Seized by the System

Fang Ning regained control of his body and turned to Zhi Nan. “Can you tell me which method you used, Devil Saint?”

The bald man returned a wry smile. “Nothing special, actually. There’s no need to tell you.”

‘My meaning’s painfully obvious. I might let you in on my secret after you become my subordinate…’

“Eh, what the f*ck?! This petty assh*le doesn’t want to tell us anything!” Sir System threw a fit.

“Calm down, calm down. Our main problem now is we haven’t reloaded enough money…” Fang Ning pacified the System. “He won’t say anything, but someone will tell us.”

“Eh, you’re right, Mr. Rich Boss. We’ll still know despite him not telling us. Let’s not waste any more time with him. Even if he says something, he might dupe us.” Sir System’s tone softened.

“Correct. Let’s go then.” Fang Ning instructed.

After that, Vigilante A declared. “Since you’re unwilling to share it with us, Devil Saint, it’s fine. It’s just that this planet has not witnessed a period of peace and stability for quite some time. I hope you know what’s best for yourself instead of going down the wrong path.”

“Hehe, I do admire your persistence…” Zhi Nan muttered with a smirk.

“…” Vigilante A did not bother with his nonsense and flew away.

In the System Space.

Fang Ning scrambled into the Draconic Arcane Realm in search of Chong Daqing. If he guessed correctly, it should be there.

It was because one of the old ginseng’s roots had ripened recently…

The whitestone people, who were in charge of looking after the herb garden, had reported this matter a while ago.

Fang Ning thought that Chong Daqing, who just had a feast in the Land of Culinary, would surely not miss this opportunity.

A bowl of ginseng root soup had significant restorative properties…

Just as he expected, the old ginseng shook violently when Fang Ning stepped into the herb garden. It behaved as if it saw its savior and waved at him from afar…

A giant green insect was digging enthusiastically under its dense green leaves.

It dug and murmured. “I’ve waited so long for your root to ripen. Don’t be so petty. Sharing is caring…”

“Ugh, what a quarrelsome duo…” Fang Ning rolled his eyes.

Earlier, he had explained to Sir System why the old ginseng would never let Chong Daqing eat its roots. It was because it had not undergone its transformation.

If one of its roots were eaten, which constituted a necessary part of its transformation, it would spell trouble.

Due to the shortage of one root, it might become disabled. Although there was a low chance that this would occur, no one wanted to take that risk.

Once its transformation was complete, it would no longer have to worry about such a problem.

The limbs of a ginseng sprite could not be eaten, but its beard and hair were consumable. On a piece of ginseng, these were just some fibrous roots.

Until now, however, no one knew whether those fibrous roots would transform into legs, arms or a few strands of hair.

These days, Fang Ning managed to wrap his head around this issue. It was a problem about forward and backward projection.

The old ginseng had not become a sprite and could not flee, but it could still switch the position of its roots beneath the ground at will, causing Chong Daqing’s efforts to be in vain.

Of course, Daqing was afraid that it would cause too great of a commotion and refrained from using magic. Or else, even if there were 10 old ginsengs, it would have dug out everything.

“Sigh, take a break, Daqing. I’ll tell you why the old ginseng will never let you eat its roots…”

Fang Ning explained patiently.

“Eh, tell me about it. It’s just petty and selfish, just like the Great Azure Dragon.” Chong Daqing whined.

Fang Ning told it the truth.

When he finished speaking, he noticed the old ginseng nodding its branches continuously, as if it were trying to say “That’s why”.

“Huh, what’s so good about becoming human? Why do you want to be a man instead of a good ole’ ginseng? It’s so tiring and you get nagged all the time. If you aren’t good enough, people will talk sh*t about you. Imagine how exhausting that is? An insect like me will never have to worry about whether I’m good enough. My life is pleasant and carefree…” Chong Daqing shook its head in disbelief and tried to advise the old ginseng.

“Eh, whatever you say, it still thinks that you’re saying so just because you want to eat its roots, so it’ll never listen to you. You’re just wasting your time, although I do agree that you have a point…” Fang Ning interrupted, his expression thoughtful. “A man has to get married and have children, then he has to take care of his children, and when his children are grown up, he has to worry about their marriage and their children… What a pain.”

“Ah, Fang the Cook, what you said is so true. Argh, you’re my confidant after all…” Chong Daqing squealed with delight. “When I was still a young insect in the Upper Realm, those sisters of mine would spend their days looking for husbands, and they wanted to find one for me too. Alas, the Upper Realm faced extinction and no one wanted to talk about this anymore, which gave me some peace…”

“When they descend to the Lower Realm, they will still want to find husbands…” Fang Ning said wryly. “One can never escape this unless he or she became a god, a deity or a Buddha.”

“Oh, I don’t have to do it anyway, since I’m not human…” Chong Daqing asserted.

“Eh, it’s my first time hearing someone who can proudly declare itself as a non-human.” Fang Ning raised his eyebrows.

“Enough talk, do you have any other matters? If not, leave. I’m going to talk some sense into this dumb ginseng and make it give up its intention of becoming a human.” Chong Daqing shooed.

“Oh, I would like to seek the assistance of your Divine Powers and inquire about something.” Fang Ning finally revealed his true intention of visiting.

“It’s easy. Make the old ginseng give up one of its roots for me, and I shall answer any question of yours.” Chong Daqing’s lips curled into a sly smile.

“Hmm, that’s impossible. This herb garden doesn’t belong to me, but to Sir Dragon God.” Fang Ning rejected its proposal flatly.

“Hey, do have a high sense of awareness now, Mr. Rich Boss? You even know these aren’t your things.” Sir System was pleased.

“F*ck, you do know how to take advantage of situations and parade your territory everywhere.” Fang Ning blinked with surprise.

“But of course, if I don’t remind you, you’ll steal my stuff.” Sir System emphasized.

“Nonsense, if we don’t spend some resources, Chong Daqing won’t answer us. You better dish out some legendary cuisines, those glowing ones…” Fang Ning stood his ground.

“Damn you, I’m always the one who has to pay an arm and a leg.” Sir System was exasperated. “Apparently one can’t be too capable, or else people will always depend on you.”

“Eh, chop chop. If you take too long, Daqing won’t talk at all.” Fang Ning egged the System on.

“For you.”

All of a sudden, a dish of glowing cuisine appeared in Fang Ning’s palms. It emanated an enticing aroma.

“Hey, what’s this? Is it edible?”

Naturally, this glowing dish blinded Daqing’s eyes.

“Hey, this is the mythical glowing dish, a type of legendary-level cuisine!” Fang Ning beamed with pride and took the credit. “Thirty years of painstaking effort was spent to craft this dish. It’s a secret recipe and no one else can learn it.”

“Let me have it and I shall answer your question.” Chong Daqing cried excitedly.

“Ok, hold on, I’ll write it down.” Fang Ning smiled. Sir System’s handiwork was indeed reliable. The dish appeased Daqing at once.

A few minutes later, Fang Ning held out a piece of paper with his written inquiries.

“The Devil Saint Zhi Nan used an unknown method that forced two powerful Upper Realm gods to leave Earth within two days. What method did he use?”

“Erm, that’s a rather tough question…” Daqing scratched the back of its head.

“You made your promise just now. Relax, I’ll also give you some digestive tablets.”

Fang Ning handed over two Empyrean Pills.

Chong Daqing swallowed everything there and then…