118: Chapter 118 Your sect doesn't even have a school operating license!

The "Sect Teaching Pavilion", now reduced to half its original height, swayed precariously in the cold wind.

The Special Police escorted a disheveled and dirt-stained Xiao Aotian, following behind Gu Changan and Director Li, stepping unevenly over the piles of broken rubble.

The air was filled with a strange odor, a mixture of moldy paper and cheap, low-quality incense.

"Is this your book collection?"

Gu Changan used his gloved fingers to pull a thread-bound book from a pile of collapsed bookshelves. The cover was yellowed from smoke, and four large characters were crookedly written on it with a brush—《Blood Sacrifice Divine Skill》.

Although Xiao Aotian was handcuffed, the moment he saw the book, his neck stiffened, and that edgy, delusional attitude flared up again.

"Director Gu, do not use your Mortal eyes to desecrate these immortal classics!"

He shook his matted, long hair, his eyes burning with fanaticism: "This is a rare, one-of-a-kind book I scavenged from the 'Ancient Ruins' section of the System shop! To Cultivate this technique, one must extract the heart blood of ninety-nine living creatures. Once reaching Major Achievement, one can turn blood Qi into blades, killing invisibly! This is a supreme technique that points directly to the Golden Core Dao!"

Director Li, standing beside them, felt his face twitch as he listened. He snatched the book from Gu Changan's hand and flipped through a couple of pages.

After reading just a few lines, the veteran educator began to tremble.

"Absurd! Shameless! Perverted!"

Director Li slammed the book into the muddy ground at Xiao Aotian's feet, spittle flying onto the other man's face: "You're teaching eleven or twelve-year-old children to kill living creatures? And extracting heart blood? This is abetting a crime! It's anti-human! Is your head filled with manure?"

Xiao Aotian argued back, unconvinced: "That is to temper their killer instinct! In the Cultivation world, the weak are prey to the strong; if one isn't ruthless, how can one stand firm?"

"Stand firm, my foot!"

Gu Changan didn't have the patience for that; he reached back and pulled another colorful, gaudy booklet from the pile of books.

Yin and Yang Joyous Great Sorrow Tome》.

Just looking at the illustration on the cover of two scantily clad figures tangled together, one could tell this wasn't anything proper.

Gu Changan sneered, shoving the cover right in front of Xiao Aotian's nose: "Come on, explain yourself. What kind of 'Dao' is this? Giving this kind of thing to minors—do you know what this is called?"

Xiao Aotian didn't blush or skip a beat, even appearing somewhat righteous: "This is called Dual Cultivation! The harmony of Yin and Yang is the supreme truth of the Heavenly Dao! Letting them understand the affairs between men and women in advance is to lay a foundation for finding a Dao Companion later. Only by perceiving the essence of rosy-cheeked skeletons can one achieve a mind free of censorship, naturally high-definition... no, wait, a mind free of dust!"

"Slap!"

Gu Changan rolled the book into a tube and struck Xiao Aotian on the forehead without hesitation.

"Disseminating obscene and pornographic materials, with particularly egregious circumstances."

Gu Changan turned around and waved at Chen Xiaobei, who was taking notes: "Seal all this trash for me. Every single book must be cataloged and registered as evidence. This is no Sect Teaching Pavilion; it is clearly a distribution center for illegal publications and a brainwashing den for a cult!"

"You can't seal them! Those are my points! That is my life's work!"

Watching the Special Police start to collect his precious "Cultivation Techniques" like garbage and stuff them into black evidence bags, Xiao Aotian trembled with heartache.

Every single one of these books cost him several thousand Prestige Points to redeem. To scrape together these points, he had forced those children to kowtow to him every day and shout "Old Ancestor's magical power is boundless" until their throats were hoarse.

Now, they were all gone.

"Heartbroken already?"

Gu Changan brushed the dust off his hands and pulled a pre-prepared abacus from his briefcase—yes, that old-fashioned wooden kind.

In this era of high-tech law enforcement, he had specifically brought this item just to hear that sound.

"Let's calculate the economic accounts."

Gu Changan's fingers clicked and clacked against the abacus, the crisp sound echoing through the ruins like a funeral knell for Xiao Aotian.

"According to the 'Law on the Promotion of Privately-run Schools' and related implementation regulations, those who establish a private school without authorization shall be ordered to cease school operations, refund any fees collected, and be fined not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal gains."

Xiao Aotian rolled his eyes: "I didn't charge tuition! I am teaching them to achieve Immortal Ascension for free! Where would there be illegal gains?"

