ASER - Chapter 105
Chapter 105: Weak Position
Hang Xiujin and the others finally understood, especially the most outstanding among them, Hang Xiujin and Chi Cheng, who were the most pragmatic.
Hang Xiujin said, "Thank you, Big Brother, for saving our lives. We are willing to give half of our resources in exchange for safety."
A'Diao glanced at her, speaking in a kind and slightly aggrieved tone, "Little sister, do I look like the kind of person who would extort money from you?"
You did. You indeed just asked for it.
Hang Xiujin was stunned for three seconds, her beautiful face a little blank. Chi Cheng immediately, tactfully, said, "Thank you, Big Brother, for saving us. You've worked hard and even got injured to save us. We want to compensate for your losses, Big Brother. We hope you absolutely won't refuse."
From Chi Cheng +55555!
A'Diao: "Oh dear, this won't do. I am a gentleman... How much will you give?"
From Chi Cheng +66666!
Giving money while also generating resentment points. The young lad was quite insincere.
Chi Cheng lowered his head and presented the resources. "Money and possessions are external things. It's already wonderful that we survived. Two-thirds."
Quite generous, actually.
Glancing at their pained expressions, A'Diao smiled, reached out, and lightly patted his shoulder. "You're too polite. Since you're being so polite, then I won't stand on ceremony."
From Chi Cheng +77777!
From...
After continuously racking up 300,000 points, as these people handed over their 'life-saving money,' especially when Hang Xiujin, who had already taken out her resources and was the first to step forward, presented her pouch, A'Diao looked her over a couple more times and asked with a beaming smile, "Little sister, how old are you?"
That gaze, that tone, was exactly like that of an old gatekeeper grandpa at a school entrance.
This Big Brother's temperament, whether good, evil, or cunning, was ultimately ruthless in action and immensely powerful. Hang Xiujin felt apprehensive and said in a low voice, "Eighteen years old."
"So pretty. Next time you go out, bring more capable people with you."
Hang Xiujin was startled but still expressed her thanks. Then she saw this plain-looking young man take only one-third of her resources, leaving the rest.
"You..."
"I already said, you're good-looking."
Which pretty girl hadn't been praised before? Someone like Song Ling had been praised since childhood. Hang Xiujin was much the same, long since unfazed. But if being praised was combined with actual benefits, their emotional fluctuations would be much greater.
The first time she saved a large sum of Spirit Cores because of her looks?
And so...
From Hang Xiujin +88888!
Ah, the Mental Power from a pretty girl is indeed nice.
A'Diao said this casually, then looked at the others, pointing a few times.
"You few, one-third. The rest, two-thirds."
From Wang Wan +66666!
From Zhou Ling +55555!
From...
These were from the people who were pointed at.
From Chi Cheng +77777!
From...
Those who weren't pointed at became gloomy: What does this mean? Is she implying we're ugly?
However, Chi Cheng gave Mental Power because he wasn't pointed at. Among those who were pointed at, there was also a male classmate, a delicate-featured young man, who was... both surprised and delighted at that moment.
Was this a cruel judgment based on attractiveness?
But he was quite handsome.
Chi Cheng found that he really disliked this Big Brother, but he didn't dare to offend her.
To easily defeat three A-rank individuals, even if not a Forbidden Master, this person was an expert at peak A-rank, half a step away from becoming a Forbidden Master.
Their school didn't even have many such individuals.
Anyway, A'Diao successfully manipulated this group's emotions, racking up nearly a million Mental Power points in minutes.
But while she appeared calm on the surface and joyful inwardly, her thoughts were actually very cool-headed: Yunzhou's top academy was stronger than Jinling Academy. At least, excluding herself, both this Chi Cheng and Hang Xiujin were stronger than Mingze Ye and the others. And Tuoba, after being specially tutored by the Principal and absorbing those resources from the catacombs, had also reached C-rank. In terms of explosive combat power, he could be on par with them—but these two were probably not Yunzhou Academy's strongest students. Perhaps top five, or even top three?
As for those below Tuoba, the average level of the others was lower than these students from Yunzhou.
Were Danzhou's students inherently less talented and skilled than Yunzhou's?
The gap shouldn't be this large either.
A'Diao, however, felt: This was the result of the teaching plan formulated by the Principal and Qu Jiangnan. It could be seen from the class schedule; the most important Spiritual Power cultivation actually only took up one-third of the time, and only for one day, not an all-day cramming session.
Was this ruining the students' futures?
Not at all. A'Diao had noticed one thing through the progress of each study package and written exam, as well as the changes in their scores for clearing the points tower—the cultivation speed of Jinling Academy's students was accelerating.
