77: Chapter 77 If apologies were enough, what would be the point of my cultivation?

She remembered how she had just called him "shameless" and a "lecher," how she had tried to run away and even get a free ride—Lu Manman's legs began to shake like a sieve, cold sweat soaking her clothes and trickling down her back.

"That... Senior... Senior Wang..." she stammered, her voice as faint as a mosquito's hum, her lips trembling. "Just now... I didn't mean it... please, in your great mercy... spare me..."

Xiao Ye turned his head to look at her. The corners of his mouth beneath the mask curled slightly, revealing a row of white teeth. His smile was dazzlingly bright in the sunlight. "So now you know to call me Senior? Who was it that said they wanted to get a free ride from me just now?"

Lu Manman fell to her knees with a thud, tears streaming down her face and ruining her makeup. "Senior, I was wrong! I won't ever do it again! Please spare me! If you want Spirit Stones, I'll give them to you! If you want... if you want anything else, that's fine too..." Her voice grew quieter and quieter, her face flushing crimson.

Xiao Ye looked at her pitiful state but remained unmoved. His gaze was as cold as well water in winter. "Fine, fine. Crawl over here."

"Okay!... Huh? Crawl?... Crawl over?" Lu Manman looked at Xiao Ye in disbelief, wondering if she had misheard, her ears ringing.

"You heard me right. Crawl over. I don't want to say it a second time." Xiao Ye waved his hand impatiently, his eyes turning cold, leaving no room for negotiation in his tone.

Lu Manman was terrified and quickly looked toward Mu Wanqing for help, her eyes screaming "save me." To her surprise, Mu Wanqing didn't even look at her. At this moment, Mu Wanqing was completely captivated by Xiao Ye's dominance—this man was so charismatic. Handsome, powerful, and domineering, he was the perfect man straight out of her dreams. How could she have any attention left for anyone else?

Seeing that Mu Wanqing was ignoring her, Lu Manman had no choice but to support herself with her hands and slowly crawl over. The distance of twenty meters felt incredibly long. With every step she took, her knees scraped painfully against the ground, and the pebbles made her grimace. At this moment, she felt both ashamed and afraid, her tears falling to the ground like pearls from a broken string.

Xiao Ye looked down at Lu Manman, who had crawled to his feet, and said commandingly, "Raise your head and look at me."

Lu Manman slowly raised her head, her face blurred with tears, her eyes darting away in fear, not daring to meet his gaze.

"You know, I hate people who don't follow the rules the most." Xiao Ye crossed his arms, his tone as cold as if he were lecturing a student. "Since I saved you, you should have repaid me properly. But you actually wanted a free ride? What do you take me for, a Saint Mother?"

Lu Manman sobbed, "Senior, I was wrong, I apologize. I was really wrong, I won't ever dare to do it again."

"Hmph, if apologies were useful, why would I need cultivation?" Xiao Ye snorted coldly. "If you're wrong, you must accept your punishment properly."

He casually set up an Isolation Barrier. A pale gold light shroud enveloped the three of them, cutting them off from the outside world. No sound could be heard from the outside, and nothing could be seen from within.

Then, he grabbed Lu Manman's hair with one hand and dragged her under a tree about as thick as a bowl.

"Hold on tight!"

Before Lu Manman could understand what was happening, she felt the spiritual energy in her body instantly sealed, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

In the next second, her waist was pressed down by a large hand, and her hands naturally braced against the tree trunk, barely supporting her body in a wretched posture.

Suddenly, she felt a chill from behind—her skirt had been lifted.

Xiao Ye pulled out a twenty-centimeter small knife.

"Ah—!"

White blade in, red blade out.

A short, sharp cry escaped from the barrier and then stopped abruptly, as if someone had covered her mouth.

"Ding—Congratulations to the host! Harem +1!

Reward: Divine Skill—Telekinesis!

Reward: One thousand Spirit Stones! Reward: spirit ascension pill x1!"

"Holy crap—A Divine Skill? Telekinesis?" Xiao Ye's eyes widened like copper bells. He was so excited that he slapped her bottom in celebration, one slap after another, making a loud smacking sound.

Lu Manman lay slumped against the tree trunk, weakly crying out, "Ah, ah, ah..."

To the side, Mu Wanqing was completely stunned. Her mouth hung open, her eyes were wide and round, and only one thought was spinning wildly in her mind—is he playing this wild?

Is he treating me like air? Playing like this right under my nose? Does he think I don't exist?

She just stood there, watching a live-action "adult movie" for a whole hour. She didn't even dare to blink, for fear of missing some exciting scene—even though she felt the imagery was already quite scandalous.

She watched as a Silk Tree went from being lush and full of flowers to being shaken until only a bare trunk remained. Petals littered the ground, and not a single leaf was left. The tree stood there now looking like a balding middle-aged man, looking quite pathetic.

Seeing Xiao Ye walking closer...

"..." Mu Wanqing's mouth twitched. She silently took two steps back, looking at Xiao Ye with a wary expression, looking exactly like a little white rabbit cornered. "You... don't come over here!"

Xiao Ye adjusted his trousers, glanced at her, and slowly wiped his hands, his tone casual. "What are you afraid of? I'm not going to eat you."

Mu Wanqing complained wildly in her heart: You're not going to eat me, you're going to take my life! That's scarier than being eaten!

"Be my Protector." After saying that, Xiao Ye didn't even look at Lu Manman, who was still foaming at the mouth on the ground. He turned and walked to a flat rock, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to circulate the spiritual energy in his body.

He still had twenty-six years of cultivation stored in the System that hadn't been refined. Before, he had been stuck at Foundation Establishment Perfection, so refining it would have been useless since he couldn't Breakthrough.

Now that he had finally succeeded in Core Formation, he could refine it all in one go and see which layer his cultivation could reach.

On the first day, he refined ten years of cultivation, and his Realm rose from the Early Stage of the First Layer of Core Formation to the First Layer Perfection. His spiritual energy became much more robust.

On the second day, he refined another ten years of cultivation. His Realm broke through to the Second Layer of Core Formation and continued to reach the Second Layer Perfection. The spiritual energy in his body surged like a rushing river, and his Meridians felt slightly bloated from the pressure.

On the third day, he refined the final six years of cultivation, and his Realm steadied at the Late Stage of the Third Layer of Core Formation.

The spiritual energy flowed freely within him, and every gesture he made carried a sense of pressure.

"Ten years for one Minor Realm... not bad, acceptable." Xiao Ye whispered to himself, nodding in satisfaction.

If others knew about this speed, they would probably cough up blood in envy. Others had to Cultivate hard for decades just to Breakthrough one Realm, yet he had done it in three days.

Next, he took out two spirit ascension pills from his Storage Pouch. One was the recent System reward, and the other he had saved from before.

He hadn't taken them before because he felt he didn't Cultivate much anyway—his cultivation relied entirely on System rewards. Improving his Spiritual Root wouldn't help him much then, so he had kept them, planning to give them to his concubines at home.

But now, he had other plans.

"Mu Wanqing, come here."