Chapter 15: What

A dull thud echoed down the third-floor corridor.

Blood sprayed alongside screams.

No matter how much Wu Zhen begged, Li Yi showed no mercy, responding with strikes harder with each blow, and Wu Zhen gradually stopped pleading, his body growing limp, unable to even instinctively defend himself.

“Li Yi, if you keep beating him, he’ll die—we won’t hire a murderer as a guide.”

At that moment, Supervisor Xu Ming appeared, hearing the commotion; he stood at the far end of the corridor, offering no intervention, only a warning.

Hearing this, Li Yi reluctantly released his grip and lifted his blood-smeared knee.

“Wu Zhen, I’m truly sorry—I went too hard. But please do me a favor: pretend today’s incident never happened. Don’t hold a grudge. Let bygones be bygones. I’ll treat you to dinner later. We’re still brothers, still good friends. What do you say?” Li Yi said with serious sincerity.

“I—I’ll give your mom... face, cough cough.” Wu Zhen, still conscious, spoke through a face caked in blood.

Li Yi crouched down, staring at him: “So you don’t like giving others face, either? Funny—I don’t much care for giving face either. You should be grateful this is the Peace Zone. If you’d been in the Ruin District, you’d already be dead.”

“Cough cough, you’d dare kill someone? I—I don’t believe it.”

Wu Zhen forced his blurred eyes open; they no longer held malice, only a hazy red haze.

“Who knows? You can’t test that.” Li Yi patted his head.

Wu Zhen shuddered, feeling as if a beast were licking his scalp, sending a chill through him—he sensed this Li Yi truly meant to kill him, not just threaten.

Seeing Wu Zhen remain silent and motionless, Li Yi lost interest, stood, and turned to face the others.

“This guy...” The others stiffened.

Li Yi fixed the others with a serious gaze: “You all still owe me a face.”

“Li Yi, what happened earlier was just a misunderstanding... you didn’t need to suddenly attack. If you didn’t want to accept our proposal, fine—we won’t force you.” Zhao Xiaoxiao’s face now clearly showed fear and unease.

Maybe this Li Yi had no power or influence, just a poor kid—but he was the kind who’d actually strike, and without honor—launching a surprise attack.

Li Yi glanced at them, said nothing more, and turned to Supervisor Xu Ming, pointing at Wu Zhen on the ground: “How will this be handled?”

“This was your private brawl—we won’t interfere,” Xu Ming replied formally. “But if you want to fight next time, go to the basement level. There’s a training ground there, more convenient.”

“Good enough.”

Li Yi nodded: “I’m a broke man—I can’t afford to pay compensation. But I’ve got a remedy: take two boiled eggs, wrap them in a towel, apply them to the wounds—they heal fast.”

“He won’t recover from two boiled eggs,” Xu Ming said. “We won’t stop you from fighting, but you mustn’t delay tonight’s twelve o’clock shift. If you fail to perform on time, it’s a contract breach—you’ll pay damages.”

“Don’t worry—I won’t delay work. Since everyone’s fine now, I’ll return to my room to rest. Call me if anything comes up.”

Li Yi entered his room and closed the door.

Supervisor Xu Ming merely instructed his assistant: “Send someone to clean up. Don’t leave any blood smell.”

“Fuck, this Li Yi really thinks he’s someone? Without the sneak attack, he wouldn’t have beaten Wu Zhen.” After the others left, one cultivator, feeling humiliated, angrily spat.

“Then why didn’t you step in when you were so bold? I told you before: barefoot aren’t afraid of shod men. You just needed to voice the proposal politely—no threats. Zhao Xiaoxiao, you yourself said Li Yi’s cultivation value is high. What if he opens a Spirit Medium later and comes after you? Can you handle it?” Another had now come to his senses and sneered.

“Cultivation isn’t just about social graces—it’s about violence. You’ll never understand the brutality buried in a cultivator’s bones. Wu Zhen went too far. Cutting off someone’s income is like killing their parents. We assumed Li Yi would compromise—that was our own wishful thinking. We all have some savings, aren’t truly poor. But Li Yi? He can’t even afford bus fare home.”

“At this point, still scheming against others? No wonder they’re willing to fight to the death. And they can afford to risk their life—can you?”

“I...” Zhao Xiaoxiao’s expression shifted wildly, a sudden dread rising inside him.

Once Li Yi opened a Spirit Medium and surpassed them in cultivation, his revenge would be deadly.

“Enough. Let this end here. The earlier proposal is void. Mind your own business. Don’t drag others into your mess.”

The temporary alliance immediately collapsed. They ignored Wu Zhen, beaten and broken, and returned to their rooms in heavy silence.

Everyone’s mood was foul.

Because they’d offended a cultivator with serious potential.

“Damn, Li Yi really went all out—he was trying to kill him. If the supervisor hadn’t stepped in, Wu Zhen would’ve been dead.” In Room 6, Zhang Gao peered cautiously from the doorway, shaken and terrified.

He hadn’t shown himself earlier—he’d been threatened too. Though annoyed, it hadn’t hurt his interests, so he did nothing. He never imagined things would spiral like this after they confronted Li Yi.

“Good thing I refused to join them in harassing Li Yi—I’d have made an enemy too.”

He silently rejoiced he hadn’t gotten involved—if he had, Li Yi would’ve held a grudge against him.

“Now Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others will be lying awake, terrified. Once Li Yi opens a Spirit Medium, with his brutality, he won’t hesitate to ambush them. Even if he doesn’t kill them, they’ll be crippled. If it were me, I’d quit this job right now and run far away—avoid being watched every second... Wait, they can’t quit either—they’d have to pay breach penalties.”

Seeing these hated people humiliated, Zhang Gao felt pleased.

But after this incident, Zhang Gao began to admire Li Yi, sensing something unusual about him—he’d surely rise far.

Soon.

The corridor fell silent.

Everyone stayed quietly in their rooms, collectively choosing to forget the earlier incident—never mentioning it again.

Li Yi was now calming his mind, attempting to enter meditation.

He clearly felt a profound change within himself—since his near-death experience in the Ruin District, his soul had transformed. When he attacked Wu Zhen, he felt no turmoil; at one point, he truly wanted to kill him.

“I’m a healthy young man—how did I suddenly become so violent? Am I truly as evil as the coin’s resentment claimed? No, it’s not me—I’m just influenced by that resentment. It’s a side effect of the defective artifact. Yes, that’s it—I’m still a good person.”

“But beating him felt damn good, heh.”

Li Yi argued with himself.

The excuse quickly convinced his inner self. He grew calm, and finally entered meditation.

After entering meditation, Li Yi did not guide the cosmic energy within the coin—he’d save that energy to sell at night. Instead, he tried guiding the surrounding cosmic energy himself, to see what his natural cultivation would be like.

After four full hours, his cultivation efficiency was less than one-tenth of what he achieved in ten minutes with the coin.

He strained to guide and absorb cosmic energy, yet his cultivation value dropped to sixty percent.

And within those four hours, he captured fewer than one hundred units of cosmic energy.

“This is what ordinary cultivators endure—so hard... Without an artifact, you absolutely need a guide. Otherwise, cultivation is painfully slow.” He sighed inwardly, yet Li Yi did not grow impatient—he continued refining his practice.

Whether guiding or absorbing cosmic energy, he must practice repeatedly until it became instinct.

He’d heard online that some powerful cultivators had forged cultivation instinct—those cultivators could train autonomously twenty-four hours a day, improving every moment.

And Li Yi, as a young man, loved nothing more than progress.