34 Just Deserts (2/2)

Han De turned towards the woman.

”This woman did threaten me twice, and even tried to rob me. Still, she didn't act. Let's be merciful to her. Since her cultivation is sealed, she needs nutritious food otherwise her cultivation will suffer. Give her the scraps from one of the spiritual beast rearing farms. She is a fox, we should provide her with familiar meals. Don't give her too much though, she is a lady, we don't want to affect her figure.”

Nascent Soul elders turned solemn. This was worse than death for a cultivator. Cultivation takes time, and it takes time to disappear as well. This fox woman will have to watch her cultivation decline for many centuries while being unable to do anything about it.

”Also, if you encounter any more fox people, capture them or drive them out. They are no longer welcome anywhere near the Starfall Mountain or the Han family.”

Although there was a chance that a beastgirl enthusiast 21st-century weeb might transmigrate or reincarnate here in this world, Han De didn't think chances of it would be too high. The rest of the population probably wouldn't care, and the fox tribe itself wouldn't retaliate being all elusive.

Han De felt nauseous. However, somehow he couldn't stop himself. It was as if he had pulled the trigger and the bullet had already left the gun. It was impossible to stop. Every time he tried he ended up wanting to make things even worse.

As he was about to turn around and leave, the fox woman suddenly kowtowed to the ground and started speaking.

”Young master! I know this is too late. But please, have mercy. My brother and his servant are foolish. You have every right to exact your vengeance. I was foolish as well. I had eyes but failed to see the Mt. Tai. Our fox tribe is elusive but we have a long history. Please! Young Master! Allow us to compensate you for your losses. Although our cultivations are low, our status is quite high in the tribe. You will not make a loss!”

Seeing a mighty Immortal Realm cultivator beg for her and her brother's life was a heavy sight to bear. Han De could see some Nascent Soul experts nodding at each other as if they were enlightened, while the rest had solemn expressions. He could feel the fox and the dragon was bowing their heads in shame.

Han De knew he was about to cross a line, perhaps he already did but had no idea.

He knew how cunning the foxes were. Even on Earth, they could feign death or injuries to distract their pursuers. These demon foxes were also known for their cunning. The cynical side of Han De was already thinking about the perfect timing of her plea. She knew any bargaining chip she brought out early would be useless, so why wouldn't she just wait? Honor? Dignity? Who cares about them if you are dead?! Han De had read enough Xianxia to know that even the most righteous cultivator could abandon their principles if the situation was dire enough.

Han De was alone in this world. The only thing he had for his name was the shitty system that kept ignoring him. Before the death of the cockroach he had thought about which lines should he, would he, could he cross. Violence was constant. Even his own family wouldn't spare him if they realized that the cultivation idiot was dead and this Han De was an imposter.

The only conclusion Han De could reach was that he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to know about it, or hear about it. He didn't want to see it.

”Fine. Peng, put previous orders on hold, try to send a message to the fox tribe and negotiate from the starting point of 1000 sects. Handle it. I can't bother with this anymore.”

Han De left with swift steps. Everyone in the dungeon had blank expressions. Fox woman was still kowtowing. Her mind was racing, was she successful? Was it a ploy? She actually did calculate the best timing for her plea, but seeing how ruthless Han De really was, she remembered the stories of the Han family head. By the time she kowtowed, her words were genuine. But now, witnessing how fast Han De came to a decision, doubt filled her.

'Was he always going to say that? Did I play myself?'

Fox woman went through the events in her mind. She realized Han De saw through her and purposefully steered the events towards this direction. She, a proud fox, was conned by a human! She felt angry, but at the same time, she didn't dare show it. What would've happened if she hadn't begged? She didn't want to know the answer to that.

Few experts had already seen through the charade and wore smug expressions. They couldn't wait and started boasting to others with voice transmissions as soon as Han De left.

Meanwhile, Han De was feeling a huge weight was finally off his shoulders.

'The important thing is to act like an Arrogant Young Master. Not become one. If there is danger, I can just cripple or kill culprits. Wait, no, no. Have them crippled or killed. Yep, much better. There is no point in me giving violent torture orders. Keep it simple, keep it safe.'

* * *

Han De returned to his humble abode and started a draft for his goon re-education program. As he was working he kept thinking that he missed something important. He couldn't figure out what it was, but the feeling was definitely there. It kept bothering him. He frequently found himself thinking about his encounter with his mother.

'Conversation with mom was normal. Or it was as normal as it could be… What did I miss?'

He noticed Ning Bi was coming towards him and shelved this train of thought for now. Whatever it was, since he couldn't remember it with his cultivator memory, it was probably unimportant.

Ning Bi bowed respectfully as always. Han De nodded at her. Although he had used plenty of Profound Expert impressions on Ning Bi, this was the first time he was using Hidden Expert A. So far it wasn't that different!

”Master, I reached the 7th floor without using my skill. But now, I can't seem to be able to overcome this floor. I-I even tried with my Breach skill, but I couldn't…”

Han De didn't say anything. Inside he was disturbed.

'Shit, I was going to say use your OP skill. How could you fail even while using that?'

Han De didn't know what was going on. He tried to remember his setup for the pagoda. He had done the settings haphazardly. There were too many options and copy-paste wasn't available. He just wanted it to be impossible, how could he know the System would issue a quest about it?

'7th floor should be minor realm + 2 for her. She is at the 7th stage of Qi Condensation realm now, so the mobs are at the 9th stage. Hmm, back then she was at the 5th stage, mobs were at 7th stage. If their skill also increase according to their cultivation then higher realms would naturally encounter more difficulties.'

'From memory, the 8th floor should be minor realm +3, next one +4. 13th floor should be +8 minor realms. Which means, for her current cultivation it would be mid-stage Foundation Establishment.'

Han De used all his will to prevent himself from whistling.

'Damn, what bullshit setup is that. So if I enter the pagoda now, 13th floor for me would be Unity realm initial level?! Not Nascent Soul, not Spirit Origin, but jumps directly to Unity realm?! I highly doubt it would count half-step stages…'

Han De was speechless, but he recovered quickly.

'Well, it was designed for Qi Condensation anyway. Why would a Core Formation expert enter the pagoda? That's just ridiculous, no self-respecting expert would do such a thing.'

”I-I saw a few Core Formation and Nascent Soul elders enter the pagoda. They said as your cultivation increases the pagoda's difficulty would also… increase…”