Hong Zhao entered the caged off room without any fuss. If he was to be honest, this was something he was looking forward to.
The guard sighed as he looked at the boy. The city lord had sent him a voice transmission before he had disappeared into the home stating if the boy felt any remorse, to instead take him to a VIP suite within his mansion. Yet Hong Zhao had not voiced any concern, even after he had learned that these men were all third and fourth star disciple ranked cultivators. All he could do is shake his head in regret as he went back towards the stairs. He turned and took one last look at the boy, yet he still gained no reaction. "Well, there's nothing I can do." He said quietly to himself as he began climbing the stairs.
After the guard disappeared from sight, Hong Zhao's eyes lit up at the many strong cultivators in front of him. When the other men saw his reaction, they got shivers for some reason. "This kid is looking at us like we are some sort of delicious platter at a restaurant." One man said as he looked nervously at Hong Zhao.
"Hey kid, what's your cultivation rank?" Another man asked. He had tried to read the boy's rank, yet for some reason when he looked at him, it was like looking into a black hole.
Without saying so much as a word, Hong Zhao went to the far corner of the room and sat down. Activating qi shot, he let loose yet another beam of qi to mark the floor. He looked up at the many cultivators with a bored expression. "This is my corner." He said simply. "If you make your way into my area, I will kill you." His eyes lazily roamed the many cultivators.
Some men backed further away from the boy. Others looked at him with respect, while others with unfiltered rage.
One man stood up and walked close to the mark. "This boy thinks he's a match for a third star disciple ranked cultivator?" His eyes turned dangerous as he looked at Hong Zhao. "Boy, your parents did a lousy job in beating manners into you," he cracked his knuckles and looked menacingly at Hong Zhao. "Allow me to teach you in their place."
It was at that moment that qi surrounded his hands all the way up to his elbows. He threw himself past the mark on the floor and reached out a fist to strike the boy.
Hong Zhao gave a murderous smile as he activated vortex thrust followed by devouring qi claws. He disappeared from sight in an instant. When he reappeared, the man who had attacked him was holding his throat. His eyes bulged in surprise and unwillingness before they lost their light. Hong Zhao's claws had long since dissipated before the man even touched the ground.
Looking over at the many men in the other corner, Hong Zhao's bored expression returned to his face. "You have ten seconds to take this man back to your corner." He said with a deadpan voice. "If he is still here by the time ten seconds has past, I will start killing all of you." A glint of killing intent could be seen within the young boy's eyes, and the men didn't doubt that he could do what he was saying.
Hong Zhao began his countdown, and the men hesitated through five seconds. It seemed they couldn't choose who would go into the boy's corner to grab the body. It wasn't until Hong Zhao activated his vortex thrust and devouring qi claws that someone began making his way over. As he did, Hong Zhao appeared by his side and sliced him in half.
It truly seemed as if the gap between a ninth star disciple ranked expert and a third star was one that was not simply bridged. Hong Zhao felt as if he were slicing through warm butter, not a body. "You took too long." He said with a deadpan voice. "Now you all will have to get past me, grab the body and get back to your corner. If you can't do this, then you will forfeit your lives." A slim smirk appeared on his lips as he once again vanished from sight.
As the day progressed, servants from above would hear muffled cries and cringe slightly as they passed the stairs heading to the dungeon. For as long as it would take to burn two incense sticks the cries continued, until all went silent.
The warrior ranked cultivator had just finished his lunch and was about to bring the prisoner's food down to the dungeon when he heard the cries. Instead of going down right away, he did as Zheng Guo said and waited until the screams subsided. If Hong Zhao were still alive after such a fight, he would be begging to get out of the cell. When that happened, they would take him to better accommodations. If he did not survive though, then they would not have lost anything anyway.
When the screams finally subsided, the guard finally started descending the stairs. When he reached the bottom, it took him a moment for his eyes to adjust, but when they did, they went wide. At the end of the dungeon, at the largest room they had, sat a pile of corpses on one side of the room. On the other side sat a single boy who seemed to be cultivating.
The guard went to the bars of the cage and looked closer. Hong Zhao sat cross legged in deep meditation as he pulled in the meager supply of qi that made its way through the dungeon. The guard was at a loss for words. The boy had been put in a cell with men only half way to the rank he possessed himself, yet the boy still survived. He himself could have killed the men in a blink of an eye, but to see a child do the same was something he was not willing to believe. Instead of interrupting his cultivation, the guard went back to the stairs and ascended. Zheng Guo would want to know of this.