Seized by the System

The day after the cauldron incident in the realm, Vigilante A’s farm villa.

Vigilante A was sitting cross-legged while channeling his magical energy and moving his circle of vital energy, converting the magical energy shares turned in by the Magical Energy Bank to the same quality level as his own magical energy.

After a while, Sir System suddenly said, “Hey, I noticed some people coming to send us gifts.”

Before Fang Ning could compliment it for its acute sense of smell, he saw the system notification appear.

[The System is evaluating…]

[The System is evaluating…]

[The System decided to take dragon form.]

“Uh, what are you doing?”

Fang Ning watched his body go outside of the villa, and as he crouched down on the ground, an Azure Dragon appeared in a cloud of mist.

“Haha, Mr. Rich Boss, you’re like a wise person who reflects a thousand times, but still makes a mistake,” Sir System said gleefully. “Yesterday, when I saw you playing pretend as a dragon, I noticed that these people were terrified of you, and suddenly thought of a benefit to that. Now, look at my body size, and then look at those little gifts they’ve brought. Do you think they’ll have the face to present their gifts to me?”

“Huh, the fool can certainly have a good idea once in a while.” Fang Ning was speechless. “At the mention of making money, you always become very astute.”

“Of course.” Sir System sounded very proud of itself. “On this note, I feel that the plan you mentioned before about pretending to be a dragon is much better. Most people usually treat strangers politely, but once you get close to each other, he’ll feel like he can take advantage of you without any reason… From today onwards, I won’t get close to anyone. Even among brothers, accounts should be settled clearly. Anyway, I’m a system that can defeat a god, so it’ll only be other people coming to beg me for help. I won’t have to beg anyone for anything.”

“Uh, it seems like you’re gloating more than me now…” Fang Ning scorned.

“Thanks for the compliment. We’re not the same. This isn’t gloating. It’s self-confidence.” Sir System argued.

Some time later, Fang Ning heard some noise from outside.

He looked out through the System View. There were certainly benefits to taking the form of a dragon, for he could look down at everything from above, which automatically added the effect of taking the long, expansive view…

He saw that, beyond the villa, toward the edge of the formation, there was a group of people of all kinds carrying various things over their shoulders and in their hands.

However, these people were not porters or odd-job men, they all had a Pond-level or above cultivation base.

As these people started to look into the villa, they caught sight of the huge dragon amidst the lingering clouds of mist, and their expressions instantly became fearful.

People’s physiques were a natural indicator of the differences in their power levels, and while advancements in modern technology had managed to overcome this natural law, humans’ instinctive responses to their sensory perceptions could never be changed.

Facing this gigantic Azure Dragon, these people would naturally experience fear.

Then, he saw a few of the leading figures from the group shouting a signal before reaching into their portable inter-spatial artifact to retrieve a great number of items, piling them into a mound.

“Wow, sir, you truly do have a lot of cunning plots.” Fang Ning was at a loss for words. “In any case, you’ve certainly formed a very clear image of me, and now I’ve lost my face entirely.”

“You’re already a dead person. Why would you have any face left? You haven’t lost anything here,” Sir System comforted.

“Are you trying to console me?” Fang Ning sounded depressed.

“Of course I am. As for these people, how great would it be if they’d keep these things inside the inter-spatial artifact and give that to me? I’m not like you humans, only caring about your faces,” Sir System said disdainfully while observing the people’s movements outside.

“Right, you can even get inter-spatial equipment for free… You certainly know how to be meticulous with your plans.” Fang Ning was rendered speechless again.

Then came a distant voice from outside announcing their visit.

“Dear Great Venerable Dragon God, we have come to thank you for giving us your help yesterday, and also to seek your advice…”

The tone of that voice was full of reverence and wariness.

“See, now they know how to conduct themselves. Before this, that old man, Ren Ruofeng expected us to at his beck and call, asking us to do things through just a phone message, he didn’t show the slightest bit of respect to a God-level system like me. How ridiculous of him.” Sir System spoke with utmost satisfaction.

“Well, that was one thing, and this is another. Our power is different now. What we used to have was potential, but now we have true strength, so of course, the way they treat us differs,” Fang Ning said in understanding.

It was just like how people would be full of praise when talking about child prodigies, but when it came to how much respect they actually had for such children, it usually amounted to nothing.

However, if a child prodigy grew up, and then became a rich and powerful person or someone with high status, even those who used to be senior to this person would have to regard him with respect and admiration.

After defeating the Spirit Lord’s avatar, Vigilante A’s social standing was truly established.

Before that, people might view Vigilante A as strong, but in their hearts, he was merely a powerhouse who belonged on this small planet called Earth.

Nonetheless, now that even the enemies from the Upper Realm and those strange, mysterious intruders from the World of Spirits and Souls themselves had to admit his greatness and shown that they could not deal with him, the impact on the people was unusually significant.

In their interactions, they treated him as someone truly superior to them, and not just as an ally or a friend anymore.

Now, the Azure Dragon finally spoke.

