Warning
"M-Meirong?!" her mother exclaims. "W-Where are you!? W-We've been looking all over for you-"
Meirong flicks energy that grazed her mother's cheek and rips the building behind.
!
"Y-You-"
"How dare you pretend when you almost sent me to death," says Meirong.
...
Her brothers quiver at the sight of Meirong. It is no doubt that she is a first-rate martial artist that can wipe out the entire Duan family, not even her parents dared to retaliate.
"M-Meirong...are you here to...?" Her father tries to speak.
Meirong shakes her head. "This is my first and last warning. Confess to every sin you have committed."
"W-What sins! We have never committed-" the father slaps one of the brothers who try to speak up.
"Look, we-" her father attempts to convince Meirong.
Meirong with one twirl of her body kills every practitioner and destroys the infrastructure. One of her master's advice is to show absolutely no mercy to your enemies.
"N-No!!!! Why did you do that!!" Her mother exclaims.
One of her brothers drops on the floor from the impact and wets himself. The entire residence has collapsed into ruins.
"This is simply nothing compared to what I've experienced. Since we have the same bloodline, I will not kill you. But remember, the Duan family will not ascend and rise from now on." Meirong says that and appears behind her family members, striking their spines to cripple each of them.
"ARGH!! NO! NO!!!" Her brother cries out as he rolls on the floor in pain.
...
It was satisfying, she used to be the one getting bullied by her brothers. Is this what her brothers saw in the past?
Without saying anything else, Meirong left the residence. That single event caused an uproar of rumours to spread about the mysterious young lady expert who goes around exterminating evil. It was the start.
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At the Heavenly Divine Dragon sect...
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Mission complete!
-Kill Xie Mo
Reward:
+1 Martial Package(Tier A)
+Virus Tracker
+Virus manual evolution guide
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Martial Package(Tier A)
+1 Heaven defying pill
+1 Ascended spirit framework
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Ascended spirit framework? The spirit also known as the soul is the foundation of life, thus, there can be enhancements made to it that benefit the overall being.
Equipping causes my body to throb when a rush of perception integrates itself.
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Ascended Spirit Framework.
A superior framework bestowed by a pious being, known to guide humanity to salvation.
-Senses are greatly enhanced(stacks with every realm breakthrough)
-Instinct is developed and vastly accurate.
-Attacks against sinners exponentially increase according to the number of sins committed.
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Sinners...?
I take a twig and channel energy into it, attempting to slash a cut on my finger. The twig disintegrates upon contact.
Looks like the last condition doesn't apply to the user...how Ironic. The Murim is a place full of sinners, in fact, you can't live without committing sins anywhere else.
I am not complaining though.
The virus tracker pulls up a map of the Murim, showing the infected by a small red dot. Enlarging the map, the many small dots condense into a gradual red that consumes the entire "Tiansu".
Interesting...my infection has made its way into Wenhua and infected about a hundred thousand.
Now for the guide...
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What desired property, symptom, or character does the host wish to achieve?
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There's no column or row to enter anything. Do I have to think about it?
A version of puppetry and mind control that can bypass the mental defence of a blessed or superior soul.
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Searching for a solution...
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...
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Three hundred solutions were found! Choosing one of the least difficult for the current host.
The host can attempt an infection of an abyssal creature called "Soul Devourer".
The Soul Devourer can be found in the third layer of the void and attain a property: Soul Disintegration
Soul Disintegration:
The virus can attack and break down the soul, either entirely or partly.
Thus, the ability to remove blessing given.
(Warning: Chance of dying is 100%. Doing this is not recommended)
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Third Layer...?
There are layers?
...
I won't be getting that any time soon if that's the "least" difficulty.
How about Qi resistance that allows me to infect a Golden Soul?
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Many Solutions have been found.
The host is currently undertaking one solution:
Infecting the virus into the densest Qi atmosphere at Huoshan.
