Seized by the System

“Evildoer, in broad daylight and within the heavens and earth, not only did you spread fear and cast confusion into the hearts of humans, you also disturbed the sacrificial ceremony. Your sins are never to be forgiven!

“Your sins are never to be forgiven!

“Never to be forgiven!

“Forgiven!”

A grand and majestic voice, accompanied by countless echoes, boomed from the high platform shrouded in thick white fog. The voice seemed to have multiple layers to it and it filled the skies and the surroundings with its volume.

The voice could be heard from all four directions clearly!

Once everyone heard what had just been said, tears flowed freely down their faces as they were moved beyond compare. What a difficult situation they were shoved into just to hear those familiar words from Vigilante A once again…

Currently, it was as if everyone’s minds were finally at rest. This was entirely due to the fact that every time Vigilante A said this, the party the words were directed at would always die in the end with no exception!

As expected, right after the voice faded away, everyone watched as a one-kilometer long streak of light emerged suddenly from the thick fog before it pierced straight through the snakehead in the sky.

The purple snakehead seemed to be stunned by the sudden appearance of the streak of light, so it made no move into dodging the light either.

In a split second, the streak of light went straight through the snakehead.

The purple snakehead, like sea foam that disappeared at a single touch, disintegrated into ripples in the sky. The next moment, a purplish-black dust cloud spread out around where it disintegrated.

This menacing character died just like that?!

None of the audience members could believe their eyes, yet they had no choice but to believe what they had just witnessed because the Eastern Pharos has always used that very move to kill monsters!

He has never dragged anything out before…

Soon, everyone watched as a straight silhouette stood tall in the sky above them. The magnificent form and the sculpted face could only belong to the Eastern Pharos!

“So amazing!” Somebody could no longer hold back their feelings and decided to be the first person to applaud and cheer.

Everybody else soon followed suit and in an instant, the entire desert was filled with great commotion as everyone erupted into thunderous cheering and clapping.

Fang Ning’s eyes glinted with jealousy, ‘D*mn, if only it were actually me.’

The few minutes of showing off just now could not even compare to three seconds of what was happening right now.

However, he did not dare ask for his body back for he was afraid of falling to the ground…

The people watching the ceremony through the various platforms, be it online, on television, at a bar, or live, were beyond ecstatic.

“So cool!”

“So handsome!”

“Now that’s what we call a true combination a human and his sword!”

“The comment above me must be blind, that was obviously the combination of a dragon and its sword.”

This was probably the first time Vigilante A had his monster extermination broadcasted worldwide. The last time, he had merely exterminated a monster in the arena of the Dark Tournament.

High up in the sky, Vigilante A hovered for a solid five minutes, his majestic form fully shown to everyone so that they could glut their eyes. In the blink of an eye, he gained a swarm of diehard fans.

Unfortunately, he barely gained any allies, since if he were not around, diehard fans would willingly give up their support too…

Furthermore, it seemed that in a bid for everyone to remember him as he truly was, Vigilante A had not appeared under the guise of the Great Azure Dragon either…

Fang Ning could no longer continue watching and he urged, “Sir System, that’s more than enough. Stop showing off and quickly descend.”

The System jeered, “Do you think I’m like you, showing off without reason? Didn’t you see the System Notifications? My Reputation is increasing rapidly…”

[The System exterminated a demon in public and stirred a global sensation. Temporary buff obtained—Reputation boosted to all four corners of the globe, Astronomical Figure Reputation obtained every minute…]

[Current World Mythos at 15 points.]

[…]

[World Mythos increased to 16 points.]

[…]

[Word Mythos increased to 17 points.]

[…]

[World Mythos increased to 20 points. Temporary buff ended.]

After the buff had ended, Sir System controlled Vigilante A’s body and slowly made his descent. Right as he was about to leave high altitude, a cold and emotionless voice sounded from the skies once more.

“Haha, as long as there is fear, I will never die… Vigilante A, what a shocker, right?”

Vigilante A turned his head and only saw the menacing purple snakehead appear once more from nothing, as if what had just transpired earlier did not happen at all.

Its snake eyes gazed coldly below it, before its gaze finally landed on Vigilante A.

“Hiss!”

Below it, the countless audience members that were watching Vigilante A’s heroics could not help but make eye contact with the purple snakehead. In doing so, they once again got the shock of their lives!

“It came back to life?!”

“Oh my god, could it be some monster that can’t be killed?”

“I think we should look for a way to escape…” uttered some under their breath as they looked around.

Chaos once again erupted in the desert.

The workers in charge of maintaining order went on high alert immediately. The total number of security officers and soldiers were transferred over to maintain order exceeded the millions.

With a crowd of such a huge size, the consumption of resources for various aspects was equally huge.

If it were not for the recent boom of China’s spiritually-controlled construction mechs, it would have never been possible to build all these facilities within three days.

Suddenly, an emergency order was given.

A countless number of workers raised their high-pitched speakers simultaneously and ordered, “Calling all units, calling all units, remain at your positions and pay attention to your areas!”

