Chapter 136: Surrendering Unconditionally

Although the Lingxi Shell was on the verge of shattering, the short-statured cultivator took advantage of Lao Hei’s strike to propel himself forward with increased speed, soaring more than twenty zhang in an instant. This brought him within range to cast an elite spiritual talisman. With a surge of his vital energy, the fire talisman in his hand glowed as it flew toward the Su family’s inner residence, over thirty zhang away.

“Ah no!” Su Yunshan cried out in panic, but there was nothing he could do. He watched as the talisman reached the upper sky of the inner residence. If it exploded, all over a hundred people in the Su family—elderly, weak, women, and children who were not skilled in cultivation—would be destroyed.

At this moment, the short-statured cultivator’s intention in casting the talisman was certainly not to perish together with the Su family. His goal was to set fire and escape, forcing Su Che to put out the fire and save people, leaving no time for him to pursue…

Boom!

The talisman exploded, unleashing the enclosed Samadhi True Fire. The golden flames illuminated half of the sky, making it impossible to see. Samadhi True Fire is a kind of true fire that only cultivators at the Golden Core stage, who specialize in fire energy, can cultivate. It can instantly burn most objects in the mortal world. If it touched the Su family’s inner residence, everything—people and buildings—would turn to ashes in just a few breaths.

Whoosh…

The golden flames descended from the sky, covering the entire Su family’s inner residence.

“Che!”

The elders, including Su Yunshan, cried out in despair, hoping that this last hope of the Su family could create a miracle. Otherwise…

“I’ve said it before—playing with fire is useless.”

Su Che, already flying above the inner residence on a jade plate, flicked his right hand, and a small bronze gourd appeared in his palm. With such a precious artifact appearing, a miracle was bound to happen!

“Draw it in!”

With a soft command, the golden flames swirling in the air suddenly changed direction. Instead of descending, they rushed toward Su Che. Then, they transformed into a column of fire and were obediently drawn into the bronze gourd.

Not only was all the Samadhi True Fire absorbed, but even the chefs in the kitchen, who were busy cooking meals for Young Master Sun, were stunned. The flames in the stoves vanished instantly, flying out of the window and disappearing without a trace.

With the appearance of this precious gourd, everything within hundreds of zhang became fire-free—everything had been sucked away!

“How is this possible?”

The short-statured cultivator was dumbfounded.

Bang!

Lao Hei’s second axe strike shattered the Lingxi Shell into pieces, which scattered across the ground with clinking sounds.

Lao He put away his battle axe and roared, “Kneel and beg for mercy, and I, Lao He, will spare your life. Otherwise, the next axe swing will split you in two!”
“Great, that’s wonderful!”
In the courtyard of the council hall, the elders of the Su family cheered in unison.
Su Che put away his precious gourd and accelerated the jade plate, blocking the short-lived cultivator’s path. Still bound by the top-grade jade ring, his flying speed was barely faster than that of a snail in Su Che’s eyes.
Su Che said in a grave voice, “That’s right. If you surrender, I can promise to spare your life—just capture you, not kill you.”
At this moment, the short-lived cultivator had no defensive magic weapons and couldn’t withstand Lao He’s repeated slashes. Moreover, he couldn’t fly or escape, and even his most powerful top-grade spirit talisman was useless… In short, he was in a hopeless situation.
“Why should I trust you? If I surrender and you kill me later, wouldn’t that be unjust?” The short-lived cultivator still wanted to resist.
“You have only two choices,” Su Che said coldly. “Either be killed by us together or surrender. Choose for yourself.”
“I…”
The short-lived cultivator racked his brains desperately for a solution but couldn’t think of any way to break out of this predicament.
“Never mind. I’ll surrender for now and submit to them. As long as I stay alive, I’ll have a chance to regain my freedom, and maybe even avenge myself and wash away this humiliation…”
Having made up his mind, he landed, put away all his magic weapons, and stopped resisting.
Unbeknownst to him, there was a place where once you entered, it wouldn’t be easy to regain freedom. The wonders of the Immortal Prison were beyond his imagination.
“Alright, I agree…”
Before he could finish speaking, Lao He leaped down and knocked him out with a single slap. The Asura’s sharp claws, capable of cutting through metal and jade, were equivalent to an offensive magic weapon.
Thus, all nine wandering cultivators staying at the Su family’s place were dealt with. Two of them, who were at the Foundation Establishment stage, were only unconscious, while the others, who were at the later stages of Qi Cultivation, died at the hands of the Snake Woman, Su Che, and the Su family elders.
In front of the elders, Su Che couldn’t just drag them into the Immortal Prison outright; he needed to cover it up somehow.
So, he took out two fake coffins, put the two Foundation Establishment cultivators—one tall and one short—into them, and pretended to put them in the Qiankun Bag. In reality, they had already been sent to the Immortal Prison.
Although the elders couldn’t figure out why Su Che wasn’t killing them, they knew there must be a reason. With such great abilities—able to summon demons and control Asuras—maybe he could even tame these two human beings at the Foundation Establishment stage…

