Chapter 461: Chapter 460: Karmic Conversion Skill
About two days later, Shi Xiaole, following this group of people, finally saw their main base that they had been talking about.
It was an odd city.
The city walls and the ground were all made of the same kind of wood, with no paint at all on the surface. Even the fabric of the clothes worn by the people in the city was vastly different from the outside world, as if they had used some method to weave it themselves.
As he passed several taverns, Shi Xiaole took a glance inside, and found that there was no wine, and most of the food was boiled, without a drop of oil.
"This is the only place in the Boundless Flower Prison that doesn’t grow Transformation Flowers. Having food and shelter here is already pretty good."
In the crowd, the young man with the prominent ears seemed to have seen through Shi Xiaole’s thoughts, and said.
Shi Xiaole nodded his head.
Resources in the Boundless Flower Prison were scarce, and many common things from the outside world were, in fact, impossible to come by here.
However, Shi Xiaole was soon startled.
He found that his spiritual power was being suppressed. He subconsciously looked up ahead. In the very center of the city, there was a towering tree that was a hundred meters high, and a strange wave was emanating from the tree.
"That is the Divine Transformation Tree. It’s because of this tree that the growth of the Transformation Flowers is stopped. But because of it, the spiritual power of martial artists can’t be used."
Another person explained.
"So that’s why."
Shi Xiaole kept his composure.
The Boundless Flower Prison was full of weird things, and he must be more careful than ever.
The group split up at a street corner, presumably each returning to their respective places of residence.
As Shi Xiaole was planning to find a place to stay, the young man with prominent ears said, "Boy, hand over everything on you." Behind him were several others, their friendly facades replaced with hostile expressions.
Shi Xiaole had observed these people on the road. The one with the lowest level of cultivation was at the Sixth Tier of the Xuanqi Realm, and the highest was at the Ninth Tier of the Xuanqi Realm. In a situation where his spiritual strength could not be used, a conflict would be very unfavorable for him.
With this thought in mind, he didn’t say anything.
Seeing that Shi Xiaole seemed to be afraid, the young man with the prominent ears motioned, and the few who were behind him began to search him. After finding nothing, they all cursed loudly.
"So you’re a pauper, I guess you’ve not been doing well out there either, what a waste of energy!"
The young man with the prominent ears let out a cold laugh, led the way outside, and a few followers pushed Shi Xiaole around, finally arriving at a plain to the west of the city.
Looking out, the plain was full of men and women, all weather-beaten and ragged.
They were squatted on the ground, pulling up a kind of saw-shaped grass, which seemed very strenuous. There were also supervisors. If anyone was slow, they would whip them and scold them loudly, strutting around.
There were also people lying on the ground, their breath weak. The nearby supervisors then picked them up and threw them directly into a man-made pit, without giving them a second look.
In the pit, there were many bodies scattered around. Some were already dead, some were hanging on by a thread, and on top was a pile of firewood, which was obviously waiting for the pit to be filled up before setting them ablaze.
"Oh, Young Master Weng is here."
An old man walked up with a fawning smile.
The young man with the prominent ears’ grandfather was one of the three deputy city lords of the Flower Prison City. His power was only second to the legendary City Lord.
"Elder Zhang, here’s a newcomer for you."
The young man with the prominent ears waved his hand, and a couple of followers pushed Shi Xiaole over.
The Boundless Flower Prison had existed for many years. At first, people who broke into it could only hole up in the Divine Transformation City.
Until one day, an apothecary arrived and found that the saw-tooth grass here, combined with the bark of the Divine Transformation Tree, could resist the impact of the Transformation Flowers to the greatest extent.
However, the saw-tooth grass was extremely tough and could only be pulled out by martial artists, and prolonged contact would cause harm to the human body, so nobody was willing to come.
Later, the City Lord Mansion forcefully ordered a portion of the people with weak skill to be driven here to collect the saw-tooth grass for a living.
Those who had gotten the magic pills, on the other hand, would go out every day, hoping to find a way out of the Boundless Flower Prison.
However, as time passed, a big problem emerged.
Since there were not many people who mistakenly entered the Boundless Flower Prison, gradually, many of the people in the city were related by blood, and many of the children born had defects.
Thus, once anyone found a newcomer, as long as they brought him to the Herb Collection Plains, they could receive one hundred Energy Gathering Pills that could resist the effect of the Transformation Flower.
By the way, the common currency in Divine Transformation City is not silver, but Energy Gathering Pills.
"A newcomer? With ninth tier Hidden Qi Realm cultivation, not bad, Young Master Weng has done well."
Elder Zhang stared at Shi Xiaole, his eyes glowing strangely. In an instant, he was able to discern Shi Xiaole’s cultivation level, and he laughed heartily.
Having received a hundred Energy Gathering Pills, Young Master Weng left with his followers, happy and content, and soon forgot about Shi Xiaole.
"Boy, come here."
Elder Zhang grabbed Shi Xiaole and flew ahead. This old man’s cultivation had astonishingly reached the Eighth Tier of the Spiritual-Passage Realm.
From a distance, Shi Xiaole saw a hillside, dug out were multiple cave-dwellings. Going into one of these caves, Shi Xiaole soon heard a cacophony of sounds.
What he saw inside astonished him even more.
In the cave dwelling, men and women were seen copulating like animals, and women giving birth. As soon as a baby was born, it would be immediately taken away by the midwife waiting on the side.
