"Huh!?" Can Yue raised an eyebrow, wondering if she had heard it wrong.
"I think I am having trouble hearing. Can you repeat that once again?" Though she still spoke in a soft and calm voice, Yang Ze could feel the murderous intent behind those words. She couldn't believe that a mere slave would dare to refute her.
"I said... NO"
This time, Yang Ze's voice reverberated in the entire room. Even if Cang Yue truly had problems with her hearing, she would hear those words clearly.
"You..." Cang Yue's eyes went wide as she raised her hand and patted towards the man in front of her.
Yang Ze didn't dodge or perhaps couldn't. He just stood in silence watching her swatting towards him before an invisible force hit him on the head, planting him face-first in the ground.
"BANG"
With a loud noise, Yang Ze was plastered onto the ground like a dead dog. The force was so sudden and violent that he didn't even have time to react. Lying on the ground, he only felt that his entire body was in pain and his vision was blurry. There was even a sweet iron-like taste in his mouth that seemed to be his blood.
He didn't move, but just stayed there in that position. Just because he decided to stand up for himself and not listen to anyone else's orders doesn't mean acting like a tough man while constantly getting beaten up. He decided to just play dead so that he could escape this situation.
Unfortunately for him, Cang Yue didn't buy this act of his.
"Hmph!" With a cold snort, she stood up as her figure moved like a ghost, directly standing in front of Yang Ze.
Without a word, she grabbed him by his neck and picked him up effortlessly like a chicken.
With an expressionless face and squinted eyes, she gazed deeply at the man in front of her, who was half her size and frail in appearance.
"How about you answer me once again?" This time, her hand, which was grabbing his neck, strengthened its grip as if warning Yang Ze that the moment he spoke something wrong, it would crush his neck.
Knowing that playing dead wasn't going to get him anywhere, Yang Ze just opened his eyes with a heavy sigh. He quietly looked at her for a while before shaking his head.
"I said, I am not going to follow your orders."
With these words, he had already prepared himself for death. He didn't feel any regret or anger... Just helplessness. There were many things he wanted to do, but he never got the chance or time. He believed that if he had one year, he would have definitely stepped into the Vein Expansion realm or perhaps even into the Core Condensation realm. But now...
But even then, he didn't regret the choice he made.
He had had enough of being ordered around and doing things he didn't want to do. If the price of staying alive was his freedom and being treated like a dog... then death was a much better option.
Who knows, perhaps after dying, he could travel into another world? Anyway, he had already died once; what difference does it make if he dies once again?
Cang Yue noticed his fearlessness and eyes that were a still as an ocean. There was no panic, no fear or no flattery. It was just a simple expression of relief, as if the other party had already decided to end their life.
"....." In her twenty-plus years of life, Cang Yue had never seen a person like this. As a saintess of the Duality Sect, she often toyed with the so-called young ladies and talented men, and often came across a few arrogant bastards with immense pride. But every single of them under her torture and threat of death would cower in fear, even begging to be spared. Each and every one of them was afraid of death.
Even the two women she was currently toying with were no exceptions.
But not this man...
The man in front of her seemed to have no fear of death. On the contrary, he seemed eager, as if wanting to escape from this life.
This was such a contrasting thing from what she had seen till now. For a while, even she didn't know what to do next.
It wasn't until almost five minutes had passed that she finally let out a smile.
"Interesting." The smile on her usually expressionless face was so captivating that even Yang Ze forgot his current condition.
"I can see why Lin Wan likes you."
With a nod, she released him from her grasp before turning around and sitting back in her initial position.
Yang Ze, on the other hand, just rubbed his neck while looking at the woman who had returned to her previous disposition.
"You can leave." Waving her hand, she dismissed Yang Ze before closing her eyes.
Yang Ze didn't immediately leave, but first looked at her personal panel.
[Name: Cang Yue]
[Age: 27]
[Realm: 4th Vein Expansion]
[Physique: Nine Yin Demonic Physique]
[Talent: Sinful Yin Heart(Purple), Ethereal Shadow Step(Green), Calamity Gaze(Purple), Whispering Illusions(Blue)]
[Evaluation: A dangerous and unpredictable person who can pat you to death.]
