It had been a week after Wei Huang took over the mountain goose sect.
The city was in an uproar during the intense week of battles between the Wei Clan and Jia Shan's forces. Shockwaves from the Nine Fish Killing Array had killed many common civilians and low-level cultivators. Some survivors were crippled, and a few lost their sense of hearing.
After everything was over, the city castellan visited Wei Huang, requesting compensation for the damage. Unfortunately, Wei Huang killed him and declared himself as the new castellan of mountain goose city.
The Wei clansmen used this opportunity to confiscate lands of Jia Shan and the ex-castellan. Former owners of the damaged buildings also moved away after selling their homes to Wei Huang.
The ruined buildings were replaced with brand new ones. Accessible buildings near the main roads were renovated as markets while the hard-to-reach areas were made into resident zones.
Instead of ruining the city, the Wei Clan rapidly expanded their businesses and hired more rogue cultivators to fill their ranks. The mountain goose town prospered as the new powerhouse reorganized and bolstered all businesses in the west district. More jobs were available for the civilians. Thus, their livelihood got better.
On the surface, peace returned to the town. But for cultivators, it was another calm before the storm.
The piece of news about Xie Tian's ability had already spread throughout the city, and everybody knew that Xu Xiuying took him.
All cultivators were eyeing the silver phoenix sect. The space-and-time manipulation technique was too tempting that 3rd-rate cultivators even wanted to infiltrate the sect for the secret.
.
.
.
"Ugh."
Xie Tian slowly opened his eyes, but he could only see a dark ceiling. He breathed in moldy air that made his nose itchy.
When Xie Tian's sight adjusted to the dimmed light, he was shocked. He recalled that he was in an infirmary, but his location had been changed again.
"Where am I?"
"In a prison, young man."
Xie Tian attempted to sit and look at the owner of the voice, but he couldn't gather his strength to raise his body.
"Take it easy. You don't have qi, and your stomach hasn't healed yet. Lay down and rest."
Xie Tian followed the advice. He managed to see the speaker with the corner of his eyes.
It was an elderly man in white robes with golden stripes, which was the uniform of elders from the mountain goose sect.
"Senior. Why are we in a prison?"
The physician elder sighed, "Xu Xiuying's goons brought us here when you're unconscious."
Xie Tian couldn't believe it. His thoughts were in chaos as he tried to think of past events.
He was ambushed and almost died, but [Return to Zero] saved his life. Then, he was sent to the infirmary. Mysteriously, his spatial ring was gone, and he got poisoned. He passed out afterward. And in the end, he woke up in a prison.
Everything didn't make any sense. Xie Tian didn't know why he deserved this fate.
"Senior, what happened when I was unconscious?"
"Ah, it's a long story."
"We have plenty of time."
"You're right. Well, where should I begin…"
The elder introduced himself. His name was Yi Guiren, 77-year-old, a lowly elder who was in charge of the outer sect infirmary. His strength was merely at the initial 4th stage as he had no talent in cultivation.
Yi Guiren had watched over Xie Tian after Luo Cheng dropped the latter in the infirmary.
While Yi Guiren was watching over of the infirmary, Wei Huang's cultivators suddenly revolted and occupied the outer perimeters and the hills of the mountain. They forced every disciple and elder to surrender, or they would execute them.
All elders who got caught didn't want to risk their lives fighting for Jia Shan. They surrendered without caring if the sect would be ruined or not. Many disciples also submitted to the Wei Clan, but some managed to escape from the sect or regrouped with the defending forces.
Yi Guiren stayed behind and surrendered as well. Thankfully, the search parties ignored the infirmary since this place was rarely visited by any cultivator.
Since injured or wounded disciples always took healing pills and meditated to heal their wounds, this place was known as a place for the cripples. Thus, the Wei Clan overlooked the infirmary.
Then, Yi Guiren told Xie Tian about Jiang Lan's visit.
"So it was her that stole my ring and poisoned me?"
"I don't know what she has done to you, but you've vomited a lot of poisoned blood after she showed up."
"…"
Xie Tian closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He suspected that Jiang Lan might have betrayed him, but he wasn't sure if she could do it alone.
The face of Xu Miao appeared in Xie Tian's mind. Since he was the one giving back Jiang Lan to him, he might have known something. Moreover, Xu Xiuying was Xu Miao's mother, so they might be in this together.
"So, Xu Xiuying took us here while they were attacking the sect?"
"Yes."
"I see."
Xie Tian assumed that the Xu Clan, Xu Miao, Jiang Lan, and everybody probably wanted to steal the secret technique that he had used during the match. He regretted picking a fight with Wei Feng and Xu Miao, which led to this situation.
"By the way, senior Yi. Where is my saber?"
"Oh? That treasure? Xu Xiuying's subordinate took it. I don't know where it is."
"…"
Even his heavenly weapon was stolen. Xie Tian had a heartache.
Since mourning for the past was useless, Xie Tian stopped thinking of everything other than recuperating. He manipulated his few last strands of qi to heal his wounds.
