Top Soldier Pursued by a Beauty

"You can know a person's face, but you can never know their heart. His strength might be decent, but his character is just too poor, isn't it?"

"Indeed. Our Qingyun Sect treated him so well. The Second Elder didn't even say anything when he absorbed the Jade Marrow Stone, yet he repays our kindness with malice and steals our ultimate treasure?"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

Fury glinted in the eyes of the crowd. Seeing Zhao Dong's bloodied and wretched appearance, they showed no trace of pity. The disciples he had just suppressed were especially vicious, wishing for nothing more than his immediate death.

Zhao Dong was dragged before Jiang Feng.

Looking at Zhao Dong's furious expression, Jiang Feng smiled malevolently. He squatted down, patting Zhao Dong's face, and mocked him in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Kid, this is the Qingyun Sect. Still defiant? So what?"

"Since you can't possibly produce the Jade Marrow Stone, you might as well die with it!"

"Despicable! DESPICABLE!" Fury blazed in Zhao Dong's wide eyes.

Jiang Feng sneered, "Yes, I am despicable. But what of it? You were destined to be a loser the moment you opposed me."

"Look at the eyes of the people around you. How they worshipped you just moments ago. And now? They can't wait for you to die!"

"That's human nature for you. By being so high-profile, you were destined to attract their wrath!"

"Do you think they care about the truth? No, they just want to see you fall from your pedestal. That's all!"

With these words, Jiang Feng slowly rose to his feet. Looking down from on high, he pointed to the black iron cage that had just been brought forward. "This cage is called the Soul Destruction Cage. As the name implies, once you're inside, you will experience a pain worse than death, until your very soul shatters and you are utterly obliterated."

"You have one last chance. If you disclose the whereabouts of the Enlightenment Stone, I can grant you a swift end."

Zhao Dong sneered, "If you want to frame someone, you'll never lack for excuses. I didn't steal the Enlightenment Stone, so how could I tell you where it is?"

"Jiang Feng, you're nothing but a despicable villain! A piece of trash!"

With that, Zhao Dong turned toward the surrounding crowd and bellowed, "Everyone, I, Zhao Dong, have always acted openly and honorably!"

"This is all Jiang Feng's doing! He's framing me! He failed to murder me for my treasures and is now falsely accusing me of stealing the Enlightenment Stone!"

"Bullshit! Elder Jiang Feng is the Grand Elder of the Qingyun Sect. What could he possibly want that he doesn't already have? Why would he need to kill someone for treasure?"

"You disgusting scum! It's bad enough you're too cowardly to own up to your actions, but you dare to slander him? What a disgrace!"

"Kid, why aren't you dead yet? If I were you, I'd have died of shame by now. You still have the gall to argue?"

"You! All of you!" Veins bulged on Zhao Dong's forehead in sheer rage.

He couldn't believe it. Did these people not harbor even a single shred of doubt?

Zhao Dong remembered what Jiang Feng had said. Indeed. Did any of them care about the truth? Perhaps all they wanted to see was the pathetic sight of him falling from grace.

Helplessness, humiliation!

For the first time, Zhao Dong experienced such suffocating frustration. This sense of powerlessness drove him to the brink of madness, yet he had no way to resist.

Agonizing! Unbearably agonizing!

Trembling, he cast his gaze, filled with his last shred of hope, toward Dongfang Shi.

"Elder Dongfang, everything I've said is true. Do you truly refuse to believe me?"

"Zhao Dong, it's not that I refuse to believe you, but how am I supposed to?" Dongfang Shi said, his voice filled with despair. "Everything you've said is baseless, yet the aura of the Enlightenment Stone is undeniably on your person. How can you expect me to believe you?"

With that, Dongfang Shi turned his head away in despair. At that moment, Zhao Dong's heart turned to ash.

Jiang Feng leaned in slightly, his voice a sinister whisper, "See? I told you. No one would believe the words of a thieving rat."

"Are you angry? Helpless? Do you want to kill me? Heh, too bad. You can't!"

"I'm standing right in front of you, framing you. What can you possibly do about it?"

"Bastard! Bastard! BASTARD!"

Zhao Dong lunged forward but was fiercely held down by the disciples behind him. With bloodshot eyes, he shrieked, "Jiang Feng! I won't let you go, not even as a ghost! I won't!"

Jiang Feng dusted off his sleeves and shot Zhao Dong a disdainful glance. Waving his hand, he said, "Such big talk from a braggart. Throw him into the Soul Destruction Cage. I want to see how long his mouth stays tough!"

At Jiang Feng's cold command, disciples immediately shoved Zhao Dong into the Soul Destruction Cage. Once he was inside, bolts of lightning began to surge all around.

BOOM!

Fine arcs of lightning struck Zhao Dong directly, piercing his skin and flesh to wound his soul. The agony that erupted from the depths of his being made him let out scream after scream until he fainted.

However, the next moment, a violent wind erupted within the cage. The wind was so sharp that it left countless cuts all over Zhao Dong's body in an instant. Blood gushed out, and the intense pain, like a hundred insects gnawing at his bones, shocked the unconscious Zhao Dong awake once again.

At the same time, lightning struck again as fire erupted forth. The flames were followed by ice. Just as his body adapted to the scorching heat, it was plunged into glacial cold, only for the searing heat to return moments later. All the while, the wind and lightning fell relentlessly.

The cage seemed to possess a healing function. Although he should have been tortured to death by now, his wounds continuously closed.

"Jiang Feng! You will not die a good death! You won't! AHHHHH!"

Zhao Dong clutched the bars of the cage, his quivering, crimson eyes glaring daggers at Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng grinned, his gaze filled with contempt, as if he were looking at a dead dog.

The disciples watching from outside had varied expressions.

"Good! Torture him good! Serves the punk right for being so defiant. He should've died a long time ago!"

"Son of a bitch, you were so tough when you fought me just now, weren't you? Not so tough now, are you?"

"What a waste of our Qingyun Sect's Spirit Medicine Pool, to be ruined by such a piece of trash. Damn it!"

"Sigh, one should never be too greedy. He already obtained the Jade Marrow Stone, so why did he have to steal? It's unbelievable!"

"Exactly! If he wanted to break through to Martial Saint, he could have just borrowed the Enlightenment Stone. Why steal it?"

"You're right. The Second Elder held him in such high regard, he surely would have lent it to him. Why did he have to steal it?"

"Hmph! He must have planned to sell it for money. The Enlightenment Stone is an ultimate treasure. If sold on the open market, it would fetch an astronomical price!"

"I say he's probably a spy from another power, sent here specifically to steal the stone!"

"I don't know, something feels wrong. This young man seemed so handsome and gentle… I just don't think he seems like the type to steal. Could there truly be a misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding my ass! You love-struck fools are hopeless. The Grand Elder himself said he stole the Enlightenment Stone. Could that be a lie?"

The disciples showed a range of reactions. Those who had been bested by Zhao Dong clapped their hands in delight, wishing he would die immediately. Those who hadn't, however, either sighed or looked on with pity. As for the few female disciples who were smitten with Zhao Dong, they began to voice their doubts.

Off to the side, a cold smirk played on the lips of Second Senior Brother Hai Dongqing.