49-55

Chapter 49. Abusing Heavenly Will's Punishment

Looking back at Ren Qingquan, currently his condition is quite bad. After a whole night of living above the sea inside his boat. I just know this guy actually has sea sickness! 

Every fifteen minutes, he can be seen vomiting into the sea. And coincidentally, right now it is exactly fifteen minutes since he last vomited. So… *Blergh*

As Ren Qingquan vomited once again, I wished to give him sea sickness medicine or something. What a pity, I didn't know how to make one. 

While he was busy vomiting, I sensed a problem through [Scan]. A pretty big fish is arriving nearby the bowl shaped boat he is using. 

Following the direction he is swimming, that fish seems to target the disgusting thing Ren Qingquan left in the sea. For that reason, I don't want to specify what he left. 

Anyway, the problem doesn't come from the size of that fish, nor from its target. The main problem comes from the thing that fish must pass to reach its target. With how that fish moves, it will pass the location of this boat's propeller. 

Soon, tragedy struck. Along with the sound of meat entering a blender and a massive tremor from his boat. The surrounding water turns slightly redder. 

Ren Qingquan's initially fatigued face turned even worse due to the shake. Returning to the corner of his boat, he once again threw up in the sea. 

Checking the propeller below, I can only say there is blessing in misfortune. At least, the propeller didn't break during the previous collision. Ren Qingquan, who now looks like a living corpse, continued to ride his boat.

Soon, another day passed and he arrived at his destination. Luckily, there is no more danger on the rest of his journey.

As if a sailor that has sailed for a decade straight, the first thing Ren Qingquan does upon stepping at the island is to kiss the sand under him.

Then, he stored his metal boat before pulling his 2x2x2 meters small metal room, which haven't been used since a long time ago from [Storage]. 

'Let's rest for a moment.' With that thought, he went inside for a moment to take a nap. 

After an hour passed, Ren Qingquan woke up and stored the metal house back into [Storage]. He first decided to collect the 100 fin from Steel Fin Fish so he can experiment on [Devour] with peace of mind. 

Opening the system map, he asked me. 'System, can you mark the location of Steel Fin Fish on the map?'

Hearing his request, I activated [Scan] and [Calculate]. Searching for a fish that has the same characteristic as Steel Fin Fish written in the mission description. I quickly locked on a species of fish. 

Just like the description, that fish has a steel colored fin shaped like a folding fan. It is also capable of swimming at extremely fast speeds. From the three specimens I found, all three of them have a cultivation realm at the Body Tempering Stage. Which is equivalent to Martial Apprentice to Martial Grandmaster stage in the Martial Arts World. 

Changing the color of the dot those fish show into gold. I notified Ren Qingquan about it. 

[Ding! System has marked the location of Steel Fin Fish on the system map.]

Seeing my message, he quickly ran toward the location of that fish. Once he arrived near the sea, Ren Qingquan activated his Body Hardening technique followed by his Armament Transformation. 

Using Armament Transformation, he summoned a propeller made of spirit qi below his feet. As he jumped into the sea, that propeller quickly rotated under his control and pushed him forward. 

Looking at his newly invented technique, I am dumbfounded. Where the hell did Ren Qingquan learn this kind of thing? Is he actually a genius in terms of Magical Technique?! 

Moving quickly under the sea, he arrived nearby one of the Steel Fin Fish I marked. Coating his arm with a layer of sword shaped spirit qi, he slashed it toward the fish. 

Although the Steel Fin Fish can swim at incredibly high speed, but Ren Qingquan's spirit qi propeller are much faster. So, that slash of his successfully slashed the fish into two. 

After making sure the fish died, he cut off the dorsal fin of that fish. Which is the part required by the mission to collect. Then, he continued to swim toward the other two fish I previously detected. Repeating the same movements, he cut the fish off before collecting their fin. 

Opening the system map, Ren Qingquan moved toward another golden dot I recently marked. And so, within 3 hours, he already gathered 100 dorsal fins from Steel Fin Fish necessary to complete the mission. 

Returning to the shore, he reabsorbed the spirit qi used by Body Hardening and Armament Transformation which make the amount of spirit qi spent turn negligible.

Looking at his wet clothes, Ren Qingquan asked me. 'System, can you store the sea water attached to my clothes and body?'

As it is quite an easy request, I answered him. 

[Sure]

Choosing only the sea water, I helped him to absorb them all which in turn dried his initially wet cloth.

Resting for a short moment to catch his breath, Ren Qingquan looked at the sun above. Currently, the sun is located right above his head. 

Seeing as there is still a lot of time left before night arrives, he decided to stop procrastinating and start testing [Devour].

First, he selected a stone and granted it with Lv 1 subsystem containing [Devour]. Throwing it far away into the sea, Ren Qingquan walked further away from it. 

