Chapter 6: Breakthrough

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**Volume One: First Steps in Another World**

Zu An turned around, found a stool, and sat down. "Let's start," he said. "I only have one request: don't hit my face. I still need it to make a living."

Chu Huanzhao gritted her teeth in frustration, but she didn't want her parents or sister to find out, so she agreed. "Alright, I won't hit your face." With a flick of her fair wrist, the whip in her hand let out a terrifying crack as it struck his chest, tearing his clothes and sending flesh and blood flying.

However, the smile on Chu Huanzhao's face quickly faded. There was no agonizing scream as she expected, no tearful wailing—nothing. He simply sat calmly on the stool, his expression merely a little strange.

Zu An's expression was indeed strange, for there had been no intense pain. Instead, he felt immense pleasure, like someone lost in the desert for days suddenly biting into a cold watermelon, or seeing his name at the top of the imperial examination roster. It felt so good he nearly cried out in delight.

However, mindful of his future reputation and to avoid strange rumors about him being a masochist, he strenuously suppressed any unusual sounds.

"Hmm?" Chu Huanzhao's eyes widened in surprise. What was unfolding before her was truly beyond her imagination.

This guy must be gritting his teeth, deliberately feigning indifference. Yes, that has to be it! He screamed incessantly after the previous blow; this time, he's definitely doing it for the bet.

Chu Huanzhao clenched her teeth and lashed out again. She knew the power of the Wailing Whip intimately; perhaps someone could endure one strike with immense willpower, but no one could possibly withstand a second.

This lash left a large, bloody 'X' on his chest. Chu Huanzhao watched him, full of expectation. "And you still won't cry out in pain?"

To her surprise, Zu An's only reaction was: "Hmm? Hmm."

He couldn't help it; this was him already exercising extreme self-control. That peculiar sensation was incredibly shameful, like discovering a gateway to a new world.

Chu Huanzhao felt a chill. Today's events were completely beyond her comprehension. After a moment's thought, she decided to strike elsewhere, suspecting his chest might be too severely injured and numb to feel pain.

So she took a deep breath and lashed the third whip directly onto his leg. She was immediately disappointed; though his expression conveyed discomfort, as if he were struggling to endure something, he still didn't cry out in pain.

"I won, didn't I?" Zu An remarked, noticing that the second magic array was already more than half filled with golden substance. This "little girl," he thought, certainly struck hard.

"How is that possible!" Chu Huanzhao's eyes widened. She looked at the whip in her hand, falling into deep doubt. Had the whip lost its power?

After a moment's thought, she walked up to Zu An and handed him the whip. "Try hitting me with a lash."

Zu An's spirits instantly lifted. "You really want me to hit you?"

"If I tell you to hit me, then hit me—less talk! Just remember not to hit my face." Chu Huanzhao lifted her head defiantly.

Seeing her eyes tightly closed, her eyelashes trembling slightly, and her fair, smooth cheeks like freshly peeled boiled eggs, Zu An couldn't help but marvel: "Though the women of the Chu family are each more eccentric than the last, their genes are truly exceptional."

He naturally wouldn't strike her face, not out of any particular tenderness, but because he feared trouble if other members of the Chu family saw it later.

He chuckled eerily. "I've never heard such a request in my life; I'll certainly fulfill it." That "little girl" had just whipped him so viciously; now it was her turn to get a taste of her own medicine.

So he swung the long whip fiercely. However, due to the pain reduction, he had severely underestimated his injuries; it was a miracle he could still breathe, let alone wield a long whip with any power.

This lash was remarkably feeble, yet even so, when it struck Chu Huanzhao, she immediately screamed and painfully clutched her wound. "It hurts so much!"

Seeing her tears stream down from the pain, Zu An felt, for the first time, grateful that he had drawn that "Rich Woman's Joy Ball."

"You bastard, how could you hit so hard?" Chu Huanzhao cried, frantically wiping away tears while clutching her wound.

Zu An's face was grim. "You hit me much harder just now, didn't you?"

"Then why didn't you cry out in pain?" Chu Huanzhao stared at him curiously. She knew very well that the force of his recent strike was far less than that of her own lashes.

Zu An gave a light cough and said calmly, "Real men never cry out in pain." He had to maintain his cool facade.

Chu Huanzhao blinked, nodding as if she understood yet didn't. "It seems I underestimated you. Alright, you won this time. I won't pursue the 'simp' matter anymore."

Having said that, she turned to leave. She needed to hurry back and have her maid apply some medicine; she wondered if it would leave a scar.

To her surprise, she was pulled back. She heard him say, looking at her with an expectant expression, "Don't go yet. Hit me a few more times."

Chu Huanzhao: "???"

"Ugh, ugh, ugh!" Zu An felt his words sounded rather perverse. He quickly corrected himself: "No, I mean, let's bet again."

