In an enormous bed large enough to fit ten people slept an aging man under yellow covers. The wooden frame was adorned with nine-clawed dragons, and the blanket was embroidered with golden dragons. The man was only in his forties, but his hair had already turned white and age spots already littered his face.
He was the Qian Emperor.
Suddenly, the aging emperor awoke with a gasp. His mouth opened and closed a few times, and he looked toward the side. “Servants, bring me a cup of water.”
The emperor waited and waited, but there was no movement. “Servants!”
Still no answer. The Qian Emperor huffed. “Useless things. What do I keep you around for? I’ll have your heads cut off for slacking on your duties!”
Finally, the emperor noticed the abnormality of the situation. As the emperor, he would always be accompanied by servants, be it in his sleep or going to the bathroom. Even if the eunuchs and maids were slacking, it was impossible not to notice the sound for so long.
“Guards!” the emperor hollered at the top of his lungs. However, only silence greeted him.
“It’s no use.”
“Who!?” The emperor scrambled off his bed. Or, at least, he attempted to before a hand pushed him back onto the bed.
The emperor wanted to curse. He was the emperor, who had ever dared to treat him like this? However, when he saw the person’s face, he paled. It was as if he had seen a ghost. No, for the Qian Emperor, this face was scarier than a ghost, comparable to a devil!
“J-J-Jun Q-Qiangwu!”
“We meet again, Your Majesty,” Jun Qiangwu said. Although he addressed the emperor with Your Majesty, there was no mistaking the contempt behind his tone.
“Y-You dare! Treating your liege like this, aren’t you afraid of your ancestors rolling in their graves?” the emperor asked as he pointed at Jun Qiangwu. He wanted to sound domineering, to appear in control, but his trembling voice and shaking finger left no room for doubt.
“Rolling in their graves?” Jun Qiangwu asked. “Heh, they’ve already been rolling in their graves from the moment they served the Qian Imperial Family. You’re nothing but white-eyed wolves. The Jun Family has served you faithfully for generations and all we got was betrayal.”
“Aren’t you just subordinates? So what if I want you to die!? You are subordinates and I’m the ruler!”
“Haha,” Jun Qiangwu laughed, but sounded closer to something that crawled out from the depths of hell.
It plunged the Qian Emperor’s soul into the icy depths. Before he could do anything, a shard of ice pierced his legs. “Ahhhh!”
“I’ll let you know today that no ruler is permanent, and subordinates aren’t people you can use and discard as you like!”
The Qian Emperor didn’t have time to pay attention to Jun Qiangwu’s words. Pain overwhelmed his senses. Tears streamed down his face, snot dripped down his nose, and drool gushed from his mouth. Even after the world changed and monsters appeared, he had never been physically harmed. How could someone who never experienced pain resist it?
Jun Qiangwu curled his lips in disgust. This was the emperor he served faithfully for so many years? He must have been blind.
Growing weary of the Qian Emperor’s pained howls, a layer of ice formed over his mouth, silencing him. Perhaps the ice cooled his mind, so the emperor glanced toward the entrance to his room.
“Are you hoping for someone to come save you? Don’t bother,” Jun Qiangwu said. “I already killed everyone inside and near your palace. Tonight, no one will be able to save you.”
Fear colored the Qian Emperor’s eyes even more. A cruel smile appeared on Jun Qiangwu’s face. Yes, this is what he wanted. He had dreamt of his moment every night when he stayed in that cave.
Perhaps seeing the wicked gleam in Jun Qiangwu’s eyes, the Qian Emperor stopped struggling. The tears and snot stopped, and he even regained a bit of his dignity as the emperor.
“Oh?” Jun Qiangwu let out. He waved his hand and the ice covering the Qian Emperor’s mouth melted.
“Don’t be too proud, Jun Qiangwu,” the Qian Emperor said, glaring at the latter. “Do you think you’re strong? I’ll tell you right now that Jiafeng has already joined a powerful sect created by a major power from the immortal realm.”
“So what if you’re strong now? You’ll join me in the Nether Realm soon enough,” the Qian Emperor said. His eyes exuded a sense of superiority that grated on Jun Qiangwu’s nerve.
“A major power from the immortal realm?”
“Yes,” the Qian Emperor said. “You don’t know, but the changes in the world are because of a special energy—”
“Spiritual qi.”
“Wha?!” the emperor let, disbelief clear.
“You really think I don’t know?” Jun Qiangwu asked with a mocking smile. “I’ll tell you right now that I’ve survived because of an opportunity. You probably haven’t heard of him, but my benefactor is the Nine Heavens Emperor. If I perform well enough, I’ll have a chance to become his disciple.”
Jun Qiangwu had pondered the question many times. Why did the Nine Heavens Emperor bestow him with a system? And this was the answer he came up with. Otherwise, why else would he allow Jun Qiangwu to cultivate the Nine-Five Scripture?
He glanced at the emperor. “Besides, since Jiafeng joined that power, wasn’t your betrayal a moot point? In the end, don’t you have to survive under another power? To me, it also seems you already became a vassal to the Mu Dynasty.”
The Qian Emperor snorted. “Who knows if you’re lying or not? Maybe the so-called Nine Heavens Emperor is just a paper tiger. He only sounds impressive. He probably isn’t even worth fart in front of the Xi Immortal Dynasty!”
Jun Qiangwu opened his mouth to rebuff the Qian Emperor, but froze.
