Just at that moment, a voice transmission talisman floated silently in front of him.
Yao Yuchang immediately recognized it as He Yi's and promptly retracted the voice transmission talisman he had intended to send to the others, then opened He Yi's talisman.
However, before he could hear any sound from the talisman, everything went dark!
He had been restrained!
Yao Yuchang immediately exerted all his strength to struggle, but the restraint was incredibly strong—no matter how much effort he put in, he couldn't even loosen it a little!
While he was shocked, he suddenly heard a loud male voice from behind him say, "Tsk, this old guy's got some strength. If I hadn't used 80% of my power from the start, he might have given me trouble. Are you sure we've got the right person?"
Then a younger male voice responded, "This man is an elder from Qingshuang Sect of Xuanyi Domain, his cultivation is at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage. Elder Liao, please handle him with care." And who else could that voice be but He Yi's?
Yao Yuchang's anger surged. He never would have expected that He Yi would conspire with Wan Wantong's people to capture him!
He couldn't believe that the Fuzong Sect, one of the leading powers in the Northern and Southern Spiritual Regions, would collude with such underhanded scoundrels like Wan Wantong! When he returned to the cultivation world, he would definitely report to his sect about the dark deeds hiding behind Fuzong's righteous façade!
It wasn't unreasonable for Yao Yuchang to think that the ones capturing him were Wan Wantong's people. The fact that the mortal realm was impoverished and desolate was common knowledge in the entire cultivation world. Otherwise, why would cultivators have no interest in it? Its remoteness and lack of resources made it virtually insignificant.
Since there were no high-level cultivators in the mortal realm, it was obvious that anyone capable of restraining a peak Nascent Soul stage cultivator like himself couldn't be an ordinary person. Combining that with the suspicion that Xiushui City might be Wan Wantong's new base of operations, everything made sense.
It was likely that the sudden appearance of the ten cultivators from the cultivation world had made Wan Wantong worry about their discovery of the new base, prompting them to act first.
As for He Yi, he was probably captured early on. Either Wan Wantong didn't deal harshly with him due to his identity, or He Yi had betrayed the other nine cultivators to make a deal with Wan Wantong to save his own life.
In an instant, Yao Yuchang had formed a perfect theory in his mind.
At the same time, he didn't give up his struggle. After realizing he couldn't break free from the outside, he immediately switched to spatial magic, attempting to tear open a portal in the space in front of him to escape.
However, just as the portal started to open, a brute force slammed it shut.
"This old guy's got some fight in him. Much stronger than that half-baked Nascent Soul cultivator from before," Liao Panting grumbled as he sealed the spatial rift Yao Yuchang had just torn open. He then pulled out a Spirit Binding Cage and trapped Yao Yuchang inside before finally removing the restraint on him.
When Yao Yuchang's vision returned, he found himself locked inside a cage.
In front of him stood two people—He Yi and a middle-aged man with an eerie appearance, whose face was only half normal.
Wan Wantong was indeed consorting with demonic cultivators!
It all made sense now!
Realizing the situation, Yao Yuchang continued to cast spells in an attempt to break out of the iron cage trapping him.
But, just like before with Kui Jia Zunzhe, the moment his spell touched the cage bars, it dissipated.
Outside the Spirit Binding Cage, Liao Panting had already set up an isolation array to prevent any lingering magical power from affecting bystanders during Yao Yuchang's capture.
Seeing that Yao Yuchang was now fully under control, He Yi turned to the onlookers in the teahouse, who had all turned their attention toward the commotion, and clasped his hands in salute. "Lingxian Sect has uncovered a spy from a foreign domain. We are currently capturing him. Apologies for the disturbance."
Upon recognizing He Yi, the storyteller on the stage was the first to respond cheerfully, "Oh, so it's Immortal He! Immortal He, please go about your business. We're not bothered!"
The other patrons in the teahouse echoed the sentiment, "Yes, yes! No trouble at all!"
"Immortal, please continue! Capturing the spy is most important!"
Since He Yi had been patrolling the city regularly in recent times, occasionally wandering the streets, the people had grown familiar with him. Initially, only the staff of the city lord's residence recognized him, but after word spread, nearly everyone in the city knew his face.
Though few had ever spoken to this Immortal He, they had all heard of his great abilities.
Seeing such a powerful immortal patrolling the city diligently every day, the people's admiration for him had skyrocketed.
The cultivators in the crowd, witnessing such a swift and thunderous capture, remained silent, not daring to say a word.
With the pleasantries out of the way, Liao Panting, having secured his captive, left the Xiushui Hu Clan Teahouse with the Spirit Binding Cage.
"I'll take him back for now," Liao Panting said, sealing another spatial rift Yao Yuchang had just tried to open with a casual wave of his hand.
He Yi smiled and nodded. "Elder, you go ahead. I'll join you after I finish up here."
Liao Panting, carrying the caged Yao Yuchang, walked to a secluded corner near a tree outside the teahouse. He pressed a jade token against the tree, and the two of them disappeared without a trace.
In the blink of an eye, Yao Yuchang felt as if he had been transported to a place devoid of spiritual energy, as if he were back in the Dead Spirit Lands, where he had spent months traveling.
The courtyard of the Fanlong Institute was eerily quiet during the day.
Nearly all the buildings were empty, as most of the inhabitants were out working the fields.
Liao Panting, with the caged Yao Yuchang in tow, entered the last building in the courtyard.
The few remaining people inside the rooms hadn't noticed anything happening outside.
The last building in the Fanlong Institute might look the same as the others from the outside, but its function was very different. This final building was the real prison of the Fanlong Institute.
The entire building was surrounded by its own formation, rendering all who were confined within unable to use any magic, including spatial techniques.
No place was better suited for imprisoning Nascent Soul and higher-level cultivators.
A mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator from Wan Wantong had once tried to tear open a spatial rift to escape, but the institute's automatic detection system had caught him in time and stopped him.
Since then, Kui Jia Zunzhe had become the first inmate of the final building.
Now, Yao Yuchang had become the tenth guest of this building.
Dragged along in the cage, Yao Yuchang's expression had turned despondent.
He had tried every method he knew, but none had succeeded in freeing him. His captor was truly skilled.
Sitting in the cage, Yao Yuchang steadied his mind and began contemplating his next move.
Suddenly, he heard someone calling out to him nearby, "Elder Yao! Elder Yao!"
Yao Yuchang turned toward the voice and saw someone waving at him from behind the densely barred window of a nearby room.
"Fellow Daoist Su? What are you doing here?" Yao Yuchang exclaimed in shock.