“Do not worry, everyone. You must believe in China, believe in the Truth Department, believe in the Eastern Pharos!”

“He is above us all, shining down on all of us!”

Hearing these statements, many calmed down and no serious commotion was caused.

They would never find out that a countless number of Chinese powerhouses were silently watching over them from all corners of the place they were in. Nets Above Snares Below had long been set up and once it was activated, it would be able to provide large-scale protection, thus avoiding any casualties.

Despite so, the sense of fear and panic was still steadily spreading in the desert.

They had no idea how many people exactly had made eye contact with the snakehead, all that they knew was that these people’s hearts were currently clouded over with fear.

Even if they were surrounded by the security officers and soldiers that were responsible for maintaining order, it still did not ease their fears.

The purple snakehead laughed coldly once more.

“What about it, Vigilante A? Or should I call you the Venerable Dragon God, the Pharos of the East, the new era’s greatest hero? My, you have so many names, not to mention all those amazing special effects, together with lighting and sound effects too… All that just to fool those useless ants below me!

“When faced with true powerhouses, what are you?

“There are so many secrets in this realm that you know nothing about!

“You claim to be invincible and peerless, and you see the world as your backyard where you can go anywhere as you please, yet you have no idea that true powerhouses don’t even care about fighting you as you are now!

“I have always kept clear of you; I eat my Japanese people, you care about your Chinese matters. Yet you dare come knocking at my door, and I had to waste two of my Dharmakayas ¹ that I spent all my effort cultivating!

“Everybody else thinks that you’re so tolerant and so selfless, that you only care about saving the innocent! However, I know you’re only summoning the Dragon God so that you’ll be able to obtain the official approval of the Heavenly Axiom of this realm through the Dragon God!”

“You only want the Heavenly Axiom of this realm to recognize your Path of Heavenly Punishment!

“Today, I will stop you from fishing for fame and credit to your own satisfaction!”

This snakehead was unlike the previous Bosses, it did not make any actual attacks and it only kept insulting Vigilante A. Furthermore, although it seemed useless, it was in fact quite effective.

Everybody had realized that Vigilante A was now merely staring blankly at the menacing snakehead, unlike before where he formed into a long blade to attack his opponent.

This scene caused everybody to panic even more.

“Could it be that the Dragon God Hero, the Eastern Pharos, has no idea how to deal with this creepy snakehead?”

Thoughts similar to this soon started spreading; and their guesses were accurate too, for the System really was at its wit’s end…

The System urged, “Great Emperor Host, think of something quickly. This stupid flying head won’t stop insulting me, so my Reputation keeps dropping. I can feel that it is probably a polymer based on some Maxim.

“Simple physical or magic attacks won’t be able to destroy it. It’s probably the same type as those spirits.”

Fang Ning had already seen the System Notifications.

[The System suffered from verbal attacks by the Hydra Demon, the System is suffering from a temporary Debuff.]

[“Reputation Staining”—Reputation decreases per minute, the longer the time the more it decreases.]

[Destroying the Hydra Demon will dispel the Debuff, Reputation will slowly return to original value.]

Fang Ning has always known that the System would politely refuse to do anything about supernatural things like those malevolent spirits or wicked ghosts. Furthermore, those things never dared to mess with him either.

The System has always had trouble understanding these creatures, so there was no need to even think about destroying them personally.

This snakehead they were dealing with seemed to be of the same class. If they were not able to find its source, they would not be able to know its ins and outs.

No matter how strong Vigilante A’s attacks were, it would just be like what had just transpired; it would just reassemble itself after being destroyed.

However, Fang Ning had a plan up his sleeve, so he was not panicked in the slightest. He has always been the most scared of supernatural beings; after he watched “The Ring” in high school, he could not sleep for a whole month, so he has always thought about how to deal with things like this during his downtime.

However, the System had very high Morality, which meant no supernatural beings dared to even go near it, which meant Fang Ning had no choice but to drag his plan out indefinitely…

He would of course never tell the truth, so he faked a calm tone and said, “Why are you so worried? I already have a plan.”

He immediately revealed the exact plan.

The System instantly replied, “As expected of the brilliant and wise Great Emperor Host, this humble servant will act as ordered.”

Fang Ning could not help the chills that ran down his back at the System’s cringey words, it was no easy feat to willingly accept the System’s fulsome flattery, and so he could only do so with difficulty…

The purple snakehead noticed that Vigilante A made no movements whatsoever, and was currently gleeful beyond belief. It had diligently analyzed and planned everything, and had drawn support from the recent bout of natural disasters to play its cards.

As expected, Vigilante A could do nothing against it.

Furthermore, it had the aid of the countless sources of fear in the shape of the audience members beneath it, so Vigilante A would never be able to defeat it even if he died trying!

As predicted by the snakehead, the audience members beneath it were quivering with fear in their seats, they could only hope that the Eastern Pharos would once again show his true prowess by defeating his enemy in a single strike.

As for the powerhouses stationed around the areas, they were instead nervous with worry.

Tianjing Fawang had already gone to look for the Bodhisattva Spirit King.

