Chapter 53 The Unlucky Demonic Cultivator

"As she spoke," she urged her magic power to condense the spiritual liquid within the spirit pool, accompanied by a series of splashing sounds.

The entire pool of spiritual liquid was actually condensed by her into countless spirit stones, which then fell into her storage ring—amounting to a staggering 40,000 spirit stones in total.

Lyra had taken 90 percent of the spiritual liquid from the spirit pool. The remaining liquid had grown relatively thin, yet so long as it wasn't completely drained, this pool of spiritual liquid would gradually restore itself over time.

Lyra ceased her actions, refraining from killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. She glanced at the bottom of the spirit pool and let out a soft exclamation of surprise, then retrieved an ice pearl brimming with glacial energy.

"To think it actually gave birth to this treasure. It seems fortune smiles upon you."

With a faint smile, she placed the ice pearl into Elara's hand.

Elara took the ice pearl, her face blooming with irrepressible delight. "With this treasure, it seems my breakthrough to Purple Palace, Mid Stage is within reach."

This treasure is the Frost Spirit Pearl, which typically forms only within subterranean icy springs. It is an exceptionally precious treasure for cultivators with an Ice Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root).

Due to the scarcity of cultivation resources for the Eastern Wastelands (Location) Ice Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root), Elara (Person Name)'s cultivation had remained stagnant at the third level of the Purple Palace for over 20 years. In theory, she would need to refine her spiritual energy for another 2 decades to break through to Purple Palace, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm).

But now, with this Ice Spirit Pearl, she would likely break through the bottleneck of Purple Palace, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm) before long.

After collecting the treasures, the 2 thoroughly searched the spirit mountain once more, discovering 7 or 8 third-order spirit herbs before returning to the foot of the mountain thoroughly satisfied.

At this moment, the cultivators at the mountain base had finished clearing the battlefield. Yet, being deep within the demon clan's territory, this was no time to distribute the spoils.

Without lingering any longer at the Demon Wolf Mountain, Lyra led the group back along the same path. After a journey lasting over 3 months, they finally returned to Celestial Ruins Mountain.

After returning to Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location), Elara (Person Name) immediately gathered all Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"This assault on the Direwolf Mountains, we fell into the demons' ambush. We are certain someone must have leaked our plans to the demonic cultivators."

"In order to uncover any potential traitors, I request your cooperation in undergoing the Inquiry Heart Platform."

Upon hearing this, everyone could not help but show a slight change in their expressions.

The Heart-Questioning Platform could distinguish truth from falsehood. Though it wouldn't pry into 1's innermost thoughts, once 1 stepped upon that platform, even the slightest untruth would be exposed.

Every cultivator present had their own small secrets. If Elara were to use this opportunity to pry into their innermost thoughts, she would undoubtedly be exposed with ease.

Elara (Person Name) observed the panic-stricken expressions of the crowd and raised a hand to signal for calm. With a gentle smile, she spoke.

"Rest assured, our primary objective is to uncover the mole hidden within Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location)."

“This time on the Heart-Questioning Platform, we shall only inquire about matters related to the demon beast assault—nothing else.”

Hearing this, the crowd finally set their minds at ease and followed Elara (Person Name) up to the Heart-Questioning Platform.

The Heart-Questioning Platform was built against the mountain, spanning a full 100 zhang in size and covered in profound array patterns.

It was said that a Heart-Questioning Platform of the fifth tier or higher could even freely manipulate a cultivator's soul, compelling them to uncontrollably divulge the secrets buried deep within their hearts.

Chapter 1 This Heart-Reflection Platform (Magical Artifact) at Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) was merely a third-grade superior treasure, its power far inferior to a fifth-grade platform. Yet discerning truth from falsehood in the words of Foundation Establishment cultivators remained effortlessly within its grasp.

Eldrin and the old clan chief were positioned quite close to the front, so their turn came swiftly.

With a clear conscience, he had nothing to fear as he strode directly onto the Heart-Reflection Platform.