Logically, the lower the cultivation level, the more obvious the improvement. But Jinling Academy's students were different. They were relatively stable in the early stages and only began to accelerate later. This was because by then, their combat skills and foundational knowledge from various aspects had allowed their cultivation aptitude to mature. When a person matures, they have a more complete plan for their own cultivation, their utilization of resources becomes more refined and precise, and their combat power naturally strengthens.
Moreover... these Yunzhou students lacked a sense of crisis, so their preparations were insufficient.
A'Diao had previously watched dispassionately as these Yunzhou students dealt with the bandits. She felt that if it were people like Zhongchuan Mingxiu or Song Ling encountering such a situation, they would have decisively abandoned the airship and resources to escape at the time of the crash, rather than ending up on the ground.
They were more decisive.
Because whether it was the Principal, Qu Jiangnan, or Shi Dagang and others, the impression they gave was one of decisiveness. Their educational philosophy also leaned towards: survival is paramount; everything else is superficial.
The students below would naturally follow their example.
For example, a few days ago, Qu Jiangnan had already reminded them: Trust no one, stick together.
Also, even if Song Ling and the others were caught and controlled, during negotiations, they would have long since used the high-grade cameras on their persons to save data to the cloud, right? And then use that to threaten the enemy.
If they were killed, the data in the cloud would be automatically sent, and the authorities and the academy would have locked onto the appearances of these bandits. They could just wait to be hunted down!
These were tactics.
Jinling Academy produced many shrewd individuals.
Toilet: "I think you deserve the credit for this aspect."
Speaking of which, what the Class 1 students now feared most was being tricked into a trap by A'Diao. Each of them had lightning-fast reflexes and often seemed to carry a persecution complex with them...
A'Diao ignored Toilet's insinuation, thinking to herself that Song Ling and the others would probably catch up to these Yunzhou students after some time. However, it would be very difficult to catch up to those ranked at the very top; that was likely a gap in talent.
However, she didn't care much about these matters. She was merely gauging the aptitude of these academy students and then... fleecing Mental Power.
After obtaining both money and Mental Power, A'Diao was actually a bit reluctant to let them go. "How about you all stay for a few days?"
How would Chi Cheng and the others dare to stay? Mainly because this person didn't seem much like a good person, was unpredictable, and rather eccentric.
Was she trying to shoo them away, or had she regretted her decision and now wanted to kill them?
"Goodbye, Big Brother. We're leaving."
"Thank you, Big Brother. We'll leave immediately."
This group of students, terrified, left quickly. But as Hang Xiujin stepped onto her aircraft and glanced back, she happened to see their money-demanding lifesaver poking the bandit leader's wound with a knife, causing him to scream in agony.
She thought: This person leaves a deep impression. They seem a bit... twisted.
What A'Diao wanted was precisely to leave a deep impression on these students, so that every time they thought of her, some resentment would be generated.
Toilet: "Saving them and asking for money isn't excessive. You could have totally used your acting skills to get both money and a good reputation. Why make them feel antipathy towards you?"
She was originally their lifesaver, but in the blink of an eye, that gratitude faded.
A'Diao, however, disagreed. "You're wrong. For most people, positive feelings of gratitude will never be as enduring as the negative feelings of resentment and hatred. Why would I want them to like me? It's not like I can take them home to warm my bed."
"So, only resentment is the most lasting emotion."
And so...
A'Diao looked at the bandits lying on the ground before her, on the verge of death, and revealed a 'benevolent' smile.
Inside the cave was a makeshift interrogation room, complete with various torture instruments. On the side, there were also prison cells. A'Diao saw a dozen or so shabbily dressed but pretty female cultivators, all still alive.
Some were numb and dazed, others were full of expectation.
Anyway, when they saw A'Diao, most of the female cultivators stood up. Initially terrified and wary, they were soon stunned, and hope ignited in their eyes.
Because the bodies of several hundred bandits, bound by ropes, were brought in and hung up.
A'Diao had already stripped them of all their possessions, but being alive also had its value.
With a flick of her slender fingertip, the ropes automatically snaked up to the roof beams, hanging them up in strings like cured meat.
Before taking action, to ascertain the upper limit of the enemy's combat strength, A'Diao had explored the entire area and naturally knew these female cultivators were imprisoned here.
Sending Hang Xiujin and the others away was also for this reason.
Standing on the steps, she looked down at these female cultivators and asked, "Do you hate them?"
Quite a few of them, eyes filled with hot tears, subconsciously nodded.
