"Besides, I didn't intend to kill you."
Yang Hun seemed to have grasped at a straw of hope and quickly said.
"You really won't kill me?"
Zhao Shuning nodded.
"But I'm going to take something from you."
"What is it? As long as you spare my life, I can even cede the entire large city of Jiangning to you."
Zhao Shuning sneered.
"What use would I have for Jiangning?"
"I have a way for you to become the lord of Jiangning. Or, right, you probably don't want such a small city. But this is already the most precious thing I have."
"The most precious thing is not Jiangning."
For practitioners, the most important thing is the spiritual root that they have cultivated for decades.
What Zhao Shuning wanted was precisely that spiritual root. Moreover, she was going to completely destroy Yang Hun's spiritual root so that it would never have a chance to grow again.
Yang Hun sensed the danger in Zhao Shuning's eyes. He wanted to escape, but alas, all four directions were sealed off. He simply couldn't leave.
"Don't you like beautiful women the most?"
"Didn't you want to take my mother for yourself?"
Mother? So Lin Min'er was her mother. This woman had never intended to spare him from the very beginning.
Yang Hun wanted to self - explode, but Zhao Shuning had already anticipated this move of his.
"Five - Element Spell."
As the spell was cast, Yang Hun couldn't even move his body now.
"You're not an alchemist. I don't need to be as wary of you as I was of that Master Lu."
"Master Lu? How do you know about him?"
"Do you want to go down and accompany him? But you don't have that chance for now."
Zhao Shuning clenched her hands tightly. Yang Hun only felt a jolt throughout his body, and it seemed as if there was a huge rumbling sound in his mind. This was the sound of his spiritual root being completely destroyed.
He had practiced for decades. He had finally reached the Seventh Realm with so much effort. During this period, he had given so many gifts to Master Lu and consumed so many pills to finally reach this realm.
Now, it had been so easily destroyed by this woman in front of him.
The moment his spiritual root was destroyed, the air walls around Yang Hun were also removed. His legs went weak, and he fell to the ground.
Zhao Shuning lightly jumped down from the tree and landed opposite Yang Hun. Then she slowly walked towards him.
Yang Hun was now weak and no different from an ordinary person. But this was far from enough. The things he had done couldn't be atoned for with just this bit of retribution.
Zhao Shuning stopped when she was within three steps of Yang Hun.
Yang Hun looked up. The woman was very beautiful. If one stared at her for too long, they might just get lost. But even more terrifying than her beauty was her ability. Such ability was enough to dominate the world.
"Open your mouth."
Yang Hun simply didn't have the ability to refuse. His mouth opened as per Zhao Shuning's command.
An extremely bitter pill slid down his throat. He wanted to spit it out, but his mouth just wouldn't open.
"Want to know what you ate?"
"Have you heard of the Step - Restraining Powder?"
The Step - Restraining Powder? A pill specifically used to imprison important ordinary people. Why did she give this to him?
After making sure that he couldn't spit out the pill, Yang Hun forced his mouth open to speak.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't kill me?"
"I really won't kill you. Killing you would be too easy a punishment for you."
"Then why did you feed me the Step - Restraining Powder? Where are you going to lock me up? In the dungeon of Jiangning?"
"The dungeon of Jiangning? You've got quite an imagination. Now that you've lost your spiritual power, the people in Jiangning have all been oppressed by you. If I locked you in the dungeon, it wouldn't be a punishment for you. It would be more like protecting you. Why would I do that?"
Yang Hun was speechless.
Zhao Shuning continued, "I've set up spiritual power lures around Jiangning. If you dare to leave Jiangning, you should know what the consequences will be."
As a practitioner, Yang Hun naturally knew what the consequences would be. This meant that he could move freely within Jiangning, but if he dared to take a single step outside Jiangning, the Step - Restraining Powder wouldn't kill him, but it would make him suffer more than death.
The Step - Restraining Powder would torture a person until they were mentally scattered. It would feel as if there were thousands of ants gnawing at their body simultaneously. At the same time, one would remain extremely conscious. It would make one fully experience the bone - gnawing pain.
"You're just a woman. How could your heart be so vicious? Your Zhao family is, after all, a big family in the Eastern Marshy Wilderness."
"Don't talk to me about this. The token of the head of the Zhao family isn't with me. Now, I'm just here to seek revenge on you as Zhao Zheng's daughter. Oh, right, what you said actually reminded me. If I just let you go like this, it would be too kind to you."
Zhao Shuning stretched out her right hand. In the palm of her hand, a small dagger slowly took shape.
When Yang Hun saw the dagger, his heart skipped a beat, and he even stammered when he spoke.
"You said you wouldn't kill me."
"Stop being so verbose."
Zhao Shuning gently moved her finger, and the dagger flew towards Yang Hun. Then, it made several deep cuts on his limbs.
Strangely enough, no blood gushed out. But Yang Hun still felt excruciating pain in his arms and legs.
"Now, the important tendons in your hands and feet have been severed by me. But don't worry, it won't prevent you from walking. But if you want to pick up something heavy, even an iron dagger, you probably won't be able to hold it."
Yang Hun looked up.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I just want you to experience what it's like for those beggars in Jiangning. Now that you can't carry anything, you have no way out but to beg for food."
Zhao Shuning suddenly laughed. Her laugh was so cold.
Yang Hun only felt that there could never be such a cruel woman in the world. This was more painful than killing him. His remaining life was destined to be worse than death.
The people in Jiangning had long been oppressed by him. If he went to beg for food, no one would be willing to give him a bite.
"You can go."
Zhao Shuning didn't look at Yang Hun anymore and walked straight back into Jiangning.
At this time, the people of Jiangning were still safely staying in the protective shield she had set up, unharmed.
"Everyone, you can go home now. From now on, you don't have to live in fear anymore. That corrupt official, Yang Hun, is no longer the governor of Jiangning from today."
"But what about Master Lu?"
"He's already dead."
In the distance, Luo Qiu came stepping on the moon.
"Jiulongzhuang has been burned to the ground. This is that old Taoist's head."
Luo Qiu flicked his hand, and Master Lu's head was hung high beside the flag on the city wall.
"Don't worry. Your king won't ignore this place. After Miss Xu goes back, she will definitely bring a new governor for your Jiangning."
"Thank you, miss."
"Thank you, miss."
The voices echoed one after another, and the people below even knelt down one after another.
Just as Zhao Shuning was about to tell everyone not to do this, an image letter from Banyue came from afar.
"Something has happened. Return quickly."
What kind of accident was it? Could it be that even Banyue couldn't handle it?