Chapter 102: Chapter 101: 2nd Rotation Immortal Body, A Cold, Uncaring World, A Harlot’s Body, A Saintly Heart

[Second Immortal Golden Body Transformation (Eighth Grade!) Realm: Returning to the Essence (20,000)]

Just now, as fifty thousand Tier Two Experience Points were poured into it, the [First Immortal Golden Body Transformation]!

...successfully transformed into the [Second Immortal Golden Body Transformation]!

The grade of the Cultivation Technique also rose from Seventh Grade to Eighth Grade!

Its power had increased tremendously!

This was the fundamental reason Su Bai’s Physique had nearly doubled in strength!

’Although the grade of the Cultivation Technique has increased, the amount of Experience Points has dropped quite a bit!’

Su Bai thought, reining in his emotions.

Before, the Experience Points for the [First Immortal Golden Body Transformation] had exceeded the Returning to the True Realm by a full 300,000 points!

But now, despite the Cultivation Technique’s grade increasing, the amount of Experience Points had dropped to just twenty thousand!

This meant that after the fifty thousand Tier Two Experience Points were poured in, the most critical phase was likely reached at the 330,000 Experience Point mark!

This caused the [First Immortal Golden Body Transformation] to evolve into the [Second Immortal Golden Body Transformation]!

That was why only twenty thousand Experience Points remained in the end!

’It seems the effect of Tier Two Experience Points is truly immense!’

Su Bai reflected with emotion after confirming his earlier suspicion.

It was common knowledge.

Once a Cultivation Technique’s Realm surpassed the Returning to the True Realm, a Martial Artist was considered to be on the path to becoming a Divine Grandmaster.

Every single step forward on that path was fraught with difficulty.

Take, for example, Wanhua Peak, the Elder from the True Martial Divine Sect whom Su Bai had previously slain.

The man had practiced his fist techniques for nearly a hundred years. At thirty, he had already embarked on the path of the Fist Sect. Alas, in the decades that followed, even with diligent, nonstop training, his progress was glacial, and he eventually hit a wall, unable to advance another inch.

He fell into a whirlpool of greed and was unable to pull himself out.

[True Martial Celestial Technique (Seventh Grade), Realm: Returning to the Essence (60,000)]

In Su Bai’s eyes, it was glaringly obvious.

The True Martial Celestial Technique he practiced had always been stuck at this stage: sixty thousand Experience Points beyond the Returning to the True Realm.

He wasn’t making the slightest bit of progress.

Another example was the Elder National Preceptor, Xiao Rongshan. He had practiced his fist techniques for even longer—over two hundred years—but was still stalled on the path of the Fist Sect. No matter how hard he trained, the road ahead seemed hopeless.

He yearned for a battle with Su Bai, hoping to use his sublimated, surging battle intent to find that one crucial spark for a breakthrough.

Even if it meant dying for his path, rushing to his doom like a moth to a flame, he would consider it a blessing.

Previously, Su Bai had also been quite troubled by this very problem.

But now, the appearance of Tier Two Experience Points seemed to have solved this conundrum.

It was just that...

’It’s just a shame that acquiring Tier Two Experience Points is too difficult. I only managed to draw fifty thousand points this time, even after killing multiple Spirit Transformation cultivators!’

’One of those draws was a burst of pure luck where I hit the jackpot for thirty thousand points!’

’If I were to force the conversion, it would take one million standard Experience Points to get just ten thousand Tier Two Experience Points!’

’That feels like a huge loss!’

Su Bai calculated mentally.

At the same time, he suspected that raising his Immortal Golden Body to the Third Transformation...

...would probably require even more Tier Two Experience Points.

Perhaps five hundred thousand, six hundred thousand, or even over a million!

Where would Su Bai get that many Tier Two Experience Points now?

’I’m still so poor!’

Su Bai slowly rose, sighing as he gazed at the sky.

Still, when he tallied up his gains...

...they were quite substantial.

Su Bai lifted his gaze to the east.

The scorching sun was rising, painting the horizon in brilliant colors.

The morning was already well underway.

He tidied his clothes and then departed with a leap.

Today, he had sated his grudges and shattered countless evils with his fists.

His gains were immense.

His mind was clear and unburdened.

...

「The time it takes for an incense stick to burn later.」

Su Bai returned to the prison. He hadn’t been in his personal quarters for long before Zhang Wei called him out.

"Brother Su Bai! You’ve been in your quarters this whole time, so you probably don’t know! Right now on Cyan Dragon Avenue, a group of handsome men and beautiful women are being escorted by imperial soldiers!"

"They say these are all poor souls who were imprisoned in an underground jail by that damned Soul-devouring Demon Sect. They were subjected to all sorts of methods and experienced inhumane torture!"

"I also heard that the torture they suffered in that underground prison was hundreds, even thousands of times more painful than the worst punishments in our Prison Suppression Bureau!"

"It’s just tragic..."

Zhang Wei sighed with immense emotion as they walked down the corridor.

"Is that so?"

