In a world where the strong devoured the weak, morality was a luxury item.
Lu Chen understood that.
Demonic cultivators robbed villages. They killed for wealth. They sold slaves like vegetables at a market. As a modern man tossed into this food chain, he had prepared himself for all kinds of cruelty.
He had not prepared himself for this.
He was crouched behind a bush when he finally saw the "cicada."
Guess what. It wasn't a female cultivator in distress.
It wasn't even human.
It looked like a buffalo that got trapped. Courtesy of the green robed.
The green-robed cultivator stepped closer.
Then he loosened his belt.
Lu Chen's brain instantly went on system failure.
"...You have got to be kidding me."
The cultivator produced a small pink bottle from his robes and downed it in one gulp.
You don't need to think twice to know what's in that bottle.
[Detected: Host has discovered the Depravity of Humanity.]
[Contacting nearest licensed therapist…]
[Contacting… Contact failed.]
[Reason: Therapist sensed trash from three universes away and quickly changed occupation to pottery.]
"Shut up," Lu Chen hissed internally. He dumped the mental image out of his head and tried to focus by chanting some Buddhist scriptures.
The cultivator took another step toward the bound buffalo, humming a happy little tune.
"That's it." Lu Chen moved before he could think. "I'm intervening."
He slipped through the undergrowth like a shadow wrapped in leaves. The rogue cultivator, utterly focused on his unspeakable intentions, never heard a thing.
THUD.
One clean strike to the back of the neck. The cultivator's eyes rolled up and he collapsed face-first into the dirt, his happy tune ended in a snore.
Lu Chen now an expert at smacking heads. A skill he'd honed through his "transmigration experience."
[Defeated: Rogue Cultivator (Body Tempering 3)]
[EXP Gained: +5]
[Achievement Unlocked: 'Head Smacker.']
Lu Chen stared at the notification. "That's it? Five points? I saved a buffalo from a fate worse than death!"
Lu Chen opened his mouth, to breathe in and let it go then decided to focus on the practical stuff. Looting.
He patted down the unconscious cultivator with the efficiency of a man who'd learned that dead men told no tales but unconscious ones left useful things behind.
[Loot Acquired:]
[· Water gourd (half-full, didn't taste weird)]
[· Three fasting pills bottle (questionable origin, but calories were calories)]
[· Spirit rope (high quality, definitely stolen)]
[· Two small pink bottle (contents: ???)]
[· One jade slip (sealed, required password)]
[· Another set of green robes ]
He stuffed everything into his storage pouch, then quickly stripped the rogue of his green camouflage robes. They fitted snugly. They were loose on the green-robed cultivator, but tight and a bit short on Lu Chen. Due to multiple events, he hadn't been able to see how he looked lately, but credit given wherever credit was due. Lu Chen finally felt like a civilized human being instead of a walking salad.
He tied the unconscious cultivator securely with his own spirit rope. Blame karma, and was about to leave when the forest exploded.
A thunderous MOOOOOO! shook the trees.
From the darkness, a second buffalo charged. This one was larger, meaner, and had steam practically pouring from its nostrils. It was the mate. It had heard the commotion. It had come to investigate.
It saw its trapped mate, bound and terrified. An unconscious man in a pile of leaves. Lu Chen, standing over everything, wearing that suspicious green robes.
The buffalo's tiny brain processed the evidence. Conclusion reached.
"MOOOOOOOO!" (Translation: You smashed my mate!)
"Wait!" Lu Chen threw up his hands. "I saved her! I'm the good guy! He's the—"
The buffalo didn't care about explanations. It's head was already full of iron. It lowered its head and charged, iron-hard skull aimed directly at Lu Chen.
He dodged left. The buffalo hit the its mate instead.
Bad move.
The ropes held but mate's body did not. She slammed into an ironwood tree branch coincidentally positioned in the trajectory of flight.
CRACK
Silence.
The male buffalo slowly turned toward Lu Chen.
It's eyes were empty now. From the looks of it. It had instantly pushed the blame on the blame pusher Lu Chen. Lot of instant karma to go around.
Lu Chen swallowed. "...Oh. This is going to be one of those days."
The buffalo charged.
This time, Lu Chen didn't dodge.
He stepped forward, dropped his weight, and brought his elbow down.
