Chapter 336: Soul Shackles

Su Che and Tian Yin continued on their journey. In the Immortal Prison, Lao He continued to interrogate Yan Lin, while also confiscating his personal belongings.
Yan Lin’s main magical artifacts, though not top-tier spiritual treasures, included two high-grade spiritual treasures for offense and defense:
The high-grade offensive artifact was a long sword with sharp serrated edges, possessing a powerful cutting ability named “Erasure Cut” by Yan Lin; the high-grade defensive artifact was a chest guard called “Eternal Longevity Lock,” with the ability “Eternal Vitality Qi.”
Lao He asked, “Master, are these two artifacts fused?”
If these two spiritual treasures were fused, two of their abilities could be extracted, allowing Su Che to gather ten abilities in total, meaning the success rate of forming a Nascent Soul would be nearly 100%.
However, Su Che said, “Let’s wait and see. Anyway, these two artifacts can’t escape from the Immortal Prison. When it’s time to form a Nascent Soul, if there are no better options, we’ll fuse them all at once.”
Su Che thought it was still too early to form a Nascent Soul; he might encounter even better abilities. There was no need to collect all kinds of inferior abilities, as that would waste so many high-grade spiritual treasures.
It was better to wait and see—no rush yet…
Capturing Nascent Soul cultivators was definitely a quick way to get rich. Yan Lin also had considerable personal wealth, with over 2,600 high-grade spiritual stones alone.
Based on the memories in Yan Lin’s mind, high-grade spiritual stones in the cultivation world of Mu Lan Star were more abundant than those on Qi Yuan Star. It wasn’t difficult for any Nascent Soul master to have two or three thousand of them.
Out of habit, Lao He brought out the purple faceless jade statue again and showed it to Yan Lin to identify what kind of treasure it was.
This purple jade faceless statue was obtained by Su Che in the Xiao Mi Immortal Realm about five years ago, and its nature had remained unknown. Earlier, it had been shown to Tai Wu, but unfortunately, he too couldn’t determine its origin.
Today, with another Nascent Soul cultivator from Mu Lan Star in the Immortal Prison, Lao He brought out the faceless statue out of curiosity.
To his surprise, he had indeed chosen the right person…
As soon as Yan Lin saw the statue, his expression changed noticeably. Yet he shook his head vigorously and said, “I don’t know. I don’t recognize it!”
“Haha!”
Lao He laughed maniacally and punched him hard in the face. “Daring to lie to me? You deserve a beating, don’t you?”

Through telepathy, Lao He could sense whatever was in his mind at any time. He was quite sure that Yan Lin recognized this treasure and had his reasons for lying.
Bang bang bang bang—after a fierce interrogation, it wasn’t long before Lao He fully understood everything through telepathy.
“Master, great! I finally know the function and origin of this purple jade statue,” Lao He reported excitedly.
“Oh?”
Seeing Lao He so enthusiastic, Su Che became even more eager and quickly asked, “What function? Tell me quickly.”
“This is an extremely rare treasure!”
Lao He exclaimed exaggeratorily, “Although it’s not a Dao artifact, it’s an ancient mystical treasure. Its functions are even more powerful than many Dao artifacts!”
Su Che listened patiently, filled with excitement.
“Simply put, this thing is a control-type divine artifact. It can be used to control a cultivator, turning them into your most loyal servant—that is, the brainwashing function we’ve been expecting…”
At this point, Lao He sighed again, “Its original name is ‘Soul Shackles’. Unfortunately, it can only enslave one servant at a time.”
Su Che immediately asked, “Is it a one-time-use magic artifact?”
He asked this because he felt that if it were a one-time-use artifact, he would be reluctant to use it. If he enslaved a Yuan Ying-stage cultivator now, it would surely be less useful than using it to enslave a Hua Shen-stage or even Lian Xu-stage cultivator in the future…
The good news was that Lao He replied, “No, it can be reused. It can enslave a Yuan Ying-stage cultivator now; if we catch a Hua Shen-stage criminal in the future, we can just put these Soul Shackles on them as well.”
“So good?”
Su Che couldn’t help but laugh heartily, even shouting out loud. Tian Yin, sitting beside him, asked curiously, “What’s so funny?”
“I just made a very good discovery. I’ll tell you once I’ve studied it thoroughly in a bit,” Su Che replied gently.
Tian Yin nodded lightly.
In the Immortal Prison, Lao He continued, “Yan Lin recognized these Soul Shackles because he had seen illustrations and descriptions of them in an ancient book from the Netherworld Sect. He was afraid of being enslaved and losing his identity, which is why he hid the truth and refused to confess.”
“Have you figured out how to use this treasure?” Su Che wondered in his heart.
“I have!” Lao He replied. “Yan Lin remembers very clearly from that ancient book, which provides very detailed explanations about it.”

