Su Mo remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.

"No need." His voice became colder than before.

"Once I use my ability..."

He slowly raised his crimson eyes toward the captives.

"...their outcome will already be worse than death."

The basement lights flickered faintly.

Then, Su Mo activated another newly acquired ability.

Demon Imprint.

This ability is capable of turning living beings into demonic servants.

Success meant absolute loyalty by changing their will.

Failure meant either death... Or something far worse.

The atmosphere instantly became strange.

Within Su Mo’s crimson pupils, a horrifying symbol slowly emerged.

An eight-horned skull. It had a dark, ancient aura, filled with ominous Yin energy.

Even Yang Qingxi unconsciously narrowed her eyes after sensing it.

Soon, the skull symbol floated out from Su Mo’s eyes.

Dark purple light illuminated the basement eerily. Then the symbol split apart into eight fragments.

Each fragment transformed into a small floating mark before diving directly into the bodies of the eight captives.

Not a single one resisted.

Because at this moment, their minds were still trapped within Su Mo’s illusions.

Hypnosis suppressed their will, and illusions suppressed their consciousness.

With no mental resistance, Demon Imprint’s success rate rose drastically.

Still, that did not guarantee success.

Because even if the mind submitted, the body itself might still reject the invading Yin energy.

Soon, the captives’ bodies began trembling violently.

Their veins darkened rapidly beneath the skin.

It was bulging and twisting. Almost like living worms crawling under flesh.

Su Mo quietly observed everything.

[As expected... mental submission alone isn’t enough...]

[The body still instinctively resists foreign Yin energy.]

The scene gradually became more disturbing.

Some captives calmed down slowly. Others’ situations worsened rapidly.

After several minutes, Three, Five, Six, Eight, and Ten gradually stabilised.

The violent Yin energy within their bodies slowly settled down.

Yes, it was a success.

Meanwhile, Number Four. Number Seven. And Number Nine—Their conditions became increasingly horrifying.

Their resistance intensified instead of weakening.

The surrounding temperature near them dropped abnormally fast.

Cold mist even began forming around their bodies.

Then, their skin began melting.

Yes, literally melting!

Yang Qingxi’s pupils shrank slightly.

Chunks of flesh dripped downward like softened wax.

Beneath the destroyed skin, exposed muscle and tissue became visible.

Except that the flesh was not reddish. It carried an eerie purplish-blue colour instead.

The scene became nauseatingly grotesque.

Su Mo felt his illusions shatter violently.

The three failed subjects suddenly opened their eyes.

However, there was no rationality left within them anymore. Only madness and pure killing instinct.

ROAR!!

The basement trembled under their monstrous screams.

Because Su Mo stood closest, the three mindless monsters instantly lunged toward him despite being chained.

The chains creaked violently.

For a brief moment, it genuinely looked as if they might break free with their powerful strength.

Yet Su Mo remained completely calm.

"Stand down."

The moment those words left his mouth, the iron chains suddenly moved like living snakes.

The chains wrapped around those monsters even tighter. Then something even stranger happened.

The metal deformed. The solid iron transformed into flowing metallic liquid before covering the monsters completely.

Finally, the liquid solidified again.

The three monsters became completely restrained. Unable to move even slightly.

Yang Qingxi stared at this scene in shock. Her beautiful eyes flickered intensely.

After Su Mo entered the Golden Core Stage... His abilities had undergone a terrifying leap in quality.

Not only strength. Even the control too.

The way he manipulated metal just now looked effortless and natural.

Almost instinctive. As if that special technique was just part of him.

For a second, Yang Qingxi felt slightly complicated inwardly.

Yes, she felt proud and excited.

But also somewhat disappointed.

Because the gap between them was becoming larger and larger. If she can’t keep up, would he leave someday? After all, both of them knew all too well that the employment contract Su Mo signed held no meaning.

He can leave her any day he is tired of living with her or finds her requests bothersome. This thought had been pressing on her mind for a long while.

Meanwhile, Su Mo remained completely unaware of Miss Yang’s complicated emotions.

At this moment, he was already quite satisfied.

Five successful servants out of eight attempts.

It was much better than expected.

As for the three failed monsters...

Although studying them sounded tempting, this basement was not a suitable place to keep such dangerous things.

Especially since he might soon leave Jiangnan City temporarily to search for the White Moon Sect.

There was no need to leave such unstable monsters behind.

Su Mo turned toward his pet nearby.

"Little Goldie."

The giant golden beetle immediately perked up, hearing his owner’s call.

"It’s your turn." Su Mo smiled faintly.

"Use the gift I gave you. Kill them and become stronger."

Little Goldie instantly became energetic.

Under Yang Qingxi’s curious gaze, the giant beetle rushed toward the restrained monsters excitedly.

Then, its sharp horn pierced directly through one monster’s chest.

Puchi!

Dark blood splattered everywhere.

Yang Qingxi initially looked confused.

Gift? Where’s the gift?

Her eyes suddenly focused on Little Goldie’s horn.

A metallic silver sheen covered its surface faintly.

Seeing that, her expression changed instantly.

"...Wait! You coated its horn?"

"Yeah, and it’s not some ordinary metal." Su Mo nodded casually, then smiled slightly. "Remember the silver meteorite."

Yang Qingxi’s eyes widened slightly. "The one we took from Wu Chaochang?!"

"Yep! That one." Su Mon affirmed.

For a moment, even she became speechless.

That precious material coveted by two destined protagonists...

Su Mo actually used it on his pet?

Meanwhile, Little Goldie happily continued stabbing the monsters repeatedly.

Puchi!

Puchi!

Puchi!

Especially Number Four, whose mutated body possessed greater toughness because of his strength.

Little Goldie had to pierce him several extra times before finally killing him completely.

As blood seeped across the silver-coated horn, strange fluctuations emerged.

The silver meteorite absorbed the energy within the monsters’ bodies by eating blood before feeding it back into Little Goldie.