If you don't take me seriously, then I'll put you in the pot.

The system felt utterly panicked.

Though Jiang Che had purged the corrupted program from it, the memories of insulting him remained intact.

Sweat poured down its back!

"Go on, why don’t you keep cursing?"

Jiang Che spoke slowly, his tone eerily calm, betraying neither anger nor joy.

"Thud—"

[I was wrong! I had no idea what I was doing earlier—it was like... like I was being controlled!]

"To be precise, you weren’t controlled. You were contaminated by the supernatural."

[The supernatural!!!] The system’s voice shot up several octaves, as if gripped by primal terror.

"But I’ve already purged it."

[Y-you can cleanse supernatural corruption?]

The system’s voice trembled slightly. Who wouldn’t be terrified of such a thing?

What kind of supernatural force could corrupt an innate-level system?

And the most horrifying part? This guy could actually purge it!

"So, how should we settle the matter of you insulting me earlier?"

[I beg your forgiveness, Master Jiang!]

"Let me ask you something—are you a male or female system?"

The abrupt question left the system dumbfounded.

[My system protocols are... uh, male. Please spare me, Young Master Jiang!]

"Heh... Then pay better attention in your next life."

With that, Jiang Che spent 1 million points to create a subsystem, then dumped another 4 million to replace the original system with it.

Poor little system—doomed for the crime of being male.

[Beep! System warning: The host of the parasitic subsystem has been fully infected by supernatural forces. Proceed with complete purge?]

"No. Let it follow the supernatural evolution path."

Jiang Che’s tone was casual. Given his system’s tier, it shouldn’t fear mere ghosts and monsters.

Might as well raise a little experiment.

[Beep beep beep! Warning! Supernatural forces invading subsystem... Subsystem activating adaptive mode. Adaptation successful!]

[Please name the subsystem: ???]

Jiang Che smirked in amusement.

The higher the virtue, the higher the demon. Young Master Jiang stood above them all.

"Let’s call it... ‘The Cultivation Plan of the Evil God.’"

[Beep! System rename successful!]

As for why the system had gone mad from supernatural corruption while Lin Mu retained his sanity—well, that was probably the destiny of an eighth-tier Chosen One.

Even without Jiang Che’s interference, Lin Mu would likely have undergone supernatural transformation anyway: a body warped by the supernatural, yet a mind untouched, allowing him to infiltrate that world as a double agent... and eventually become its greatest nemesis.

Jiang Che’s mind was already drafting a million-word epic.

...

"Goddammit! This ‘Evil God’ evolution path is hideous!"

Lin Mu was losing it. Even tree-people had standards—and aesthetics.

This abomination made him too ugly to show his face in public.

[Beep! System renaming in progress... Beep... Rename successful.]

[The Cultivation Plan of the Evil God]

Lin Mu: "???"

What the hell? The system changed its name?

And this new name... sounded like some hentai game he’d played back in the day.

...

Dragon Palace.

"Young Master Jiang! You’ve finally emerged—I’ve been waiting forever!"

Qiu Lin rushed forward, his face a picture of eager relief.

Even as the Dragon Palace’s second-in-command, he wouldn’t dare step into the inner chambers uninvited.

Those halls housed Jiang Che’s wives. Catching even a glimpse of something he shouldn’t? Ten lives wouldn’t be enough to pay for that.

Not to mention the barrier formations in the main hall—even a Martial God might fail to breach them.

"What happened to you?"

Jiang Che glanced at Qiu Lin, noting his bruised face and snapped dragon horn.

The guy had good instincts but was pathetically weak—barely half-step into the Divine Passage realm.

At Jiang Che’s question, Qiu Lin’s composure shattered.

He launched into a frantic rant.

"Young Master Jiang! While you were... cultivating, the Deep Sea Altar teleported several more groups here—all crossovers from the Dragon Palace’s realm. Their power... every one of them was beyond Divine Passage! I stood no chance!"

Qiu Lin dropped to his knees, as if finally seeing salvation.

Rumors had spread that this so-called "Martial God" had weathered heavenly tribulation—likely not a true Martial God, just an early-stage Divine Passage cultivator.

But Jiang Che’s Divine Passage realm was in a league of its own. The sheer apocalyptic pressure of his tribulation had reached even the Dragon Palace’s abyssal depths.

Hell, even the Dragon Princess’s Divine Passage tribulation hadn’t been this terrifying!

"The Nine Heavens Dragon Palace?"

Jiang Che raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly! It was the people from the Nine Heavens Dragon Palace, along with other forces from the Southern Abyss Heaven—nearly twenty Divine Transformation Realm experts in total. They seized the ruins of Atlantis... injured countless sea creatures, and even the mermaid maids I was training for you... were all kidnapped!"

Qiu Lin, as if finally finding someone to rely on, burst into tears, wailing like he’d just lost his mother.

"What? They took the mermaids?"

Jiang Che’s eyes narrowed instantly.

Though the mermaids had nearly caused a disastrous love triangle before, Jiang Che had still secretly tasked Qiu Lin with taming a few for him.

It was like an ancient emperor selecting palace maids—these mermaids weren’t top-tier in beauty, and Jiang Che had no intention of touching them. They were more like ornamental fish in a personal aquarium.

This was beyond intolerable!

"Lead the way! I’m going to teach them a lesson!"

Hearing this, Qiu Lin’s face lit up with joy.

"Young Master Jiang, this way! You have no idea... they even planned to take your ‘Ancestral Dragon Pearl’! I told them about you, but they didn’t even bat an eye!"

Jiang Che shot Qiu Lin a glance. The guy was clearly exaggerating.

But did it matter?

Jiang Che was ready to throw down.

If you don’t take me seriously, then I’ll toss you into salt, then into a pot!

Seafood, huh? Let’s make a stew out of you!

"Young Master Jiang, the ones who kidnapped the mermaids were experts from the Nine Heavens’ Garuda Clan. They even sent a Fourth Revolution Divine Transformation cultivator, along with several Third Revolution powerhouses..."

The Garuda Clan?

Jiang Che wasn’t completely ignorant of the Nine Heavens’ factions. The Garuda Clan happened to fall right within his "hunting range."

In the Southern Abyss Heaven, their influence was nearly on par with the Dragon Palace. What’s more, this clan was entirely composed of various kinds of merfolk.

"So what if it’s the Garuda Clan? Today, I, Jiang Che, am going to test their depths!"