He thought for a moment before whispering, "Sign in to Calamity Gaze."
[Congratulations on sign in to Calamity Gaze(Purple). Recieved All Seeing Eyes(Gold)]
[All Seeing Eyes(Gold): See through the essence of everything.]
Looking a the message, Yang Ze's heart almost leapt out of his throat. By now, he had an initial understanding of the so-called talents and their rarity.
The first one was white talent, which was the most ordinary one. Then there was Green talent, which was a bit stronger than the white, but not by too much. After that were Blue and Purple talents, which were exceedingly rare and powerful. So much so, that when he visited the Stonegate city, he didn't find a single person with blue talent there amongst the population of tens of thousands of people.
And then, after the purple talent was 'Gold'. Something that he hadn't seen so far.
Just the two talents, Enlightenment(purple) and Persistence(purple) were already heaven-defying. These two were the sole reason that he could practice so fast without any resources.
If two purple talents were already so powerful, then he didn't dare to imagine what a Gold talent would be like.
Controlling the excitement in his heart, he silently turned around and left the room. He didn't dare to receive the reward there.
Though his entire body was in pain, the excitement of getting a gold talent overshadowed everything else.
It wasn't long before he reached his room. After locking his door and making sure that no one else was there, Yang Ze clenched his fists in excitement before muttering in a soft voice.
"Receive."
The moment he received the reward, he felt a tingling sensation in his eyes. At first, it was just slight discomfort, but over time, it turned into a burning sensation.
"AAAAHHHH." Yang Ze tried his best to endure, but how could someone like him endure the pain of eyes melting away?
It was as if someone was pouring hot molten lava into his eyes.
Every passing moment felt worse than dying. He even had an urge to just reach inside and pluck out his eyes. But in the end, he somehow managed to endure it.
This painful process lasted for a full ten minutes, and when it was over, Yang Ze was already lying on the floor like a dead dog.
Even with the strength of Mid-stage Pulse Opening and the talent Mighty Vigour(blue), he felt weak. There was just not a single ounce of strength in his body.
"Huff... Huff..."
Taking deep breaths, he managed to calm himself and, after an unknown amount of time, finally opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the floor, and the moment he saw it, a small prompt appeared in front of his eyes.
[The roof of an ordinary house is made with twenty-year-old hardwood.]
"Eh!" Yang Ze rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things.
Turing around, he looked at the wall, and another prompt appeared before him.
[Wall of an ordinary house made with twenty-year-old hardwood.]
He then looked at the bed.
[An ordinary bed that is good for sleeping.]
"This..." Yang Ze was stunned for a long time. He kept on looking around, and the prompt never disappeared.
"Isn't this just an appraisal skill?" Yang Ze felt like his brain had stopped working. When he got this talent, he was over the moon, thinking it was the best thing ever.
But now...
With every passing moment, the previous excitement disappeared before his expression turned dark.
"What kind of shitty skill is this?" He wanted to curse out loud.
The most important usage of this type of skill was to appraise people. But with his sign-in system, he didn't even need that.
What was the use of this thing to him?
Clenching his teeth, he wanted to curse, but held it back.
"No... In the future, I will come across many items and treasures. It will come in handy then." He could only console himself like this.
Even though this talent wasn't going to help in the short term, it was going to be extremely useful in the long term. It was just a pity that what he needed right now were talents that could help him in his current situation.
With a sigh, he just closed his eyes and focused on his daily practice.
-------
On the other side, after Yang Ze felt, Cang Yue quietly looked at his departing back before focusing back on the two women in front of her.
She thought about bringing in another man to play with these two, but after a while, she gave up.
She pulled out a small piece of round candy before forcibly placing it in Lin Yue's mouth.
"Now then." She clapped with a gentle smile.
"In the next five minutes, you two need to exchange it via mouth, and the person whose mouth this candy will disappear will receive punishment."
With a smile, she grabbed their two heads, brought them close and forcibly connected their mouths.
"START."