Then, through the subsystem panel, he activated the [Devour] granted to the stone. 

Just like previously when I experimented on [Devour], for the first three minutes the sky is clear and there is no trace of lightning cloud. Then, the feeling of being observed by a massive existence arrived. Three minutes later, lightning clouds start to gather nearby that stone. 

*BOOM*

After four minutes, that lightning descended and obliterated the stone into smithereens. 

During its glorious ten minutes of life, that stone gathered slightly more than 1 point. To be exact, it gathered 1.5 points during its short life. 

Separating it into two parts, I sent 0.75 points to Ren Qingquan. 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1 point!]

Seeing my notification, Ren Qingquan frowned a moment before asking. 'System, please tell me the specific amount of points I gained.'

[Host gained 0.75 points from the previous devour. The system rounded it up to 1 point due to the amount of unrecorded points hosts have previously already reached, more than 0.25 points.]

After reading that information, Ren Qingquan asked me another question. 'System, do you know the difference in effectiveness between my [Devour] and the [Devour] each level of subsystem has?'

[With host's 'Devour' as 100%, every level of subsystem has the following absorption effectiveness. 

Lv 1: 1%

Lv 2: 3%

Lv 3: 10%

Lv 4: 20%

Lv 5: 40%

Lv 6: 80%]

Seeing the information about [Devour]'s effectiveness, Ren Qingquan frowned and thought. 'That means, the Lv 1 subsystem is the most effective in terms of price to performance ratio.'

While picking a stone and toying with it, Ren Qingquan continued his thought. 'Previously, the system said the strength of the sub system's function is also affected by the main system. So, I just need to upgrade my own [Devour] until it causes the amount of energy swallowed by a Lv 1 sub system to be more than 1 point. '

After being in a daze for a long time, Ren Qingquan suddenly sent me a request. 'System, can you change the shape of [Devour]'

Although I am not too sure about what Ren Qingquan wanted to do with a change in shape for [Devour], I still tried to check whether it is possible to do it. 

After tinkering for a moment, I am a bit dumbfounded because it is actually possible to change the shape of [Devour]. Of course, I still need to spend energy and upgrade [Devour] to add that function. 

And so, I told him about it. 

[Ding! It is indeed possible to change the shape of 'Devour' by spending points. The more points spent, the more flexible its shape will be.]

Testing the water, he spent 1000 points to add the function to change shape to [Devour] and granted the stone in his hand a Lv 1 subsystem. 

Throwing the stone into the sea, he changed the shape of that stone's devour from the ball shape it initially had into a ball connected with a thin string. The stone is located at one end of the string and the ball shaped [Devour] is located at the other end. 

He makes it so only the ball shaped part will devour the thing, while the string part only transfers the energy into that stone. 

After this point, I understood Ren Qingquan's goal. He wishes to check whether the lightning struck the ball part that devoured things or struck the stone where those devoured energies end up. If the lightning only struck the ball part which devoured, instead of the stone where energies truly end up, 

Just like before, after six minutes, the sky starts to darken. After another four minutes, lightning descended and struck at the location where the ball shaped [Devour] is located!

Just when both of us were happy, I saw that lightning took a sharp 'L' shaped turn and struck the stone. 

*BOOM*

With that sound of explosion, sea water got thrown out to the sky as the stone with Lv 1 sub system got obliterated from this world. 

As Ren Qingquan seems to be a bit stuck, I decided to lend a helping hand. After all, although now I already got an idea how to use [Devour] to increase my energy. Who knows, by letting him go wild, he might thought of an even better idea. Furthermore, this great me is a believer of free will. I don't want to force my will onto others as much as possible. 

[Host, the amount of points you gained through 'Devour' is affected by the amount of energy your target has. So, if you devoured a high energy target, the amount of points you gain from 'Devour' at some time span will increase.]

'Higher energy will grant more points?' As if a light that parted the cloud, that word directly gave him a new idea. Raising his head to look at the still cloudy sky, he smiled. 

Taking two stones, he granted both of them with an Lv 1 subsystem containing [Devour] and placed one at the sand. Running far away from that stone, he activated the [Devour] on that stone.

After ten minutes, that lightning struck once again. This time, Ren Qingquan doesn't stop and throws the other stone at his hand toward the place where that lightning has just struck. 

Activating the [Devour] on that second stone, it successfully devoured the lightning from that cloud. 

Within four minutes, a notification from the system arrived. 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1 point!]

After six minutes, another lightning descended and obliterated the second stone. 

In the last second of its life, that stone successfully sent another point to him. 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1 point!]

