Master of the System

“So,” Azalea said, glancing at Granpda Vremya. “This world seems pretty dangerous. Someone just tried to poison my user.”

Grandpa Vremya grunted. “Yeah, dangerous. What world isn’t?”

Azalea narrowed her eyes. She knew Grandpa Vremya was up to no good. It was that domineering spirit of his that wasn’t ever allowed to lose. If he had to mix in some underhanded methods, he’d definitely do it. Luckily, she had prepared for it in advance. She knew Grandpa Vremya wouldn’t directly kill her user—well, he might try if she were right about to win. Since that was the case, if he wanted to kill the cactus, he’d have to make someone else do it, and who else could he contact but his user? To make things fair, they were only allowed one user each, and contacting a nascent-soul cultivator to obliterate each other’s users was against the rules. As such, if Grandpa Vremya wanted an early win, he’d have to resort to poison. With the Ten Thousand Poisons technique, her cactus would have no problem surviving the attempt. The only thing she was a bit surprised about was how fast he had concocted the poison. However, it wasn’t an issue because the cactus’ comprehension skills were better than what she had expected as well.

As for waiting around and taking a beating, as a proud member of the Moon Lotus Sect, would Azalea really just let that happen? Obviously, she had to strike back as well! Did Grandpa Vremya really think he was the only one capable of commanding his user to assassinate someone else’s?

Pravos gulped as her gaze shifted back and forth between Grandpa Vremya and Azalea. The two were glaring at each other, and Pravos could practically feel the tension in the air. It was making her hair stand up as if she had been electrified. The overflowing aura between two competing primordial gods was nothing to scoff out. Pravos couldn’t help but sigh inside her heart. If she had been the one granted the god of history’s divinity, she probably still wouldn’t have the courage to stand up to Grandpa Vremya like Azalea. Perhaps that was why he had given the divinity to her in the first place.

***

Howard waited. And waited. Didn’t the system say the cactus would definitely succumb to the poison? He had followed the system’s instructions perfectly, so why wasn’t he being rewarded yet? System, did something happen?

[The cactus was cultivating a technique that required it to consume multiple kinds of poisons. Rather than assassinating the cactus, you helped it increase its strength.]

Howard was baffled. The system knew everything, but it had made such a basic mistake? Wasn’t understanding one’s opponent practically a requirement to defeating them? More importantly, did that mean all his hard work was for nothing? He spent all that time learning how to concoct prescriptions, but in the end, he couldn’t even obtain the technique he wanted!

[Since you’ve followed the system’s instructions perfectly, you will naturally be rewarded appropriately. The system simply miscalculated. Prepare to receive the Myriad Mist Cultivation Technique.]

Howard glanced around. He was sitting on a bench near the school’s cafeteria. He wanted to be in an obvious place, one where lots of people could see him. His alibi would be watertight that way, but it didn’t even seem like it was necessary anymore since the cactus had survived. However, Howard was very confused. Prepare to receive the Myriad Mist Cultivation Technique? How was he supposed to do that? Without warning, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking Howard’s forehead. Information flooded his mind like a torrent, and by the time he had regained control of himself, it felt like ten years had passed. Luckily, in reality, it only took an instant.

Howard touched his forehead. He had learned the Myriad Mist Cultivation Technique just like that? He swallowed and looked around. Dozens of people were staring at him, the unfortunate individual who had been struck by lightning. A girl turned towards her friend and whispered, “He must’ve done something to displease the heavens. Do you think he’s the one who put a spider in Teacher Brawns’ tealeaves?”

Howard’s expression darkened. Was there no other way for the system to transfer the information into his mind? If he had to be struck by lightning every time he completed a task successfully, wouldn’t weird rumors spread about him? Why did anyone get struck by lightning? Because the heavens were punishing them. Well, he didn’t plan on accomplishing any missions for the system anytime soon. Now that he had the Myriad Mist Cultivation Technique, he had to immediately seclude himself and achieve some accomplishments in it.

[New Mission: Ranking Battles]

[Every three months, the academy holds a ranking battle for each grade. Naturally, the students who’re ranked higher on the rankings receive better rewards compared to those who don’t strive to be the best. Fists and feet have no eyes, so it wouldn’t be strange for an accident to occur during the battle. Participate in the next ranking battle and accidentally kill the cactus on purpose.]

[Reward: Coordinates for a nascent-soul cultivator’s grave]

Howard read the text while walking back towards his room. The system really wanted him to murder the cactus for some reason. Was it targeting plants? That didn’t seem to be the case, or it wouldn’t have recommended him to become Teacher Botan’s disciple. However, Howard didn’t concern himself too much with the system’s desires. He was more interested in the reward. If he could get his hands on some of that cultivator’s items, if he was lucky, he could possibly defeat people two or three levels above him. If it was a reward from the system, then it was definitely worth getting. Although the system was a bit untrustworthy, its rewards hadn’t let him down yet.

***

Kosmos frowned. The godly society was in chaos, and the usual pillars weren’t there to support it. Gravitat and Istoriya were missing, and if it weren’t for the fact Istoriya really cared about the godly society, she would’ve thought the two primordial gods were ditching their duties. Dvizhen could’ve also held the frontlines, but he had been launched into the future by Vremya. Kosmos couldn’t help but have the sneaking suspicion that the rumors about Vremya killing Gravitat and Istoriya were true. Thanks to her twisting space, a new frontline had been created to fend off the titans, but the society had still shrunk in area. While she helped stabilize everything, the other pillars that should’ve been there were off doing who knew what? However, now that things were finally somewhat back to normal, she could go seek them out. With a wave of her hand, she created a portal and stepped through it, arriving in the space above Vremya’s home. Unlike the last time she had gone searching for him, his home was there. Surrounding his home, there were an uncountable number of titans suspended in space, frozen in time like a black dome.

A frown appeared on Kosmos’ face as she tapped on the barrier surrounding the landmass. An old voice rang out. “What?”

Kosmos furrowed her brow. She had gone over to check on him twice now, yet his tone was completely unappreciative. “Did you kill Istoriya and Gravitat?”

“No,” Vremya’s voice said. On the couch, Vremya turned his head towards Karta. “I’m technically not lying. If I stop responding to her, do you think she’ll leave?”

Karta raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want her to leave? What if she bumps into your avatar or worse, Azalea?”

“Why would it be worse for her to bump into Azalea?”

Karta blinked. “Hello? Jealousy?”

Vremya snorted. “It’ll be fine. Azalea’s a primordial god too. She can protect herself.” He stared at Karta shaking her head. “What?”

“It’s nothing,” Karta said and hopped off the couch, heading towards the window. She poked her snout outside and stared up at the sky, squinting her eyes until she could see Kosmos. The god of space looked like she was ready to kill someone, but Karta decided it’d be better to keep her mouth shut.