Seized by the System

In the Penitentiary Office, Anderson explained when he saw the surprise on the Warden’s face.

“Devils don’t understand the concept of unity; they tend to prey on the weak and compete among each other. The seven devils were of similar caliber and so they could not lord themselves over each other. What they were thinking was that they could very well have overpowered the Venerable Dragon God if they were to put on a united forefront, but there would surely be casualties. No one wanted to die, so naturally, the only way was to run.”

“I see.” Fang Ning nodded. “This is where humans excel. No matter how many flaws we have, there are always some of us who have the courage to sacrifice themselves, truly sacrifice themselves, in exchange for the safety of the next generations and the majority.”

“Mr. Warden, you’re right, but you’ll have to remember that this observation of yours is based on what normal citizens would do. Those cultivation powerhouses won’t always possess this spirit… In the Upper Realm, the stronger a person is, the more selfish he is in turn. The weaker people are always the sacrificial lambs. There are a few strange cases that manage to defy their fates, but they’re rare occurrences.” Anderson reminded him.

Fang Ning nodded. The way the other reminded him showed that he was truly looking out for him.

Anderson reminded him of this only because he did not want him to be foiled by the other human powerhouses.

“You can stop yammering about bullshit with him over there,” Sir System said to Fang Ning with resentment. “Quickly analyze something for me, can you? The devils out there are all at Pond and Lake-level, Inland-sea level even. Why did I only gain one or two experience points for each of them? Is there a bug in the system rules?”

Upon the System’s words, Fang Ning dove into thought, and instantly had a guess.

He said with certainty, “Uh, I’ve thought of something actually. Do you remember the World of Deadly Souls we stopped by in when we opened that light gate?”

“I do. The monsters over there were not the typical creatures; they’re all consisted of death auras, resentment, and vindictiveness.” When Sir System finished his sentence, he came into a realization. “I understand! Those devils are like them too — they present a formidable exterior but they’re essentially nothing inside. The core of their power is long consumed by the many types of deathly auras floating around in their world. They’re not like those deities in the Upper Realm who still possess signs of life, and so killing them won’t give me any experience points.”

“Exactly. Hmmph, those Devil Lords are not that stupid. Those imports they shipped to us are all pure unadulterated trash!” Fang Ning said with resentment. “Pity, this is still a treasure in the martyr’s eyes.”

“Curses! That move just now ate a large half of my internal energy. It’s not something as trivial as cabbage; I’ll have to consume either pills or food. or absorb them slowly, which is more time-consuming. There are costs! Now I’ve wiped out an entire realm of devils, but I’ve only gained ten million EXP. What a huge loss!” Sir System said gloomily.

“There’s nothing we can do. We’ll have to fight till they send out their strongest if you want to gain more experience points.” Fang Ning shook his head.

It was at this minute that Bodhisattva Spirit King emerged.

“Venerable One, thank you for your efforts.” He walked over with a small smile on his face.

“It wasn’t much effort, so to say, but killing those devils — thousands upon thousands of them — did not impact my training at all because they did not abide by the Heavenly Axiom.”

Bodhisattva Spirit King was deep in thought for a moment. He then said, “It would be better to say that they were vessels, instead of devils.”

“The Bodhisattva’s truly observant,” Vigilante A nodded. “These devils collected deathly auras from the Devil World, much like trash disposals on Earth, and transferred those from the Devil World to our world. This truly evil and underhanded move really is beneath contempt.”

“In my opinion, I fear that their purpose is not limited to this alone,” Bodhisattva shook his head. “The Devil Lord Zhi Nan, as one of the Ten Devil Lords, could possibly know of something. We can ask him for some answers.”

“He has already gone into hiding, reverted to his roots and became a monk in turn. So, he won’t necessarily know of classified information of this kind, though your suggestion does make some sense. Its best if I still go to him and enquire him, so as to not falter in the face of adversity in the future.”

“Then this will be in your hands. Fawang and I will look after the space control in the meantime. We’ll definitely keep the devils and the mayhem they cause out of this world.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

After that, Vigilante A opened a light gate with a gesture and disappeared through it.

