From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword-Chapter 292 - 236 Spiritual Torture

Within the White Eagle Superpower Camp, the loss of Derek Wolf had significantly weakened their strength.

Charles Water, seeing that the situation was unfavorable for them, put away the anger in his eyes and coldly snorted, "Let's go!"

He prepared to lead the three teams in the camp away.

However, Lu Heng placed his sword at Charles's throat and said coldly, "Did I say you could leave?"

Charles narrowed his eyes slightly and, gritting his teeth to suppress his anger, asked, "What do you mean?"

With a faint smile, Lu Heng replied, "Your method was very good, having you prove your innocence one by one is indeed the fastest way to find the traitor."

"You!" The fury in Charles's eyes almost burst forth.

"Isn't this the method you proposed? Why are you so angry when it's used on you?" Lu Heng tightened his grip on the sword; if Charles dared to make any retaliatory move, he would be disabled on the spot.

Charles Water exchanged a glance with his teammates, then suddenly a ring of energy armor exploded around him, covering his whole body and transforming him into an armored warrior. He drew his Cross Sword and slashed at Lu Heng.

Lu Heng hadn't expected the other side to actually dare to resist. He leaped back to avoid the chop, then, with his Sound Explosion Sword, "Bang!" he cut off Charles's Cross Sword in one stroke.

The remaining sword light did not diminish, shattering his energy armor and stabbing toward his chest.

In an instant, with his weapon cut in half and energy armor broken, Charles's face showed a look of shock; he had not anticipated Lu Heng's combat power to be so terrifying.

Moreover, that sword stroke had produced a sonic boom, the speed of which left Charles with no chance to react.

Blown backward by the explosive force of the energy armor, he hit the ground hard. Seeing the sword light piercing toward his chest, he quickly shouted, "Stop! We agree to prove our innocence."

Lu Heng also wanted to clarify whether they were traitors and asked, "How will you prove it?"

"Would spiritual torture work? We accept spiritual torture," Charles Water did not want to die, so he could only accept the method that was originally intended to coerce the Da Xia superpower users.

Lu Heng turned and looked at the Da Xia superpower users behind him, asking, "Does anyone here have the skills for spiritual torture?"

The female superpower user who had been knocked to the ground by the Dark Werewolf Derek Wolf raised her hand and answered, "I do, my name is Zhao Liwen. I possess the Spiritual Torture Skill with almost no side effects."

"Then do it," Lu Heng instructed, "Use your skill on them to confirm whether they are traitors or not."

Charles Water gestured at Lu Heng's sword and asked, "Can you put the sword down first?"

Lu Heng gave him a cold glare.

Charles hurriedly amended, "It's fine if you don't put it down. Start with my teammate if you wish."

He then looked to his teammate, the blonde Allen Bella, and said, "Allen, why don't you go first with the spiritual torture?"

Allen Bella's face showed her discontent as she complained, "Why should it be me?"

Though she voiced her objection, she still stepped forward and underwent Zhao Liwen's Spiritual Torture Skill.

Zhao Liwen closed her eyes and used the Spiritual Torture Skill on Allen Bella.

After a moment, she turned her head back and declared, "It's confirmed, she is not a traitor."

"Check them all," Lu Heng indicated for her to continue questioning the rest.

Zhao Liwen then conducted spiritual torture on all the members of Charles Water's team, and in the end, reported, "It's all confirmed, none among them are traitors."

Lu Heng turned to the other two teams that followed Charles Water, starting with Park Hyun-jin.

Park Hyun-jin quickly stepped back and said, "I didn't make a move just now."

Lu Heng pressed his sword tip against Charles's throat, the sharp point nicking his skin, "It seems your lackeys aren't very obedient."

Anger flashed across Charles's face as he shouted at Park Hyun-jin, "Shut up! Come here and submit to spiritual torture."

Pressed by Charles Water's authority, Park Hyun-jin and the others had no choice but to come forward for spiritual torture to prove they were who they claimed.

After all the White Eagle Camp superpower users had been checked, Zhao Liwen turned back to Lu Heng and shook her head, indicating, "None of them are traitors."

"Now are you satisfied? Can we go?" Charles Water said with displeasure.

Lu Heng sheathed the Aurora Blade, gestured to Su Muyu, and the others, and started walking towards Dili Castle.

The rest of the Da Xia superpower users didn't dare to linger and quickly followed Lu Heng's trio.

...

The Spiritual Superpower User Zhao Liwen quickly walked up behind Lu Heng and asked, "Hello, may I form an alliance with you?"

She had realized that Lu Heng's team was the strongest among the Da Xia superpower users.

As a solitary superpower user, finding the right allies was key to surviving in the Abyss Battlefield.

Lu Heng didn't look back as he answered, "We have important tasks to handle, so it's inconvenient to take you with us. But if you encounter trouble, we will try our best to help."

Despite his offer of help, it was a rejection of her request to ally.

Zhao Liwen let out a barely perceptible sigh and stood still, watching as Lu Heng and the others grew more distant.

...

Lu Heng mounted the Mechanical Tiger, taking Su Muyu and the other with him as they took to the sky, heading back to Dili Castle.

