"Hahaha! Sir Administrator, you're truly great!" Ding Ruoling laughed out loud while extending his hand to the side as a woman nervously poured the wine. "You are the first Administrator that I truly respect. Normally, Administrators would be afraid of us, so it's quite rare to see people like you."
"If cowering in fear can get my job done, then I'd love to do that. It's just if I continue living in that fear, I can't rise to this position. That's why I embrace that fear itself." Hao Yu shrugged.
Ding Ruoling and other cultivators who heard it couldn't help but get surprised.
Two of the disciples actually noticed something important and suddenly closed their eyes for a moment.
Ding Ruoling was surprised at first, causing Hao Yu to take a look. Ding Ruoling gestured to not make any sudden movement and keep quiet.
After three minutes, one of the disciples suddenly broke through to the next level and opened his eyes. He exclaimed, "I've broken through to 8-Star?"
However, he soon noticed that Ding Ruoling asked him to remain quiet, reminding him that he wasn't the only person.
Another four minutes passed by, and this disciple broke through to 8-Star as well. Everyone was shocked, especially Hao Yu, who was oblivious to the entire situation.
As soon as both of them finished, they exchanged looks before cupping their hands to Hao Yu.
"Thank you, Mr. Administrator. We wouldn't forget about this kindness of yours and if we ever meet again, please don't hesitate to ask us if you need something. We'll definitely help you." Both of them uttered the same words, expressing their gratitude to Hao Yu.
"What is this? I don't think I have done anything." Hao Yu scratched the back of his head, asking for an explanation.
"We are too cowardly and after listening to your words, instead of cowering in fear, it's better to embrace the fear. We will still be scared, but we have gained the courage to face it."
"That's right. It's thanks to Mr. Administrator."
The two disciples explained. It was clear from their excitement how much this breakthrough meant to them.
Hao Yu turned to Ding Ruoling, wondering what had just happened.
"This is called Enlightenment, Mr. Administrator. They have a certain problem that is bothering them in their heart. Depending on the level of the problem, it would create a heart demon. This heart demon will hinder their ability to cultivate. And if it's solved, it can provide them with a great boost in their cultivation."
"So, what I said earlier solved that heart demon?" Hao Yu furrowed his eyebrows, panicking inside. To think he would actually help cultivators to break through, this might be the biggest blunder of his life.
"Yes." Ding Ruoling confirmed it without hesitation.
"O-oh!" Hao Yu looked surprised, hurriedly hiding his real feeling. He even cupped his hands to the two cultivators. "Congratulations."
The two cultivators nodded their heads. They had never thought that Hao Yu would be able to allow them to reach this stage.
The other cultivators also celebrated for their breakthrough. Meanwhile, Hao Yu turned to Ding Ruoling and asked, "What happened earlier? You gestured to everyone in the room to not say anything and make a sudden movement."
"When a cultivator gains enlightenment, they reach the state of trance. It feels like you are able to gain a new form of knowledge, which will boost your cultivation. If you interrupt the cultivator, it will cause them to have an internal injury, especially with their dantian. In the worst case scenario, they can even die."
"What? Such a thing can happen?" Hao Yu gasped.
"Yes. If someone attacked us earlier, our dantian would be damaged. Depending on the intensity of the attack, the damage on the dantian might reach the point it was unrecoverable. So, we might even lose all our strength if not dying." The enlightened cultivator confirmed the suspicion.
Hao Yu had never thought about this before. Because he never wanted to help the cultivators, he didn't learn anything about their enlightenment. But if they were truly that vulnerable, wouldn't he be able to kill them during the enlightenment?
He could even give advice again to put them in that state before attacking them. Then, due to the extensive damage, they lost their cultivations, allowing Hao Yu to ultimately kill them.
This would be a perfect scenario, but it could only be done if they didn't have anyone to protect her.
Earlier, Ding Ruoling was the one stopping him from doing anything, so it was clear that this was a double-edged sword.
Hao Yu asked one more question. "Does this include powerful people at a later stage?"
"Of course. Everyone can form a heart demon and gain enlightenment. It's the most vulnerable state of cultivators. While I thank you for helping my fellow cultivators to reach the next stage, I have to warn you to not disturb the cultivators. I'm aware that you didn't know anything earlier, so I hope this experience would allow you to treat cultivators better." Ding Ruoling smiled.
"You don't have to worry." Hao Yu nodded in order to assure him. But in his mind, Hao Yu thought of a few possibilities where he could kill the cultivators this way.
In fact, he couldn't help but remember the nickname of his master, 'The Wise.' His master could do anything and have an extensive knowledge, it was said that if they had a problem, they just needed to visit him and the problem would receive a solution.
Now that he thought about it, it seemed that his master had actually killed a few cultivators this way.
Hao Yu had known several ways to kill the cultivators, but he learned that there were still many ways to kill them. Sometimes, he could just raise them up to the sky and let them fall so hard that it would be the end of them.
"Since both of them have broken through to 8-Star and we have exterminated the demons, let's drink until we can't anymore. Just for today!" Ding Ruoling raised his cups with a big smile.
…
While Hao Yu and the cultivators were partying, Magistrate Leng Xiu actually received an official letter. And the name that signed it was Mei Yuanling, Hao Yu's senior sister.