Chapter 3: Claiming Territory

Fun Skill: Soul of Bole — You possess the eyes of Bole, able to see talented people within your line of sight who possess the potential of a thousand-li horse. After locking onto a target and activating the skill, you can raise the other party’s favorability and increase the probability of them joining your faction by fifty percent. Activation method: look at the target with an appreciative gaze and say: “This person is fated with Us.”

Chi Yixuan: “…”

Combat Skill: Son of Heaven’s Decree — As the saying goes, when the Son of Heaven is enraged, millions of corpses fall and blood flows enough to float shields. Beneath the authority of the Son of Heaven, you all cannot help but die. This is an absolute attack skill with no limit on the number of targets. When the target is your subject or citizen, the probability of certain death is one hundred percent. When the target belongs to another faction, the higher the target’s cultivation, the lower the probability of certain death. Cooldown time: thirty minutes. Under extreme circumstances, points may be drawn in advance for overdraft use.

Activation method: say with anger, “Our insight is flawless. We would never misjudge a single person. Execute!”

Chi Yixuan: “…”

Perhaps he had been silent for slightly too long, because his smart assistant—now to be called his life-bound artifact—spoke up.

Do you have any other questions?

Chi Yixuan said, “Why do I have to shout a slogan to activate a skill?” Why were all these slogans so embarrassing? The key was… “And the slogan is pretty long. It’ll be easy for enemies to find an opening. What if they make the first move before I finish shouting?”

The life-bound artifact replied: First question: in the Longevity Realm, only after entering the Dao can one drive spiritual energy and cast spells. However, you have not yet entered the Dao, so you can only use slogans as assistance. In addition, you took part in designing these slogans at the very beginning.

Chi Yixuan made a face of pure suffering. Stop talking, stop talking, he was wrong, he was really wrong. Back then, how could he have known he would transmigrate one day? In the game, when the main controlled character shouted a skill slogan while fighting monsters, it felt pretty hot-blooded. But in reality, it was genuinely embarrassing! The game had localized so many things, even the skills had changed, so why couldn’t it remove the slogan-shouting too?

The life-bound artifact knew its master was already curling his toes hard enough to dig into the ground, but it still patiently answered: As for the second question, no solution has been found for now. Your Majesty, please enter the Dao and raise your cultivation as soon as possible before an enemy discovers an opening. Once you reach Foundation Establishment, the activation method of shouting slogans can be hidden.

Chi Yixuan understood. In other words, it was the difference between chant-casting magic and instant-casting magic. He breathed a sigh of relief, then asked with great interest, “Then when can I instant-cast?”

The life-bound artifact replied: You need to reach Foundation Establishment at minimum. According to the algorithm, you need fifty thousand points.

Chi Yixuan asked how to earn points.

Establish territory and widely gather citizens. One citizen grants one point.

Chi Yixuan: Sorry to bother you.

He calmed himself and carefully studied the three skills. As the investor and planner of the game, of course he knew what his game had originally been like. Skill One had originally summoned nearby crowds. Skill Two had originally been a pure boost to eloquence. Skill Three had originally only had the function of issuing commands. But after localization, all these skills had been upgraded in a fantasy direction.

He looked them over again and again, only to helplessly discover that the only one he could currently use was Skill One. After all, Skill Two was purely supportive, and Skill Three had too long a cooldown, along with all kinds of restrictions.

“There should be plenty of ghosts in the cultivation world, but the only ghost in this world who’s truly connected to me should be the original body. And the other party used to be a cultivator, so protecting me should be more than enough. I just don’t know whether his favorability toward me is high or not. Even if it isn’t, I’m currently his only hope for revenge. He shouldn’t refuse to give me this much face.”

Chi Yixuan sorted out his mood and was just about to activate the skill and try summoning. In the face of a life-or-death crisis, forget shouting one cringey slogan—even if he had to stab himself, he would not hesitate. At worst, he could properly coax himself afterward.

