Seized by the System

Chapter 1097: The Good and Bad People of the Upper Realm

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“How many experience points do you need?” Fang Ning asked.

“At least a billion,” Sir System said in an upset tone.

“That’s very expensive and it’ll all be gone if the incarnation dies. No wonder you’re unwilling to use it,” Fang Ning responded with great understanding.

“It’s good that you know it,” Sir System shouted in reply.

As the conversation came to an end, Fang Ning struck upon an idea just as he was about to go back to play again. “That’s not right, this incarnation of yours can carry out Ultra Spatio-temporal Communication. Everything I’ve said to it is passed over through a different world to you, so why are both of you saying that you can only know what happens to it after you retract it?” Fang Ning asked in surprise.

“Uh...” Sir System was speechless and responded after a moment, “You don’t need to know this, it has nothing to do with your mission.”

“How does it not affect it? Every time I encounter a problem, I’d back off the game and ask you, the GM. Do you know how troublesome that is?” Fang Ning responded loudly.

“You’re just lazy,” Sir System commented angrily.

“Hurry up, tell me the reason,” Fang Ning urged.

“It’s very simple, I just cut off all links with it after it’s sent to the Primary World. In this case, if it’s killed, it wouldn’t affect me at all,” Sir System finally spilled the beans.

“...” Fang Ning was speechless, but quickly recovered and said, “What if I’m controlling it from afar? If it’s killed, what will happen to me?”

“Uh, if you’re smart enough and withdraw from its body before it’s killed, you’ll be alright; if you’re lazy and deep in sleep, I’m sorry to say, but you’ll permanently lose a small part of Spiritual Sense that was controlling it and the consequence is that you’ll suffer a headache for a few days,” Sir System said triumphantly.

“Shame on you!” Fang Ning sneered.

“Thank you for the compliment,” Sir System replied as it remained unbothered.

After cursing Sir System, Fang Ning behaved himself and entered the System Incarnation’s body and continued playing his RPG game.

However, he was more careful this time.

If Sir System said he would have a headache for the next few days, that meant his head was really going to hurt and it was those headaches where even one’s soul could feel the ache. He did not want to go through that.

People who have had a high fever understood the pain of headaches and they truly knew that a splitting headache was not just a vague description but a literal fact. It was a kind of feeling that made one itched to split open one’s head and stir everything in it.

After returning to System Incarnation in the Primary World, Fang Ning found himself in a huge hall with rows of tall shelves, all filled with books.

The shelves were filled with various collections of ancient books such as jade scrolls, silk manuscripts, and bamboo slips.

The System Incarnation swiftly scanned through the books, its speed of reading even faster than a photocopy machine. It did not even have to flip through many of the books, just a sweep through the pages using its Spiritual Sense and it was able to imprint everything in its mind.

The jade scrolls were the only ones that required Spiritual Sense to look through, so that was a slower process.

The middle-aged Taoist priest leader who was waiting by his side was not surprised at all. After all, it was the speed of an immortal.

After three whole hours, everything in the hall was completely absorbed.

Fang Ning finally turned to the middle-aged Taoist priest and said, “Alright, you can go out now. I’d like to theorize right now.”

“Yes, Immortal,” the middle-aged Taoist priest said, then exited the hall.

Once the other party left, Vigilante A vanished into thin air.

Not long after, the middle-aged Taoist leader who seemed to be uneasy brought someone along and sneaked back, but soon realized that the hall was already empty.

He looked through the place carefully, but there was nothing to be found at all. He panicked at once and frantically ordered his underlings to look around.

After a while, the Taoist priests all came back to report.

“Palace master, there is no trace of the Immortal anywhere in the palace.”

“Is it possible he just came to cheat our classical books and records?” He asked subconsciously. “That doesn’t make sense though. It would be more useful if he had cheated us our crystals. The ancient books and records can’t even be cultivated now, so what’s the point of stealing them?”

“Uh, it isn’t very nice to simply speculate the Immortal, is it? Palace master, perhaps the Immortal has hidden somewhere,” a young Taoist priest who had an innocent face mentioned boldly.

“What immortal? Shui Lai, you’re a complete fool. He didn’t even have true Immortal Energy nor an imperial edict mark of the Celestial Court.” The old Taoist priest continued, his face filled with jealousy. “As the old saying goes, one who is unaccountably solicitous is hiding evil intentions. I believe that fellow used some method to absorb the vitality and transform powers, then came here and pretend to be something he’s not. Look at his abilities, which one of us wasn’t as able as him a hundred years ago?”

“Uncle, keep your voice down. Nevermind about the Celestial Court’s imperial edict, you can’t verbally assault him like that. Talking like that, are you eager to die?” Someone quickly advised.

