Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 781 - 781 0486 Only Two Paths to Choose_2

Chapter 781: Chapter 0486: Only Two Paths to Choose_2 Chapter 781: Chapter 0486: Only Two Paths to Choose_2 “Two of them? Well, bring them up here.” Qi Tian ordered.

Not long after, two Gold Core Realm strong contenders were dragged up, tied up, and their Dantians sealed. One of them, dragged by Hu Niu by a rope, looked desperate to the extreme.

The one Hu Niu dragged like a dead dog was none other than Zhao Haiying. The other one, Zhu Haijun, had been injured and unconscious after his fight with Qi Tian. However, Zhu Haijun had received some simple treatment and his injuries were not that severe anymore.

Zhao Haiying kept his eyes closed. This half-month, for a distinguished master like him from Gold Core Stage Fifth Level, was truly worse than death, filled with humiliation. Every day he had to withstand Hu Niu, the Golden Flur Tiger, casually sitting on him. With his cultivation realm sealed, he couldn’t mobilize any True Essence and had to rely on his body strength. With Hu Niu weighing hundreds of pounds, causing half of her weight to press down his body, the discomfort was indescribable.

If his Dantian hadn’t been sealed and his body hadn’t been tied by a rope, even with his mouth gagged, Zhao Haiying would have found a way to commit suicide to escape this humiliation.

Qi Tian didn’t start interrogating Zhao Haiying right away. He didn’t put on airs of being generous to his subordinates because cultivators don’t adhere to such etiquette. They recognized only who was the strongest, and didn’t care about anything else.

Qi Tian first questioned Zhu Haijun, looking at him, he said, “Do you have anything to say to me?”

Zhu Haijun had a lot of time to think recently. One of the men who attacked Qi Tian with him, Liao Chongru, had become an Immortal Slave serving Qi Tian. Liao Chongru had tried to persuade Zhu through numerous conversations these past few days, insinuating Zhu Haijun should resign to his fate and surrender.

However, Zhu Haijun was unwilling to be an Immortal Slave to Qi Tian, he said: “Master, I am your captive. I don’t blame you, I can only blame myself for not being able to reassess my position correctly. I was captured by you, justly so. I wonder if we could follow the customs amongst cultivators and allow me to gather my own resources to buy my freedom?”

Qi Tian laughed, saying: “This is the first time I’ve encountered such a situation, quite interesting. But it’s fine, I’m willing to hear your offer. If your offer can convince me, I might consider it.”

Before Zhu Haijun could open his mouth, Gao Jinmei interjected: “Since you’ve mentioned the customs of cultivators, then according to these customs, everything on you now is the Master’s spoils of war. When you pay a ransom, you can’t count these things.”

Zhu Haijun’s face twitched a few times. He had forgotten about this. He wanted to argue with Gao Jinmei, but remembering the saying ‘Might is right’, He swallowed his frustration and tried to find another way.

After a while of mental calculations, he said: “I have calculated, I can come up with a hundred thousand middle-grade spirit stones. If the Master is willing to let me go, I am willing to give away all these hundred thousand Spirit Stones.”

After hearing this, Qi Tian laughed out loud, saying: “A high master of Gold Core Realm Third Level, only willing to come up with a hundred thousand middle-grade spirit stones to redeem yourself. Do you think I am a beggar, or that you’re only worth a hundred thousand middle-grade spirit stones?”

Zhu Haijun hurriedly said: “Master, if you find this too little, we can further negotiate.”

Qi Tian waved his hand, saying: “No need for further negotiations. Zhu Haijun, I will give you two options. The first one is to surrender, to be more specific, to become an Immortal Slave for me. I won’t mistreat you, the conditions for signing the Servant Pact will be the same as those who did it before you. Your second option is to die. Rest assured, after your death, I will make full use of your resources and there won’t be any waste.”

