There is no such thing as fairness in this world.
The old principal, standing not far away, also heard these words. The anxious tension on his face finally relaxed.
If this year's top scorer in the college entrance examination had been destroyed before his very eyes, he might have lost his temper completely.
As Liang Xiao spoke, he checked his grandfather and brother's injuries.
"Brother, I'm fine," said Xiao Liangyuan, clutching his chest. "It just hurts a little."
"I'm fine too," Liang Wen reassured him. "Don't worry. Grandpa will take good care of A-Yuan."
Liang Xiao exhaled in relief. Then he opened the envelope the old principal had given him — inside was a temporary credit card.
The card's display shimmered with a single number: 100,000.
He handed the card to his grandfather and said calmly,
"Grandpa, take Yuan to the hospital and get checked up. You should get examined too — just in case there are hidden injuries."
"Okay." Liang Wen nodded without hesitation.
Now that he knew Liang Xiao would receive his Glory Citizen ID card in two days, he no longer felt anxious.
As a mortal, he knew all too well how lawless and untouchable the privileged class could be.
At that moment, the old principal walked over.
"I'll personally take your grandfather and brother to the hospital later," he said solemnly.
"Thank you, Principal," Liang Xiao replied gratefully — though his gaze slid toward Tan Weifeng in the distance, eyes filled with icy indifference.
He handed his phone, exam admission ticket, and other belongings to Liang Wen, then turned and left with the law enforcement officers.
— — —
Underground Prison, Law Enforcement Department
The prison was buried more than a hundred meters beneath the earth.
For Liang Xiao, this was his first time in prison — in either of his lives.
And strangely, it felt… novel.
Each cell was only two meters long and two meters wide, containing a single one-meter bed and a toilet without a door.
The space to move was almost nonexistent.
But to Liang Xiao, it felt no different from his cramped room at home.
Quiet. Undisturbed. Perfect for cultivation.
The only downside? The stench.
Except for meal times, everyone remained confined to their own cells. Exercise time came only once or twice a year — and even then, it meant being taken deeper underground to hunt monsters.
Because his offense wasn't severe, Liang Xiao's dantian and true qi hadn't been sealed.
Sitting cross-legged on the narrow bed, he focused his mind inward.
Inside his dantian, beside the middle-aged woman's corpse, the jade bottle of Qi-Gathering Pills responded to his thought. Its lid lifted silently.
A single Qi-Gathering Pill shimmered, vanished from the bottle, and appeared in his hand.
It couldn't be absorbed directly — the pill needed to pass through the stomach and be refined with the help of his Refining Essence into Qi technique.
Glancing toward the corridor to make sure no guard was looking, Liang Xiao quietly slipped the pill into his mouth and swallowed.
Warmth spread through him. The pill's medicinal energy surged, transforming under the Refining Essence into Qi technique, before being filtered through the array diagrams forming his special Golden Core.
The resulting true qi was pure, crystalline, and radiant.
He guided it carefully, weaving the second layer of the Golden Core thread by thread.
— — —
Time trickled by in silence.
The golden energy filaments intertwined, the second layer's pattern forming — 80%… 90%… 95%…
"Zhang Jiadong, someone's here to visit you!"
A guard's voice broke the stillness.
Moments later, the sound of a heavy cell door echoed down the corridor.
"Ha! The sun must've risen in the west," a deep, mocking voice said. "Someone actually came to visit me?"
Twenty meters away, a man built like an iron tower stepped out, his smile cold. Under the guard's supervision, he was led away.
— — —
Visiting Room
"Five minutes," said the jailer curtly.
He used a restraint artifact to bind Zhang Jiadong's spiritual energy before stepping out.
The massive man sat down across from a young man, perhaps twenty-seven or twenty-eight, his cultivation aura steady at the third level of Qi Refining.
Zhang Jiadong's eyes narrowed.
"Kid, I don't know you. What do you want?"
The visitor raised a hand, erecting a sound-blocking barrier around them.
His tone turned calm and sharp.
"I'm just a messenger. I only have one question — do you want what you did… to be exposed?"
Zhang Jiadong's expression darkened.
This man — Zhang Jiadong, 53, Qi Refining Level 3 — was infamous. A body cultivator, known for killing a first-stage demonic beast bare-handed. A Citizen of Honor.
But eight years ago, his violent temper had led him astray — he had crushed a woman's skull in a fit of rage, slaughtering her entire family. Despite murdering five mortals, he'd only received a ten-year sentence.
Such is the privilege of honor.
Zhang Jiadong snorted.
"Trying to trick me? Aside from killing a few mortals eight years ago, I've done nothing else against the law."
The young man smiled faintly.
"Really? Including Red Feathers?"
The older man's eyes went cold — deadly cold.
"Who are you?"
The visitor didn't answer. He shifted, blocking the surveillance camera's view with his coat, and revealed a photo inside.
"Look carefully. Find a way to kill this person — or at least cripple his dantian. Do this, and your past… disappears. He's no Citizen of Honor, no connections, nothing. Do it right, and you'll be out in two or three years."
He tucked the photo away, dissolved the sound barrier, and left without another word.
Zhang Jiadong's gaze followed him, eyes filled with murderous gloom — and helplessness.
Moments later, the jailer re-entered.
"Let's go."
Expressionless, Zhang Jiadong stood, returning to his cell — though his gaze roamed the hall, scanning every occupied cell.
Then his eyes landed on a young man about twenty meters away.
A thin smile crept across his scarred face.
So that's him…
Cold light flickered in his eyes.
You dared to threaten me. You'll regret it.
— — —
In the Depths of Meditation
Unaware of the brewing danger, Liang Xiao continued his cultivation.
The second layer of his Golden Core neared completion — its intricate, symmetrical design aligning perfectly with the first, like two gears meshing in divine harmony.
Finally, the last threads aligned.
Just like before, a powerful invisible resistance surged from within.
This time, Liang Xiao was prepared. Instead of fighting it, he guided six streams of true qi inward, anchoring them deep within the inner layer — the foundation for the third level of the Golden Core.
And when the final strand locked into place—
Weng—
A soft, resonant hum filled the air.
The special golden core, once the size of a ping-pong ball, expanded — glowing brilliantly until it was the size of an egg.
A pulse of vast energy erupted from within, sweeping through Liang Xiao's meridians, purifying his body and expanding his dantian.
At that instant—
Within a radius of 300 meters, every mind was suddenly struck by the same vision:
a radiant golden sphere, shimmering like an egg of light.
Prisoners, guards, and even officers above ground froze in shock.
This was far more than the reach of the underground facility.
From the law enforcement headquarters above, to the streets beyond, and even into residential districts, everyone's consciousness briefly echoed with that image of divine brilliance.
— — —
"What was that?!"
"Um? Did you see it too?"
Inside the Enforcement Department, several Foundation Establishment cultivators exchanged startled glances.
Their spiritual senses spread instantly, sweeping across the entire city.
Yet, no unusual energy fluctuation could be found.
"This… this feels like a Minor Reflection Phenomenon," one of them murmured, voice trembling.
"Impossible! That phenomenon only appears when a genius breaks through to Foundation Establishment — or when a heaven-defying prodigy is born…"
"Could Changlin City have produced another genius?"
"Find them — immediately!"
Excitement rippled through the group as they ordered investigators to begin searching.
None of them suspected the truth — that the phenomenon's source lay beneath their feet.
After all, the prison's most powerful inmate was only at the late stage of Qi Refining, far below what could cause such a sight.
As for those above Foundation Establishment level?
They were never kept here.
Those prisoners were sent elsewhere — to cities worthy of monsters like them.