Pain!
Unimaginable pain!
Pain beyond suffering!
Li Mingyi writhed on the ground in agony, while Zhao Yunhai found a spot to sit and held up his phone to film the other person rolling around.
"This footage is precious. When you become famous later, it will fetch a hefty sum at auction."
Zhao Yunhai chuckled and teased.
Hearing his boss's teasing, Li Mingyi suddenly felt less pain and immediately sat up, pretending to circulate his qi.
"Alright, I'm done filming."
As soon as Zhao Yunhai put away his phone, Li Mingyi immediately reverted to his original state, writhing in pain.
But when Li Mingyi saw his boss raise his phone again, he had a curse word he wanted to utter.
"Boss, you're not playing by the rules."
The potency of this pill was terrifying, but its success rate was rather low, a mere three-seven split.
With a seventy percent mortality rate, even the Zhao family rarely used this pill.
Unless one truly aspired to become a martial artist, no one would willingly risk a thirty percent chance of success by taking this pill.
However, Zhao Yunhai did not tell Li Mingyi this, because Li Mingyi was the protagonist himself.
Even with a 0.01% success rate, a protagonist could still succeed.
A few minutes later, Li Mingyi lay on the ground, reeking and utterly exhausted, looking as though he had met his demise from excessive exertion.
"From this moment on, you are a martial artist at the early stage of Ming Jin. You have directly leaped past the unranked level. This is the benefit of successfully consuming the pill."
Zhao Yunhai nudged Li Mingyi with his foot, gesturing for him to go take a bath.
"What would be the consequences if it didn't succeed?"
Li Mingyi seemed to have grasped the crucial point and quickly asked.
"Aren't you still alive?"
"As for cultivation techniques, I can give them to you, or you can find them yourself."
"If you can't find any, come to me."
Zhao Yunhai dropped a meaningful sentence and left with A Da and the others.
The protagonist can't find cultivation techniques?
Don't make him laugh himself to death, he needs to inherit his wealth.
"Forget it, I succeeded anyway."
Li Mingyi couldn't be bothered to dwell on the consequences of failure. As for cultivation techniques, Li Mingyi planned to try his luck and find some himself first.
...
"If you have the guts, let me go. What's the point of ganging up on me?"
"If you dare, fight me one-on-one."
Lin Tian was shouting alone in a small dark room, a room devoid of any light and stretching endlessly.
There was nothing inside, as if he were sealed in a dark coffin.
At first, he didn't pay it much mind. Darkness alone, what was there to be afraid of?
But without any sense of time or external sounds, the feeling of being completely isolated was unbearable for him after just one day.
Lin Tian could not tolerate that sense of solitude.
"How long has it been?"
Zhao Yunhai stood outside, looking at the iron door before him, and asked curiously.
"It's been a full day. Without food or water, we've heard him shouting from the monitors. He's probably close to his breaking point."
Si Jinyan checked the time on his watch and quickly replied after comparing it.
This dark room was a disused detention facility of the Zhao family, located in an underground passage on the outskirts.
Now, it had been repurposed by Zhao Yunhai. Although the facilities were still functional, they were significantly outdated compared to modern standards, being over a decade old.
However, it was sufficient to break a protagonist.
He had only been starved for a day, so Zhao Yunhai was not worried about the person inside dying.
With the gradual transformation of his body by the Great Sea Divine Pearl, the person inside would need at least a week to starve to death without food or water.
"Then keep him locked up for a week. Don't give him any water. Let's wear him down slowly."
"This... will he starve to death?"
Si Jinyan worried that if the other person died of starvation, Young Master Yun might blame him.
"If he dies, he dies."
Zhao Yunhai patted Si Jinyan's shoulder and left with a smile.
After Young Master Yun departed, Si Jinyan instructed his subordinates.
"Watch him closely. If he tries to escape, immediately activate the self-destruct mechanism."
"Rest assured, team leader."
This small team leader, along with two others, was tasked with guarding the place.
"Hawk breaking" meant preventing the hawk from sleeping.
There were many ways to keep Lin Tian awake in the dark room, such as electric shocks or specially designed noises.
Lin Tian was still contemplating his revenge after escaping, unaware of the ordeal that awaited him.
...
Zhao Yunhai was determined to keep this person named Lin Tian in confinement until he begged to be killed.
Only if the other party initiated it could the Great Sea Divine Pearl be obtained; otherwise, it would be a shame.
Zhao Yunhai would not give up on acquiring the Great Sea Divine Pearl until the very end.
After all, it was a valuable item, and there was no reason not to take it.
Zhao Yunhai had also informed his father about the relocation to Qianzhou, and the family expressed their support for his actions.
If he needed any assistance, he could ask, and the family would provide full support.
After stabilizing areas like Jingzhou and Haizhou, the Zhao family naturally had designs on Qianzhou.
Qianzhou's potential value lay in the future, and long-term investment was a favored strategy of the Zhao family.
However, Qianzhou was currently a bit chaotic, and any significant intervention by the Zhao family could easily provoke resistance from certain individuals.
The Zhao family had tried entering Qianzhou through legitimate means by establishing companies, but they had gone bankrupt shortly after.
It could be said that the people of Qianzhou refused the Zhao family's entry into their territory.
Under normal circumstances, the Zhao family would not resort to extreme measures to resolve such matters.
Therefore, the Zhao family had been discreetly planting personnel in Qianzhou, and some individuals had already successfully infiltrated without the knowledge of those in Qianzhou.
If it weren't for the current era prioritizing peace and the construction of a civilized society, the Zhao family would have already made a move. (Understand?)
The purpose of Zhao Yunhai's entry into Qianzhou was well understood by those in Qianzhou who harbored animosity towards the Zhao family.
The method of entering Qianzhou by establishing companies to interfere in its affairs was something the Zhao family had failed at multiple times.
This time would be no exception, even if Zhao Yunhai, the son of the Zhao family patriarch, were to personally come.
Yu Manlou had already proceeded ahead, leading a group of accompanying personnel to the southern district of Qianzhou.
The southern district was the most prosperous city in Qianzhou and currently the only place capable of supporting a company headquarters.
A company headquarters cannot be relocated arbitrarily, as a relocation involves numerous issues, the most important being the employees' living conditions.
In this regard, all employees who followed the headquarters to Qianzhou would be provided with housing.
However, the size of the housing would be related to their individual abilities and positions.
A week later, Zhao Yunhai returned to the dark room where Lin Tian was held.
"Open the door."
Zhao Yunhai watched Lin Tian on the surveillance feed.
At this moment, Lin Tian leaned against the wall, his eyes dull and lifeless.
His lips were chapped and peeling, his body weak, with dark circles resembling a panda's, and his eyes bloodshot.
After a week without food or water, Lin Tian had reached his limit.