"Free?"

Gu Changan stopped and looked at him as if he were mentally disabled: "You forced these minors to reclaim wasteland, plant herbs, and build palaces for you; that is child labor. According to the 'Labor Law' and local minimum wage standards, calculating the labor costs for these past few months, it comes to at least 500,000."

"And there's more."

Gu Changan continued clicking the abacus: "Since you don't have a school operating license, this is illegal school operation. According to the 'Administrative Penalty Law', given the particularly serious nature of your case and the large number of people involved—48 children were rescued at the scene—calculated at the maximum penalty standard of 100,000 per person..."

Slap!

Gu Changan slammed the abacus and announced a figure: "4.8 million."

Xiao Aotian's eyes nearly popped out: "How much?! Are you robbing me?"

"Don't rush, I haven't finished calculating."

Gu Changan ignored him and continued: "The crime of disseminating obscene materials for profit, plus the crime of abetting minors to commit crimes—the penalties are to be combined. Director Li, what is the recommended fine here?"

Director Li adjusted his glasses and coldly spat out one word: "Maximum."

Gu Changan nodded, followed by another burst of clicking and clacking.

"Plus the previous fines for illegal land occupation, environmental restoration fees, demolition fees..."

Three minutes later.

Gu Changan ripped a long printed receipt from the portable printer; it had been compiled in real-time by Chen Xiaobei.

The paper was very long, dragging on the ground, and was densely packed with various types of fines.

Gu Changan showed the bottom section of the receipt to Xiao Aotian.

"Total: 53,264,000 yuan exactly."

"Let's round it down, 53 million. Paying cash or card?"

Gu Changan pulled out a POS machine, his expression strictly professional.

Looking at that astronomical figure, Xiao Aotian was completely stunned.

53 million?

Before his Transmigration, he delivered food, earning only 3.5 yuan per order; he wouldn't make enough even if he delivered until the Earth exploded!

Although he had a System after his Transmigration, the System gave him points, Medicinal Pills, and Flying Swords, but never RMB!

The most valuable thing on him was probably that soft sword which had already been confiscated.

"I... I don't have any money..."

Xiao Aotian swallowed, his voice trembling, "I am a Cultivator; I view money as dirt... I only have a few Spirit Stones on me..."

"Spirit Stones?"

Gu Changan pulled a grayish, dusty stone from the evidence bag, which had been found on Xiao Aotian, "According to the Geological Bureau's appraisal, this is just ordinary fluorite, also known as calcium fluoride. Aside from being slightly radioactive, it's worthless. What, you want to use radioactive Ore to pay off your debt?"

Xiao Aotian fell into total despair.

He felt he had fallen into a huge trap, a massive net woven from legal statutes, leaving him, this so-called "Child of Destiny", with nowhere to escape.

Suddenly, his gaze swept over the group of children in the distance who were drinking milk.

A morbid madness surfaced in his eyes.

He didn't have money, but he still had people!

"You cannot do this!"

Xiao Aotian lunged forward, his handcuffs clattering, and roared with all his might: "Money is an external object! Since these children have entered my Aotian Sect and taken me as their master, then a master for a day is a father for life! This is Karma! This is a vow to the Heavenly Dao!"

He stared fixedly at the group of children, his voice becoming eerie and strange, carrying a peculiar rhythm: "Disciples! Tell these Mortals, did you not voluntarily sever your worldly ties to follow me? Have you forgotten the poisonous vow you took when you entered the Sect? Betraying the Sect will surely lead to a backlash from your Heart Demon, and you will never be reincarnated!"

With this shout, he actually used the last bit of his Mental Energy.

Even under the suppression of the "Law Enforcement Domain", this kind of intimidation targeting the mental state of ordinary people still had some effect.

In the distance, those children who had originally been calming down slowly froze upon hearing that familiar and terrifying roar.

The little boy who had been shivering in the ruins dropped his milk cup on the ground with a "clatter".

Fear.

It was fear carved into their bones, left behind by days and nights of brainwashing and corporal punishment.

A few of the timid children even instinctively knelt down, kowtowing in Xiao Aotian's direction, muttering unconsciously: "Old Ancestor, spare us... Old Ancestor, spare us..."

Seeing this, a ferocious ecstasy appeared on Xiao Aotian's face.

"Do you see that, Gu Changan! This is the bond of a Cultivator! Mortal laws can control the body, but they cannot control the Soul! They are mine! No one can take them away!"