Chapter 15 What’s past is past

Chapter 15: Let Bygones Be Bygones

Dull thuds echoed through the third-floor corridor.

Blood splattered, accompanied by screams.

No matter how Wu Zhen begged for mercy, Li Yi showed no quarter. His only response was a series of increasingly brutal attacks. Wu Zhen gradually stopped begging, his body slowly going limp, unable to even instinctively defend himself.

“Li Yi, if you keep hitting him, he’ll die. We won’t hire a murderer as a Guiding Staff.”

At this moment, Supervisor Xu Ming appeared, having heard the commotion. He stood at the other end of the corridor, not stopping the fight, but merely offering a word of caution.

Hearing this, Li Yi reluctantly released his grip and lowered his blood-stained knee.

“Wu Zhen, I’m very sorry, I hit a bit hard. But please give me some face; let’s pretend what just happened didn’t, and don’t dwell on it. Let bygones be bygones. I’ll treat you to a meal later, and we can still be good brothers, good friends. How does that sound?” Li Yi said very earnestly.

“I… I’ll give your mom face, cough cough.” Wu Zhen hadn’t fainted yet. His face was covered in blood as he spoke indistinctly.

Li Yi squatted down and looked at him: “So, you don’t like giving others face either, huh? What a coincidence, I don’t really like giving others face either. You should be glad this is An Ding District. If this were the Waste District, you’d already be dead.”

“Cough cough, you dare to kill? I… I don’t believe it.”

Wu Zhen forced his blurry eyes open. There was no longer any fierce light in them, only a vague, blood-red haze.

“Who knows? We can’t exactly test it out.” Li Yi patted his head.

Wu Zhen’s body trembled, feeling as if a fierce beast was licking his scalp, sending a strange chill down his spine. He had a feeling that Li Yi genuinely wanted to kill him, and it wasn’t a joke.

Seeing that he remained silent and still, Li Yi lost interest. He then stood up and turned to look at the others.

“This guy…” The others’ expressions tightened.

Li Yi stared at the other few people and said earnestly, “You all still owe me face.”

“Li Yi, it was all a misunderstanding just now. You didn’t need to suddenly resort to violence. If you’re unwilling to accept the previous proposal, then so be it. We won’t force you.” Zhao Xiaoxiao’s face clearly showed a mix of fear and unease at this moment.

Perhaps this Li Yi had no power or influence and was a poor boy, but he truly dared to act, and he even resorted to a sneak attack without any sense of martial ethics.

Li Yi glanced at her, said no more, and simply looked at Supervisor Xu Ming, then pointed at Wu Zhen lying on the ground and asked, “How should this matter be handled?”

“This is a private fight among yourselves; we won’t interfere,” Xu Ming said in a businesslike manner. “However, if you want to fight next time, you can go to the first basement floor. There’s a training ground there, which is more convenient for fighting.”

“That’s good.”

Li Yi nodded: “I’m a pauper; I can’t afford compensation. But I have a remedy: buy two hot eggs, wrap them in a towel, and apply them. The wounds will heal quickly.”

“He’s not going to get better just by applying two hot eggs,” Xu Ming said. “We won’t interfere with your squabbles, but the work at midnight cannot be delayed. If it can’t proceed normally by then, it will be considered a breach of contract, and you’ll need to pay compensation as per the agreement.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t delay work. Since everyone is fine, I’ll go back to my room to rest first. Call me if anything comes up.”

Li Yi entered his room and closed the door.

Supervisor Xu Ming merely instructed his assistant, “Have someone clean this up; don’t leave any bloodstains.”

“Damn it, this Li Yi, who does he think he is? If it wasn’t for the sneak attack, he might not have beaten Wu Zhen.” After the others left, a cultivator, feeling somewhat humiliated, angrily said.

“If you’re so arrogant, why didn’t you step in just now? I said before, the barefoot aren’t afraid of those with shoes. The proposal earlier was just to mention it; the attitude should be good. Don’t try to threaten others. Zhao Xiaoxiao, you yourself said Li Yi’s cultivation value is very high. If he activates his Spiritual Medium later and seeks revenge, can you handle it?” Another person, now clear-headed, scoffed and said.

