Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan!

Chapter 237: Soul Search!

Bai Zihan’s eyes grew cold, a stillness settling over him that made even the air in the room seem to hesitate.

The two cultivators, already pale and shaking, stiffened further as he raised his hand—fingers curling into a claw-like shape.

Kong Zhanghong, standing a few steps away, felt his back dampen with cold sweat.

He didn’t know what this was, but every instinct screamed at him to stay silent and not move a muscle.

Xie Wanshou’s gaze sharpened.

That gesture...

Her heart skipped.

Soul Searching!

She had heard of it before—a brutal art that invaded a cultivator’s mind to seize memories by force. No lies, no resistance. Everything laid bare.

But there was something wrong.

”How can he do Soul Search on them?”

The requirement for Soul Searching wasn’t just knowledge—it was dominance.

The one performing it had to be significantly stronger than the target, not merely equal.

The greater the difference in cultivation, the higher the success rate. At the same realm, it was simply... impossible.

Unless...

Her breath caught.

Unless Bai Zihan wasn’t truly at the Spirit Severing Realm.

A dreadful possibility began to take root.

Could it be... he was hiding his true cultivation?

”Is he in the Void Refinement Realm?”

After all, that is the minimum cultivation needed to even attempt Soul Search on Spirit Severing Realm cultivators.

That might also explain why Bai Zihan was able to win so easily against the two of them.

(But that doesn’t make sense.)

A person who hasn’t even hit twenty, being in the Void Refinement Realm—which can be considered one of the highest in the Desolate Heaven Empire?

Most sect and clan leaders are only in that realm. Only the top, strongest clan and sect leaders have a higher cultivation realm.

(You want me to believe that he is on the same level as them?)

Even geniuses have their limits. It would already be considered monstrous if, at his age, he had reached Soul Formation.

Above that, it was no longer just talent—it was Heaven itself blessing you directly.

In front of them, Bai Zihan’s hand tightened, and the air between him and the first cultivator seemed to twist, like heat haze over stone.

The man let out a strangled scream, his head snapping back, veins bulging at his temples as his eyes rolled white.

Invisible ripples spread outward—Immortal Emperor Feilian’s doing, hidden within Bai Zihan’s body—but to Kong Zhanghong and Xie Wanshou, it looked as if Bai Zihan’s Qi was drilling directly into the man’s soul.

Kong Zhanghong swallowed hard.

He’d already thought the torture before was too much even for his enemy. But this—this was something else entirely.

”ARGHHHH!”

The man’s scream rose to a piercing pitch, then cut off abruptly—like a string snapping.

Bai Zihan’s fingers slowly uncurled, and the body slumped forward, lifeless. His skin had gone ashen-gray, lips cracked, and his eyes were wide but empty.

Inwardly, Bai Zihan’s voice was calm.

”Did you find anything?”

From within, the First Immortal Emperor’s presence stirred—cool, ancient, and steady.

She shook her head, her tone even but with a faint thread of irritation.

”I saw his memories... but the location of the organization is unclear. Too hazy. It feels like the organization tampered with his soul beforehand, so that even a Soul Search cannot uncover it. Another possibility...”

She paused briefly.

”...is that he never truly knew the location to begin with—only fragments. That would explain why the images are so incomplete.”

Bai Zihan’s gaze lowered to the corpse. The man’s skin had shriveled unnaturally, as if the very essence had been drawn from him.

His breath had stopped long before his heart realized it.

He stepped over the body without a word, closing in on the second cultivator.

The man was already trembling violently, his teeth chattering as Bai Zihan’s shadow fell over him.

”W-wait!”

The words were cut off as Bai Zihan’s hand rose again, fingers forming that same claw.

He had already given them a chance, and looking at the man, he could tell he was just about to start begging to be spared.

It still didn’t seem like he was going to tell him the location; perhaps he didn’t even know it.

Heat shimmer twisted between them. The second cultivator’s pupils dilated in terror before his head snapped back in the same agonized arc.

Invisible power dug into his mind, peeling away layers of thought, ripping past his will like paper.

The Immortal Emperor’s voice returned after a moment, the same verdict as before.

”Same result. Hazy. Either tampered... or doesn’t know!”

A faint sigh echoed in his mind.

”If they have someone capable of soul-sealing to this degree, then their foundation might be deeper than you think. Be careful if you are thinking about going after them.”

Then she vanished into the Soul Confining Artifact again.

Bai Zihan released him. The body sagged to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Skin cracked, vitality gone—another dried husk.

Silence weighed heavy in the room.

Kong Zhanghong felt his knees weaken, while Xie Wanshou’s expression had shifted into something far more guarded.

They had thought they were dealing with a ruthless young master.

Now, they weren’t sure if the thing standing before them was even human.

Gulp!

Xie Wanshou couldn’t help but feel a shiver in her bones.

(Such ruthlessness... just what does the Bai Clan even teach their young?)

Bai Zihan walked towards her, frustration clear in his eyes.

She kept her gaze low so as not to provoke his anger.

”Hmph! Useless!”

Still, there was one thing that could lead him to the location of the mysterious organization that might have tried to kill him.

Xie Wanshou!

”I will spare your life, but from now on you must listen to me!”

Bai Zihan demanded.

Xie Wanshou quickly nodded her head.

”Kong Zhanghong!”

”Yes, Young Master!”

”He will be my representative from now on. Do what he says and help him when he asks for it.”

Bai ZIhan ordered Xie Wanshou.

From now on, he was going to control Black Latern Society until he got to that organization.

Then, turning to Kong Zhanghong, he continued, ”Make use of the Black Lantern Society to gather more information, but try to keep our involvement a secret.”

”Understood!”

Kong Zhanghong realized what Bai Zihan wanted, and plans were already forming in his head.

With the Black Lantern Society, collecting information would be much easier since they already had a network in place.

”And you—immediately inform me if that organization approaches you. Try something and your fate will be the same as theirs!”