Chapter 37: Pain

 

The sun is already up in the sky.

 

Zou Jie gradually opened his eyes, his clothes already being shredded by the explosion. After suffering a grievous injury, he pushes himself to find a secluded place to recover.

 

Inside a cave, he uses his ability to heal the wound. To survive, he used the demon sect's forbidden technique to protect his life; in exchange, he suffered damage from the explosion and the forbidden technique's side effects.

 

“Damn it, if I find out who you are, I will poison you to death."

 

While he is thinking about what to do next when he recovers, a system warning notification panel appears.

 

[Level 2 Bad Karma Punishment will activate in 24 hours.]

 

"What?" Zou Jie has no idea why he received the bad karma point. Then he recalls his missing pouch, which contained his experimental poisons that could spread via air or touch. Even if he wants to find and help the innocent people who are poisoned, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

 

A moment later, he calms down; he just needs to prepare for the bad karma punishment and find food later to restore his strength.

 

When he thought that nothing more would happen, a system warning notification popped up once again.

 

[Level 3 Bad Karma Punishment will activate in 24 hours.]

 

[Level 4 Bad Karma Punishment will activate in 24 hours.]

 

[Level 5 Bad Karma Punishment will activate in 24 hours.]

 

A few hours later, the system notification finally stops, and the last thing that he sees is

 

[Level 9 Bad Karma Punishment will activate in 24 hours.]

 

Zou Jie is sweating profusely all over. The level 1 Bad Karma Punishment had already made him experience being sliced by a knife a thousand times. He can't imagine the level 2 to 9 pain, and he has a feeling that this time it's even worse.

 

Taking a deep breath Zou Jie focused on recovery; after that, he needed to think of a way to survive this ordeal.

 

-

 

Han Empire capital city, Luo Family Courtyard

 

“That blockhead, how dare he attack my grandson?" Minster Luo was cursed.

 

"Master, please calm down; people might hear you, and there might be a misunderstanding from General Liu.” An elderly man tries to calm him down.

 

“Quickly send a letter to that bastard; if he doesn’t give me a proper explanation, I will cut ties with him.”

 

Only after cursing a few more times did Minster Luo finally stop. "Has my bastard son done anything?" After discovering the truth about his first son, he attempts to poison him. In his mind, he has already disavowed him. If it wasn't for the need to pretend to be in a coma, he would have already beaten his ungrateful son.

 

“None, but I suspect he is involved with the attack; our investigation is almost complete.”

 

“Tighten the surveillance; investigate everyone in contact with my eldest son.”

 

“Yes, master.” The elderly man bows his head and leaves; his body becomes blurry before disappearing.

 

Minister Luo can only sigh; fortunately, his grandson survives, but the situation of physician Zou is unknown.

 

-

 

Qin empire.

 

At the restaurant, two people are facing each other in a private room. On the large table, there are various types of dishes that only the rich can afford.

 

Elder Xue, disguised as a man, is having a standoff with an elderly man with a white beard and hair.

 

She has had a feeling something is wrong since yesterday, but she is not sure what it is.

 

The elderly man looks calm outside; however, inside he is anxious. Although he is a transcendent realm expert, he has been living an indulgent lifestyle. He is just lucky to survive the great martial arts war and advance to the transcendent realm. Compared to other Tang Clan protectors, he is a coward.

 

Initially, he wants to refuse the mission, but he can’t disobey the patriarch's order, and he is the weakest among the Tang clan's transcendent realm.

 

“Tang Yan, you should go home and sleep earlier.” Elder Xue joked. As long as she is here, the Tang Clan can’t do anything.

 

“I want to, but this is an order.” Tang Yan doesn’t feel offended; he wants to go home and relax.

 

 

While they are talking, a woman enters the room and whispers something to Elder Xue.

 

“Elder, physician Zou's caravan got ambushed by the black mountain bandit, and his location now is unknown."

 

Tang Yan can hear everything because of his sharp hearing. It looks like his mission is complete.

 

Elder Xue smiles sinisterly and gazes at Tang Yan. She is not stupid; the ambush must relate to the Tang clan. For now, it’s better to focus on searching for physician Zou's whereabouts. Her hand moves slightly under the table and stands up.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Elder Xue doesn’t reply and leaves the room.