After dealing with the matters related to the freelance cultivators, Su Che didn’t even have time to sit down and rest. He called out loudly in the courtyard, “Which elder can show me the way to Su Jiang?”
“I’ll go instead,” Su Yunshan said. Concerned about his younger brother’s life and death, he felt he had to handle this matter himself.
The jade disc beneath their feet grew a bit larger, and Su Che lifted Su Yunshan into the air as they flew toward Su Jiang in the distance.
Although the Snake Woman had already gone to rescue him, Su Che was still worried, fearing that the Silver Beard Dragon was too fierce for her to handle.
Su Che still had some memories regarding the origin of the Silver Beard Dragon:
Over a hundred years ago, a Silver Beard Dragon suddenly appeared in Su Jiang. Though still in its juvenile stage, this noble-blooded demon beast already possessed the strength of a level two being, equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage in human terms.
Fortunately, the Silver Beard Dragon wasn’t the evil beast described in legends. It could be fed solely on fish from the river and wouldn’t come out to harm people. Thus, it had maintained a peaceful relationship with the Su family, who lived closest to it.
Of course, since it was still an unintelligent demon beast, provoking it would surely result in an instinctive attack from its side.
Back then, the “Su Che” was very curious about the Silver Beard Dragon, always wanting to befriend it, riding on its back, flying high in the sky, and looking mighty as it breathed clouds and mist.
He even wanted to uncover the mystery of how it appeared in Su Jiang—why it suddenly appeared and where its parents were…
Today, Su Che’s curiosity wasn’t as strong, but he still couldn’t help but wonder that such a noble-blooded Silver Beard Dragon appearing here must have some explanation. Taking this opportunity to investigate might yield other discoveries as well.
Su Yun Tang was half an hour’s journey away, and Su Che arrived there after flying for a short while.
By the banks of Su Jiang, Su Che landed and asked, “Second Grandpa, is this it?”
Su Yunshan replied, “Yes. Our ancestors went down there once and said there’s a cave at the bottom of the river, where that Silver Beard Dragon lives.”
“Good. I’ll go down now. Second Grandpa, wait here. Under no circumstances should you go down and take risks,” Su Che warned.
Su Yunshan nodded and said, “Che, be careful, okay?”
Su Che responded with a nod before diving headfirst into the river.
At this spot, the river was narrow with rapid currents, and the deepest part exceeded ten zhang. As soon as he entered the water, Lao He detected a large cave on the riverbed’s rock wall.
Su Che swam over immediately and entered through the cave entrance.
“There’s a fight going on inside.”

Lao Hei’s detection ability allowed him to see through the tunnel in the cave, where two long figures were engaged in a fierce struggle—undoubtedly, a snake and a jiao, fighting with great intensity. Passing through the narrow tunnel, they entered a relatively spacious area nestled within the mountainside by the river. Due to its elevated location, there was no water in the cave, though it was somewhat damp. Su Che saw Su Yuntang, with gray hair, lying flat in a corner, breathing steadily, seemingly asleep. He was still alive, but it was uncertain whether the Soul-Burning Technique had already been used. The snake woman fighting against the Silver-Bearded Jiao noticed Su Che and immediately sent a message: “That human elder has already used the Soul-Burning Technique. But after I knocked him out, I interrupted the technique, so I guess his soul isn’t too badly damaged.” “Okay, thank you,” Su Che replied via message. “Do you need any help?” “No need. This little jiao is nearly a thousand years younger than me—it’s still an infant. It lacks wisdom and is fierce. It kept pestering me, preventing me from leaving. I need to teach it a lesson.” The snake woman’s tone was quite casual, so Su Che saw no need to intervene. Whoosh! Su Che placed Su Yuntang in the Immortal Prison and said to Lao Hei, “Check his injuries and treat him thoroughly.” Inside the Immortal Prison, Lao Hei’s abilities could be amplified by hundreds of times. After a quick inspection, he made a judgment and reported, “Master, although the Soul-Burning Technique was interrupted, it still damaged his soul. I can extract the soul energy of others and use the Demon Possession Technique to repair it, but even if he is cured, he will lose some of his memories.” “Losing some memories isn’t a big deal. It won’t affect his lifespan or his rebirth in the next life. That’s already quite good.” Su Che had long known that the extraterrestrial demons were experts at manipulating souls. As long as Su Yuntang wasn’t dead, Lao Hei could find a way to heal his soul’s wounds. In this way, Su Yuntang could be considered saved. Su Che felt he had fulfilled his obligations to the Su family—no matter how many karmic debts remained, they would be repaid. While Lao Hei repaired Su Yuntang’s soul in the Immortal Prison, Su Che acted as if nothing had happened and went deep into the cave, using his 30-zhang-wide consciousness to search for secrets there. The power of his consciousness was indeed extremely convenient; in such a pitch-black environment, it posed no hindrance at all. After walking a short distance, he saw a huge skeleton deep in the cave—twisting and stretching over 30 zhang long, resembling that of a giant dragon.

Su Che felt a surge in his heart: “Four bone toes, an adult dragon!”