Chapter 155: Chapter 153: Wrath of Thunder

"Passed out? Wake her up! I want to see if she’s really as... tough as she thinks she is!" The middle-aged woman sneered relentlessly, looking at the group of girls who were terrified into silence. She said smugly, "Anyone else want to choose death with her? Just a moment ago, weren’t quite a few of you acting so courageous?"

Across the entire platform, not one of the several hundred girls dared to make a sound. Just then, the spirited girl was forced awake. Likely realizing there was no hope of survival, she couldn’t help but sneer, "Snakes? Yes, I’m terrified of them—a bunch of cold-blooded animals. But even cold-blooded animals are a hundred times better than you demons! I’d rather be bitten to death by a snake! Hmph, even in death, I will remain pure!"

A sinister sneer spread across the middle-aged woman’s face. "Pure? I’ll give you pure. I’ll give you pure!"

SLAP! SLAP!

As she spoke, she lunged over and viciously slapped the spirited girl twice. Then, with a triumphant look, she said, "You want to remain pure? Not a chance! The Paradise Celestial Palace may be short on many things, but we’re never short of disgusting men to defile a woman!" Pointing to a subordinate, she ordered, "Go grab me a random male disciple! You want to remain pure? I’ll have your virginity taken! Then I’ll have you executed! We’ll see how you stay pure then!"

At this, the spirited girl froze. Her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground, cursing through her tears, "You’re not human!"

"I stopped being human thirty years ago when I was abducted and brought to this place!" the middle-aged woman sneered, utterly unfazed.

Qin Li watched the woman dispatched by the supervisor head down the small path from the platform. After a moment’s thought, he changed his appearance with a mask-like technique. His body emitted a series of soft sounds, and in the next instant, he had transformed into a young master in his early twenties, clad in green robes. With a flash of movement, he vanished from his spot.

The woman sent by the supervisor was slightly stunned when she saw Qin Li, praising him silently in her heart. ’What a handsome young man!’ 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Swaying her hips, she said with a flirtatious smile, "Junior Brother, which master do you study under?"

Qin Li gave a roguish smile and replied, "I’m from Elder Wen’s branch."

"You must be new, right? I’ve never seen you before. What brings you here? Could it be... hehe." The woman giggled charmingly, her demeanor shamelessly flirtatious.

Qin Li felt a wave of disgust, but his face wore an expression of complete enthrallment. He chuckled, "Senior Sister, isn’t the answer obvious? I just came over to take a look, that’s all."

"Really, just to look?" The woman felt a flush of heat as she gazed at Qin Li’s handsome face. ’That little tramp is getting lucky,’ she thought. ’If it weren’t for the supervisor’s orders, I’d love to go three hundred rounds with this handsome boy. Just looking at a face like that is enough to make a girl’s heart swoon.’

"Really, just looking." Qin Li shamelessly moved closer to her, feigning an intoxicated expression. "Senior Sister, you’re truly beautiful!"

"Really?" The woman, who appeared to be no older than thirty, was indeed quite attractive. She had a shapely figure and a charming face; one glance told you she was a mature woman, flirtatious to the bone. She giggled. "Well, when you have free time, Junior Brother, you must come find your Senior Sister for a nice long chat! For now, you’re in luck. There’s a virgin, all yours for Absorption! Just don’t forget this favor from me in the future!" As she spoke, she planted a kiss on Qin Li’s face.

’Damn it!’ Qin Li cursed inwardly. Outwardly, he said, "I won’t, I won’t!"

When the middle-aged woman saw that her subordinate had returned, she saw the handsome Qin Li and her eyes lit up. She shot a glare at the younger woman standing beside him and said coldly, "Whose disciple is this? You didn’t sneak a taste, did you?"

The younger woman beside Qin Li looked aggrieved. "Supervisor, how would I dare? He’s a disciple from Elder Wen’s branch, though he probably hasn’t been formally apprenticed yet."

"Mm, very good!" The middle-aged woman nodded at Qin Li, then pointed to the spirited girl. "This is your lucky day. These were all originally top-quality Tripod Furnaces prepared for the Elders and the Sect Leader—every one of them a virgin! Take this girl. Go and perform Absorption on her!"

Qin Li smiled and walked to the middle-aged woman’s side. He gave another roguish grin and said, "Senior Sister, I don’t like them so tender. I only like women like you!"

The middle-aged woman was stunned for a moment, a flash of anger in her eyes. But it was quickly replaced by a beaming smile as she said with feigned indignation, "Oh, Junior Brother, you’re such a smooth talker, you certainly know how to flatter. Alright then, come around more often in the future. If I get any good ’merchandise,’ I’ll save some for you! Just don’t forget my kindness!"

As she spoke, her face even flushed slightly. ’To think that even at my age, a handsome young man like him would still be interested in me,’ she thought. She had the sudden urge to find a mirror and see if she’d somehow become more beautiful.