But at that moment, a rumbling sound rang out from the end of Nameless Valley. At the same time, the two stewards who had been sitting lazily at the valley entrance stood up and shouted nervously, “What’s going on? Has the Sea of Suffering Path opened early?”

Chi Yixuan realized that after summoning the life-bound artifact, his five senses had become much sharper. Before, he would not have been able to hear voices from the valley entrance.

He could not help turning his head toward the end of the valley. He saw that a long passage had suddenly appeared where the mountain wall had originally stood. At the same time, the dark mist above the valley churned and boiled, while from the other end of the passage, an evil qi far denser than the dark mist overhead slowly spilled out. Along with it came a piercing chill.

Chi Yixuan could not help sneezing, as if he had walked into an ice cellar in the depths of winter. “What is this?”

That is evil qi coming out of the Sea of Suffering.

Chi Yixuan said, “I know. I’m asking how evil qi is formed.”

The life-bound artifact seemed a little speechless too. This place can’t connect to the internet, and the reconnaissance range hasn’t found the answer yet. I don’t know either.

Hearing it say that, Chi Yixuan actually felt a little proud inside. He thought, as expected of his own game’s intelligence. It really was like a person!

The early opening of the Sea of Suffering Path had clearly caught the two stewards off guard. The two of them looked as if they wished they could turn around and leave, but because of orders from above, they had no choice but to remain where they were.

“We can only sacrifice them first!” Steward Jia said.

“But the human sacrifices haven’t all been transported here yet!” Steward Yi said anxiously.

“So what? As long as we can stabilize the seal.” As Steward Jia spoke, a vicious look flashed across his face.

Steward Yi immediately understood what he meant, and his gaze fell on the frightened menial workers.

The next moment, the menial worker closest to them was wrapped up by Steward Jia’s whip and flung straight toward the Sea of Suffering Path.

That menial worker was completely unprepared. He was thrown over by a single lash, his body flying across more than half the valley, and amid his screams, he was swallowed cleanly by the dark mist and evil qi. After it fed on a human sacrifice, the dense black fog that had been boiling and rushing outward calmed for an instant, and the speed at which it emerged also slowed somewhat. It had clearly been soothed.

Seeing this scene, all the menial workers erupted into an uproar. They had only come here to work. They had never expected they would be butchered like meat.

People naturally sought profit and avoided harm. The menial workers immediately tried to flee without a second thought.

But Steward Yi threw out a magic artifact to stop them. “Not one of you gets to run!”

The seal-shaped magic artifact unfolded into a barrier as soon as it landed, blocking the valley entrance. The menial workers who tried to rush through the barrier were rebounded by it and all fell to the ground.

Steward Jia stared coldly at them and said, “If the Sea of Suffering Path spreads outside the valley, the consequences will be unimaginable. If you voluntarily sacrifice yourselves to seal the Sea of Suffering Path, the master will record a merit for you, and your families will receive more compensation.”

Steward Yi snorted. “Maybe your luck is good. Only today could such a fine thing fall to you.”

The menial workers immediately showed despair on their faces. Seeing the stewards swing their whips out again to grab more people for sacrifice, a thin young man in the crowd suddenly erupted. A long saber appeared in his hand, going from illusory to solid, and he slashed down at one steward’s head.

Both stewards were shocked. “Third level of Qi Refining?”

The two hurriedly retreated and blocked, staggering back several steps.

But both of them were at the fourth level of Qi Refining. After they regained their senses and joined forces to respond, they quickly suppressed the young man who had suddenly risen up.

While barely holding on, the long-saber youth roared, “Attack together!”

The other menial workers clearly understood as well that if they did not kill these two stewards, they were all going to die. So they each mustered their courage and resisted. However, their cultivation was even lower than the young man’s, and the life-bound artifacts they brought out came in all shapes and forms. The effects were minimal.

Chi Yixuan watched for a while. Seeing the menial workers gradually unable to withstand the combined attacks of the two stewards, while the dense black fog by the Sea of Suffering Path was once again stirring restlessly, he immediately shouted, “Why have you not come to protect your sovereign?”