Just like he expected, the energy contained inside that lightning is a lot! Even when most of it has already dispersed, the remaining lightning is still enough to let a Lv 1 subsystem to devour 2 points of energy within 10 minutes. Removing 1 point from the cost of granting a Lv1 subsystem, it netted him a 1 point of energy/ 10 minutes. 

Which means within 1 hour, he can obtain 6 points. Although it seems a bit underwhelming. But, who said he can only throw one at a time. 

If he throws 10 or even 100 Lv 1 sub systems together and lets them swallow the lightning, his income will also multiply by that much. 

And so, Ren Qingquan immediately followed his idea and gathered more than 100 stones. Granting all of them with a Lv 1 sub system, Ren Qingquan threw one of them as bait. 

After ten minutes, that lightning took the bait and obliterated his first stone. Next, he threw ten stones with the Lv 1 System toward the area that just got struck by that lightning. Activating their [Devour], Ren Qingquan smiled upon reading the notification that keeps on appearing

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1 point!] 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1 point!]

Everytime I sent that notification, Ren Qingquan's smile got wider and wider. 

After ten minutes, the promised lightning strike came once again. This time, the lightning cloud was quite generous and sent 10 bolts of lightning. One for each stone. 

*BOOM* x10

Counting the number of notifications I sent during the last 10 minutes. Ren Qingquan realized there are actually only 8 notifications. Which means, the points devoured are lower than expected. 'Looks like the amount of energy within a bolt of lightning is also limited.'

Then, I saw Ren Qingquan staring at the place where 10 bolts of lightning had just struck. With an evil smile, he threw another 10 stones containing the Lv 1 subsystem.

Looking at the result of Ren Qingquan's experiment, I nodded. As expected, allowing him to go wild is indeed the right thing. He actually found a better way to absorb energies than the one I thought of.

Chapter 50. Trash Teammate!

While Ren Qingquan is busy devouring the lightning punishment sent by the heavenly will of the cultivation world. 

Inside a small boat with some glowing runes engraved on it. Lackey A finally arrived near the island where Ren Qingquan is currently doing an experiment. 

From Lackey A's current position he saw lightning bolt akin to a punishment from heaven itself descended into the island continuously. 

Brought by his curiosity, Lackey A sent another trace of his spirit qi and activated more formations in his boat which increased its speed even further. 

Soon, he arrived within a 10 kilometers radius from that island. Thanks to his good eyesight as a Foundation Building Stage cultivator, Lackey A can see the vague silhouette of a man nearby the location where those lightning keeps on descending. 

As he got nearer and nearer to that Island, his view of that silhouette became clearer and clearer. He is incredibly shocked upon seeing the guy with a dumb look he previously saw standing calmly nearby the location those lightning struck. Of course as that guy is currently not in a daze, he doesn't have the same dumb look he previously had. 

Activating the stealth formation, he observed that guy for a long time. Seeing that guy calmly throw a stone and then lightning struck the place where the stone landed ten minutes later. 

Although Lackey A doesn't quite understand what that guy is doing. He knows one thing for sure. That guy has a treasure, and that treasure is capable of summoning lightning punishment from heaven. Upon reaching this conclusion, he turned envious before starting to have a greedy thought. 

'I want that treasure!'

As a self-acknowledged smart person. Lackey A might look like a common brain dead minions of a third rate villain that wouldn't last for more than 2 chapters in a novel. But, he is still capable of using some of his brain cells. 

So, activating his Cultivation Realm Detection Magical Technique-Pure Wave Sect Edition. He closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them. 

Once he opened them, Lackey A immediately focused his eyes onto that guy. Seeing the result of his detection which shows that guy's realm as merely at the Completion of Qi Refining, He strengthened his resolve to rob that treasure. 

Before starting his plan to rob that guy, Lackey A observed that guy for a bit longer.

After learning the pattern of that lighting summoning treasure, which will only activate ten minutes after that guy throws the stone. He is ready to start his plan. 

That is when Lackey A remembered Young Master Gu Cheng's warning to only investigate. But, as a person with great aspiration, he has always secretly disliked that Young Master Gu and thought of him as a mere stepping stone. With a harrumph, he started to imagine his beautiful future. 

'Hmph. That stupid second generation kid can be damned for all I care. With that powerful lightning treasure, I will be able to injure even a Nascent Soul expert! This will increase my chance of winning when fighting for a fortuitous encounter!'

With that thought, Lackey A controlled his boat to move toward that island while in stealth mode. 

***

Consciousness Space

As I always placed some of my attention at [Scan] since I gained the ability to multitask. Since close to half an hour ago, I have detected a Foundation Building Stage cultivator sailing nearby the island. 

At first, I thought that person was just fishing and coincidentally arrived nearby the island. But, seeing the familiar energy fluctuation that guy has, My gut feeling says otherwise. 