"Starting today, your life will only need to handle two things: reproduction and weeding! Rest assured, as long as your child has good roots, they will be taken away from here and become one of the first-rate people in Divine Transformation City."
Seeing everything in front of him and hearing Elder Zhang’s words, Shi Xiaole felt a chill in his heart.
What a wicked heart!
The people here are imprisoned, their labor freely exploited. They are also used to increase the population, becoming the next generation of labor force. The outstanding babies, however, are seen as possessions.
In this way, some people in the Divine Transformation City will continue to amass power, while the exploited can only remain exploited, like livestock.
The most terrifying part is that there is no guarantee that the babies will do anything about it even when they grow up and learn the truth. They may just go with the flow.
"Zhang Jufu, give this boy a task."
Upon reaching the depths of the cave dwelling, Elder Zhang spoke to a chubby short man.
"Greetings, grandfather. Ah, a fresh one, hehe, alright then."
The short, chubby man named Zhang Jufu first bowed to Elder Zhang, then took out a pill and barked at Shi Xiaole, "Swallow it!"
Looking at Elder Zhang who was squinting his eyes beside him, Shi Xiaole accepted the pill and swallowed it.
Zhang Jufu and Elder Zhang both smirked.
The pill had no other function but to suppress one’s cultivation and make one wish for death. With the large population of the Herb Collection Plains, and no shortage of martial artists, such a pill greatly reduced the difficulty of managing them.
Zhang Jufu yelled, and immediately, three women were brought into an adjacent earth house. Seeing Shi Xiaole standing still, Zhang Jufu shouted angrily, "You blind bastard, what are you still standing there for? Go in and mate!"
With a push of his hand, he roughly pushed Shi Xiaole in. The exposed aura was shockingly that of the First Tier of Xuan Qi Realm.
Bang!
The wooden door closed.
As Zhang Jufu and Elder Zhang spoke, their voices gradually faded.
Inside the wooden house, Shi Xiaole’s face looked grim, the coldness in his eyes seemed to freeze into ice.
The three women, like machines, automatically pounced on him. There was no shyness, no excitement. There was only bone-deep numbness.
He swiftly pointed at each woman three times, causing all three to faint on the spot.
Right now, Shi Xiaole’s only thought was to quickly increase his strength and then escape! Otherwise, he might truly become the plaything of certain individuals, to be wantonly bullied.
Sitting cross-legged, he pushed his internal power to its maximum, circulating the mental formula of the Life and Death Four Transformations over and over again.
As a first-class martial art, the terrifying power of the Life and Death Four Transformations was finally revealed to Shi Xiaole. Without the influence of the Transformation Flower, just overnight, his cultivation rocketed from the Ninth Tier of the Hidden Qi Realm to the Fifth Tier of the Qi Absorption Realm.
Of course, the main reason for such rapid progress was that Shi Xiaole’s true realm was the Second Tier of the Dragon Gate realm. As long as his internal power was sufficient, his cultivation could soar without any hindrance.
Outside the wooden door, Zhang Jufu came over and listened in. After a while, he shook his head disapprovingly, "As I thought, just a pretty face. He probably barely lasted a few rounds."
His eyes turned cold and he shouted at the earthen house, "You mutt, I’ll be coming in to check at noon, watch it!"
Soon, noon arrived.
Shi Xiaole’s cultivation had reached the Seventh Tier of the Qi Absorption Realm.
With a push, the door opened, and Zhang Jufu, holding a spiked whip, swaggered in.
His favorite time was now, when he could play with and torment these lowly people as he liked. Especially the thought of a significant number of newcomers being renowned masters from the outside world excited him to no end.
"Hey, boy, never done it before?"
Having been in charge for many years, Zhang Jufu had developed a sharp eye. Just by looking at the fainted women, he knew that nothing had happened last night.
"Doesn’t it fear divine retribution treating your own kind like this?"
Shi Xiaole stood up.
"Divine retribution? Hehe, I am the god here. You blind mutt, kneel!"
Zhang Jufu, wielding the power of the First Tier of the Xuanqi Realm, viciously thrust the whip towards Shi Xiaole.
If it weren’t for killing being forbidden here, to prevent labor and birth power loss, he, with his temperament, would have killed countless already.
Despite this, Zhang Jufu had many ways of tormenting others. He decided then that he would make Shi Xiaole taste his power. After all, he was no more than a worthless life at his disposal.
The whipping sound echoed loudly, leaving a shadow in the air. This whip, if it made contact, was enough to shift one’s internal organs.
But faster than that was Shi Xiaole, who dodged the whip shadow with a quick sidestep. Before he knew it, he was already in front of Zhang Jufu. The latter was shocked, with his right hand half-swung, Shi Xiaole had already hit his pressure point, leaving him unable to move or speak.
With Shi Xiaole’s battle skills, it was as simple as eating and drinking for him at the Seventh Tier of the Qi Absorption Realm to defeat someone in the First Tier of Xuanqi Realm, especially when Zhang Jufu was careless and did not use his full strength.
Zhang Jufu couldn’t speak, but his expression was still ferocious, evidently determined that Shi Xiaole didn’t dare to do anything to him.
"You are going to be my first target."
After circling around him twice, Shi Xiaole made up his mind. He stretched out his hand, placed it on Zhang Jufu’s shoulder, and started to operate the Karmic Conversion Skill from the Life and Death Four Transformations.