The roguish smile on Qin Li’s face suddenly morphed into boundless killing intent. With a flick of his wrist, his Hundred Refinement Steel Sword appeared in his hand, and he slashed it toward the middle-aged woman’s neck.

"Too bad you don’t have a future!"

"Ah! How dare you—"

A powerful aura erupted from the middle-aged woman. She had only gotten halfway through her sentence when Qin Li’s sword sliced through her neck, sending her head tumbling into the dust.

The captive girls all stared, wide-eyed and in disbelief at the scene before them, wondering why these people had suddenly started fighting amongst themselves.

After slaying the middle-aged woman with a single strike, Qin Li, without any hesitation, cut down the younger woman with another slash of his sword.

As the younger woman’s head tumbled away, her eyes were still wide with disbelief, unable to comprehend how the lecherous little Junior Brother had suddenly become a murderous fiend.

It all happened so fast that no one had time to react. Moving with the speed of a striking falcon, Qin Li cut down the other Paradise Celestial Palace supervisors, one by one, with a single strike each.

Only then did the girls begin to understand. The man before them was definitely not a disciple of the Paradise Celestial Palace. The light of hope suddenly burst forth in each of their eyes!

Who would choose to die if they could live?

Besides, in a place like this, living was a fate worse than death.

"Big Brother, save us!"

"Great master, get us out of here! I will give myself to you!"

"Master, I beg you..."

"..."

Hundreds of girls began talking at once, and the entire platform was filled with a loud buzzing of voices.

"Quiet!"

Qin Li roared, his voice laced with a thread of Spiritual Power. The girls’ faces went pale as they instantly fell silent, looking at him with pitiful, frightened eyes.

"If you want to live, do exactly as I say!" Qin Li said gravely. Indeed, at this moment, while Qin Li had more than enough power to ensure his own survival, getting all these women safely out of the Paradise Celestial Palace was simply a fantasy. Not unless he could destroy the entire Sect! But the difficulty of such a task was far too immense.

After all, Qin Li’s current strength was only equivalent to a Martial Artist of the Celestial Shattering Realm from the Celestial Essence Continent—though perhaps he was a bit stronger than the average one.

But in a direct confrontation with a Martial Artist of the Celestial Integration Realm, he stood almost no chance of victory.

"Master, we’ll do whatever you say!" The spirited girl, who seemed to command considerable authority among the captives, spoke up. As she did, the other girls fell silent, all of them staring at Qin Li with hopeful eyes.

"When people arrive, tell them a young man killed the supervisors and then ran that way!" Qin Li pointed to the East and said in a low, serious voice. "In fact, I really will be fleeing in that direction! And I have a way to make them believe your story! Do you understand?"

Seeing the girls nod despite their confused expressions, Qin Li knew he had no time to explain. He continued, "You don’t need to be afraid. Their target will be me; they won’t take their anger out on you. To the people of this place, you are all still very valuable! As long as I remain alive, you will remain safe for another day. So, all you need to do is wait here quietly, don’t try to escape, and... pray for me!"

With that, a smile touched Qin Li’s lips. Then, in a flash, his figure shot off like an arrow towards the eastern mountains.

Not even half a breath after Qin Li vanished, several powerful auras descended like lightning. A few Elders landed on the platform, their expressions incomparably grim.

One of them looked at the young girls huddled together in small groups and commanded in a deep voice, "One of you, come forward and speak!"

The spirited girl silently rose to her feet. A trace of fear lingered in her eyes—and this fear was not an act; it was genuine.

"Tell us who was just here. You must be truthful. Don’t be afraid; we won’t harm you," the Elder said in a kind, reassuring tone.

The spirited girl seemed to calm down a bit and said in a low voice, "Just now... the supervisors were training us when a young man suddenly burst in. At first, the supervisor thought he was one of the Sect’s disciples and reprimanded him. But then, the young man suddenly attacked, drew his sword, and killed the supervisor. Then... he killed the other supervisors... and ran... he ran in that direction!"

After a moment’s hesitation, the spirited girl still pointed toward the East. The young man had said there was no need to lie, that they should just tell the truth.

For some reason, it felt as though the man’s words held a certain magic, making it impossible not to trust him.

It was fortunate she didn’t lie, because the Elders all nodded to each other. They had indeed detected a faint fluctuation of Primordial Power coming from the East.

Although it was only a minuscule trace, it was more than enough for powerful Martial Artists such as themselves to track and identify the damn assassin based on the signature of the Primordial Power’s fluctuation.

One of the Elders said gravely, "The perpetrator appears to be alone! Our Paradise Celestial Palace has been utterly disgraced this day! Fortunately, the bastard has finally left a trail. Let’s see where he thinks he can run!"

"After him!" another Elder, his face dark as a storm cloud, roared.

Several figures shot off toward the East, moving like wind and lightning in pursuit.

Back on the platform, the hearts of the girls pounded in their chests, unsettled and anxious. Just as Qin Li had said, the only thing they could do now was pray.