As the owner of that energy fluctuation has caused quite a ruckus. I remembered him pretty well. I don't know his exact name, so let's call him Lackey A, because he reminds me of those young master's servant NPCs.

Lackey A loudly announces some Young Master's arrival while Ren Qingquan is choosing his mission in the Miscellaneous Hall's Mission Distribution Office. I have always placed him on my 'Creatures to be careful of' list. 

It looks like Lackey A is ready to do whatever he is here for, as I saw him start to move toward the island where Ren Qingquan currently is. 

As I have quite a bad feeling about Lackey A, I decided to warn Ren Qingquan of his arrival. 

[Warning! System detected energy fluctuation at Foundation Building level arriving toward your location!]

Seeing that warning, Ren Qingquan opened the system map and saw a dot quickly moving toward his location from the sea. 

Calculating from its speed, Ren Qingquan saw that the dot would arrive within 5 minutes at the latest.

Once that dot arrived within 1 kilometer range from him, Ren Qingquan activated [Scan] and saw his information. 

[Name: Unknown

Realm: Foundation Building

Cultivation Method: ?

Magical Technique: ?

Note: Young Master Gu Cheng's minion]

Looking at the panel of that guy, Ren Qingquan thought for a moment before he remembered who Young Master Gu Cheng is. 

Remembering one of that young master's annoying lackeys, he decided to ask the system whether or not the one arriving was that specific person. 'System, is the one approaching this island that young master's most annoying lackey?'

[Yes, it is exactly that super loud and annoying guy. It is the lackey which called you a dumb looking guy.]

After seeing my words, Ren Qingquan's face turned annoyed. 

Looking at the system map once again, Ren Qingquan saw the size of that dot and then asked me a question. 'System, Foundation Building is equal to Martial Lord in the Martial Arts World right?'

[Yes.]

Upon getting an answer from me, Ren Qingquan's body can be seen turning relaxed. It is understandable as Ren Qingquan already has experience at killing a Martial Lord beast. 

Waiting for Lackey A to arrive on the island, Ren Qingquan decided to stop his point farming routine and check his gains. 

From the last 3 hours of farming, the points Ren Qingquan gained already increased by 1.800 and changed his status panel into the following:

[Name: Ren Qingquan

Realm: Qi Refining 5/5 (Completion) 

Absorbed Spirit Qi: 1 +0.595 (Excess spirit qi can be used to fill spirit qi stored in dantian once there is any extra room for it.)

Point: 44.000

Profession: Formation master (Extremely Weak.)

Cultivation Method: Immortal Body Tempering (Immortal Ascension)

Magical Technique: Armaments Transformation (Perfection), Agile Step (Perfection), Body Hardening (Perfection), Super Duper ... Turtle Shell Technique (First Section), Turtle Divination Art (First Section) 

System function: Devour, Shop, Scan, Library, Map (1000 meters radius), Calculate, System Storage (100 cubic meters), Sub system.]

Ren Qingquan was satisfied as he looked at his personal panel. That is until he saw the part showing how many absorbed spirits he has. 'System, why are there 0.204 spirit qi missing from my extra absorbed spirit qi?' 

Hearing his question, I can only sigh. It seems Ren Qingquan is having too much fun while he previously used Turtle Divination Arts and didn't realize the amount of spirit it uses. 

[You spent 0.4 spirit qi when using the Turtle Divination Arts twice. Then, you spent 0.04 energies when using Armament Transformation and Body Strengthening.]

Seeing my answer, Ren Qingquan screams internally. 'What the hell, that magical technique is so expensive to use?!'

After thinking for a moment, he continued. 'System, can you notify me of my spent energies from now on?'

Well, it is not too difficult. So, I agreed to his request. 

[Yes.]

While Ren Qingquan was busy, Lackey A finally arrived on the island. 

From Ren Qingquan's view, Lackey A's boat is actually capable of some means to turn itself invisible as he sailed the sea!

Realizing this, I warned Ren Qingquan while I focused on scanning that boat thoroughly. A means to turn invisible will definitely be useful. Although the means is a bit flawed as it actually doesn't hide their energy. 

[Host, that young master's lackey has arrived at your island.]

Once lackey A stepped away from his boat, Ren Qingquan could finally see him. 

Just like in the Miscellaneous Hall's Mission Distribution Office, Lackey A still has that annoying expression on his face. The kind that makes others want to punch him. 

Sensing Ren Qingquan looking at him, Lackey A grinned with an evil smile as he pulled the sword near his waist. 

Walking slowly toward Ren Qingquan, Lackey A spoke the word those common small villains in xianxia novels usually use. "Kekeke. Brat, give me your treasure and I will leave your corpse whole!" 