The middle-aged Taoist priest leader waved his arm, signaling the crowd to quiet down.

“Talk less about the Immortal behind his back and stay honest with me. Anyway, we didn’t lose anything since the true core classics aren’t stored here,” he said seriously, “Let’s not care whether he’s a true immortal. If he can help us find a way out, so what if we serve him for a bit? After all, the Celestial Court doesn’t care about us anymore now.”

At this moment, the old master who bad-mouthed Fang Ning earlier on had a twinkle in his eye. He leaned over to the middle-aged Taoist priest and whispered something in his ear.

The middle-aged Taoist priest leader was hesitant for a while after listening to the old master, but he soon made up his mind and commanded the priests, “Shui Qu, Shui Lai, the both of you stand guard here and wait for the Immortal to return. Others, come with me to Feng Tian Temple.”

The two young Taoist priests, Shui Qu and Shui Lai, both got up and kept watch in the library.

As for the others, everyone followed the middle-aged Taoist priest leader’s lead and left for another place.

When everyone finally left, the two young Taoist priests began their little discussion.

“I think that Immortal’s quite kind, so why is Uncle Wu so against him?” The young Taoist priest, Shui Lai, asked in an upset tone.

If it was before, he would not have dared to talk about the right and wrong of the teacher, but throughout these few hundred years, especially since the people in the palace have lost their powers, they could only get by with cheating and oppressing the villagers a few hundred miles away. The difference between both sides, the authority of the inside and outside, was naturally clear.

“Hmph, that old fellow’s probably thinking back of the time where he used to behave like a tyrant. When he kneeled to the Immortal just now, I’m pretty sure he got slightly upset,” Shui Qu said scornfully.

“I have a feeling they’ll stir trouble up when they go out. Do you think they’ll let us take the blame?” Shui Lai asked in a worried tone.

“I have the same feeling too. The old fellow told the palace master something and I’m sure it’s something no good.” Shui Qu was helpless too.

“Why not we sneak away, or it’ll be hard for us when we’re stuck in the middle of everything,” Shui Lai said all of a sudden.

In the past, he would never have had the courage, but now he did.

“Hmm, you’re right. Let’s sneak away first and see how things go. From what we’ve seen just now, palace master seems to be unfavorable to the Immortal. If they were to fight, us small little shrimps will be the first to suffer.” Shui Lai agreed with Shui Qu.

Based on a vague discussion and speculation, due to the lack of information, the two young Taoist priests of Xing Yun Palace decided then to escape.

Thus, it could be seen that after the vitality diminution, the Taoist clan’s prestige had fallen rapidly. As soldiers of the end of a dynasty, those who fled when they heard that the enemy was coming were considered low-level soldiers, whereas those who only fled after seeing the enemy were in comparison considered of a higher level since the bar had been set so low, to begin with.

...

At the same time, in System Space.

System Notification: [The System gained 12,000,000,000 experience points, System Incarnation is now equipped with a temporary System Map function.]

Filled with satisfaction, Fang Ning then said, “Help me theorize a technique to gather the Faith of Incense, I’ll try out the offerings of those mortals in the Upper Realm and see if I can transform it into Spiritual Sense. Perhaps it can be used to replace the role of vitality and use it to pray for rain and recover from the disaster.”

“As if.” Sir System immediately sneered. “There are so many monks and River Gods in the Upper Realm, is it possible they’ve never thought of using such a method? They are the ancestors of gods who became who they are by dealing with incense.”

“...” Fang Ning was stunned for a second before responding reluctantly, “Their skills are different from yours though, you’re still a System after all.”

“What’s the difference? Besides, how can we benefit if you find them a new way to cultivate?” Sir System opposed with disdain. “Are you a traitor now?”

“Hey, that’s a huge label you’re trying to put on me.” Fang Ning rolled his eyes but continued explaining patiently. “Do you think I’m stupid? I’m just trying to find a bargaining chip to try to win the power of justice. Like the Bodhisattva Spirit King, isn’t he one of the good people who descended from the Upper Realm? This is precisely the reason I asked you to get the System Map out earlier on. With that, we’ll have the Upper Realm’s guide to lead the way and from there, all the decaying forces of the gods will be destroyed and we’ll be able to receive their inheritance...”

“Oh, I see. It seems that my overall situation is still not as good as you. Mr. Rich Man, I’ve wronged you, I shall go theorize immediately.” Sir System confessed right away after listening to Fang Ning’s explanation.

“That’s more like it. You don’t have to worry though, you have to be more willing. The more willing you are to give, the more you’ll receive. As long as you can become the master of the universe, some losses can still be tolerated.” Fang Ning comforted.

“You better not be taking me lightly this time. If you are, I’m going to hit you,” Sir System muttered.