…

The multimedia room in the Truth Department of China was crowded with people.

“He’s awesome!”

“This is the power of the Venerable Dragon God? This is unfathomable.”

A group of people was watching the video on loop. They had watched it ten times and more, but they never tired of it.

Swords of energy materializing from everywhere and puncturing devils instantly — even movies could not have special effects that flashy.

Not to mention that resounding background music that was purely organic.

Ren Ruofeng, who was sitting in a corner of the room, was somewhat consoled by the emotional shift in the room.

The Land of Sanguinity was in frequent contact with the outside world. They had studied the mechanics in relation to the fertility of the Blood River when the Population Increase Plan was underway. A surveillance system was installed there to facilitate the study.

Those devils had merely been interested in vitality and life but not technology and non-living beings, and so did not have the desire to destroy those.

As for how the surveillance feeds could be transmitted from the Realm to Earth via Wi-fi, thus transcending space, the answer was still unknown. It could only be said that the Realm had many undiscovered secrets.

“Anping, you’re also skilled with knives. How big a difference do you think exists between your skill and this one?” Ren Ruofeng asked Qiao Anping beside him.

Qiao Anping let out a bitter chuckle. “Sigh, the distance between that Sanguine Slice of mine and that sword is immeasurable. I have a feeling, though, that if I fought in that Land of Sanguinity, my strength would multiply by a few times at the least. If it proved that I couldn’t fight against the seven that are strongest, I can still hold my own against the others.”

“Out of us here, you alone possess the strength that is closest to those higher-ups. You still have to work hard. If you need anything, just tell me. it’s best if you achieve a breakthrough to the next level as soon as you can and strive to be the first local Sea-level powerhouse. Only with this, we can fight for our say on future occasions.”

“Thank you for your concern, Senior.” Qiao Anping nodded.

Whilst the two seniors were deep in conversation, the younger generation was holding one of theirs too.

Xu Rui asked Qiao Zishan, “Leader Qiao, if he were you, how many of those can you defeat?”

Qiao Zishan spoke after a minute’s thought. “I could hold myself for about ten minutes, I would say. Morality should be useful in warding off those devils, and you’ve seen that jade talisman of mine before.”

“Hmm, that’s expected, you having strength befitting of a leader. Xue Feng, how about you/” Xu Rui said to an expressionless young man enclosing a sword in his arms.

“If you’re talking about devils of that caliber, I can kill however much comes at me.” Xue Feng said unwaveringly.

“Tsk…” Everyone sent him incredulous gazes.

If they did not know that this cold-faced man never lied, someone would’ve booed him by now.

“It seems like that Heavenly Sword of yours has evolved into a whole new level in these few years.” Xu Rui said with a hint of envy.

“It’ll do.” Xue Feng said stoically.

Everyone knew that he owned a Heavenly Sword that manifested a spirit a few years ago, but they did not know that this power this sword wielded could compare to the Venerable Dragon God’s.

Ren Ruofeng was surprised when he heard that. It seemed that he really did underestimate the potential of those young cultivators.

As the Heavenly Axiom operated in its mysterious ways, there would always be people who possessed extraordinary luck. An example was those true lottery winners back in the Era of Peace. Winning billions with a strike was definitely considered as extremely fortunate in a time of money and riches.

Those who could grasp their chances were increasingly few.

In retrospect, this junior of his, Xue Feng, was one of them.

At that, the worry in his heart lessened by a little. If given time, the Chinese humans would not necessarily lose to those devils.

To achieve that, he as a strategist should acquire more resources for those with potential.

Qiao Anping was as overcome with stress as he was relieved when he heard those words. This was a new era; it was no longer an era of age superiority. As long as she youth possessed potential and proficiency, plus some luck, they could catch up very quickly with hard work.

Only a few years had passed, but him, a leader, was starting to feel stress from being pursued by his juniors.

As his Cultivation Base was currently hard pressed for advancement, he would have to see into improving his equipment.