From his weird way of laughing to leaving your corpse the whole thing. I don't know where I must start my ridicule. 

As Lackey A moved closer and closer to Ren Qingquan, He is instead currently in a daze and asked me an unrelated question. 'System, what treasure is that guy talking about?'

Upon entering this island, I saw Lackey A continuously glancing at the location where the sands had already turned into a field of glass due to being struck by lightning. Which makes me come to the conclusion that Lackey A actually thinks the stones Ren Qingquan threw are treasures. So, I replied to him. 

[He probably thought those stones you throw are treasures.]

Wait! Why did I even answer this nonsensical question! 

While I was talking with him, Lackey A had already reached the 20 meters range of Ren Qingquan.

[Host! Focus on your enemy! That guy is already close!!!]

Exactly when I warned Ren Qingquan, Lackey A dashed toward him at extremely fast speed. 

Hearing my warning, Ren Qingquan subconsciously used Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique. 

According to Ren Qingquan's request, I notified him about the amount of energy he spent. 

[You spent 0.1 spirit qi.]

Seeing the amount of energy spent, Ren Qingquan frowned as he thought. 'The price of using this magical technique is so expensive!?'

After Ren Qingquan activated that magical technique, a ball shaped energy shield is quickly released with him as the center. That energy shield surrounded him 5 meters away. Just like the name, this shield is made of small hexagonal shapes which make it look like a turtle shell. 

Lackey A is within 5 meters from Ren Qingquan. Once the energy shield is released, he gets knocked backward into the air from the shield's sudden release and momentum. 

While in the air, Lackey A used an unscientific way to regain his balance as his body flipped around several times. Before he slowly landed in the sand with a soft thud. 

"Damn it!" After regaining his balance, Lackey A cursed and once again launched himself toward Ren Qingquan. 

Then, Lackey A slashed the sword in his hand toward the shield generated by Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique. 

*Clang*

With the sound of metal hitting metal, spark flew at the location Lackey A slashed. As a result, cracks appeared on one of the hexagons which make up Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique's shield. 

But, within less than one second, that crack healed on it's own. Sensing as Ren Qingquan's spirit qi are used to heal it, I sent a notification to him. 

[You spent 0.01 spirit qi]

'As expected of a super powerful magical technique. Although the amount of spirit qi used is a lot, its defensive power is pretty good.' Seeing how Lackey A couldn't pierce through his shield even though he is a Foundation Building expert, Ren Qingquan calmed down and prepared for his counter attack.

Meanwhile, upon seeing his attack is ineffective. Lackey A started to madly wave his sword toward the shield Ren Qingquan used. 

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

"Why is your turtle shell so frickin hard!!! Damn coward, get out of your turtle shell!" Accompanied by Lackey A's scream and the continuous sound of iron striking against each other, I sent several notifications toward Ren Qingquan. 

[You spent 0.01 spirit qi]

[You spent 0.01 spirit qi]

[You spent 0.01 spirit qi]

[You spent 0.01 spirit qi] x10

Chapter 51. System's Carrot And Stick Approach

[You spent 0.01 spirit qi]

After that continuous notification which blocked his field of vision, Ren Qingquan seemed to be annoyed as he asked me to stop. 'Actually, system. Stop sending me the notification and just refill my stored spirit qi to keep it always full.'

Then, Ren Qingquan added 'Also, if I am out of extra spirit qi while in combat. Can you automatically purchase spirit qi for me to use?'

Well, his new request is also easy for me. So, I immediately agreed. 

[Ding! Activating automatic spirit qi refill while in combat.]

Upon seeing the message I sent, Ren Qingquan nodded. 

Next, he looked at Lackey A who finally paused his attack and took several deep breaths. 

*Huff* *Puff*

While taking a deep breath, Lackey A pulled a vase-like jar containing several things with quite a lot of energy. Opening the lid, he swallowed what looked like a pill stored inside. Immediately, his initially short breath stabilized. 

Next, he continued to pull several items. This time, what he pulled were several stones containing quite a lot of energy and placed them in his hand. Those stones are exactly the ones the gambling group Ren Qingquan met while entering the gate for his residential area used to gamble. 

After Lackey A grabbed those stones, he used his mental power and pulled the energies inside them toward himself. 

From how he used it, I think it is a spirit stone or its equivalent in this world. 

While Lackey A regained his stamina, Ren Qingquan is preparing his counterattack 

Because the spirit qi shield generated from Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique will not follow its user around after being deployed, coupled with Ren Qingquan's lack of a long-distance attack method. He needed to think of a new way to attack, which delayed his counter attack. 

Touching the sand with both of his hands, Ren Qingquan asked me to activate [Storage]. When I saw his new idea about how to use [Storage], I was a bit dumbfounded. Nevertheless, I still stored the sand following his lead. 

