A trace of confusion flashed in Zhou Yi's eyes, but soon, his gaze became firm again.
He shook his head and said to Mu Jinyu: "Dragon Master, actually, I haven't really suffered much in the Su family this past year..."
Su Zhengrui and all the fallen members of the Su family felt a huge relief upon hearing Zhou Yi's words, their hearts filled with gratitude and guilt towards him.
Indeed, the Su family had not tortured Zhou Yi much this year, trying to force his pill recipes from him.
But the real reason wasn't that they didn't want to; another individual might really have done so.
They were just afraid that if they tortured Zhou Yi too severely, he might produce a seemingly harmless, yet actually deadly pill formula. If they successfully refined and took such a pill, would it not be self-inflicted harm?
After all, they couldn't understand the pill formula. Who could guarantee that they wouldn't force a tampered and incomplete formula from Zhou Yi's mouth?
So they chose to gently and persistently implore, occasionally appealing to Zhou Yi with emotions and logic, hoping to persuade him to hand over the pill formula voluntarily.
No one expected that this decision, made at the time, would spare their lives today, leaving the people of the Su family filled with relief alongside overwhelming guilt towards Zhou Yi.
"Alright."
After Zhou Yi said those words with an uneasy heart, to his surprise, Mu Jinyu did not look grim or furious; instead, he nodded with a smile and said nothing more.
This made Zhou Yi delighted, yet a bit puzzled.
Could it be that he was mistaken, and Mu Jinyu was really just standing up for him and not eyeing the Su family's cultivation resources, using this as an excuse to extort them?
Mu Jinyu had an agreeable smile at the corner of his mouth as he turned to Su Zhengrui and said calmly: "Since Elder Zhou has pleaded for you, I will spare your Su family this time."
Upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Su Zhengrui finally breathed a genuine sigh of relief, full of joy.
But then, Mu Jinyu's tone changed, he continued: "However, a death penalty can be avoided, but a living penalty is unavoidable. People from my Dragon King Hall aren't so easily detained; since you have done so, you will have to pay a certain price!"
"Alright... Dragon Master, whatever you say, we will fully comply..."
Upon hearing this, Su Zhengrui's heart tightened again; he then gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice.
His guess was similar to Zhou Yi's earlier, imagining that the price Mu Jinyu mentioned would likely be demanding a portion of their cultivation resources to compensate the Dragon King Hall and cover Zhou Yi's mental loss and other expenses.
Unexpectedly, Mu Jinyu didn't demand these so-called resource compensations in the following moment; instead, he pointed out various famous mountains in the Southern Yue Province, ordering them to sweep away the demonic aura!
"These demon beasts have greatly enhanced their strength following the spiritual energy revival, committing evil deeds in your Southern Yue Province and causing widespread bloodshed and destruction. Yet, your Su family, residing in the Southern Yue Province, held a passive stance, remaining indifferent. Now, you shall attack these famous mountains and let these fierce beasts pay the price as a punishment!"
Hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Su Zhengrui was astonished, not expecting Mu Jinyu to make such a decision.
However, the demon beasts occupying these famous mountains named by Mu Jinyu are merely at around the sixth or seventh level of the Divinity Transformation Realm. Even if their Su family fights desperately, they can still conquer them.
It wasn't like they were attacking a Fanxu Realm demon beast like the Golden-Winged Roc occupying Kunlun Mountain, which would be a death sentence for them.
So, Su Zhengrui gritted his teeth and said: "Alright, we won't let everyone down, we will atone for our sins!"
"Hmm."
Mu Jinyu nodded and said nothing more, turning to Zhou Yi: "Elder Zhou, shall we go?"
"Yes..."
With a slightly confused and melancholy expression, Zhou Yi responded to Mu Jinyu's call and followed him out of the Su family mansion.
'Is this matter really over just like that?'
Even after leaving the Su family, Zhou Yi found it hard to believe.
Afterward, he realized why and felt ashamed.
He had just suspected Mu Jinyu's malicious intentions, thinking he was using his name as a pretext to extort the Su family.
Thus, Zhou Yi hurriedly apologized to Mu Jinyu, "Dragon Master, I am sorry, I did think you were..."
Mu Jinyu halted his steps, turned his head to look at the ashamed and regretful Zhou Yi, and smiled, "It's alright, your final decision was in line with my intentions; I can now entrust the Alchemy Hall of the Dragon King Hall to you in confidence."
Initially, when Mu Jinyu came to Yang City, it was just to stand up for Zhou Yi.
Simultaneously, to announce to the world that the Dragon King Hall's strong comeback wasn't something anyone could easily bully anymore!
Later, when he inquired how Zhou Yi wished to deal with the people of the Su family, he noticed Zhou Yi's hesitant expression. Upon reconsidering it, he discerned Zhou Yi's hesitancy's cause.
Therefore, Mu Jinyu did not show any indication regarding Su Zhengrui's earnest pleas and explanations, pretending to take advantage of the situation to extort the Su family, to test Zhou Yi's character in the meantime.
If Zhou Yi, for his own future, said he suffered tremendous torment in the Su family over the year, insisting on killing them for revenge and subsequently handing over their resources to the Dragon King Hall,
then he would perform a Soul Search on the Su family to confirm the truth.
If it were true, he would understand Zhou Yi's immense hatred towards the Su family and allow him to join the Dragon King Hall. Whether he could gain significant importance would still depend on his abilities.
But if the Soul Search results showed Su Zhengrui was not lying, and they treated Zhou Yi decently over the past year with no torture, while Zhou Yi falsely accused them,
such a person who bites the hand that feeds and betrays others to achieve their goals wouldn't be allowed to join the Dragon King Hall. However, for the sake of Yu Shenfeng, he wouldn't kill him outright but let him fend for himself.
But seeing the situation, while Zhou Yi faced occasional difficulties in the Su family, under his hints, he did not choose to betray his former master but chose to forsake the significant opportunity he mistakenly thought he would gain to save the people of the Su family.
Such a character naturally won Mu Jinyu's admiration, and it made him decide to entrust Zhou Yi with significant responsibilities by assigning him as the head of the Alchemy Hall when it would be established in the future at the Dragon King Hall.
"What?"
Upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Zhou Yi was instantly stunned, then displayed a face full of surprise and gratification, "Dragon Master... this... I am utterly unworthy..."
Mu Jinyu patted Zhou Yi's shoulder, smiling, "Elder Zhou, you don't need to bear any psychological burden; your performance just now was excellent. If it were some others, they might not choose to preserve the Su family but seize the chance to step over them for a position; your disposition makes me very satisfied, assigning the Alchemy Hall to you is very fitting."
Zhou Yi said with a complex expression: "I indeed thought Dragon Master wanted to use the opportunity for me to accuse the Su family falsely, so you could justifiably seize their cultivation resources."
"But the Su family has indeed treated me well; half of my Pill Scripture was taught by my master, and I couldn't hand it over to them upon leaving. Throughout the years, I've relied on the resources provided by the Su family to ponder on alchemy; they truly have shown kindness to me!"
Zhou Yi looked up at Mu Jinyu and sighed, "In such circumstances, if I were to betray the Su family for the sake of my future, would I still be worthy of being human?"