As he ascended the Heart-Questioning Platform, a faint smile graced Elara's lips. Their triumphant assault on the Direwolf Mountain could largely be attributed to Eldrin's intervention, which had shattered the deadlock for her.

Elara (Person Name) smiled gently and spoke in a mild tone, "Don't be afraid. I'll just ask a few questions, and you answer them."

As soon as her words fell, she activated the Heart-Questioning Platform's formation. Dazzling arrays of runes materialized across the void, possessing the wondrous ability to monitor the human heart.

"Did you divulge the news about Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) attacking the Demonic Wolf Mountain to the demonic tribes?"

"Never."

"Have you ever sent messages to anyone outside of Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location)?"

"No."

“…”

She would ask a question, and Eldrin (Person Name) would answer without the slightest hesitation.

After asking a few questions and seeing no abnormalities from the Heart-Questioning Platform, Elara (Person Name) nodded with a smile.

"You may take your leave."

Only a few dozen individuals had reached the Foundation Establishment stage. The interrogation process proceeded swiftly, and within just 1 shichen (2 hours) (Time & Distance), over half of them had been screened without any anomalies detected.

When it was down to the last few individuals, a change finally occurred.

A wandering cultivator named Yang Liming walked in with a pale face. He stumbled through his answers to Elara (Person Name)'s questions, and was ultimately flagged as abnormal.

Seeing the Heart-Questioning Platform react, Elara immediately summoned the Weakwater Ribbon, binding him on the spot and capturing him without resistance.

Yang Liming’s face paled with terror, and he immediately cried out in desperation, “Spare my life! I’ve been wronged—this matter truly has nothing to do with me!”

"You have a guilty conscience." Elara stated coldly, "Whether you're wronged or not will be revealed under the Soul-Snatching Talisman."

Upon hearing this, everyone’s eyes revealed a look of pity.

The Soul-Snatching Talisman is a high-grade, third-tier talisman, with each piece typically valued at over 10,000 spirit stones.

This talisman possesses extraordinary power. Even a Violet Mansion cultivator struck by it would have their soul searched, with all memories within their sea of consciousness completely extracted by the talisman.

However, searching through soul memories often inflicts significant damage. Typically, the cultivator whose soul is examined would suffer severe spiritual impairment, requiring dozens of years of dedicated cultivation to recover.

Without much delay, Elara obtained the Soul-Snatching Talisman from Patriarch Jiang and imprinted the cultivator's memories onto it, finally uncovering the reason for his evasive speech.

It turned out that Yang Liming’s cultivation had been stuck at the Foundation Establishment, Mid Stage (Cultivation Realm) for many years without any progress. Tempted by a demonic cultivator, he had secretly switched to practicing demonic arts and quietly became a demonic cultivator himself.

As he had switched paths midway, he used the pure immortal cultivation energy within his body to suppress the demonic path’s baleful aura, successfully deceiving everyone’s eyes.

His guilty conscience made him stammer through his answers, so Elara (Person Name) pressed further with a few more questions. Unexpectedly, the Heart-Questioning Platform detected his irregularities.

In truth, this individual wasn't the actual mole who had been leaking information to the demon race this time. Yet by sheer coincidence, he had been exposed—a truly wretched twist of fate that saw him utterly ruined by the real traitor's schemes.

The Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) showed no mercy toward demonic cultivators. Elara (Person Name) personally took action to execute Yang Liming before continuing the inspection.

Yet after examining every Foundation Establishment cultivator, she still failed to identify the mole who had tipped off the demonic cultivator.

"Nothing at all?" Elara frowned, a trace of anxiety coloring her expression. "Could it be they're even checking Qi Refining cultivators?"

Chapter 1 The Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) housed over 10 1000 Qi Refining cultivators, making any thorough investigation practically impossible for her to conduct.

Just then, a streak of sword light soared through the sky and landed before the crowd. Eldrin looked up to find Lyra standing there in serene stillness.