at Wu Chen’s bizarre laugh.

Then he abruptly slapped himself on the forehead.

SMACK!

He’d been with Wu Chen for so long that he’d rediscovered the high-spirited ambition of his youth, the exhilarating thrill of a life-and-death struggle.

He’d almost forgotten that his own daughter was in that den of monsters!