And so, while Lackey A is preparing for another attack. A huge chunk of the sand below him suddenly disappeared which made him lose his footing and fall into a deep hole. 

What a pity, Lackey A used his unscientific jump once again and successfully escaped from the hole. Just in time to escape Ren Qingquan's next attack which is to fill the hole with the sands he stores 

*Boom*

Due to the massive amount of sand suddenly being released at once., dust rose and blocked the view of both combatants. 

Opening the map, Ren Qingquan checked Lackey A's current location. Next, he activated Armament Transformation and Body Hardening.

Controlling Armament Transformation, he turned the spirit qi aura generated by that technique into the shape of a whip on both of his hands. 

Because Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique and Armament Transformation used the same source of spirit qi which has been marked by Ren Qingquan. Under his control, that whip easily passed through the shield generated by Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique and slithered toward the location where Lackey A is. 

Ren Qingquan's whip attack comes at an extremely fast speed. Coupled with the sand that blocks his view, it causes Lackey A to be unprepared for any attack. 

With a loud snapping sound, both whips attacked him at the same time. 

"Argh!" Lackey A screamed in agony upon being struck by both whips. 

Realizing Ren Qingquan probably has the means to see within the sand storm, Lackey A pulled a talisman-looking paper. 

Sending some of his spirit qi toward that talisman, he followed the location Ren Qingquan's whip came from while shouting. "Earth Protection Talisman!"

Together with Lackey A's shout, that talisman burned in midair and turned into a huge wind vortex that directly absorbed the surrounding sand!

Looking at that while inside Consciousness Space, I am utterly speechless. People in the cultivation world are actually quite scheming! This Lackey A shouted Earth Protection Talisman while in reality, what he threw is a wind element talisman.

Meanwhile, after the wind vortex caused by Lackey A's Talisman sucked quite a lot of sand. He finally located Ren Qingquan's position due to the lack of dust. 

As he waved his hand downward, the initially rotating wind took a sharp turn and moved downward toward Ren Qingquan's location. That wind pushed along the sands it previously sucked, which directly caused a massive rain of sands to fall toward Ren Qingquan

Just the initial impact caused Ren Qingquan's shield to crack in many places. 

'This is quite bad.' As he thought so, Ren Qingquan took some leftover metal from when he created that bowl-shaped boat of his. 

Breaking them into several palm-sized pieces, he granted them with Lv 1 [Devour]. 

Holding those metals as if a Frisbee, he opened one of the hexagons that made up Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique before throwing them outside. Next, he used the whip generated from Armament Transformation as a tentacle to grab those metal pieces. 

'System, activate the [Devour] on those metals. But, exclude Armament Transformation's whip from being devoured.' Following Ren Qingquan's thought, I activated the [Devour] from those metals. 

Thanks to those metal's effort on devouring the wind and sand targeting Ren Qingquan, the burden on Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique lessened greatly. The initially cracked shield already slowly healed. 

Seeing his attack had been neutralized by Ren Qingquan, Lackey A frowned and said. "You forced my hand!" 

Then, he pulled an octagonal plate filled with runic engraving which gave a feeling akin to a miniature formation. Placing several spirit stones at a grove located in the center, he spewed some blood which contained some of his refined energy.

Seeing as Lackey A has even spit some of his blood and looks like he is preparing some kind of ultimate move. I quickly warned Ren Qingquan. 

[Host! That guy is going to use his ultimate move!]

It seems Ren Qingquan also saw that scene as his face turned serious. With a cold sweat, he controlled Armament Transformation and increased the amount of whips it generated. 

From the initial pair of whips, it turned into ten whips with five in both of his hands. Then, except for the two used to hold metal pieces containing Lv1 [Devour], he sent all eight of those whips toward Lackey A. 

What a pity, Ren Qingquan's movement is a bit late as Lackey A has successfully activated his ultimate move. 

"Obliterate!" with his scream, a huge light beam is generated from that formation plate toward the place it pointed, which is Ren Qingquan's location. 

The light generated from that plate directly shattered all eight of the whips Ren Qingquan sent toward him. Next, it moved toward where the pair of whips holding metal pieces were located. 

Maybe due to [Devour]'s low strength, or due to the fact those light beams contained Lackey A's refined spirit which made them fall under his control, or even both reasons. But, those metals failed to [Devour] the light beam Lackey A sent. 

After obliterating those metal pieces, it directly went toward Ren Qingquan's shield. Still with its domineering might, that light beam pierced through one of the hexagonal shields generated by Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique. 

Seeing that laser-like attack was already nearby, Ren Qingquan screamed in a panic toward me. 'System, quickly change the shape of my boat back into a metal plate!'