“Good!” Su Che nodded in his heart. “If you can be sure it’s not a one-time item, then try using Tai Wu first.”
“Don’t worry, master. There definitely won’t be any mistakes,” Lao He replied confidently.
“Wait!”
Su Che remembered something else and asked urgently, “Since this Soul Shackle is exactly the brainwashing function we’ve been hoping for, why can’t Xianyu merge it into a power I possess, or into one of Xianyu’s functions? That way, wouldn’t we be able to enslave more prisoners at once?”
“I don’t know,” Lao He said with his hands spread out. “I asked just now, and Xianyu showed no reaction. It’s definitely impossible to merge it. Or maybe it’s just not possible yet…”
“Alright.” Su Che had no choice but to accept this reality.
Su Che guessed that Xianyu’s merging function also required a gradual enhancement process. At present, it might be because the artifact was too advanced to be merged.
For example, when Xianyu reached its second layer, it could only merge artifacts that matched its elemental affinity; but after reaching the third layer, it seemed all artifacts could be merged.
From this, it could be inferred that if a Dao artifact were sent in at this stage, there might not be enough power to merge it.
Perhaps once Xianyu reached its fourth or fifth layer, it would be possible to merge this “Soul Shackle,” and by then, he would have the ability to enslave multiple prisoners at once.
“I hope that day comes soon. Otherwise, keeping so many extremely wicked prisoners around is quite troublesome.”
Su Che hoped secretly.
Inside Xianyu, Lao He summoned Tai Wu, who was still in the early stage of the Yuan Ying phase, before him. Two years had passed, and Tai Wu had long been completely under Lao He’s control.
First, Lao He took a drop of Tai Wu’s blood and dropped it on the face of the purple jade statue. The blood adhered to the surface but did not penetrate it.
Then, using the soul-extraction technique that the Outer Demons were most skilled at, Lao He extracted Tai Wu’s life soul from his three souls and seven spirits, and implanted it into the purple jade statue using a special method. Immediately, the drop of blood seeped into the facial area of the statue…
After a dozen breaths, the previously faceless purple jade statue suddenly developed a face—exactly Tai Wu’s appearance.
Tai Wu’s eyes were confused, as if trapped in an illusion. It took some time before he gradually regained clarity. But by then, his feeling toward Lao He had changed from fear not long ago to complete submission.

His life soul had been imprisoned within the soul shackles. Through this statue, Lao He could take Tai Wu’s life at any time, without worrying that he would betray him. In other words, Su Che now had a thug at the Yuan Ying stage. In the future, if he captured prisoners at the Hua Shen or even Lian Xu stage, he could return Tai Wu’s life soul to the statue, which would then revert to its faceless state and be used to enslave another, stronger servant.

Swish!

Su Che summoned Tai Wu out of the Immortal Prison, who suddenly appeared before Tian Yin.

“Tai Wu!”

Taken aback, Tian Yin was startled but was surprised to see Tai Wu bowing respectfully to Su Che and greeting him with utmost deference, “Tai Wu greets his master.”

Curious about Tai Wu’s condition, Su Che asked, “Tai Wu, do you remember your past experiences?”

“I remember everything,” Tai Wu nodded. “All of my memories are intact, and my mental state is perfectly normal.”

“Do you also remember those experiences at the Tai Yi Gate?” Su Che asked tentatively.

“Every detail is still fresh in my mind,” Tai Wu replied with a nod.

“Then, if I ordered you to turn against the Tai Yi Gate, what would you do?” Su Che asked further.

“I am my master’s most loyal servant. Even if it meant fighting against Tai Xu, Tai Hua, or even the ancestors of the Tai Yi Gate, I would fight without hesitation,” Tai Wu replied respectfully.

“Good, very good.”

Su Che nodded with a smile, but inwardly he couldn’t help shouting loudly, “Lao He, this soul shackle is truly amazing! Tai Wu’s mind is still so normal!”

Su Che had thought that after being enslaved, Tai Wu would become dull and foolish. He never expected that he would be as quick-witted and clear-minded as a normal person, still possessing full judgment ability.

In the Immortal Prison, Lao He waved the purple jade statue in his hand, equally overjoyed: “This is the wonder of these ancient treasures. They enslave a person’s soul, not just control their thoughts. This treasure is indeed extremely advanced. No wonder the Immortal Prison couldn’t devour or assimilate it.”

At this moment, Tian Yin was even more shocked. She could clearly see that Su Che had complete control over Tai Wu, far beyond mere superficial submission. She asked, “Su Che, how did you do this?”

Su Che smiled triumphantly, his eyes gleaming with menace as he threatened, “Miss Tian Yin, from now on, please be gentler with me. Otherwise, I’ll turn you into the same!”

Overjoyed, Su Che indeed lost a bit of control and blurted out such a joke without thinking.
Tian Yin frowned, flipped her wrist to take out a bronze bell, and asked coldly, “Do you need me to wake you up?”
The once gentle Tian Yin was now as cold as ice, devoid of any warmth.
Standing nearby, Tai Wu secretly raised his guard, ready to launch a sudden attack on the nearby Tian Yin at his master’s command.
Yet he saw that the man and woman stared at each other for a moment before suddenly laughing together.
With hundreds of years of experience, Tai Wu’s judgment remained sharp as ever—he could easily tell that his master and Tian Yin from the Wuji Sect were already in a very close relationship…