“I’ll accept your gifts of thanks then.” As soon as he finished speaking, the whole mound of gifts outside the door disappeared. Then, he went on, “Is there anything else you’d like to say?”

“Here’s the thing,” the leader said in a lowly manner. “That giant cauldron seems extremely strange. If it’s left in the realm for too long, we’re afraid it may bring some unexpected calamity, so we’ve come to ask the Venerable One to give us some guidance on how to avoid that situation.”

“Oh, I’ve already thought of this. Please give me a moment.”

The crowd stood by the door in silence and obedience.

In the System Space.

Sir System said to Fang Ning urgently, “What we expected has finally arrived after all. Mr. Rich Boss, you mentioned just now that that big cauldron may have many strange things surrounding it, and the best idea is to seal it off. Now that they’ve come to us asking for a way to deal with that big cauldron, what should we do?”

“Never mind. I was planning to study it on my own, but since they’re pressing on it with such haste, we can only go and ask those two gods again,” Fang Ning said, seeming to be at a loss.

“Then go quickly, but remember not to be too generous,” Sir System reminded.

“Then why don’t you go and ask instead?”

“Haven’t I said earlier? As the master of the System Space, I have to constantly maintain a sense of mystery in front of them,” Sir System justified.

“You, having a sense of mystery? You must be out of your mind,” Fang Ning grumbled, and then went to the hotel’s entertainment room to speak to Death and Culinary God.

Fang Ning projected an image of the bronze cauldron onto the screen before explaining the situation to them and awaited their replies.

Death had transformed into a black human silhouette, and upon seeing the bronze cauldron, his eyes shone with envy.

“I never thought that they’d actually manage to craft such a thing. This is the legendary Heaven Mending Cauldron. It can smelt all beings but can be harmed by none. Aside from the saints, no other existence is capable of destroying it,” Death said faintly.

“Hehe, what the Supreme Deity said is more or less correct, but every field has its own specialist. This bronze cauldron created by those three Metal-masked Men, from what I can tell, is just an imitation for temporary usage. It’s not as incredible as what you just described.” Black Pot laughed. “I frequently use cauldrons when I’m cooking, so I’d never misjudge this.”

“Uh, that should be it. I must’ve been mistaken then,” Death readily admitted. He knew very well it was not that he could not tell its authenticity, but it was his own heart that had always looked forward to coming across such a treasure, which caused him to see it as authentic at first.

“Even so, this imitation of the Heaven Mending Cauldron contains the Supreme Order of the World of Spirits and Souls and can’t be destroyed by just any ordinary god. No wonder they’re not worried about leaving it in the Lower Realm. This is obviously designed to absorb vitality from the Lower Realm to be fed back to the World of Spirits and Souls,” said Death, hitting the nail on the head.

Fang Ning nodded. “We think so too, but how should we deal with this thing right now?”

“Troublesome, troublesome, troublesome,” Death repeated. “If I was as mighty as before, perhaps I could’ve kept it for my personal use, but now there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Can’t we seal it off?” Fang Ning asked, not giving up just yet.

“Ah, how big a price would you need to pay for that? It’ll be better to just comply with their request, fill up this big cauldron, and get a period of peace first.” Death shook his head.

“Compromising is out of the question. Once there’s a first time, there’ll be a second time as well. Ancient sages have said that the fall of the six major Chinese states was due to their fatal mistake of bribing the Qin. This is similar to our current situation. If we yield to their oppression, the World of Spirits and Souls would only become stronger while humankind would grow weaker. If one party continued to rise while the other was constantly falling, the day for us to turn the tide would never come,” Fang Ning said in disagreement.

“Then, you can use some normal sealing techniques to reduce the effects of this Heaven Mending Cauldron first. You must know that it’s capable of affecting all living beings, not to mention its current location is coincidentally the final sanctuary for you humans,” Death offered an idea that did not seem like an idea at all.

“Then, Elder Death, please guide me on this.”

“Sure. It’s just some simple techniques, so I won’t ask for anything in return this time. Given our two business deals from before, I’ll give it to you for free,” Death said generously.

This was beyond Fang Ning’s expectations, but he would certainly not reject such an offer.

Soon, the other party dictated a few sealing techniques. Although these were said to be normal, they were still God-level sealing techniques.

Nonetheless, even with such a level, according to Death, these techniques would be barely enough to seal off that imitation Heaven Mending Cauldron, which showed the true might of this treasure.

After he had finished listening to the dictation, Fang Ning suddenly thought of something else, so he asked, “What abilities do those three Metal-masked Men have that allows them to evade the blockade and freely move in and out of the Land of Heritage?”

“Hehe, the Land of Heritage is originally a legacy of the Upper Realm. With their wisdom and abilities, it’ll be easy for them to find some sort of a back door to it. In reality, that realm can only defend themselves against most of the weak and small monsters and demons. If you’re looking for a safe place, other than the Origin of Time and Space of this world, you’ll have to generate some completely top-secret spaces of your own.” Death sighed.

“I see. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll take my leave now.” Fang Ning thanked them and left.