Because he was afraid the effect would not be good enough, he drew power from his dantian and roared with the loudest voice of his life. Once the sound left his mouth, even his own eardrums vibrated.

Fortunately, the effect was immediate. A pitch-black shadow answered the summons and came. Just like the skill description said, it rose from the ground like ink and condensed into a guard whose gender could not be distinguished, silently kneeling on one knee before him.

The spiritual pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator spread in an instant, and the cage imprisoning him exploded with a bang.

Chi Yixuan could finally stand up.

…

The saber-wielding youth was no match at all for the two stewards. Fewer than ten exchanges had passed before he was beaten to the ground. When his life-bound artifact was sent flying by a lash and his head was stepped into the ground by one of the stewards, the veins on his forehead bulged, and his eyes were so full of hatred they looked as if they were about to drip blood.

But it was also at that moment that he suddenly heard a distant cry.

“…protect your sovereign.”

That voice was so sonorous and powerful, like a giant axe smashing open the muddled universe and sweeping aside a thread of clear heavenly light.

The young man subconsciously looked over. In the distance, he saw a blast of qi explode, sending wood fragments flying everywhere. At the center of that blast stood a person whose sleeves billowed and black hair flew wildly. When that person’s indifferent gaze looked over, it made even his soul tremble.

Who was this? Why did he not dare meet his eyes? Was he a true otherworldly immortal?

Just then, that person stretched out a hand and pointed. The shadow kneeling at his side shot over like an arrow released from a bowstring. And the steward who had just been pressing him to the ground and stepping on him was, under this shadow, like an ant incapable of withstanding a single blow.

The young man realized that this was what a true cultivator was. Compared to him, people like the stewards were only fragile mortals. Then what sort of person must be able to command a cultivator?

His body shook, and he could not help looking at that person again. But the moment his gaze met that person’s eyes, that pressure that made him unable to open his eyes came again. The young man’s body trembled slightly. Could this be the legendary aura of power?

…

In reality, that so-called indifferent gaze was only the hollow look in Chi Yixuan’s eyes after his soul had already shattered through the heavens with shame from shouting such a cringey line.

The so-called aura of power that made the youth not dare open his eyes and look straight at him was only because the youth had been locked onto by Soul of Bole. However, the youth did not know that, and so in his eyes, Chi Yixuan became a powerful cultivator who could not be looked upon directly.

Of course, Chi Yixuan also did not know that his skill could put this much pressure on someone. Before this, he had not had the leisure to consider exactly how Skill Two would help him find talent. He had even thought that, in his eyes, talented people would all be sparkling, since they were thousand-li horses. Giving them a glowing special effect would not be too much, right?

However, when he saw that young man, the glowing strip of pickled vegetable above the other party’s head nearly made him lose composure.

What the hell? Were homophone jokes this popular?

Right then, the shadow guard slammed several punches into the two stewards and knocked them to the ground, as easily as kicking two piles of trash by the roadside. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he flung those two pieces of trash into the Sea of Suffering Path. Along with two abruptly cut-off screams, Chi Yixuan’s life-bound artifact reminded him: Your Majesty, there is no longer anyone in this area stronger than you. Now you may designate any place here as your base and establish your own nation.

Chi Yixuan froze. No need for walls, no need to erect a stele—as long as no one here could beat me, I can claim the land? This localization is way too user-friendly!

He said without hesitation, “Then choose this valley as the initial base!”

He understood his own game. If nothing unexpected happened, as long as this territory was claimed by him, then the Sea of Suffering Path would no longer be passable. This was part of the game rules.

But the life-bound artifact seemed a little hesitant. But the environment here is poor. It is not suitable as a base.

Chi Yixuan made the final decision. “Don’t worry about that for now. If we keep hesitating, everyone here is going to die!” If the Sea of Suffering Path spread over here, it would not be harmless.

The life-bound artifact replied: Very well!

Its voice seemed to have become a little more cheerful.

Next Chapter >