Looking at Ren Qingquan's boat inside [Storage], I start busying myself with [Transfer] to change the shape of Ren Qingquan's boat by cutting and tying its structure. That is right, although it is rarely mentioned, but [Transfer] always gives its silent contribution on many things. 

While doing it, I split some of my attention toward the battle. 

Luckily, Super Duper... Turtle Shell Technique is worthy of its name. It delayed and greatly weakened the power of Lackey A's light beam. Barely giving me enough time for me to finish Ren Qingquan's request to return the shape of his ship to a metal plate. 

Looking as that light already arrived near him, Ren Qingquan quickly pulled that thick metal plate from [Storage] and placed it between him and the light beam. 

*BOOM*

With an explosion sound, that metal plate dented. 

Lackey A who saw Ren Qingquan using many of his trump cards at once is currently smiling bitterly. Due to spitting that blood, his condition is quite bad as his face is now a pale white color. Furthermore, Ren Qingquan's previous sneak attack has caused him a couple of bloody wounds. 

After guarding against that light beam attack, Ren Qingquan stored his metal plate back into [Storage].

Looking at the pale Lackey A. Ren Qingquan purchased several points of lightning and sent it toward Lackey A, which made him fall unconscious.

As Lackey A has been incapacitated, I finally have time to review the previous battle. Except for the last part where Ren Qingquan can just use [Storage] to store that attack. I will give him a flying color for the result of this battle. 

To be honest, I am a bit confused about a question. How come Ren Qingquan's combat sense suddenly increased so greatly? I still remember that time he got beaten up by that leopard in the Martial Arts World. Activating [Scan] on Ren Qingquan, I checked for any trace of possession just in case. 

After scanning every part of him, including the soul. With the limited knowledge of soul I have, I detected nothing weird about him. So, I tried to recall the previous battle once again and compare it with Ren Qingquan's fight against that leopard. Then I found out the main difference, the current him has several powerful magical techniques at his disposal. 

Is Ren Qingquan really a genius in magical technique like I previously randomly guessed? 

Upon relieving my concerns, I focused most of my attention back to Ren Qingquan which soon almost caused my head to explode from anger. 

After making Lackey A turn unconscious, Ren Qingquan actually thought of leaving from this island without killing that guy! 

I immediately confronted Ren Qingquan about it. 

[Host, why won't you kill that guy?]

What answered me is Ren Qingquan's philanthropic answer. 'I can kill beasts easily. But, killing humans is a different matter altogether. Furthermore, I don't think killing someone from a single disagreement is good.'

(¬_¬)

You literally just tried to bury that guy alive several minutes ago. 

Then, Ren Qingquan continued. 'Furthermore, I am still a bit traumatized by the corpse I saw at the inn in Martial Arts World. And while on earth, I never killed someone. After the adrenaline rush died off, I was a bit afraid of killing someone.'

Hearing what Ren Qingquan's real reason is most likely, I decided this can't go on. I need to make him capable of killing others when needed. 

I understand Ren Qingquan's unwillingness to kill other humans. After all, both of us come from earth where killing sounds quite far away from our daily life. But, this whole matter with Lackey A is a different matter.

Sigh, guess I need to pull that thing out. Although I have already prepared it for a long time. Due to my preference of giving others a free will, I haven't enforced it.

Writing something on the screen, I sent a notification to Ren Qingquan. 

[Ding! System has added a 'Quest' function! Host may open the quest panel through your personal panel or by thinking about 'Quest'. ]

'Huh?' Seeing that notification, Ren Qingquan looks a bit confused. 'System, why the sudden update?'

After I sent that notification, I ignored Ren Qingquan's question for a moment and opened my panel to look at the amount of energy I have left. 

[Name: System

Skills:

[Storage] 

Inanimate and frozen time: 1000 cubic meters. 

Space with x2 speed: 1 cubic meter. 

[Transfer] 

[Calculate]

Upgraded using: 20.000 points. 

[Devour]

Radius: 6 Meters 

[Scan]

Max Range: 10.000

[Create]

[Anchor]

Lv 7 : Ren Qingquan

Lv 5 : 1 (Azure Emperor) 

Lv 2 : ±10

Lv 1 : ±1.000

Energy: 100.000

Daily income: 80 Energy]

As I spent some of the energies I gained from Ren Qingquan's purchase of skill creation and learning to [Calculate] due to its usefulness. The amount of energy I gained hasn't increased by a lot. 

Anyway, that is not important. 

Looking at the amount of energy I have left, I finally decided the amount of reward I will give for Ren Qingquan's first quest.

Chapter 52. System Is Out For Blood!

[Ding! Emergency quest has been released!]

[Emergency quest: KILL! 

Detail: Kill that guy and cut any loose end. 