While flying, Lin Zeyu looked back at the quickly shrinking figures of the Da Xia superpower users on the ground and asked, "Why not take them with us?"

Lu Heng spoke with a serious tone, "There's a traitor in the Abyss Battlefield this time. Until the traitor is found, no one can be trusted."

Lin Zeyu frowned in confusion, "Didn't we just conduct a Spiritual Torture? At least those who went through Spiritual Torture can be confirmed as not being traitors, right?"

Su Muyu smiled gracefully, helping to explain, "Charles Water, Park Hyun-jin, and that group of people have been through Spiritual Torture and are indeed less suspicious, but it only reduces suspicion, not eliminate it completely. You must be wondering why, right?"

Lin Zeyu rolled his eyes and said, "Can you not treat me like I'm stupid? Zhao Liwen is in charge of the Spiritual Torture, but her suspicion hasn't been cleared. Therefore, the people she has interrogated can't be completely cleared of suspicion either."

In fact, this is a chain of suspicion.

Spiritual Torture was conducted on the superpower users from the White Eagle Camp, but its effectiveness is very limited.

The only ones you can truly trust are still the members of your own team.

If Zhao Liwen could be proven not to be a traitor, then those she interrogated could be cleared of suspicion as traitors.

Lin Zeyu thought for a moment and then asked, "Lu Heng, do you think there are any traitors among those superpower users from our country?"

Lu Heng replied uncertainly, "I'm not sure, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility. We can't let our guard down just because they are superpower users from our own country."

Lei Jinhao was a person from Da Xia, and yet he became a traitor.

So, being a traitor has nothing to do with nationality.

Lu Heng saved those seven Da Xia superpower users not because he trusted them, but because he was dissatisfied with the actions of that group of White Eagle superpower users.

Charles Water wasn't really looking for a traitor, but rather targeting the Da Xia ethnic group.

…

Flying through the air, they made quick progress.

They returned to Dili Castle by early morning.

Lu Heng, carrying a pottery jar with proper reverence, stepped into Dili Castle.

All the Black Iron Dwarves encountered along the way, realizing what Lu Heng was holding, knelt on one knee and placed their right hands over their hearts, rendering a salute.

Everywhere Lu Heng went, the Black Iron Dwarves kneeled.

Dakville III, upon learning of Lu Heng's return, came out of the military hall. Seeing the pottery jar in Lu Heng's hands, his face instantly showed an expression of sorrow.

He hurried over, knelt on one knee in salute, and then took the pottery jar from Lu Heng's hands to the Ancestor Hall of Dili Castle.

He placed the pottery jar in front of the altar in the Ancestor Hall and, after a sincere prayer, slowly opened the jar.

He reached into the jar and brought out a handful of ashes, his face marked by sadness.

Staring at the ashes in his hand, his expression suddenly changed, and he exclaimed, "This is wrong!"

Lu Heng, who had been standing outside the Ancestor Hall, frowned upon hearing this exclamation.

Actually, when he took the ashes, Lu Heng wasn't sure if they were those of Darkville II.

After all, everything had been burned to ash, leaving no way to confirm it.

This pottery jar had been placed in the Blood Sacrifice Tower of Black Stone City; could the ashes inside be those of a Bloodline Demon?

That seemed impossible.

The pottery jar was very rudimentary—if it contained the ashes of a high-rank Bloodline Demon, it shouldn't have been placed in such a simple jar.

As Lu Heng was feeling puzzled,

Dakville III said in shock and anger, "Father, father was killed by Black Witchcraft! There are still traces of Black Witchcraft in his ashes."

Lu Heng, hearing these words, finally understood.

It seemed the ashes were correct; the issue lay in the cause of Darkville II's death.

Bloodline Demons wouldn't learn Black Witchcraft; instead, it was the Black Iron Dwarves who studied it.

Yes, ever since the Abyss Descent, the Black Iron Dwarves had started learning Black Witchcraft to combat the Abyss.

Throughout the history of the Black Iron Tribe, there had been many powerful Black Wizards.

The seemingly malevolent name of Black Witchcraft is because it contains many curses with strange, dark effects.

But Black Witchcraft itself isn't necessarily evil—how it's used depends on the person practicing it.

Dakville III had originally thought his father had been killed by a Bloodline Demon while defending Black Stone City.

However, now he discovered his father had been killed by Black Witchcraft, arousing many doubts in his heart.

The Black Witchcraft residue in the ashes was unmistakable.

In fact, when Dakville III entered Black Stone City two years ago to retrieve his father's remains, he had felt something was off about the bones back then, but the situation had been too urgent to take a closer look.

Now, seeing the ashes, he was even more certain of his earlier feeling.

"Summon the tribesmen to the great hall!" Dakville III stood up, preparing to call a meeting of the tribes to inquire about the events that occurred during the fall of Black Stone City three years ago.

At this moment,

Lu Heng stepped into the Ancestor Hall and said, "Chieftain, wait a moment. You suspect that there is a traitor among the tribe, right? I might have seen that traitor in Black Stone City, but some clues haven't been pieced together yet.

"Calling a full tribe meeting now will only alert the traitor. I think we should investigate discreetly first, to see if we can find this traitor."