Liu Yi stared at the three terrified human traffickers and sneered:
"You people have committed heinous crimes; death by a thousand cuts wouldn't be enough. But today, I'll give you a chance to live."
"Do you want to know the meaning of life? Do you want to contribute to the cause of cultivation?"
"I have a Cultivation Technique here. If you can successfully Cultivate it, I'll let you go. Choose for yourselves: do you want to die, or do you want to try?"
After saying that, he raised his hand and unblocked their acupoints.
"We're willing to Cultivate!" The three traffickers nodded frantically, their voices filled with fawning and fear.
Liu Yi grunted in agreement, grabbed one of them, and dragged him into the courtyard.
The "Sun Swallowing Art" was a cultivation method he had devised to absorb solar energy.
Liu Yi motioned for the trafficker to sit cross-legged on the ground, pressed his hands against the man's back, and injected spiritual power into his body, guiding him to circulate the technique according to the path of the Sun Swallowing Art.
Before long, solar energy surged toward the trafficker like a tide.
The man's Face instantly turned bright red, white smoke rose from the surface of his skin, and a burnt smell quickly filled the air.
With a heart-wrenching scream, his body burst into flames and turned to ash in an instant.
Liu Yi stared at the ashes on the ground, thoughtfully rubbing his chin as he recorded the data he had just collected.
Half an hour later, after deduction and calculation, the newly improved "Sun Swallowing Art 2.0" took shape in his mind.
He entered the room, grabbed another trafficker who was shaking like a leaf, and a sneer curled on his lips: "Your turn."
An hour passed, and the brand-new "Sun Swallowing Art 4.0" was ready.
Those three wicked traffickers didn't die in vain; their lives were exchanged for the advancement of the technique, contributing a bit of strength to the world's cultivation cause.
It was a pity there were too few test subjects. If he had known, he shouldn't have been so quick to kill those twenty-plus traffickers; it would have been so much better to keep them all as test subjects.
On second thought, there were several other groups of traffickers in this city. He could just capture them and have them continue contributing to the improvement of his techniques.
Three months passed in a flash. Liu Yi packed his bags, preparing to leave Yunping City and return to Liu Family Village.
During this time, relying on the spirit fragmentation stones given by Qian Duoduo, he successfully reached the eleventh level of Qi Refining, and his control over the space-time realm reached 3.2%.
He had also iterated the Sun Swallowing Art to its 50th version; now, cultivating it would no longer result in immediate spontaneous combustion.
All these achievements were inseparable from the contributions of the traffickers and villains he had captured.
It was precisely by using them as test subjects that such amazing progress was achieved.
Now, throughout Yunping City, people were singing the praises of a hero who punished evil and promoted good.
It was said that this person specialized in killing wicked traffickers and villains, making all the outlaws in the city fear for their lives and dare not do evil.
As public order improved, Liu Yi could no longer find suitable test subjects. Helpless, he could only choose to leave Yunping City.
As he was walking, the sound of fighting and the clanging of weapons suddenly came from ahead.
Liu Yi hesitated for a moment, then activated a lightness technique, approaching silently like a civet cat.
Pushing aside the roadside bushes, he saw over thirty ferocious Mountain Bandits besieging a caravan with large sabers.
Looking closer, the caravan's carriage was clearly marked with the logo of "Wanxing Commerce," which turned out to be the property of Qian Duoduo's family.
Remembering the much care he had received from Qian Duoduo and how he had broken through his cultivation level using the Spirit Stones he provided...
Liu Yi immediately felt this was a good opportunity to repay the favor, and these Mountain Bandits could be used to test his new technique.
His mind made up, his figure flickered, and he instantly appeared before the bandit leader.
He threw his self-created Five Elements Fist; Five Elements runes flowed on his fist, and the spiritual power of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth turned into phantoms, aiming straight for the bandit leader's Face.
The bandit leader didn't even let out a scream before flying backward like a broken kite, hitting the ground with a dull thud.
He died on the spot.
Liu Yi's figure was as fast as lightning, weaving back and forth through the group of bandits.
In just a moment, the bandits were lying scattered all over the ground, stripped of their power to resist.
Qian Zhen, dressed in a luxurious silk robe, stared at everything happening before him in shock.
After a long while, he came to his senses and hurriedly stepped forward, cupping his hands in a salute: "I am Qian Zhen of Wanxing Commerce. Thank you, young hero, for your assistance."
Liu Yi waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "No need to be polite. I only helped you for the sake of Qian Duoduo's Face."
Hearing this, Qian Zhen's Face showed an even more respectful expression: "I didn't expect you to know my cousin. You must be an Immortal Master then."
Liu Yi nodded noncommittally, ignored Qian Zhen, and walked over to the bandits who hadn't breathed their last yet.
He prepared to use the poison he had made to control these bandits and use them as test subjects.
After feeding the poison to each of these bandits, he used his methods to make them completely submissive.
Turning to Qian Zhen, he said, "Dispose of these corpses. I still have a use for the remaining fifteen living bandits."
After saying that, he turned and led the fifteen bandits toward the mountain stronghold.
Qian Zhen quickly responded respectfully, "Yes, young hero, I will certainly take care of it."
Led by the bandits, Liu Yi reached the stronghold in no time.
The stronghold was a cave, situated on treacherous terrain that was easy to defend but hard to attack.
However, with Liu Yi's strength, none of this mattered.
Without much effort, he subdued the remaining eighteen bandits in the stronghold, fed them poison, and locked them in the stronghold's dungeon.
"Now it's loot time! Let's see what good things I can find."
Afterward, he began searching all over the stronghold.
The ordinary bandits' rooms only had some copper coins, and even the leader's sleeping quarters only had a bit more silver, causing him to gradually lose interest.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, a half-hidden wooden box under the bed caught his attention.
"Eh? Could this wooden box be hiding some treasure?"
He stepped forward and opened the wooden box. Inside were pieces of stones as translucent as jade.
Liu Yi's pupils constricted, and his breathing quickened. He was so shocked by the sight before him that his eyes widened, and he couldn't help but exclaim loudly:
"Spirit Stones! How can there be so many Spirit Stones in this mountain stronghold?"
His eyes shone with greed as he carefully inspected them, finding that there were actually 100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones and 20 Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
"I'm rich!"
Liu Yi could hardly contain his excitement; he chuckled under his breath, clutching the Spirit Stones tightly, his eyes filled with ecstasy.
But soon, he calmed down, his Face full of doubt.
How could there be so many Spirit Stones in this inconspicuous little stronghold?
Liu Yi took a Spirit Stone and walked quickly toward the dungeon.
Arriving at the dungeon, he held up the Spirit Stone, stared at the bandits inside, and asked coldly, "Where did these stones come from? Tell me, and I'll save you for last as a test subject."
A bandit who looked like a minor leader trembled all over and stammered:
"These... these were dug up from the cave at the very back of the stronghold. We saw the stones were shiny and thought they could be sold for money, so we kept them."
"Oh? Are there more inside?" Liu Yi's interest was piqued, his eyes lighting up.
"No more, really no more, they've all been dug out!" The bandit shook his head hurriedly.
After hearing this, Liu Yi nodded thoughtfully and turned to leave.
No matter what, he had to go check inside the cave. If there were still Spirit Stones, he would hit the jackpot, and his Foundation Establishment would be highly hopeful.