As Jiang Linglong spoke, she activated her spiritual energy to refine the liquid in the spiritual pool. With a series of splashing sounds, the pool's contents condensed into countless spirit stones, which she collected into her storage ring—an impressive haul of forty thousand spirit stones.
She left about ten percent of the spiritual liquid in the pool, ensuring it wasn't completely drained. This would allow the pool to slowly regenerate its spiritual energy over time.
Stopping her actions, Jiang Linglong avoided a "killing the goose for its golden eggs" situation. She glanced at the bottom of the pool and let out a soft exclamation before retrieving an icy pearl emanating a chilling aura.
"This was nurtured here? It seems you're in luck," she said with a faint smile, handing the ice pearl to Lin Qianshu.
Lin Qianshu accepted the pearl, her face lighting up with barely concealed joy.
"With this, it seems I have a real chance at breaking through to mid-Purple Mansion."
The treasure was an Ice Spirit Pearl, a rare treasure typically formed in underground cold springs.
It was incredibly precious to cultivators with an ice spiritual root. Resources for ice spiritual root cultivation were scarce in the Eastern Wilderness, and Lin Qianshu had been stuck at the third level of the Purple Mansion stage for over twenty years.
Ordinarily, she would need at least another two decades of cultivating her spiritual energy to break through. With the Ice Spirit Pearl, however, she could expect to overcome her bottleneck much sooner.
After securing the treasure, the two searched the mountain and discovered seven or eight third-tier spiritual herbs, leaving them both satisfied as they descended the mountain.
By then, the others had already cleaned up the battlefield. However, being deep within demon territory, it was no time to divide the spoils.
Wasting no time lingering on Wolf Demon Mountain, Jiang Linglong led the group back along their route. It took over three months, but they finally returned to Tianxu Mountain.
Once back at Tianxu Mountain, Lin Qianshu immediately summoned the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Our attack on Wolf Demon Mountain encountered an ambush. We believe someone leaked our plans to the demon race," she began.
"To uncover any potential traitors, I hope you will all cooperate by undergoing a session on the Heart Examination Platform."
The announcement caused a ripple of unease among the cultivators. The Heart Examination Platform could distinguish truth from falsehood. Though it wouldn't expose private thoughts, any lie told during questioning would be instantly detected.
Most cultivators harbored some personal secrets. If Lin Qianshu were to use this opportunity to pry into their private affairs, their secrets could easily be exposed.
Sensing their apprehension, Lin Qianshu gestured for calm and reassured them with a smile.
"Rest assured, our sole purpose is to identify any hidden traitors among us. Questions will be strictly limited to matters related to the attack on the demons."
Hearing this, the crowd relaxed somewhat and followed her to the Heart Examination Platform.
Built into the mountainside, the Heart Examination Platform was vast, spanning a hundred meters and covered in intricate formations. It was said that fifth-tier Heart Examination Platforms could even manipulate a cultivator's soul, compelling them to reveal their innermost secrets.
Though Tianxu Mountain's platform was merely a third-tier high-grade artifact, it was more than sufficient to detect lies from Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Elian and the old patriarch were among the first to step forward. Without guilt weighing on his conscience, Elian walked confidently onto the platform.
As he ascended, Lin Qianshu smiled slightly. The success of the Wolf Demon Mountain operation was due in no small part to Elian's critical intervention, which had helped turn the tide of battle.
"Don't be nervous," Lin Qianshu said warmly.
"Just answer my questions."
She activated the platform, its array lines glowing and filling the air with an aura of scrutiny.
"Did you leak Tianxu Mountain's plans to attack Wolf Demon Mountain to the demons?"
"No."
"Have you shared any information about Tianxu Mountain with outsiders?"
"No."
"…"
For every question, Elian gave a direct answer without hesitation. The platform showed no anomalies, and Lin Qianshu nodded with a smile.
"You may step down."
The interrogation process was efficient, and within an hour, most of the Foundation Establishment cultivators had been cleared. However, as the final few stepped forward, things took a turn.
A wandering cultivator named Yang Liming ascended the platform, pale-faced and stammering his answers. His behavior triggered an anomaly in the platform.
Seeing the response, Lin Qianshu wasted no time. She activated the Weak Water Long Ribbon and restrained him on the spot.
Yang Liming's face turned ashen as he pleaded, "Spare me! I'm innocent—I swear this has nothing to do with me!"
"You harbor secrets," Lin Qianshu said coldly.
"Whether you're guilty or not will be determined by the Soul-Searching Talisman."
The announcement drew pity from the other cultivators. The Soul-Searching Talisman, a third-tier high-grade artifact worth over ten thousand spirit stones, could extract memories from a cultivator's soul and record them. However, this process often inflicted severe damage to the soul, requiring decades of recovery.
Lin Qianshu retrieved a talisman from Jiang Linglong and used it to extract Yang Liming's memories, revealing the cause of his suspicious behavior. It turned out he had secretly converted to demonic cultivation after being lured by promises of power.
Though he had hidden his demonic aura with his remaining pure spiritual energy, the platform had detected his guilt-ridden conscience.
Yang Liming wasn't the informant who betrayed Tianxu Mountain, but his hidden allegiance to the Demon Lair had inadvertently led to his exposure. Unfortunately for him, his secret had dire consequences. Lin Qianshu personally executed him before continuing the investigation.
Yet despite thoroughly questioning every Foundation Establishment cultivator, no informant was uncovered.
"This is strange," Lin Qianshu murmured, frowning.
"Could it be one of the Qi Refinement cultivators?"
However, with over ten thousand Qi Refinement cultivators at Tianxu Mountain, conducting a thorough investigation seemed an impossible task.
At that moment, a sword light streaked through the sky and descended before the group. Elian looked up to see Jiang Linglong standing quietly before them.
...
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