Su Bai put on a "surprised look."

Inwardly, however, he knew better than anyone what kind of torture those people had truly endured.

These were the lucky few who had managed to survive. In truth, the number of deaths was impossible to calculate.

The dead had all been disposed of in secret; no one knew exactly how many people the Soul-devouring Demon Sect had truly harmed.

When they arrived at Cyan Dragon Avenue, the situation was exactly as Zhang Wei had described.

A group of people, men and women, were being escorted down the avenue by soldiers.

They were dressed in rags with disheveled hair. Some were covered in blood, their expressions numb.

Others kept their heads bowed, tears of humiliation mixed with blood streaming down their faces.

Without exception, every one of them was remarkably good-looking.

A large crowd of commoners had gathered on the avenue to watch.

Some faces showed pity, and they couldn’t help but shed tears at the scene.

But most were like a crowd watching monkeys at a circus, pointing and passing judgment on the men and women as they passed.

"They must have been shameless. Just a bunch of degenerates. That’s why they got caught!"

Someone in the crowd, standing in the sunlight with their arms crossed, preached from their moral high ground.

They judged them with haughty disdain.

As soon as this was said, others immediately chimed in, clapping in agreement.

There were even jeering children who, encouraged by adults, threw stones at the captives and made faces, shouting, "Shameless! How disgraceful!..."

It should have been a fine day under the bright, warm sun, yet Su Bai felt a sudden chill.

This chill came from the human heart.

These people had already endured inhuman torment, and now, their last scraps of dignity were being violently torn away for all to see.

They bowed their heads, their quiet sobs shaking their shoulders.

Some trembled. Some were terrified.

Some were filled with bitter rage. Some wailed in misery.

A woman, her entire body tattooed with black flowers, could no longer bear the humiliation and slammed her head into a stone pillar.

Blood splattered instantly. She died a tragic death under the scorching sun, in full view of the crowd.

"Ah! That’s my damn restaurant!"

A portly Shopkeeper wailed, his expression furious.

Look.

This is the human heart.

Faced with the crowd’s uproar, laughter, curses, and cheers...

...the escorting soldiers didn’t dare to intervene.

They merely collected the body in a hurry and urged the procession to move faster.

Su Bai watched as the procession gradually disappeared into the distance.

He withdrew his gaze and sighed internally.

’This world!’

’It’s so goddamn fucked up!’

...

The Great Xia soldiers gathered the men and women, housing them in a special barracks within the city.

The arrangements for them were simple.

Those with families were escorted back home.

Those who were alone could either leave on their own or reside here temporarily.

As for what the future held for them, no one knew.

「Not long after.」

A Beautiful Lady, dressed in a somewhat garish style, entered the barracks after receiving permission from the soldiers.

She gathered some of the men and women who had no one left, intending to take them in. They could do odd jobs, and it would at least give them a place to go.

"I am a prostitute!"

She stood on a high platform in the barracks, under the scorching sun.

The woman looked around at the crowd and spoke with an unreserved smile.

Upon hearing this, some in the crowd were visibly moved.

Others were baffled.

’Could it be... is that something to be proud of?’

But as the woman continued her story, the crowd gradually began to understand.

They started to look at her with the sympathy of fellow sufferers.

It turned out she was once the daughter of a wealthy family. Unfortunately, she had been abducted as a child and sold into a brothel to be used for men’s pleasure.

Later, the brothel where she worked was raided and destroyed by Martial Artists from the Prison Suppression Bureau. After that, she was left all alone, wandering aimlessly.

The hardships she endured during that time were unspeakable and unimaginable.

It wasn’t until much later, after countless tribulations, that the woman had an epiphany. She decided to dedicate the rest of her life to saving others who had suffered as she had.

She had forgotten her real name and called herself the Royal Courtesan.

To practice the kindness in her heart through the body of a whore.

This was already the ninth group of "children" she had taken in.

「Evening arrived.」

In the brightly lit barracks, the woman, her hair now streaked with white and her face lined with wrinkles, looked haggard.

She had just finished placing the last "child" as a servant who swept the floors in an official’s household.

"Did you find a place for all of them?"

A middle-aged soldier, his face weathered and his robes smelling sour, approached her. He was an old acquaintance and asked with a kind, concerned smile.

"Yes."

The woman nodded with a gentle smile, a hint of softness appearing in her eyes.

At the barracks gate.

The two had only spoken for a short while when the man was summoned back to the camp and had to leave.

Before he left, he pulled out a small pouch of broken silver he had saved up and casually pressed it into the woman’s palm.

The woman started to refuse, but he just smiled and waved his hand dismissively.

"It’s just a few pieces of silver!"

With that, he gripped his spear and strode back into the barracks.

Under the flickering lamplight.

The woman stood there in a daze.

’How could she not understand the meaning behind his gesture?’

She accepted the broken silver, clutching it tightly in her hand.

Tears blurred her vision as she watched his retreating figure...

’I’m a ruined woman. How could I ever drag you down with me...’