[Ding! Main Mission Update.]
[Double the rewards for completing Main Mission 2.]
A queer expression appeared on Jun Qiangwu’s face as he gazed at the Qian Emperor. It caused the hair on the latter’s body to stiffen. “W-w-what? What are you looking at me like that for?”
Jun Qiangwu shook his head. Less than a second later, ice shards materialized and pierced the Qian Emperor’s arms. He was done with words. Now was the time for vengeance.
Hours later, Jun Qiangwu looked at his handiwork with satisfaction. A spear nailed the Qian Emperor onto the dragon sculpture above his bed. The emperor was naked, which made for a horrifying scene, but not for the expected reason.
He had taken his sweet time torturing the Qian Emperor and extracting all usable information. Now, hundreds of holes littered the emperor’s body, and a trail of blood even leaked from his lost manhood.
Jun Qiangwu frowned, still not satisfied. He waved his hand and controlled the emperor's blood to float up and paint the walls.
Dog Emperor, this is your retribution for betraying the Jun Family.
Only then did Jun Qiangwu nod in satisfaction. He walked out of the emperor’s palace and left the capital. The emperor’s corpse would be discovered an hour later, and so would the message, sending shockwaves in the vestigial empire. However, that had nothing to do with Jun Qiangwu anymore.
He was the only member of the Jun Family left. A family of one person could no longer be considered a family. Whether it was words of praise or rebuke, Jun Qiangwu didn’t care. He no longer cared about the Qian Dynasty or its citizens.
Instead, Jun Qiangwu found a safe location kilometers away from the capital and digested the information he gained from the Qian Emperor.
Most important was the information concerning the Xi Immortal Dynasty. According to the Qian Emperor, it was a powerful force that descended from a higher realm around five years ago.
The newly established Xi Immortal Dynasty sent delegates to all major settlements. The delegates were akin to gods. They could stand in the air and with a wave of their hand, destroy hundreds of monsters. To them, the monsters were probably no different from ants.
The delegates revealed the truth behind the world’s changes. Not only that, but they also announced the existence of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Any person had the right to become a member and attain a cultivation method. The trade-off was that they had to obey the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Otherwise, death.
Superhumans had a higher chance of joining the Xi Immortal Dynasty than regular humans, but that wasn’t absolute. After years of research and propagation by the Xi Immortal Dynasty, many people know that some superhumans were no different from regular mortals to the Xi Immortal Dynasty.
Qian Jiafeng happened to be one of those people. However, she was lucky and got engaged to the crown prince of the Mu Dynasty. According to the deceased Qian Emperor, Crown Prince Mu Long was a core disciple of the Xi Immortal Dynasty. And the reason he was so talented was because of his physique, the Hundred Roots Physique.
Possessors of the Hundred Roots Physique could control up a hundred different plants. However, that was only its auxiliary effect. The user could absorb the vitality of the controlled plants for many uses, such as healing or as a cultivation booster. Thanks to this outstanding ability, Mu Long had already reached the Sixth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.
Jun Qiangwu frowned. He never expected so many people other than him would receive cultivation inheritances. It seemed that he needed to scout out the Xi Immortal Dynasty and compare the methods. But in his heart, Jun Qiangwu believed the system’s cultivation method was superior.
Speaking of the system.
“System, I’ve completed the mission. I can get the reward now, right?”
[Ding! Main Mission 2 completed.]
[Reward: 2 Gacha Tokens.]
Question marks appeared above Jun Qiangwu’s head. “What is a gacha?”
[Gacha is a chance system that grants rewards based on luck.]
Immediately, Jun Qiangwu’s enthusiasm waned. If he was lucky, would he be betrayed? Well, he can’t be considered unlucky, either. After all, he caught the attention of a supreme existence.
“How do I use it?”
After the Nine Heavens Revenge System explained the process, Jun Qiangwu opened the gacha system. A window with a slot wheel with many pictures appeared. With but a thought, he used a gacha token, and the slot started to spin. Despite himself, Jun Qiangwu couldn’t help but become nervous.
Finally, the slot stopped on the picture of a white shell with tan underbelly.
[Ding! Congratulation for receiving the Lesser White Shell Talisman.]
“White Shell Talisman, what’s that?” Jun Qiangwu asked.
[The Lesser White Shell Talisman is a one-time use item that shoots a white shell in a straight line. Once struck, a foundation establishment disciple would immediately lose his life. Even a core formation master would be injured.]
Jun Qiangwu’s eyes lit up. ‘Good thing!’
He took out the talisman and it fit comfortably into his palm. It was amazing that such a small thing could kill a foundation establishment disciple. The best part was that he didn’t need to input any qi into it, not that a qi gathering pupil like he could.
After playing with it a bit, he stored it back into the gacha space. It was a special pocket of space given to him by the system to store all his winnings from the gacha.
Jun Qiangwu immediately used the next gacha token. He waited with bated breath for the next item. He wasn’t a gambler, but this gacha thing might just make him fall down the rabbit hole. Thoughts on how to earn more gacha tokens already appeared in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulation for receiving the Frostflower Eye.]
“Frostflower Eye, what’s that?” Jun Qiangwu murmured. However, immediately after learning of its ability, he couldn’t help but shout in excitement. It was like the ability was tailor made for him.
Jun Qiangwu left his original spot for a more secure location. After settling in, he began to practice the technique.