A'Diao smiled. "Then don't let them off."
She didn't do much else, just released these female cultivators and let them do whatever they wanted, with the condition that they couldn't easily kill these men—the more pain they could inflict, the better.
"You can leave when your anger subsides, or when you feel it's no longer meaningful. But I suggest you discuss it amongst yourselves and leave together; otherwise, the outside world is not safe."
Not death, but prolonged suffering, could dispel the boundless resentment in their hearts.
Only pain can resolve pain.
Would these female cultivators do as she said?
Yes!
They were wilderness female cultivators to begin with. While not every one of them was ruthless, most had seen blood. After thanking A'Diao, they began...
Terrifying screams filled the entire torture chamber. A female cultivator, formerly a doctor, was teaching the others how to inflict a hundred cuts on a person that would only cause minor injuries... not fatal, but ensuring endless pain.
One female cultivator paused, stunned. "If you cut... that place... dozens of times... they still won't die?"
"If you manage the bleeding properly, they won't die. It's fine, go ahead and cut. I know healing techniques..."
They were busy, but they didn't forget to thank A'Diao.
They didn't have much money; it had all been taken by these bandits.
A'Diao didn't ask for money but inquired about their previous situation and whether the others had all been killed.
"We're not sure. Anyway, out of a desire to save our lives, we gave them all our property, but they didn't keep their promise... Later, some of us women were locked up, but the others were taken away. They weren't killed on the spot, but perhaps they were all killed later."
A'Diao seemed lost in thought. "Were all the women locked up?"
"No... they picked a few who looked decent." The female doctor's eyes darkened, and she lightly bit her teeth.
To have survived precariously for such a reason, they felt sick to their stomachs.
A'Diao tilted her head, as if pondering something, then said casually, "Well then, just acknowledge your own beauty."
The female doctor: "?"
A'Diao smiled. "At least you survived until I arrived."
This 'little brother' smiled so sweetly, without a hint of malice, and even shared food with them. The female cultivators immediately, as a group, developed favorable feelings towards her. Wiping their tears, they thanked her and also inquired about the situation outside.
Since they had survived, life had to go on.
The fact that these bandits hadn't destroyed their Spirit Clusters was the only fortunate thing.
The entire torture room was a scene of hell on earth, but the plain-looking 'little brother' took out an apple, leisurely watching the bloody scene below, eyes curved into crescents, crunching on the fruit's flesh.
A'Diao sat on the steps, munching on her apple and watching for a while. She confirmed that these female cultivators could generate a stable supply of Mental Power for her, and these bandits, unable to die even if they wished, would also deepen their resentment due to her presence.
Mental Power could be continuously transmitted across distances; she estimated she could fleece them for many days.
What a 'lovely' bunch of bandits.
A'Diao went out. Stepping onto her aircraft, she looked down at the cave, then took out the bandit leader's phone. She removed the card from it and had Sparrow examine it.
Toilet: "What are you suspecting?"
"The Sea Martial Falcons generally operate within a hundred-li radius. This fog-shrouded area is about fifty li wide. Crash sites are unpredictable, with deviations of up to ten kilometers. No matter how fast they are, they can't ensure cultivators who crash will stay put; most likely, they won't. So how did they manage to capture these wilderness cultivators so precisely? And without letting any news get back to the various provinces or the coastline. Right now, the authorities of the five provinces are in dire need of manpower. If a transport route for summoned personnel faces such dual sky-ground ambushes, the authorities would surely be furious. Casually sending a single Forbidden Master could level this place. So, the fact that it hasn't been exposed yet—I'm inclined to believe there are multiple bandit lairs distributed over a large area here. They either belong to a single organization or have united to monopolize this region."
"Regardless of which it is, this bandit leader's tracks will eventually reveal the locations of other lairs."
"Moreover, there are two suspicious points."
"These female cultivators' Spirit Clusters weren't destroyed. That's illogical."
"The bodies of the other cultivators who were taken away are not in the cave, nor are there any traces of burning. Matter doesn't just disappear into thin air. This can only mean the people themselves disappeared—they were transferred elsewhere."
"Keeping a few good-looking female cultivators was to satisfy the lust of these bandits. Then, alongside lust, there are other desires—such as profit."
"After living cultivators have had their property taken, what profit is left in them?"
"Spirit Clusters."
"The Spiritual Power within their bodies is the greatest profit, but it's unknown what the other party intends to use it for."
A'Diao was very interested in this. She might as well explore all these lairs.
These weren't bandit lairs; they were sheep pens!
