The weather around the rocky mountains of Cu'alu is always cloudy but the temperature of the environment rarely goes below thirty degrees. A man is currently surveying a wide area using his divine sense. He is Nascent Soul Expert from Blood Moon Sect and the mastermind who planned the blood offerings to nurture an essence flame. Under normal circumstances, he should be hiding his cultivation level when he visits this area, but today was an exemption.

His regular daily routine was disrupted when a long distance communication talisman was activated. He could have had arrived to this area in less than an hour but he needed to still cover his tracks.

Upon arriving, he was greeted with the worst possible scenario he had imagined. Two important figures of his hall have died excluding at least more than fifteen Foundation Establishment Experts. The only clue he has were the formation pillars and the direction of the teleportation talisman that was activated a few minutes after his arrival.

After retrieving the pillars, he set off following the trail of the Escape Talisman hoping to find the culprit. He swore to refine the bodies and souls of these perpetrators once he finds them. The bodies of his comrades were left on the scene. He was confident that no one will be able to trace their origins.

Half a day later, a team of five headed by a Late Foundation Establishment was searching the same area. They were supposed to rendezvous at Paco City, but the refined communication insects given to them by their elder had been acting unnaturally. They had been following the trail and instructions left by their elder until earlier today when the signal was cut off.

It took them half a day to trace the last location of the transmission and found the brutally decapitated Mii Eit. They looted the rings of the dead and stored the body of their elder for proper burial then left the area carrying with them an unconscious and exhausted thin little boy. They fed him medicine to keep him alive.

Their elder had not given them any information as to what they were up to which lead to his demise. The only clues they have are the images retained by the little insect of their elder which included an unknown masked man and Kle In.

The leader was afraid he will be blamed for the death of their Elder so he decided they made a detour to one of their hideouts. It is located on a forest near Palt Ga'an, a town a few kilometers north Paco City. Two days later, he decided to see if they could gather any information from the boy.

Kle In woke up and tried to move his body however he could not move an inch. He opened his eyes and saw that his limbs and body were tightly tied to a wooden chair. He struggled and wanted to free himself from the restraints, but when he tried circulating his Qi, he realized his cultivation was gone. He began to panic and looked around.

"Would you like me to untie you? You see, there was a masked man who killed our elder a few days ago. You just need to tell me where he went."

A burly man revealed himself and slowly approached Kle In. His deep voice and the scars and oily skin on his face combined with a hand that looked like it could easily squash a melon made him truly menacing.

"Please sir. I did not see anyone and I know Alchemy. I can refine pills.” Kle In stuttered in agitation and responded with a trembling voice. He saw the same cold and apathetic look from the man similar to his master. The mad was clearly up to no good.

The burly man stood in front of Kle In and pinched the tip of the nail on his pinky finger. Kle In wanted to move but he could not resist the force clenching on his fingernail. He could feel the force pulling his fingernail getting strong until…

"Arrggh!” Kle In cried in pain.

He just saw his fingernail slowly separate from his finger.

"Do you remember something now?"

"Yes sir. Arrggkh .Please stop please", Kle In slowly begged as he cried from agonizing pain.

"The masked man was absorbed on the spatial tear that was activated on the scroll I inscribed."

The man held on to Kle In's other hand gripped on the tip of the fingernail his index finger. Kle In wanted to clench his fist but he did not have Qi to resist.

"Please, please stop. I am not lying. The man. I saw the man… He was absorbed into a spatial...” His sentence was interrupted as the fingernail was forcefully pulled out.

"Aaaaarrrrhhhhh!"

Cries of helplessness and misery sounded through the walls of an underground prison. It continued for a few more minutes until all the fingernails on both of his hands were forcefully removed. Even his toe nails were not spared.

Seeing the unresponsive and traumatized Kle In, the burly man forced him to drink water and sprayed his fingers medicine to stop the bleeding.

Kle In was still tied on the chair. His head was tilted to the side drooling. His eyes were dyed red and tears were still flowing out slowly.

When the medicine took effect, the torture continued. No matter how Kle In cried and begged, the man torturing him did not show any shred of pity.