He had noticed how quickly the magic array had filled, so how could he abandon such a golden opportunity? Besides, the "Rich Woman's Joy Ball" had a time limit; it would be a terrible waste to let it expire unused.

"Bet what?" Chu Huanzhao asked instinctively.

Zu An replied, "The same as before. If I win, you won't hold it against me that I climbed into your bed last night. If I lose, well, I'll... lick your shoes."

Though he still didn't fully understand this world, he assumed that in any world, climbing into one's sister-in-law's bed on the wedding night would be an unforgivable offense. Gaining her forgiveness first would make his life in the Chu family much easier.

To his surprise, Chu Huanzhao's face instantly flushed. "You want to lick my shoes that much? You pervert! I'm definitely telling my sister!"

Zu An: "..."

Didn't you just propose that damned perverse bet?!

"Alright, I agree!" Chu Huanzhao said excitedly. Like any gambler, she had just lost inexplicably and was eager for another chance to win back her losses.

"Please, whip me!" Zu An declared, with an expression of heroic self-sacrifice.

Three more lashes later, Chu Huanzhao looked at the man, who was practically unable to stand and lay sprawled on the ground, yet still hadn't wailed. A hint of confusion entered her eyes. "You... don't hurt?"

"Of course it hurts, but real men never cry out in pain!" Zu An said, his heart secretly blossoming with joy as he saw the third magic array already half-filled. He couldn't let her see through his act.

Chu Huanzhao fell silent. The man before her was the bravest she had ever seen. Though pitifully weak, his willpower was remarkably strong. She had encountered countless self-proclaimed heroes, far more powerful than him, yet none had ever withstood two of her lashes.

"How about we bet again?" Zu An probed.

Chu Huanzhao's expression immediately turned peculiar. "Do you have some special fetish?"

"Of course not!" Zu An immediately denied. "Are you kidding? I can't let that reputation stick; it's too humiliating," he added, "I was just thinking that if I won, you'd lick my shoes."

"Pah, dream on! No bet!" If this had happened earlier, Chu Huanzhao would have immediately agreed, not believing he had any chance of winning. But having lost twice in a row, she now felt apprehensive.

Realizing she likely wouldn't accept that wager, Zu An changed his offer: "Then if I win, you'll respectfully address me as brother-in-law whenever we meet, alright?"

Chu Huanzhao weighed the options. He was already her brother-in-law, and losing wouldn't seem like a big deal. So she nodded. "Alright!"

A new round of betting began. After one lash, Zu An could no longer suppress the trembling throughout his body, and a groan escaped his throat—not of pain, but of immense pleasure and satisfaction.

"You really are a pervert! I'm not doing this with you anymore." Chu Huanzhao's small face turned completely red. She stamped her foot and, recoiling from him, quickly ran out of the room.

"Hey, there are still two more lashes!" Zu An called out in a hurry, but she vanished into the night like a startled rabbit.

Seriously, she's no fun at all.

Zu An grumbled internally. His only comfort was that the third magic array was almost full. He swung a punch, about to feel its effects, when a voice suddenly reached his ear.

"You're actually at Tier Two, Stage Three? Just a hair's breadth from reaching peak Stage Three!" A figure walked in; it was none other than Old Man Mi.

Had this old man been hiding in the shadows, watching the whole time?

Zu An seethed inwardly, but he showed no outward sign. Instead, he asked, "What is Tier Two, Stage Three?"

Old Man Mi explained, "Didn't I tell you before? Tier One involves drawing primeval energy into the body, and Tier Two is about tempering the skin. Above Tier Two, each tier is further divided into nine minor realms. And you, boy, actually jumped directly into Tier Two, Stage Three in less than an hour. That's strange. Normally, cultivating primeval energy into the body takes months or even years, let alone reaching Tier Two. For someone with your D-grade inferior aptitude to break through to Tier Two, Stage Three so quickly, even a miraculous secret manual shouldn't provide such a rapid advancement."

Zu An then realized that after the keyboard had absorbed the secret manual, F2 had engraved nine magic arrays onto his skin. This must have allowed him to bypass the most difficult step of drawing primeval energy into the body, directly entering Tier Two. With nearly three of those arrays now filled, he had reached Tier Two, Stage Three.

He was pondering how to explain it. After all, discretion was key; his power was still weak, and it would be disastrous if his extraordinary talent provoked jealousy and murderous intent.

But at that moment, Old Man Mi was already muttering to himself, "It seems the Wailing Whip is indeed powerful. And you, by enduring the pain and pushing your body to its absolute limit, combined with the secret manual's cultivation method, achieved such an exaggerated cultivation speed."

He even wondered, "Perhaps I should try this method myself next time?"

Seeing Old Man Mi had finished his own conjectures, Zu An didn't need to waste his breath explaining. He was about to ask what abilities came with Tier Two, Stage Three when a sudden, sharp pain struck him, and he couldn't help but cry out.

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