[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for slaying the thousand-year-old tree demon and saving 12 lives. Reward: 50,000 merit points.]
In the vast forest, a towering mutated tree demon, dozens of meters tall, collapsed with a thunderous crash. Countless thick vines withered instantly, revealing piles of animal bones buried beneath them.
Zhou Fan stood cloaked in black robes, his entire figure shrouded in dark mist. Before him were over a dozen young cultivators, the leader of whom was conjuring a fireball in his palm—yet all of them were utterly stunned.
A casual glance told Zhou Fan that these were all low-level cultivators from the Daoist realm, the strongest only at the 5th stage of Qi Refining, with most hovering around the 3rd stage. Against a thousand-year-old tree demon, they would have been nothing more than cannon fodder.
"G-Great Master!!! Please take me as your disciple!" The leader of the group dropped to his knees before Zhou Fan.
This was beyond cool—slaying such a terrifying tree demon with a single strike! What kind of powerhouse was this? Only a legendary Grandmaster could wield such power!
But Zhou Fan merely frowned, then waved his hand, pocketing the demon core of the tree demon.
A Soul-Shaping stage tree demon would normally require dozens of Grandmaster-level experts to subdue.
Since Dragon Country entered the era of spiritual energy resurgence, it wasn’t just humans who benefited—all living beings were evolving.
Cities were relatively safer, as any large animals showing signs of powerful mutations were swiftly taken away by Dragon Country’s relevant authorities. But remote areas, especially unregulated tropical rainforests, had become breeding grounds akin to a gu pot.
The Daoist Association of Dragon Country frequently issued missions to cultivators—clearing out minor monsters in exchange for pills, magical artifacts, and the like. Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
"Great Master, please take me as your disciple! I beg you! I have great talent!"
Zhou Fan remained silent.
With a turn, he vanished into the dark mist.
He was currently taking on missions himself, as the Daoist Association’s tasks aligned perfectly with his own goals.
Why not double-dip, milking both the system and the Daoist Association for rewards?
Zhou Fan headed straight to the Daoist Association with the thousand-year-old tree demon’s core.
Completing an S-rank mission earned him three mid-grade spirit stones and a heap of pills.
"This Jiang Che… just who are you?"
Zhou Fan couldn’t help but wonder again.
He had long been suspicious of Jiang Che.
Now, the biggest question arose—where was he getting so many pills and spirit stones?
The sheer volume of low-tier pills, with a single batch numbering in the millions, suggested Dragon Country couldn’t possibly have enough alchemists to produce them in such a short time.
Only two possibilities remained: either Jiang Che also had a system, or he possessed an alchemical furnace!
As a former Divine Completion-stage demonic cultivator from the Northwest Nether Heaven, Zhou Fan was well aware of the reputation of alchemical furnaces. After all, in the Nine Heavens, mid- and low-tier alchemists had long been replaced by them.
"Even if he has a system, he wouldn’t just give away so many pills for free! It must be an alchemical furnace!"
"Which means… Jiang Che must have come from the Nine Heavens? Is he like me?"
Zhou Fan narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
Suddenly, he recalled his first encounter with Jiang Che—the man’s gaze had been laced with amusement. He must have seen through Zhou Fan’s true identity!
"Wait, no! Jiang Che has a powerful master backing him. Could these alchemical furnaces have been given to him by his master?"
In an instant, Zhou Fan’s mind short-circuited.
Despite being a demonic cultivator, he was exceedingly cautious.
If Jiang Che had merely displayed vast resources without showing overwhelming strength, Zhou Fan would have observed for a while before making his move—killing and looting him.
But Jiang Che had a mysterious, formidable master behind him… and worse, he had already noticed Zhou Fan!
Now, Zhou Fan didn’t even dare to investigate Jiang Che’s background.
"Better play it safe. This guy is too strange. The Nirvana-stage aura that erupted on Earth recently, along with the frequent anomalies… they might be connected to his master!"
A suspected Nirvana-stage powerhouse, currently residing in the mortal realm, would be virtually invincible.
With such strength, even Dragon Country’s most powerful nuclear weapons wouldn’t be enough to kill him.
In the Nine Heavens, Zhou Fan had once witnessed a battle between two supreme demonic cultivators at the Nirvana stage. A single casual strike could devastate dozens of miles, with the aftermath turning a thousand-mile radius into a wasteland—not even an ant would be spared, all souls reaped into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
If the power gap was less than 30%, he might have taken the risk—fortune favors the bold.
But Jiang Che was clearly beyond his ability to defeat. The only option was to avoid him entirely.
"Then why do I keep feeling like I’m being watched at all times? Is it just my imagination?"
Zhou Fan narrowed his eyes.
Was it the system?
But there were no answers. The only way forward was to grow stronger.
Right now, the two hottest cultivation manuals—"The Scripture of Dao Transmission" and "The Scripture of the Human Emperor"—were both off-limits.
"The Scripture of Dao Transmission" had already been exposed as the "Robe-Stealing Demonic Art," and "The Scripture of the Human Emperor" was likely no good either.
Suddenly, Zhou Fan felt as though he had been dragged into another grand conspiracy.
In his past life, he had struggled half a lifetime just to escape the chessboard. Yet now, after reincarnating… he had stepped right back onto someone else’s game.
"Am I doomed… to remain a pawn forever?"
Zhou Fan muttered to himself, then let out a self-deprecating laugh—though his eyes gleamed with a trace of darkness.
...
"Tsk tsk tsk, this persecution complex is truly something else!"
Jiang Che rubbed his chin.
Zhou Fan’s instincts weren’t wrong—Jiang Che had indeed been monitoring him from the shadows.
But Jiang Che had no intention of taking his life. After all, this was a prime cash cow!
What kind of boss would fire an employee who worked overtime every night?
More importantly, with Jiang Che’s current strength, even if Zhou Fan had rebellious intentions, he posed no threat.
Truth be told, ever since the system’s last update, the shop had been stocked with terrifyingly powerful item cards. Even if a true powerhouse from the Nine Heavens descended, Jiang Che wouldn’t bat an eye.
So-called "Chosen Ones" and "villains"… wasn’t it all just a matter of who had the higher status?
Sure, he might have been handed the villain’s script, but when his status was high enough to crush all protagonists, was he even a villain anymore?
"Still, Zhou Fan is sharp—he actually suspects me?"
"But no matter how shrewd he is, he’d never guess… even his system is my mole. Hehehe…"