“Cultivation isn’t just about social etiquette; it also involves fighting and killing. You’ll never understand the violence hidden in a cultivator’s bones. Wu Zhen went a bit too far just now. You know, cutting off someone’s financial path is like killing their parents. We thought Li Yi would compromise, but that was our wishful thinking. After all, we all have some family wealth and aren’t truly poor, but this Li Yi is different. He’s so poor right now that he doesn’t even have money for a ride home.”

“To still scheme against others when it’s come to this, it’s no wonder others fight for their lives with you. And they can afford to fight for their lives; can you?”

“I…” Zhao Xiaoxiao’s face changed erratically, and she felt a sudden panic in her heart.

Once Li Yi activated his Spiritual Medium and his cultivation surpassed theirs, it would be truly dangerous if he sought revenge.

“Alright, let’s stop here with this matter. All the proposals from earlier are null and void. Manage yourselves, and don’t drag others down anymore.”

The temporary group they had formed immediately disintegrated. They ignored the badly beaten Wu Zhen, instead returning to their respective rooms, preoccupied with their thoughts.

Everyone was in a bad mood.

Because they seemed to have offended a very promising cultivator.

“Damn, this Li Yi really dared to act. He was beating him to death just now. If Supervisor Xu Ming hadn’t intervened, Wu Zhen would have been beaten to death.” At this moment, in room 6, Zhang Gao secretly peeked out from the doorway, filled with both shock and fear.

He hadn’t shown his face just now because he had also been threatened. Although he was annoyed, it didn’t affect his interests, so he didn’t do anything. He never expected such a thing to happen after these people went to find Li Yi.

“Good thing I refused their suggestion to trouble Li Yi, otherwise I would have offended someone too.”

Subsequently, Zhang Gao secretly rejoiced that he hadn’t gotten involved, otherwise Li Yi would definitely hold a grudge against him too.

“But now Zhao Xiaoxiao and the others are probably going to be restless and unable to sleep. Once Li Yi activates his Spiritual Medium, with his ruthlessness, it’s hard to guarantee he won’t suddenly give them a ‘witnessing.’ Even if they don’t die, they’ll be crippled. If it were me, I’d rather quit this job immediately and hide far away, lest I be constantly targeted. Oh, right, they can’t resign either; they’ll have to pay for breach of contract.”

Seeing these annoying people get humbled, Zhang Gao felt very happy.

However, after this incident, Zhang Gao began to feel some admiration for Li Yi, thinking that this person was somewhat unique and would definitely have a promising future.

Soon.

The hallway returned to quiet.

Everyone stayed obediently in their rooms to rest. Regarding what had just happened, they all tacitly chose to selectively forget and never brought it up again.

Li Yi was currently calming his mind, attempting to enter a meditative state for cultivation.

He clearly felt that he had undergone a great change. Ever since his brush with death in the Waste District, his entire soul seemed to have transformed. When he acted against Wu Zhen just now, he felt no ripple, and at one point, he truly wanted to kill him.

“How did I, a good young man, suddenly become so violent? Could it be that I am truly evil by nature, as the resentment in the dao coin said? No, it’s definitely not. I must have been influenced by that resentment. This is a side effect of the incomplete qi objects. Yes, it must be. I’m a good person.”

“But it felt really good to beat him just now, hehe.”

Li Yi defended himself in his mind.

This reason quickly convinced his inner self. He gradually calmed down and finally succeeded in entering meditation.

After entering meditation, Li Yi did not guide the Cosmic Energy within the dao coin. He needed to save this energy to sell for money at night, so he tried to guide the surrounding Cosmic Energy himself to see what it would be like to cultivate on his own.

The result of a full four hours of effort was that the efficiency of his cultivation was not even as good as ten minutes with the dao coin.

He painstakingly guided and absorbed Cosmic Energy, only for his cultivation value to drop to sixty percent.

Furthermore, within those four hours, he didn’t even capture a hundred units of Cosmic Energy.

“This is the state of an ordinary cultivator; it’s too difficult. If one doesn’t have qi objects, they definitely need to hire a Guiding Staff, otherwise, cultivation is simply too slow.” He secretly sighed in his heart, but Li Yi was not impatient; he continued to hone his cultivation.

Whether it was Cosmic Energy guidance or absorption, he had to practice repeatedly until it became an instinct.

He had heard online that some powerful cultivators had developed a cultivation instinct, and those with this instinct could cultivate autonomously twenty-four hours a day, making progress every day.

And what young people like Li Yi liked most was progress.