Chapter 19 The Cultivation Furnace Wants to Live; Afraid I’ll Devour You
Chapter 19: The Cultivation Furnace Wants to Live; Afraid I'll Devour You?
The female cultivator who entered introduced herself as Liu Xu. She came in wearing an expression of terror and utter despair.
Looking at Liu Xu, who was huddled in the corner of the bed trembling and weeping, Han Lie's previously raging lust instantly cooled by half. He frowned and said coldly, "Why are you crying? Is serving This Senior such a disgrace to you?"
Liu Xu fell to her knees with a thud, kowtowing until her forehead made loud banging sounds. "Immortal Master, spare my life! This lowly woman was captured... I have a seriously ill mother at home... I beg the Immortal Master to let me go..."
The lust in Han Lie's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a profound depth.
Captured? Against her will?
This reminded him of his own hundred years as a Servant Disciple in the Heavenly Void Sect. That taste of having one's fate trampled upon at will, he understood it better than anyone.
"Really kills the mood," Han Lie snorted coldly. He casually grabbed a handful of Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag and tossed them onto the table, where they landed with a crisp clatter.
"Take these Spirit Stones and buy your own freedom," Han Lie's voice betrayed neither joy nor sorrow.
Liu Xu was stunned, staring disbelievingly at the pile of Spirit Stones on the table—enough to buy her life ten times over. "Immortal Master... this..."
"This Senior cultivates the Path of Unfettered Freedom, which emphasizes mutual willingness. Such acts of coercion are utterly repulsive." Han Lie flicked his sleeve and turned towards the door. "Get lost, before This Senior changes his mind."
She bowed deeply to Han Lie. Her voice still trembled, but it no longer held resistance. "Thank you for your great righteousness, Senior... This lowly woman, Liu Xu, is willing to assist in your cultivation!"
Han Lie nodded with satisfaction, a wicked smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Good. This Senior has always been fair to all. Since you possess such awareness, let us begin!"
That night was not one of imagined brutality or abuse.
After getting dressed, Han Lie sensed the spiritual energy within his body. It was considerably stronger than before, but he still hadn't broken through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage.
However, the improvement was quite evident. He was now just one step away from the fifth level of Qi Refining.
"What's going on here? Could it be because This Senior's realm has improved? Or perhaps... this woman's cultivation is too weak; her Yin energy isn't very potent?"
Han Lie pondered silently.
He felt both factors were at play. Zhuo Hongyi's cultivation base was definitely much stronger than this captured female cultivator's. The Yin energy contained within her body would naturally be far more abundant.
Outside the door, the madam was waiting with an obsequious expression.
Seeing Han Lie emerge, the madam started to step forward but was forced back a step by the sharp aura emanating from him.
"Violet Heaven Palace business." Han Lie casually tossed out an identity waist token—though it was for a Servant Disciple, he covered half with his thumb, only revealing the emblem of the Heavenly Void Sect's Violet Heaven Palace—and said coldly.
"That woman inside served This Senior quite satisfactorily. This Senior has already rewarded her with money for her freedom." Han Lie's gaze was like a knife as he stared at the madam. "Let her go. If This Senior finds out you dared to detain her... hmph, you know the methods of the Heavenly Void Sect."
Seeing the emblem, the madam trembled all over in fear. The Heavenly Void Sect was the overlord for ten thousand miles around, and the Violet Heaven Palace was the Sect Leader's personal guard. She wouldn't dare offend them even with ten extra lives.
"Yes, yes, yes! Since the Immortal Master has spoken, it is her good fortune! How would this old woman dare to obstruct!"
Han Lie snorted coldly, retrieved his waist token, and strode away without looking back.
Returning to his small wooden hut in Violet Heaven Palace, Han Lie immediately sat down cross-legged. He took out fifty Spirit Stones and began his assault on the fifth level of Qi Refining.
Just two short days later, without any hindrance—as naturally as water flowing into a channel—Han Lie smoothly broke through to the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage.
Han Lie threw a punch; its extreme speed caused the air to compress rapidly and explode. The mere force of his punch was several levels stronger than when he was at the fourth level.
"Still far from enough!"
A flash of sharp light passed through Han Lie's turbid eyes.
Without any special opportunities or encounters, if he wanted to quickly improve his cultivation, he still had to go to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
But based on today's experience, Han Lie had also drawn a conclusion.
As his cultivation level increased, Dual Cultivating with female cultivators of lower cultivation would gradually yield diminishing returns. Therefore, he really couldn't mindlessly keep choosing female cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage anymore.
Even if he went to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion three more times and spent all one thousand Spirit Stones he had on hand, Han Lie estimated it would probably be difficult just to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining.
If he cultivated normally, one thousand Spirit Stones would be enough for him to break through to the eighth level.
"For This Senior's current cultivation level, I should still prioritize female cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage first to maximize gains..."
"Tomorrow I'll first go sell those Spirit-Assisting Pills before heading to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion."
It would be great if Zhuo Hongyi could come find him again during this time. That way, he could save over a thousand Spirit Stones.
But Han Lie couldn't control Zhuo Hongyi either, so he could only leave it to fate.
The next day.
Han Lie arrived at the Heavenly Void Sect's internal trading market.
This was a place for sect disciples to freely trade goods. However, disciples setting up stalls here to sell items needed to pay a five percent venue fee to the sect.
Early in the morning, the trading market was already bustling with crowds and lively activity.
Han Lie walked with faltering steps, attracting no one's attention. He casually found an empty spot and displayed one Spirit-Assisting Pill.
Soon enough, several Inner Disciples noticed it. But they only pointed and whispered among themselves without any intention to buy. Naturally, Han Lie couldn't be bothered with them either.
Not long after, a familiar figure appeared before Han Lie's stall.
It was Zhuo Hongyi.
The two merely exchanged a glance without showing any sign of recognizing each other.
"Old Servant Disciple," Zhuo Hongyi asked. "Do you know what is generally considered a fair price for a Spirit-Assisting Pill?"
"It should be around one hundred fifty Spirit Stones; I wonder if this old man is correct."
"Hmm," she acknowledged. "But one hundred fifty is considered high; generally selling for around one hundred twenty or thirty is already quite good."
While Spirit-Assisting Pills could indeed increase one's spiritual energy absorption rate for a period of time, after all, they were consumable items. Their grade wasn't high—their effectiveness diminished greatly for cultivators above the Golden Core Stage.
So getting over one hundred Spirit Stones for them was already quite decent, and what Zhuo Hongyi said indeed held true.
Ultimately, Han Lie sold all five pills at one hundred thirty stones each.
After packing up his stall, Han Lie paid thirty-three stones as a venue fee to the management overseeing the sect trading market.
"Old Servant Disciple, why walk so fast? Afraid I'll devour you?"
Not far after leaving the sect trading market, Zhuo Hongyi caught up.