 

Only when Elder Xue has left does Tang Yan sigh inwardly. Fortunately, he is not required to fight a transcendent realm expert. If he is seriously injured, his strength may deteriorate and his lifespan may be reduced.

 

“What a waste; let's eat the food first.” Tang Yan gazes at the food and takes the chopstick.

 

The large table suddenly slanted, and all the dishes spilled toward him.

 

Tang Yan didn’t even move and erected a qi barrier, preventing the food from touching him. He frowns but doesn’t say anything. It looks like physician Zou had some sort of relationship or friendship with Elder Xue. Although he is worried that their actions will be exposed, the Tang Clan is not weak, and the Veil sect, or demon sect, only has one transcendent real expert.

 

-

 

Demon Sect Palace

 

A woman wearing a veil rushes toward the forbidden demon seedling underground training.

 

Elder Bai Mei returns to the demon sect palace in a hurry to report on what happened to physician Zou. However, she discovered that the patriarch had not emerged from the underground training for a long time with Madam Lin Ru.

 

Using a secret entrance, she bypasses the demon seedling underground level, and on the sixth floor, she sees a woman wearing a black imperial robe.

 

“Patriarch, I have something to report.” Elder Bai Mei kneeled and reported what had happened to physician Zou.

 

“It doesn’t matter if Physician Zou dies; we just need to change our plan.” Hu Ling is calm, and although she feels pity for losing a divine physician, there are many deaths in the demon sect.

 

“What should we do with the black mountain bandit and Tang clan?"

 

"For the time being, leave them alone. Send people to look for physician Zou if he's still alive, and don't tell Lin Ru about him."

 

“Yes, patriarch.”

 

Hu Ling raises his head and looks at the training ground. A voluptuous woman is dodging thousands of fire arrows, but none of them hit her. Lin Ru is currently in a trance and moves solely by instinct. Is this the power of love, and what will happen if physician Zou dies?

 

-

 

Inside a cave, Zou Jie's injury has already healed; after all, he is a divine physician. He has also already stored enough water and hunted a mountain goat for food. He is currently awaiting the bad karma punishment countdown.

 

He can only rely on his willpower to withstand the torture.

 

[Level 2: Bad Karma Punishment Start]

 

In level 1, he only felt pain in his mind; this time, an invisible blade slashed his body, causing a wound to appear. He quickly practices an external martial art to strengthen and heal his body. After a while, the ground is saturated with sweat and blood. This time, the punishment is progressive, which means he can withstand the pain without collapsing or fainting.

 

Inside the cave, a half-naked man is practicing martial arts while his body is bleeding and healing. Zou Jie's face is distorted in pain, and he wishes to kill himself to make the pain stop.

 

Half an hour later, the level 2 Bad Karma Punishment ended. Zou Jie's martial master body feels weak, but there are still seven more.

 

[Level 3: Bad Karma Punishment Start]

 

When the level 3 punishment activates, there are bloody wounds, like being pierced by an arrow or spear, on his body. This time, he wants to die, and his mind almost goes crazy from the pain.

 

A scream can be heard throughout the cave.

 

[Level 4: Bad Karma Punishment start]

 

Every time the punishment ends, the next one will begin.

 

[Level 5: Bad Karma Punishment]

 

Zou Jie suddenly hears a monotone voice in his mind.

 

[The host mind suffered a damaging start to save the host memory.]

 

He doesn’t even have time to think because of the pain.

 

[Level 6: Bad Karma Punishment start]

 

[Level 7: Bad Karma Punishment start]

 

[Level 8: Bad Karma Punishment start]

 

[Level 9: Bad Karma Punishment start]

 

For several hours, Zou Jie screamed in pain while his body suffered from being crushed, slashed, pierced, suffocated, dehydrated, poisoned, burned, and electrocuted. However, he keeps practicing several types of external martial arts to survive.

 

If outsiders see him right now, they will think Zou Jie has become crazy from practicing forbidden martial arts or has a qi deviation.

 

The constant injury and healing combined with external martial arts strengthen his body. Nonetheless, the pain is unbearable, and normal humans wish to commit suicide.

 

“Hahahaha!” When the last punishment ended, Zou Jie laughed like a madman, and his long black hair was already gone after being burned and electrocuted. After that, his bloody and charred body collapsed to the ground.

 

Ziu Jie healing required qi, which is not a problem. However, the body also requires proteins in order to heal. Since he is unconscious the only protein source is his body.