As soon as Xu Tao entered the room, the two women who guided him there turned and left, closing the door behind them with one final sentence.

"Enjoy the night, Sir Xu Tao~!"

"..."

Of course, his senses didn't miss the girls pretending to leave, only to stop and inch their way back, listening by the door. Their actions were quite curious, making Xu Tao raise a brow in wonder.

"U-Uhm..."

The woman on the bed raised her voice, stuttering.

Despite her heavenly looks, her attitude was that of a meek lamb. She could barely meet Xu Tao's eyes directly. "P-Please call me Geraldine, Sir Xu Tao... Tonight, please allow me to offer m-my body to you..."

She slowly rose from the bed as she spoke, gently lowering the thin robe that barely hid her body from sight. Her proportions were perfect, almost as if the gods themselves carved every inch of her body.

Curves that weren't too much, but were well defined. A chest that wasn't too big, nor too small, and childbearing hips. Normally, any man who saw her body would lose their senses to lust and "devour" the woman greedily...

"You... used to be a cultivator, am I correct?"

But Xu Tao was different.

His eyes saw something else in her divine body. Traces of intense, regular training. Hints of Qi once running through her body, now gone completely. And... signs of injuries, ending her career as a cultivator.

"...!"

The woman, not expecting such words from Xu Tao, gasped in quiet fright. She quickly grabbed her fallen robe and wrapped it around her body, before moving to the far end of the bed, against the wall, staring at Xu Tao warily.

"I-I'm not! Please, believe me! I'm not a cultivator. Definitely not...!"

She spoke like a broken machine, intermittent and incoherent. However, despite how desperately she denied it, the signs Xu Tao's "senses" found couldn't be faked.

"No..." He gently shook his head. "Not only you, but all the girls in here. All of them were previously cultivators too, right?"

"..."

At that moment, Geraldine's face paled.

"P-Please, have mercy!" She suddenly lowered her head, begging. "I have kept my distance from the Roamita Family. I won't even dare cross paths with them ever again! So please, don't kill me...!"

"...Hmm?" Xu Tao was confused instead. "Wait, what are you talking about? Roamita? Who's that?"

"H-Huh...?"

Geraldine, hearing his obtuse question, raised her head sheepishly, staring at Xu Tao. "Y-You're not an assassin from the Roamita Family...? Aren't you here to kill me, now that you found me...?"

"What? No..."

Xu Tao sighed.

"Rather, I was just dragged in here. I had no intention of meeting you in the first place..." he added. "But it must be fate that brought our paths together like this."

His black irises sharpened, glowing faintly in gold.

"You... have the Heavenly Resonant Martial Body," he said. "That is a legendary physique that allows one's cultivation to rise exponentially with little effort. And it also has the side effect of helping the cultivation of others around you."

If Xu Tao wanted to, he could've left the moment he was brought there. The reason he stopped by and even spoke to the woman, Geraldine, was only because he noticed her unique physique at a glance. It was too good of a physique to let rot just because her cultivation was destroyed once.

"H-Heavenly Resonant... what?"

"..."

But Xu Tao had overestimated Earth's cultivation knowledge. Never in his wildest imagination did he think the woman herself was clueless about her own legendary physique!

"It'd be too much of a waste to let your talent rot like this."

He shrugged, taking a step forward, ignoring the fact she didn't know her own unique physique.

"I'll give you an offer," he said. "Come to me, become my disciple, and I'll fix your broken meridians, letting you become a cultivator once more."

"Y-You... what?!"

Geraldine thought she heard wrong, but Xu Tao's words made it clear.

"I know you still have the desire to cultivate in your heart. As such, let me help you get started. What do you think? Are you willing to take me as your master?"

The woman's shoulders slumped, tension fading from her posture. Her expression was a mix of doubt and anticipation.

"I..." she started. "I used to be one of the top cultivators in my generation..."

All of a sudden, she started to retell her story.

A story about a woman who was proud of her progress as a cultivator, labeled as peerless among her generation.

However, just like any story out there, tragedy struck her.

She found her martial sister being harassed by men, and with a righteous heart, decided to drive them away. She beat them all black and blue, leaving them just a string away from death's embrace.

