Chapter 3875 — Into the Trap

Before him, no secret could remain hidden. Of course, this soul-searching art could only be used once the target had lost all power to resist, and the target's spiritual sense had to be weaker than the user's own. And once it was used, the victim's spiritual sense would collapse entirely; even if they survived by some stroke of luck, they would be reduced to a muddled idiot for the rest of their days.

Yu Jiang knew full well that if he kept up the deception, Nan Tianguan in his fury might well strike him down on the spot. And then, forget about seizing the Xingmo Stone and looking forward to becoming the strongest Golden Core cultivator, whether he would even live to see the end of the day was a matter of grave doubt. At best, he would be a babbling fool, and what in the world would there be left to look forward to then?

In that instant, Yu Jiang was so terrified that his sweat poured down like rain.

He did want to concoct another lie, to keep covering up the secret of the Xingmo Stone. But under the crushing weight of Nan Tianguan's pressure, even a man as cunning as a fox like Yu Jiang found his mind a total blank.

Making up a lie was easy, but making up one so airtight that even Nan Tianguan could find no flaw in it was simply impossible on such short notice. And if even the slightest flaw were spotted, Yu Jiang was finished. With his strength, there was no chance he could escape Nan Tianguan's grasp.

At that moment, Yu Jiang was so sick with regret that his very guts turned green, and he wished he could slap himself silly with both hands, eighteen times over. What sort of man was Nan Tianguan, that he had ever been so possessed as to think of using him? Was it not sheer madness?

Now look at the mess. He had not gained a single scrap of advantage, and instead had landed himself in the fire.

"Have you thought it over? If you are unwilling to speak, then do not blame me for setting aside the bond between uncle and nephew in our sect!" As he spoke, Nan Tianguan made ready to act. There was no one around at the moment, so there was nothing to hold him back.

Yu Jiang was startled out of his wits and did not dare hesitate another instant. He said hurriedly, "Hold, Uncle. It is not that your disciple wished to conceal it deliberately. The truth is that the matter is a long tale, and I feared I would waste your time. Now that you wish to hear it, your disciple would not dare hide the smallest part."

"Good. Speak." Nan Tianguan's expression eased somewhat.

Words could lie, but the soul-searching art never could. Had it not been for the fact that this secret art also damaged his own spiritual sense and thus was not fit for frequent use, he would never have spared Yu Jiang's little life; most likely he would have acted long ago.

But Yu Jiang did not know this. His life came first. In the end, driven into a corner, he had no choice but to relate the whole affair to Nan Tianguan truthfully, including even the Xingmo Stone. The only thing he left out was the matter of Nan Tianyong's death at his hands.

With the Xingmo Stone to hold his attention, Nan Tianguan would not care at all about such a small hidden matter. When he heard what the Xingmo Stone could do, the eyes of this lofty senior disciple and steward of the Chongtian Pavilion lit up at once.

"The Xingmo Stone. Nephew, are you certain this thing can assist a cultivator in advancing to the Golden Core stage, and that it allows a perfect breakthrough, making the cultivator the strongest of Golden Core experts?" Nan Tianguan's tone carried a note of urgency.

Though in both seniority and worldly experience he was far above Yu Jiang, he had never, after all, buried himself in a place like the Scriptural Pavilion for a full three years, poring over nearly every ancient text. It was hardly surprising that he did not know the purpose of the Xingmo Stone.

"To report to Uncle, whether it truly has such wondrous effects, your disciple dares not guarantee. But the ancient texts do indeed record it so," Yu Jiang answered respectfully, though his heart was bleeding within him.

Having surrendered the news of the Xingmo Stone, the stone he had coveted day and night was certainly no longer within his reach. So Yu Jiang resolved to curry favor with Nan Tianguan with all his might. Even if he could no longer dream of the Xingmo Stone, he must at least get his hands on the Minor Formless Divine Art from him; otherwise the loss would be far too great.

"Mm. Those ancient texts in the Scriptural Pavilion are all classics with verifiable sources. Since they record it so, there should not be much discrepancy. To be able to make a cultivator the strongest of Golden Core experts—this is truly a rare treasure of the world!" Even a man with Nan Tianguan's depth of scheming could not hide the greed on his face now.

A thing like the Xingmo Stone—there was no cultivator below the Golden Core stage in all the world who could possibly remain unmoved by it, no matter how lofty his background.

After a moment of excitement, Nan Tianguan suddenly slapped his own head and said, "That's it! I could not at first be certain this matter had anything to do with Xu Lingchong, but now that the Xingmo Stone—a treasure one may meet but never seek—is involved, everything makes sense!"

"Eh? Your disciple is dull-witted. I beg Uncle to enlighten me." Yu Jiang was still steeped in the sorrow of having lost the Xingmo Stone and had not thought of this at all.

"Think, Nephew. The Xingmo Stone—you and I want it, that Lin Er wants it. Could it be that this young master Xu Lingchong does not want it as well?" Nan Tianguan asked in return.

"He surely wants it too. Whoever gets it has the chance to become the strongest of Golden Core experts!" Yu Jiang nodded decisively. A supreme treasure like the Xingmo Stone stood above all factions and backgrounds; even a cultivator of the second generation with the deepest of backing could not resist its lure. Naturally, Xu Lingchong was no exception.

"So this also verifies from another angle that Kang Jingming is Lin Er. I suspect that Kang Jingming's seizure of the Xingmo Stone was orchestrated by Xu Lingchong from behind the scenes. Only this reason can explain why the two of them joined hands to deceive us!" Nan Tianguan said through gritted teeth.

"Uncle is brilliant!" Yu Jiang lost no time in flattering him. He could not be bothered to weigh whether Nan Tianguan's speculation was reasonable or not. The only thing to be done now was to please Nan Tianguan.

"No wonder Xu Lingchong dared to issue a challenge to me so openly today. It turns out he has obtained a prop like the Xingmo Stone and no longer needs to take me seriously!" Nan Tianguan said through gritted teeth.

Yet in the next moment, he recalled the reaction of the young miss Shangguan Lan'er when he had visited Shangguan Tianxia that day. It seemed she too had been deliberately helping to conceal Lin Er's identity. And Xu Lingchong's pursuit of Shangguan Lan'er was known to all in the Chongtian Pavilion.

Nan Tianguan could not help but wonder whether this Miss Shangguan was also involved, and whether Xu Lingchong had obtained the Xingmo Stone in order to win her favor.

It was not impossible. Miss Shangguan's birthday would arrive before long, and Xu Lingchong might very well present the Xingmo Stone as a gift to please her. Rare as the Xingmo Stone was, if it could win him a place as Shangguan Tianxia's grandson-in-law, the price of a single Xingmo Stone would be no loss at all.

This is the way of people: once their thinking enters a blind alley, certain plausible-sounding things seem more and more to be exactly as they imagine, and even many unrelated matters come crowding in to corroborate it. The so-called blindness of those in the middle of things is simply a form of self-deception, and this was precisely Nan Tianguan's condition now.