…
At night, the door of Xie Tian's prison cell opened. Xie Tian and Yi Guiren had visitors.
Yao Lan, Qi Ning, Qi Hong, and Xu Xiuying stood before the prison cell, looking at the physician elder and the injured young man.
"Yi Guiren, you can leave. Wei Huang has taken over the mountain goose sect, so you can return to your place and resume your job. I'll compensate you 1,000 refined stones for locking you up for days."
Xu Xiuying chased the physician out since she had no use for him anymore. She had been watching the hidden CCTV footage and eavesdropped on their conversation, so she heard everything she wanted to know.
Realizing that he was used, the elder revealed a bitter smile. He bowed to the four women before he glanced at Xie Tian, "What about him? He's still injured."
"That's none of your business. We'll take care of him from here."
"…"
Yi Guiren gave Xie Tian an apological look and left the prison. He had done everything he could to save his life.
Qi Hong and Qi Ning escorted the elder out of the brothel underground. As for Xu Xiuying and Yao Lan, they stayed behind to interrogate Xie Tian.
"Xie Tian, right?"
Xie Tian slowly opened his eyes, "Who's talking?"
"Pfft. You're a daredevil, aren't you? Watch your tone if you still want to live."
"If you really want me dead, you could have killed me long ago. It's obvious that you want something from me."
Xu Xiuying entered the prison room to stare at Xie Tian's face. She wanted to check his dantian personally to see if he could still resist against her.
But after using succubus sense and her eye treasures, Xu Xiuying confirmed that Xie Tian's residual qi was depleted. Only ten strands of yang qi were left in his dantian.
At the same time, Xu Xiuying could confirm that Xie Tian inherited a dragon bloodline. She could sense the violent blood in his vein, trying to reproduce dragon qi to restore Xie Tian's vitality.
"You're smart. Indeed, I want something from you. I'll be direct. Where did you learn that time-reversing technique? Who is your master?"
Xie Tian snickered. He predicted this, "I have no master."
"Oh? So, you don't mind if I kill Luo Cheng?"
"You!!"
Unfortunately for Xie Tian, he was dealing with a high-ranked villain. Xu Xiuying knew that Luo Cheng took in the protagonist as his blacksmith disciple, so she used the dwarf as a bargaining chip.
"If you tell me where you learned the technique, I'll spare Luo Cheng, and I'll help you recover your cultivation base."
Xie Tian pondered. The offer was tempting, but he believed that Xu Xiuying wouldn't adhere to her promise. Thus, he came up with a plan.
"I once had a technique manual, but my spatial ring was stolen."
Xu Xiuying raised her eyebrows. The face of Jiang Lan came to her mind when she recalled that the slave girl had something to do with a spatial ring, "Tell me more."
"When I passed out, my ring was stolen. I stored my time-reversing technique manual in there. If you can find it, you can learn the skill."
Xie Tian threw the dirt, so Xu Xiuying could punish Jiang Lan in his stead.
"Hmm. Interesting," Xu Xiuying detected Xie Tian's killing intent. She was aware that Xie Tian might be planning to use her, but she couldn't pinpoint Xie Tian's motive.
"Now, can you release me? I have no use for you, right?"
"Not so fast, young man. You see, I've detected a dragon bloodline in you. It would be a shame if I don't extract that bloodline out of your corpse."
"You…"
Xu Xiuying cackled. She enjoyed teasing the helpless protagonist, "But, meh. It's a waste of human resources. Why should I kill you and take your bloodline when I can use you to expand the dragon bloodline. I have a job for you. Will you listen?"
Xie Tian snorted. It was not like he had a choice anyway. No matter what Xu Xiuying told him to do, he would be forced to follow her instructions, or he would die.
"What do you want?"
"Ah, nothing much. While we will search for your spatial ring and your technique manual, I want you to impregnate my favorite disciple. Share her your bloodline and give us your descendant!"
Xie Tian's face twitched. He glared at Xu Xiuying in anger as the task would make him a man-whore, which was a disgrace and an insult.
The protagonist wanted to refuse, but he was also afraid of death. He was helpless in this prison
Swallowing his pride and dignity, Xie Tian accepted the task, but his eyes never yielded to Xu Xiuying, "Fine. I'll give you my baby, but you'll have to release me!"
"Of course. After I prove that your manual is indeed in the spatial ring and you impregnate my disciple, I'll let you go," Xu Xiuying leaned closer and glared into Xie Tian's eyes, "But if you lied, I'll make sure that death will be the only thing you can think of."
…
Unbeknownst to Xu Miao, the protagonist and a villain boss came to an agreement.
In secret, Xu Xiuying took Xie Tian to the top floor, the 20th floor. She brought him to her favorite legacy disciple, Xiong Zhenzhen.
Xu Xiuying also gave Yao Lan an order - Drag Jiang Lan and Xu Miao out of their room and interrogate them! She wanted the ring that Jiang Lan had stolen!
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