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Lucia caught two quasi-immortals from the immortal realm. They’re just what I needed. Knowledge is power, and from the heads of these two captives, I’m going to extract a lot of knowledge. “Hello, my name is Ilya Pentorn, but the two of you can call me Ilya. How shall I address the two of you?”
My captives didn’t say anything. They were glaring at me from within their cages. It’s a good thing I spent so long developing formations and items to cage Durandal. I recycled some of them to keep these two powerless. The woman kept threatening to self-detonate when she was in the sky, so the first thing I did was put an anti-self-detonation belt on her. She doesn’t seem very happy about that, but luckily, their happiness isn’t my concern. “So, the two of you aren’t willing to talk, huh?” That’s fine too. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to torture someone. Everyone else already knows to cooperate with me, and no one has broken any laws recently.
I opened the cage leading to the woman’s cell, and I took a knife out of my interspacial ring. It’s a high-quality knife, a sky-realm-ranked weapon. The woman stared at me with wide eyes, but she still didn’t say anything. What great resolve, let’s see how long it can last. Oh. Wait a minute. “I forgot to take off the restrictions around your neck. Oops.”
“I’ll talk! Ask me anything you want! I’m really afraid of pain.”
Well, looks like I’m not torturing anyone today. Unless…? I entered the other cell and took the restrictions off the man. “Are you going to cooperate?”
The man had red eyes, and his skin was awfully pale. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“No, you do have a choice.”
“Really?”
“Yes, you can cooperate, and I’ll treat you nicely, or you can be disobedient, and I’ll have fun torturing you for information. I really wouldn’t mind if you picked choice number two.”
“…I’ll cooperate.”
Darn. “Alright, how should I address you two?”
“I’m Demonic Lord Bloodmoon, leader of the Demonic Bloodmoon Sect.”
“You can call me Fairy Lin. There are no significant powers behind me. Also, the Demonic Lord Bloodmoon does not belong to a sect; he’s the leader of an evil cult that seeks to bring the immortal realm under the control of demons.”
Demons? I’m a demon. “Tell me more about these demons. What are they like?”
Fairy Lin stared at me. “They’re evil creatures, fond of bloodshed and suffering, obsessed with power and money, willing to do anything to achieve their goals. They’re highly intelligent and have no morals, and they’re the common enemy of all human cultivators.”
Perhaps these demons really are related to me. “What do they look like?”
“Purple-skinned, red-eyed, just like you.”
I remember Old Lan, that elder from the Holy Beasts Sect, said I was a part of the moon race. I tried asking around, but despite there being an elder from the moon race living in the sect grounds, I wasn’t able to get much information. Perhaps these two would know more about them. “Have you heard of the moon race?”
Fairy Lin nodded. “Of course. They’re children of the moon. They’re naturally endowed with an understanding of the world, and their ability to create formations is unmatched. Many formation masters amongst the human immortals spent years living amongst the moon race to learn their techniques. Coincidentally, they also have purple skin and red eyes.” Fairy Lin paused and gave me a once-over. “Are you … part of the moon race?”
Honestly, I’m not sure anymore, but considering the fact demons are the universal enemy…. “Yes, of course, I’m part of the moon race. Who do you think set those formations around the door of immortality?”
“But, but you acted so cruel and evil,” Fairy Lin said. “I thought you were a demon. Were you joking about torturing us?”
“No, I was serious about that. You see, after finding out anyone can come through that door willy-nilly, I feel a bit afraid for my safety. Any information you two provide will help me prepare for the next time something like this happens.”
“I’m willing to cooperate with you,” Demonic Lord Bloodmoon said. “I’ll even help you prepare to ascend to the immortal realm. As part of a lower realm, there must be a severe shortage of immortal techniques and knowledge missing. With my assistance, you can raise an army of immortals strong enough to carve out your own territory in the heavens above.”
“Don’t listen to him! The techniques he provides, they’re bound to be evil or detrimental for you to learn.”
“What is evil? What is righteous?” Demonic Lord Bloodmoon snorted. “There are only—”
“Hey, Ilya! How’s it going? Are you done interrogating them?”
“Hello, Lucia. Hello, Sophia.” Lucia still has a habit of appearing out of nowhere without alerting me beforehand. “You’ve only left me alone with them for five minutes. How am I supposed to get anything done in that short amount of time?”
Sophia waddled up the cells and pointed. “Are these the things that Mommy caught?”
Lucia stuck out her chest. “That’s right! Mommy caught them. Aren’t I amazing?”
“Mommy’s amazing!” Sophia said and tugged on Lucia’s hand. “When do we eat them? I’m hungry.”
“Excuse me?” Fairy Lin asked.
“Huh?” Lucia tilted her head. “Why do you think we’re eating them?”
Sophia tilted her head, copying Lucia. “We always eat the things Mommy catches. You throw them in the big pot and cook them, and they always taste so good!”
“I am a good cook, aren’t I?” Lucia asked with a smug smile on her face. “But we’re not going to eat them. We don’t eat people.”
Sophia’s brow furrowed. “We don’t eat people? Why?”
“Because…, uh….” Lucia turned to look at me. “Why don’t we eat people, Ilya?”
You know, I never really thought about this before. “It’s against the law.”
Sophia blinked at me. “But doesn’t Mommy make the laws?”
“Oh, hey, it’s an acorn, Sophia!” Lucia pulled an acorn out of her interspacial ring and put it in Sophia’s hands.
“Mommy, only you get distracted by acorns.”