She could already imagine a group of arrogant and domineering bandits, hung in mid-air by her, gushing forth torrents of Mental Power for her.
Tens of millions of Mental Power points were just around the corner!
Meanwhile, Hang Xiujin and the others' airship had been destroyed. Lacking A'Diao's financial resources to purchase a forbidden-grade airship, they found that the bandits had quite a few parked there. They chose one, flew it away, and also transferred their supplies.
Although they had lost considerable benefits this time, transporting the supplies was their job, and it was extremely fortunate that they had escaped with their lives. On the airship, everyone was discussing the recent events. In their words, they admired that 'Big Brother's' power but truly couldn't bring themselves to feel respect or affection for her.
As they were discussing, Chi Cheng's phone signal suddenly projected a light screen.
A message from someone arrived.
"You encountered danger? Where are you?"
Everyone suddenly fell silent. Who could make them so subdued?
Chi Cheng's gaze swept over everyone. Hang Xiujin made a gesture, and Chi Cheng, listening to her, told the truth.
Although concealing the facts could reduce the likelihood of being reprimanded by the academy, if it were discovered, it would instead make them appear incompetent and morally deficient.
"After that person let us go, we've come out and are currently escorting the goods."
The person on the other end probably already guessed they had encountered an accident but didn't know the full extent of the situation. They said in a cold tone, "Understood. We're heading over now. You proceed to deliver the goods to the coast as originally planned."
After hanging up, Chi Cheng frowned and said to Hang Xiujin, "Do you think he'll come alone?"
Hang Xiujin shook her head. "I'm not sure of his current strength, but given the situation here, it's very dangerous to come alone if one isn't at the Forbidden Master level. He probably wouldn't be so reckless."
Chi Cheng: "Who knows. He's too arrogant. It makes me not want to admit I'm inferior to him, even though I know I am."
Everyone clearly felt this way. Thus, they had basically no favorable impression of their academy's top genius from Yunzhou, who was consistently ranked first.
Some people's arrogance manifested as aloofness and indifference, but this person's arrogance was blatant; he simply didn't regard anyone else. That's why Chi Cheng had been extremely reluctant to speak just now—it was too embarrassing.
He had actually heard the other party's scornful laugh as well but didn't want to mention it and make everyone else feel bad.
Hang Xiujin had naturally experienced it too. She said with a bitter smile, "I used to think he was arrogant, detestably so. But thinking about it now, such arrogance is nothing. We should remember today's lesson for a lifetime."
Previously, they knew about the situation in the academies of the other provinces and considered the student level of their Yunzhou Academy to be inferior only to Qingzhou's. They hadn't expected...
It was truly a slap in the face.
"But students from other academies aren't necessarily better than us. The gap between us and these bandits is just too large."
"We lose out in terms of age and experience, which is hard to make up for in a short time. And these bandits have even more resources than us; after all, murder and robbery is a hugely profitable business. Otherwise, why would so many people choose to join, and why does it persist despite repeated prohibitions?"
But they were still unwilling to accept it.
No one refuted this, nor did anyone agree.
Because they currently didn't know the situation in other academies. Not long after the semester began, those ranked at the very top, like the academy's number one student, were mostly taken away by their principals for individual tutoring, arguably enjoying the highest educational resources. Their strengths weren't publicly announced, and apart from the scores for clearing the points tower, it was basically impossible to judge the true strength of the top students.
Hang Xiujin sighed softly. "I heard that the top student from Qingzhou Academy is already close to A-rank. If that person were here, they would surely have the ability to fight those bandits. The gap between us and them is widening. I wonder how the other academies are faring."
After the resurgence of Spiritual Energy, one had to compete even if they didn't want to. There were some things one couldn't help but care about.
Chi Cheng frowned upon hearing this but eventually said, "What's there to fear? There are plenty of people worse than us. At the very bottom, you have those from Hanzhou and Danzhou. I heard their top students aren't even as good as the two of us; they wouldn't even make the top five in our academy, let alone those monsters from Qingzhou. Those further behind are even less worth mentioning."
In his view, if he and Hang Xiujin could perhaps represent Yunzhou Academy's top five to contend for a spot in the top ten of the five provinces against Qingzhou Academy's students, then people from Hanzhou and Danzhou had no chance of ever standing out in the five provinces.
Take Danzhou, for example. In the initial period, their internal strife and mutual destruction were incredibly brutal. Too few legacies and foundational resources survived. Now, they are probably even weaker than Hanzhou.
Now, with heroes from all five provinces gathered along the coastline of the Southern Sea Region, has anyone ever mentioned anyone of note from Danzhou?
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