That... was the biggest mistake she had made.

If she could turn back time, she would've just finished off those men instead of letting them keep their lives. That way, she would've been able to live her life as is without much trouble.

After all, one of those men was the first son of the Roamita Family.

The man, feeling humiliated not only because he was beaten by a girl younger than him, but also because he was beaten up before his own people, swore revenge upon her.

A week after that incident, a few cultivators visited her Sect, calling themselves the Roamita Family's Executors. Without mercy, they trampled over everyone and everything.

Not only her, but even her sect brothers and sisters were dragged into the mess, beaten into a pulp, and had their cultivation shattered. Geraldine fought back, but with the gap in strength between her and the assailants, she couldn't even protect herself, much less anyone else.

Just like that, she had her cultivation broken.

But... the story didn't end there.

After she lost her cultivation, the first son of the Roamita Family started harassing her, turning her into a plaything. She was used like a toy, beaten and battered, left on the brink of death every passing day.

"You're a bitch. You shouldn't dare cultivate. You're nothing but my plaything."

Such words were said to her repeatedly, enough that they were embedded deep into her soul... deeper than any trauma they could've caused.

After that, she lost track of time. Every day, she endured pain, embarrassment, and humiliation. Her heart broke into pieces, barely able to keep her ego intact.

Right as she was on the verge of breaking...

"...Miss Veronica found me," she said, her voice sounding gentle, no longer trembling in fear. "With her help, I found a new life as a hostess... a prostitute. It's nothing to boast about, but I'm proud of my job now."

Then, she raised her face. Her expression firm, with traces of barely dried-up tears at the corner of her eyes. She parted her lips, speaking with conviction and resolve.

"If I can cultivate once more, then I'd be willing to give anything for it," she said. "I... want to take revenge against him—Roamita's First Son, Phillip Roamita!"

"...I see." Xu Tao nodded, listening to everything up until the end. "If that's your only reason to cultivate, then you're not fit to be my disciple."

"...!"

Geraldine's eyes opened wide in shock. She felt... betrayed all of a sudden.

"So you're going to deny my one and only wish?!"

She gritted her teeth in anger. She risked opening up to him, revealing her weakness and trauma, and ended up hearing not acceptance, but rejection!

"You misunderstand," Xu Tao shook his head. "Revenge? That's fine and all, but..."

He raised a finger, speaking in a serious, threatening voice.

"Living for revenge will leave you empty after you accomplish it," he declared. "If you take me as your master, then getting your revenge is only a matter of time. However, I wouldn't want to accept a disciple who would lose their path after they achieve their goal."

"Then what do you want me to do...?!" she growled, marching toward Xu Tao and slamming her fist against his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You said you'd help me become a cultivator again, and now you're saying that you can't take me in! Are you fucking with me now?!"

Xu Tao didn't bother evading her attacks, as they weren't even enough to hurt him.

"I'm serious," he said.

"But if you want to be my disciple, you should change your motivation. Do not live for revenge, instead live to become stronger. Strong enough to be able to take revenge anytime you like."

"You..."

Geraldine's lips curled into an inexplicable expression. As if half crying, half laughing. "That's just sophistry..."

"Yes, it is." Xu Tao nodded, not denying it. "But believe me, one day, sophistry will become the pillar to support you in the hardest times."

After that, no words came from either of them. Only the sound of Geraldine sniffing as she waited for her tears to dry echoed in the room.

About two minutes later, she finally walked backwards, head craned low.

"I understand," she said, her will firm. "I will live to become strong. Strong enough so that nobody else can take what's important to me away! As such, please, Master Xu Tao, please take me as your disciple!"

Hearing this, Xu Tao's lips curled up.

"Good. Then, from now on, call me Master."

"Yes, Master!"

Xu Tao nodded his head, before smiling.

"Then, let's strike while the iron's hot."

He raised his right hand as if holding a ball, fingers bursting with Qi.

"Remove your clothes and lie face down on the bed."

"..."

Geraldine hesitated but only for a moment.

After that, for a few hours straight, screams echoed from the room.

Screams that made the women who were eavesdropping outside misunderstand the situation, wondering how much of a "monster" Xu Tao was in bed!

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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