Chapter 330

Chapter 330: Shen Sang Ruo’s Superb Acting

Wan Quan did not have Shi Mu’s ability to sense Little Black’s presence.

In his view, what Shi Mu said was not enough to prove that Shen Sang Ruo was truly the Devil Lord.

This could not be handled carelessly; he needed stronger proof.

Shi Mu saw through Wan Quan’s intent and snapped: “How dare you!”

He had thrown his lot in with Shen Sang Ruo the moment he saw the Devil Lord.

He would not allow anyone to doubt his Devil Lord.

He barked: “Who do you think you are? You dare question the Devil Lord’s identity? You…”

As Shi Mu was about to continue, Shen Sang Ruo raised her hand slightly, and he fell silent at once.

He hurried to her side and said: “Devil Lord, what are your orders?”

[His loyalty is impressive; he will make a good helper.]

She pulled back her thoughts and lifted her eyes to look at Wan Quan.

Her gaze was already sharp; paired with the Devil Lord’s identity, Wan Quan felt a heavy pressure, his heart thudding like drums.

Sweat beaded in his palms, but he pinched his palm to force himself to meet her eyes.

He repeated: “Please, Devil Lord, show your subordinate a sign.”

His heart was in his throat, afraid this moody master would have him dragged away to feed the dogs at the slightest displeasure.

Shen’s current strength alone could not do that, but she had a loyal flunky in Shi Mu.

[If I give the word, Shi Mu will blow his head off right here.]

The air seemed to solidify, and Wan Quan found it hard to breathe.

Only her sea of consciousness was lively.

Inside, the dodder flower sprite teased: “You’re so bad. You did that on purpose. Look how scared he is,” laughing so hard its vines shook.

The snake maiden in Little Shi’s form praised: “Elder Sister, you act so well. You look just like that Great Devil.”

The kui ox mooed, and Little Koi swam back and forth.

The dodder flower sprite went on: “How did I never see you had this talent? You’re laying it on thick.”

Shen kept a straight face and pressed down the beasts’ voices in her mind as she said: “Quiet, it’s my line.”

After a long moment, she finally spoke in a tone that gave away no emotion.

She said: “You haven’t followed me, so you can’t confirm my identity. That’s normal.”

She added: “Only this once.”

With that, she reached toward Wan Quan. Countless currents of divine soul power gathered in her palm, glowing with a light unique to the soul.

She even used Little Black’s faint black divine soul power to cover her own color.

Seeing this, Shi Mu had no doubt at all.

Wan Quan felt the divine soul power form a strong hand that knocked open his crown and yanked his soul out.

Thanks to specialized study of soul methods and her past clash with Ya Lan, imitating him was easy; even Shi Mu would not notice anything off.

Wan Quan was terrified and instinctively mustered his power to resist.

Shen only pulled out half of his soul, then withdrew her divine soul power.

Wan Quan was at late divine transformation. Though she had practiced on Immortal Lord Chang Li, fully extracting his soul while he resisted with all his strength was still hard.

Half was enough to prove her ability.

Once she withdrew her hand, she said nothing else. Someone would speak for her.

Sure enough, Shi Mu cried out in excitement: “The soul extraction technique is one of the Devil Lord’s best soul methods!”

In truth the focus was not the technique, which was not unique.

The key was that, in their eyes, Shen Sang Ruo had pulled the soul of a late divine transformation cultivator with only late golden core strength.

With soul strength like that, who but Ya Lan could do it?

It had to be their Devil Lord.

Shi Mu smacked Wan Quan on the head and said: “Hurry up and apologize to the Devil Lord!”

Wan Quan’s unstable crown almost loosened again. He paid it no mind and dropped to his knees to plead guilty to Shen Sang Ruo.

A chill of fear spread from his crown through his whole body.

In his eyes, the only reason she had not ripped his soul out completely was that she spared him, not weakness.

Otherwise his soul would be scattered by now. He had brushed shoulders with death itself; how could he not fear?

He said: “This subordinate deserves death and should not have doubted the Devil Lord’s identity. Please punish me, Devil Lord!”

Shen parted her lips and said to Shi Mu in a cold voice: “The usual rules. You know them.”

The dodder flower sprite asked inside her mind: “Usual rules? Do you actually know how devil cultivators punished people before?”

She answered in her sea of consciousness with a different tone: “No idea.”

The sprite muttered: “It even fooled me that you sounded so sure.”

Shen said like an expert: “The words don’t matter. What matters is that deep and untouchable air, looking down on everything. You must have presence.”

She added: “You have to be firm in your heart: I am Ya Lan.”

It trailed off: “…”

It said: “Now you’re sharing tips.”

Shen said: “As long as I sound sure, even if there are no usual rules, Shi Mu will make some up.”

[And I don’t believe Ya Lan never set punishments.]

Hearing this, Shi Mu’s eyes lit up. If she remembered their usual rules, she had to be the Devil Lord.

He straightened his back and said: “Yes! This subordinate will make sure he is punished.”

Now Shen Sang Ruo’s identity as the Devil Lord was set.

He puffed up, ready to take Wan Quan to receive punishment, when he remembered the other reason he had come.

He asked: “Right, Devil Lord, what is your plan for sneaking into the Conservative Faction this time? This subordinate will fully cooperate.”

Her answer was short: “Guess.”

Shen was getting into the role, acting more and more naturally.

She planned to hear Shi Mu’s guesses and then set her next steps based on them.

If the words came from Shi Mu’s mouth, she could coax more information out.

Shi Mu said: “You plan to win the Conservative Faction’s trust and break them from the inside, right?”

Shen curled her lips slightly and said: “You’re improving.”

Seeing that, Shi Mu knew his guess was right. One word of praise made him happier than a holiday.

He added: “You must know that Qi Yan has joined our Radical Faction and we are ready to attack the Conservative Faction at full force. You want to coordinate with us from inside and out. We really think the same!”

Shen echoed softly: “Qi Yan?”

Shen caught the key name, but she could not tell if Ya Lan knew this person, so it was not good to ask more.

She only hummed an acknowledgment: “Mm.”

[This is not a good place to gather intel. I need to go to the Radical Faction to get more.]

Another plan rose in her mind, and she said: “This is not a place to discuss business. In two days, come and tie me up and take me back. I will give you the detailed plan, then you can send me back here.”