What followed was too painful to watch.
Ye Xuan once again endured Han Bingning's storm-like barrage of chained attacks.
Even more frustratingly, he was still underneath her.
A tragedy.
Three days passed in a flash.
Throughout those three days, Ye Xuan cultivated in the Holy Son Hall and never went out again.
As he cultivated, his physical strength finally reached its limit, as did the nourishment of Spiritual Qi within his body.
At a certain moment, a dull boom rang out.
Ye Xuan felt a searing pain in his dantian, then clearly sensed the vast, ocean-like torrent of Spiritual Qi within him begin surging madly toward it.
Sensing this, Ye Xuan was overjoyed.
In less than three months, his cultivation had actually entered the Essence Condensation Realm.
And it was the Essence Condensation Realm with a solid foundation.
If word of this terrifying cultivation speed spread, it would surely shake the entire Eastern Wasteland once again.
Meridian Opening was merely a cultivator's most basic realm, the realm for laying a foundation.
In this realm, although cultivators had a dantian, it remained unopened and could not store Spiritual Qi at all.
Only after opening nine spiritual meridians did one have a chance of successfully opening the dantian and thus entering the Essence Condensation Realm.
Thus, opening nine spiritual meridians counted as reaching the Meridian Opening Ninth Layer, though it was the weakest form of the Meridian Opening Ninth Layer.
In the Meridian Opening Realm, the more spiritual meridians one opened, the larger the dantian one could open, and naturally, the more Spiritual Qi it could store.
When battle came, with all spiritual meridians fully open, the more one had, the greater one's advantage would naturally be.
"Now that my cultivation has reached essence condensation first layer, does that mean I can kill someone in the Wheel Sea Realm across realms?"
Ye Xuan muttered delightedly and began examining his dantian internally.
His dantian was as vast as the sea, like a boundless ocean.
Within that ocean, a golden flame frolicked ceaselessly like a little fish.
As it played, the already rich Spiritual Qi in his body began condensing and compressing once more, cycling endlessly.
The True Solar Fire was continuously condensing and compressing that Spiritual Qi, entirely of its own accord, without Ye Xuan needing to control it at all.
At the sight, the corner of Ye Xuan's mouth twitched.
"True Solar Fire, you're such a freak!"
Just then, his pupils abruptly contracted as he caught sight of the woman who left him unable to hold his head high.
"M-Master-"
Looking at this woman, Ye Xuan's mouth twitched, and his expression looked distinctly wrong.
He looked as though he had remembered something terrifying.
Abandoning her usual icy demeanor, Han Bingning gazed at him with a smile and asked lightly, "Who are you calling a freak?"
Ye Xuan shuddered and hurriedly said, "Master, you've misunderstood. I definitely wasn't talking about you. I was talking about myself."
He really was on the verge of tears.
He didn't want to stay underneath and passively take a beating anymore. He wanted to be on top, to rise like an emancipated serf and sing!
Hearing this, Han Bingning smiled beautifully.
That fleeting, radiant smile simply dazzled the entire world.
As the saying went, one backward glance and a smile gave rise to a hundred charms, leaving the painted beauties of the six palaces without color. This was probably what it meant.
"Come, I'll take you out to temper yourself. Once we're back, you can wait peacefully for your investiture."
Ignoring Ye Xuan's dazed look, Han Bingning continued, "During this trial, I won't intervene, and you shouldn't count on me."
"Unless you encounter a cultivator more than three major realms above you, I won't save you even if you're beaten to death."
Ye Xuan grew solemn.
He could tell that Han Bingning was absolutely not joking.
Of course, he also knew she was doing this for his own good.
As the saying went, how could one see a rainbow without weathering wind and rain? How could one become strong without enduring hardship?
He, Ye Xuan, wanted to ascend beyond the clouds, sweep aside the prodigies of all ages, and trample the nine heavens and ten lands. How could he remain under protection forever?
The strong only grew by treading over heaps of corpses and bones. Behind each stood a stirring history of bloody winds and rains.
Ye Xuan looked at Han Bingning and said just as earnestly, "Master, rest assured. I don't need protection!"
He added inwardly, I have a system. I'm a man with cheats. Heaven sent me to save the world. How could I possibly need protection?
Han Bingning said nothing more. She picked Ye Xuan up with one hand, and in an instant, they vanished.
Dangling by the neck, Ye Xuan felt rather humiliated.
His master was far too unromantic. How could she do this?
Wouldn't holding him in her arms be better?
His vision swam. He had no idea how much time passed, but when he could see clearly again, he was already outside a city.
Han Bingning pointed at the city. "Go. This is your trial ground."
With that, her figure flashed, and she disappeared.
Ye Xuan was rather dumbfounded.
What did this mean?
Where was the objective? What were the mission details?
Couldn't she be a little more reliable?
Though he complained furiously inwardly, Ye Xuan wasted no words and darted straight toward the city.
The city looked somewhat dilapidated, but quite a few cultivators were entering it.
Ye Xuan glanced around casually and found that most were Meridian Opening Realm and Essence Condensation Realm cultivators. Those in the Wheel Sea Realm were few and far between.
Several vicious-looking fellows stood at the city gate.
They wore mismatched armor, their eyes ruthless and their expressions savage, looking at everyone as though they were enemies.
As they collected entrance fees, they watched those entering.
Any male cultivator they disliked was punched, kicked, and angrily cursed, their treatment brutal.
Whenever a female cultivator had even a little beauty, they leered and groped her.
Yet neither the women being groped nor the men being punched and kicked dared voice their anger.
Some even swallowed their fury and shamelessly offered apologetic smiles and apologies.
Watching this, Ye Xuan frowned slightly and felt somewhat puzzled.
Those gate guards were merely in the Essence Condensation Realm.
And there were plenty of Essence Condensation Realm cultivators among those being bullied.
Why, then, did they dare feel anger but not speak?
Regardless, the sight still stirred anger in Ye Xuan.
He grew even angrier when he saw the female cultivators screaming in terror yet still unable to escape their demonic clutches.
As a soul from the new century, how could he tolerate this?
Riiip-
An ill-timed sound rang out. Ye Xuan turned and saw a gate guard grabbing a female cultivator, tearing away a small piece of her clothing.
"Senior, Senior, don't, please don't!" The woman's face went deathly pale with fright, her beauty drained of color as she backed away repeatedly.
"Slap! You dare resist? You refuse face when it's offered!"
The gate guard slapped her, and she immediately crumpled pitifully to the ground.
Her cheeks were red and swollen, her eyes despairing. Her entire body trembled violently, her heart filled with sorrow and helplessness.
The people entering the city around them acted as though this were a common sight.
Not only did no one dare speak up, some even gloated as they ate melon and watched the show.
With a savage grin, the gate guard strode over to the woman and snarled, "Bitch, you still dare struggle? Come with me!"
With that, he hauled her up and headed straight toward a nearby building.
The woman wanted to resist, but as a mere seventh level of meridian opening cultivator, how could she afford to provoke someone at origin condensation third layer?
She struggled with all her might, screamed in despair, and begged for mercy and help until her voice gave out, but it was all useless. Not a single person dared step forward to help her.
Those with a little conscience lowered their heads, not daring to look, and hurried away after quickly paying their entrance fees.
Those whose consciences had been eaten by dogs stood nearby eating melon and watching the show.
Seeing the woman about to be dragged into the building, Ye Xuan finally could not bear to watch any longer.
He reached out, pushed aside the crowd blocking his way, and strode forward.
"Stop!"