However, it is recommended that the host infect more Qi density areas to speed up the process. Otherwise, it will take 8 months for the virus to achieve "Qi Immunity 4"
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I see...
Two knocks were heard on my door. "Patriarch! Something urgent came up!" Says Li Ye.
?
I open the door.
"Patriarch, an outer disciple has been assassinated in Nielong...the body is in...terrible shape."
...
The recruitment session is in 4 days, this is done by the other sects.
The power of influence and status. Individually, my reputation exceeds theirs. However, by collaborating on all of their statuses, they could pressure an assassin to risk offending me.
The assassination is a warning to potential candidates and deters them from joining the sect.
That is why I stayed as a Patriarch, which I have no reason to do so after getting rid of Xie Mo.
Other than strength, another saving grace is status and wealth. The more important you are, even as a mortal, you can overwhelm a strong cultivator by simply a few sentences. I need to expand my influence such that no one wants to mess with me, such a step is essential in the path I trek.
Li Ye guides me to a part of Nielong where a lot of people have gathered. Xiang Hou, Dei Lo, and Yueling are there to control the situation and inspect the body.
Xiang Hou lights up when he sees me. "Patriarch! This way."
We walk to the brothel pavilion, outside the doorway is a pool of dried blood.
The corpse is torn into two and hung from the tip of the roof by a rope for everyone to see.
...
"Have anyone said anything about this?" I ask.
"The brothel occupants and workers are the first witnesses early in the morning that reported it. We decided not to touch anything until further instructions from the Patriarch." Says Dei Lo.
"...Take the corpse down carefully and bring it to Huang Zhiming for further analysis," I say.
"Understood." Xiang Hou begins climbing up the Pavillion to retrieve the body.
Zhiming is an elder in charge of medicine and is vastly familiar with anatomy. He usually doesn't participate in sect meetings.
"I want to talk to the first witness, who are they?" I ask.
"The brothel's doorwoman. I will guide you to them."
Li Ye and I enter the brothel and walk to two women sitting at a table and staring at my disciples.
!
They immediately bow at my presence and smile. "Is there anything the Patriarch need-...wait you look familiar?" The woman says
I return the smile. "Yes, I am exactly the guy you chased away."
"H-Huh? H-How...?"
"Hm? The Patriarch went to the brothel and was rejected?" Says Li Ye.
"Ah, before I became a patriarch, I visited this place once," I say. "Anyways, let's go back to the topic at hand shall we?"
"U-Understood." Both women say in unison.
I don't blame both of them for not recognising me. My body features have changed drastically and I have become taller.
From my interrogation, they saw the body hanging from the roof when walking to work early in the morning. No one was around, or at least it seems that way to someone of the Qi Condensation realm.
This outer disciple requested a temporary eviction approval to celebrate his mother's birthday. Poor kid got involved with a treacherous plan.
I return to the sect and visit Zhiming who is inspecting the body.
"Patriarch, welcome." He says.
"How is the body?"
"From what I saw, he was slashed into two, a very clean cut. The assassin should be at the foundation establishment judging by the victim's cultivation base of Qi Condensation and there are shards of dirt on his hair, the assassin probably blinded him by kicking a pile of dirt and executing the attack."
"I see..."
...
The outer disciple left early in the morning before dawn.
!
Ah! I could do "that"...
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Later at midnight...
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Without informing anyone, I borrow the appearance of one of the outer disciples and sneak out of the sect while suppressing my cultivation.
Eyes immediately glance at me when I step into Nielong. The empty streets and cold nights add to the darkness that shrouded the land.
Let's see...dirt...
This means it should be somewhere outside of Nielong. I walk out of Nielong while keeping a heightened alert, I can detect two presence following me.
Once I trudge into the forest, two assassins jump from the trees and attempt to slash me from above.
*DING*
Once their sabre touches my scalp, it immediately snaps and shatters into two.
?!!!
"S-Shit! He is an expert!" One of them exclaims.
Smirking, I behead one of the assassins and strikes the nape of the second to knock him out.