The impact hit the buffalo's skull weak point center.
Head smacking skills at work.
CRUNCH.
The beast collapsed mid-charge, sliding to a stop at Lu Chen's feet, completely unconscious.
[Defeated: Iron-Skull Buffalo (Body Tempering 4)]
[EXP Gained: +6]
[Analysis: Skull lived up to name. Host's elbow is now slightly offended.]
Lu Chen stared at the scene.
The dead mate. The unconscious male. The bound pervert. The pink bottle in his inventory.
A devil at his side started mumbling something in his ear. A petty idea. A very, very petty idea.
He pulled out the pink bottle. Whatever was inside, it had made the rogue cultivator brave enough to... well. He didn't want to think about it.
He poured the entire contents down the unconscious buffalo's throat.
Then he dragged the rogue cultivator directly beneath the beast's massive, unconscious body.
Positioning was important. He made sure the rogue's face was comfortably situated.
Then he walked away, leaving behind the chaos that would traumatize the two victims in ways neither would ever fully recover from.
[Quest Complete: 'The Unseen Cicada']
[Reward: A Secret]
Lu Chen froze mid-step.
A cold, mechanical voice replaced the System's usual snarky tone.
[Hidden Condition Met.]
[System Upgrade Path Unlocked. ]
Lu Chen blinked. "What?"
[When Host attempts breakthrough from Body Tempering to Body Forging, System will undergo synchronization evolution.]
[Host will be required to choose a specialization path based on accumulated combat data and life choices. ]
His heart hammered. "Specialization? Like... classes? Builds?"
A crimson notification exploded across his vision, blood-red characters burning into his retinas.
[EMERGENCY MISSION ISSUED. ]
[OBJECTIVE: Break through to Body Forging within 5 days. ]
[FAILURE PENALTY: Death. ]
[REWARD: Continued existence. ]
The silence stretched.
Then Lu Chen's voice, very small, very confused: "...Excuse me?"
"You're blaming me? You never told me there was a deadline!"
Lu Chen took a deep breath. Then another. Then a third, because the first two didn't help.
Five days.
The Outer Sect Ascension Meet was in six. The duel with Zhang Long was during the meet. If he didn't break through, he would face a Body Forging opponent with Tempering-level strength.
Even if the system didn't draw down the blade at his throat there is no way he could survive Zhang Long.
He had been a bit happy-go-lucky. Thinking he is the main character of his story.
He clenched his jaw.
"Fine."
<...Host is not going to whine? Complain? Blame the universe?>
"No."
<...Host is accepting responsibility?>
"Apparently."
<...This daddy is... proud>
"Understood."
" System Status."
The screen flickered to life with a display on his retina.
Sky-Reaching Sect. Outer Disciple Quarters. Zhang Long Quarters.
Zhang Long sat in silence as the reports were delivered, one after another, each more humiliating than the last. Especially the last one.
Lu Chen was still alive.
Xu Rang had failed.
His plan had been elegant: manipulate the scenes from behind, make Xu Rang go after Lu Chen, ensure the nobody's death wouldn't be traced back to him. Clean. Simple. Untraceable.
It had failed beautifully.
Zhang Long placed the final jade slip down on the table. His expression didn't change. That was the terrifying part.
"Trash."
The messenger trembled. "S-senior Brother Zhang, I merely delivered the news, please don't—"
"All of them." Zhang Long rose, his aura pressing against the room like a physical weight. The candles flickered and the walls looked as though they were caving in from the pressure. "Trash piled upon trash, and they call themselves cultivators."
He walked to the window, gazing out at the distant direction of the bamboo grove.
"If Xu Rang cannot clean this mess, then I will."
The messenger didn't dare breathe wishing he could just disappear in the ground.
"Lu Chen."
"Break through if you can."
His aura flared and room shook from it.
"I'll break you afterward."
Far away, at the edge of the Bloodwind Forest, Lu Chen paused.
A chill ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the wind.
He looked back toward the distant sect, hidden beyond mountains and forests.
Someone was thinking about him. Someone with bad intentions.
He shrugged and kept walking.
"Whoever it is should just wait for me to crush the—"
*SWOOSH. *
An attack came from nowhere, aimed straight at his throat.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]