The old man had on a serious expression, his heart heavy with worry as he spoke, “Bodhisattva, this snake demon is the outpost of an even greater threat, and it uses fear as a basis for its cultivation.

“I heard that when it first descended, it morphed into the Yamata no Orochi ²of Japanese legend and took advantage of its look to consume Japanese men. It is no simple demon.

“With the way the situation is now, the fear in everyone’s hearts is where its absorbing energy from. The Venerable Dragon God wants to subdue it, and his strength should be more than enough to handle the task. However, he may not have the spells to target it per se. On the other hand, we do have the spells needed to subdue it, but our strength hasn’t fully recovered yet, so defeating it will be difficult.”

Bodhisattva Spirit King’s expression remained unchanged. He joined his palms in front of him and calmly said, “Do not worry, Tianjing Fawang. I long predicted something like this and have already made the necessary preparations, so stay calm.”

Tianjing Fawang nodded his head; it was just as he predicted.

The Bodhisattva Spirit King had descended earlier than he did, so it would be normal for him to have taken precautions. It was still a revelation that blew the Tianjing Fawang away, however.

Although the pair of them were restricted by the Heavenly Axiom of this realm, so their strengths were technically the same, the Bodhisattva was still the Bodhisattva, while the Arhat was merely the Arhat. The difference between them both was hard to describe. Furthermore, despite the fact that the Bodhisattva Spirit King had lost his powers, he was still insightful.

At the same time, everybody was looking towards the sky above them, as there was suddenly countless streaks of golden light….

The source was Vigilante A.

They only saw him sitting cross-legged on a cloud, the epitome of solemnness. Behind him, gold light spiraled endlessly. He looked just like the Holy Buddha himself.

Tianjing Fawang knew from the first glance that Vigilante A was currently casting the supreme Buddhist technique—True Bodhi Tactics. It was best used for purifying the human heart and calming the human mind, which made it the bane of the fearsome snake demon’s existence!

After this tiny realization, he nodded his head in approval.

From the looks of Vigilante A’s True Bodhi Tactics, it seemed to be at a level where it had been cultivated over hundreds of years; Bodhisattva must have taught it to the True Dragon in the Upper Realm. This arrangement of his was a long time coming indeed…

Right after he turned towards the Bodhisattva Spirit King to express his respect, he was met with a confusing situation.

The Bodhisattva Spirit King’s previously calm facial expression had undergone some subtle changes for he seemed to be muttering under his breath.

Tianjing Fawang remained calm and collected, but in fact he was silently activating his Heavenly Hearing.

He then heard the Bodhisattva Spirit King say, “I never expected Brother Dragon to have such a strong Buddhahood ³ . He actually cultivated the ‘True Bodhi Tactics’ to such a state after just a year. He is hundreds of times stronger than I ever was.

“Ah, I am no longer a Buddhist, and Brother Dragon had already long decided on his path of cultivation too. What a waste, what a pity. Everything happens for a reason, there is no use in forcing things…”

At this moment, the streaks of golden light swept across the millions of audience members. Every single person was touched by the golden light; it felt like returning to a mother’s embrace as the fear in their hearts disappeared immediately. Soon, smiles returned to everyone’s faces.

Buddhist techniques really did have a way with calming the hearts of people.

Mortal scriptures with no power whatsoever originally already possessed the uncanny ability to pacify storming hearts, so it went without saying that the supreme skills passed down from the Upper Realm in this era possessed not only this ability, but even more powerful abilities as well.

With the fear in everyone’s hearts slowly dissipating, some people could obviously tell that the snake head in the sky was also slowly disappearing.

However, the snake head did not panic despite witnessing what had just happened. It was unlike any of the other Bosses from before.

It gritted its teeth, the ferocity in its face amplified.

“Absolutely detestable! The last time was like this, and it happened yet again this time!!

“You always manage to find a way to defeat me, why is that?

“Could you really be the Son of the Heavenly Axiom? I refuse to believe it! Millions and millions descended from the Upper Realm, so why made the Heavenly Axiom favor you?

“However, don’t let this get to your head. I’ve said it before, as long as there is fear, I will never die!”

Right as its insults faded into nothing, a golden giant palm descended from the sky and grasped it tightly within its hold.

The snake head made no bid in evading it, its face still cold and emotionless.

This time around, there was no way for it to escape.

Fang Ning’s great plan was “The True Bodhi Tactics, defeat the enemy and achieve victory.”

There was no need for the snake head to die, Fang Ning could just sentence it to a life sentence…

Fang Ning felt refreshed and comforted. He then said, “Alright, time to wrap things up. The True Dragon that I want to summon is probably impatient from waiting so long.”

The System immediately replied, “Oh, I think that whether or not it appears now doesn’t really matter anymore. I don’t think we should waste one of the chances to summon the Dragon God. We could just ask that snake head that we locked into the Draconic Penitentiary about what started all those natural disasters, no?”

‘D*mn, this System really is…’, Fang Ning was beyond disbelief at the System’s words.