At this moment, Hu Niu roared loudly, startling Zhu Haijun into tumbling backward on the ground. He was terrified that after Qi Tian killed him, he would feed him to Hu Niu. To Hu Niu, his physical body would serve as a great tonic.

Liao Chongru interjected at this time, “Zhu Haijun, I’ve advised you many times already. You should consider my proposal seriously. With Master being so powerful, it’s not demeaning to pledge your allegiance to him. Look at me, then look at Sun Xiang. Do you think you are more formidable than us? Moreover, your proposed method of redeeming yourself is not feasible. Apart from anything else, if we simply let you go, how could we deal with the possibility of future retaliation? If I were in Master’s shoes, I would definitely be thorough in my actions.”

A cold sweat broke out on Zhu Haijun’s forehead. Only now did he realize that he had been too idealistic. Just like how he had acted on the Crown Prince’s manipulation without thoroughly investigating Qi Tian’s situation, impulsively attacked Qi Tian along with others, only to end up in his current predicament. He had been naively optimistic and never considered the consequences of failure.

“Zhu Haijun, I have limited patience. As you might have noticed, you’re merely a cultivator at the Gold Core Third Level, which doesn’t give you much of an advantage here. If you refuse to surrender, there is no reason for me to keep you around. So, make your decision. Two choices, no third option. Choose now.” Qi Tian said with a faint smile.

Zhu Haijun realized he could no longer delay. Under the tremendous threat of death, he had to lower his head, cast aside all slim hopes, and said, “Master, I am willing to yield.”

Qi Tian chuckled. He knew this would be the outcome; ever since capturing his first cultivator as a captive, he hadn’t met one who would rather die than surrender. He didn’t deny that there must be some tough characters among cultivators who wouldn’t fear death, but clearly, it was not a high proportion. When longevity was achievable through cultivation, they also lost their defiant pride of not fearing death.

Qi Tian asked Zhu Haijun to open his soul, and then in front of everyone, he planted the Slave Mark in Zhu Haijun’s Sea of Consciousness.

Zhu Haijun sighed heavily. Now that he was Qi Tian’s Immortal Slave, he stopped thinking about anything else and completely resigned himself to his fate.

Qi Tian waved his hand and Jin Mei approached, releasing the ropes that bound Zhu Haijun and removing the restrictions placed on his Dantian, saying with a smile, “Sir Zhu, apologies for any past wrongs. From now on, we are on the same side, I hope you don’t hold a grudge. Ah, do you have healing pills with you? If not, I can give you a few.”

Zhu Haijun waved his hand vaguely. The woman smiling sweetly before him, he had already experienced her ruthlessness. The seals on his Dantian were placed by Jin Mei herself, and the tightness of the ropes was personally checked by her multiple times a day, leaving him no chance for escape whatsoever. Naturally, he was wary of her and dared not get too close.

Qi Tian didn’t pay attention to how Jin Mei was trying to appease Zhu Haijun. He turned his gaze to Zhao Haiying who was under Hu Niu’s buttocks, the Gold Core cultivator who had almost killed him. Now, he was as pathetic as a dead dog. Qi Tian had every reason to believe that if his actions hadn’t immobilized Zhao Haiying completely, he would have taken the opportunity to kill himself long ago.

Qi Tian had no sympathy for Zhao Haiying. If he hadn’t some means, he would have been killed by Zhao Haiying a long time ago. He believed that Zhao Haiying would show no sympathy for him if the roles were reversed.

Qi Tian glanced at Zhao Haiying and said simply, “Zhao Haiying, I offer you the same two choices. You either surrender or I will end you. The choice is yours.”

Zhao Haiying kept his eyes shut, silent, without any reaction whatsoever.

Qi Tian’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. To be frank, he really wanted to accept Zhao Haiying’s surrender. All things considered, this was his first captive at the Gold Core Fifth Level, and he had no idea when would be the next time he could capture another one.

The Gold Core Fifth Level was not comparable to the Fourth Level, let alone the even lower Third Level of the Gold Core Stage.