Reward: 1000 points.

Failure: 1 minute of electric shock. 

Note: If not accepted within one minute, this mission will be counted as failure.]

Seeing the screen I sent, Ren Qingquan stared blankly and entered a dilemma. While he was thinking, one minute passed and I sent another message to him. 

[One minute has ended. Initiating punishment.]

After I sent that, Ren Qingquan panicked. 'System, wait! I will do it. I will kill that guy imme-'

[Too late!]

I immediately created 10 energy worth of lightning and continuously sent a part of it to Ren Qingquan's body for a minute straight. 

After I sent the first lightning into Ren Qingquan's body, his body quickly went limp and fell to the floor while twitching occasionally. 'Ouch. System, quickly stop.'

I ignored his scream until one minute passed. Before I stopped sending electricity to Ren Qingquan's body and he stood up from the ground. 

Shaking his numb body, Ren Qingquan thought of taking a breather for a moment. That is when I repeated the mission I previously sent. 

[Ding! Emergency quest has been released!]

[Emergency quest: KILL! 

Detail: Kill that guy and cut any loose end. 

Reward: 1000 points.

Failure: 1 minute of electric shock. 

Note: If not finished within one minute, this mission will be counted as failure.]

Seeing that mission once again, Ren Qingquan's face turned pale and quickly accepted it. 

Looking at the unconscious Lackey A, Ren Qingquan thought. 'Sorry, dude. No hard feelings.'

Then, he activated Body Hardening and Armament Transformation once again before turning it into the shape of a sword. With a stabbing motion, that sword pierced right through Lackey A's heart. 

Just when I thought Ren Qingquan was going to pull the sword. I heard him thinking about some suspicious thing. 'Hmm, I already pierced him. Let's not stop halfway and make sure he died for good.'

Next, I saw him control Armament Transformation's energy sword to change shape. Suddenly, the sword shaped energy grows several spikes. Those spikes directly turned Lackey A's corpse into a hedgehog. 

What the fuck?! I only asked him to kill Lackey A instead of mutilating him! 

Ren Qingquan then reabsorbed the energy from Armament Transformation's sword that he used to kill Lackey A. 

After he killed Lackey, A and I scanned the corpse several times to make sure he had already lost every vital sign. I notified him of his first quest's completion. 

[Congratulation for completing 'Emergency Quest: KILL!'. You have been rewarded with 1000 points.]

Next, I scanned Lackey A's remnant soul using [Scan]. 

Perhaps because he is quite strong, the memory I can gain from scanning his remnant soul is quite limited. I didn't even learn about his name. But at least, I found some important information. 

Lackey A is actually tasked with investigating Ren Qingquan by Young Master Gu Cheng. I am not sure why this Young Master Gu Cheng targeted Ren Qingquan. But, I will note this down. 

Then, I remembered Ren Qingquan had granted Young Master Gu Cheng with a sub system containing [Scan]. 

Guess I need to separate my attention into more things. Thanking the multitasking skill gained from [Calculate] once again, I refocused my attention to that remnant soul. 

Seeing as Lackey A's remnant soul is about to disperse, I warned Ren Qingquan about it. 

[Host, please quickly throw one of your Lv 1 subsystems near that corpse! His remnant soul is going to disperse!]

Looking at the corpse of Lackey A he just killed, Ren Qingquan is reminded of that miserable corpse he saw at Martial Arts World. But, upon hearing my notification, even if he is still a bit nauseous upon killing someone for the first time. He still tremblingly threw one of the stones containing the Lv 1 subsystem toward the corpse.

Because Ren Qingquan is still busy holding his nauseous feelings. I decided to activate that subsystem's [Devour] on my own. He already knows I can control the subsystems anyway. 

Although I can detect the specific energy an item has through using [Scan]. But, since entering the Cultivation World, my [Scan] has been a bit problematic. 

So, to make sure I don't accidentally devour some powerful treasure containing low energy content like the formation plate Lackey A used as a trump card. I only specified Lackey A's remnant soul as my target. 

Looking at the additional 2 energies, I can only sigh in pity. 

If only Ren Qingquan is the one that used [Devour] on that soul. I will gain 100x more energy. 

Sharing half the energy I gained from Ren Qingquan, I sent him a notification and a warning. 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1 point! Host, system advises you to quickly pick that guy's corpse before lightning strikes the stone and destroys the corpse together with the treasure he might have! ]

Seeing my warning, Ren Qingquan ran wobbly toward the corpse before picking him up. As I already scanned the corpse and didn't detect any possible trap like poison or hidden weapon, I didn't say anything when he touched the corpse. 

Once, he dragged Lackey A's corpse quite far away, he groped around and collected his loot from Lackey A's body. 

Three minutes later, he lay on the ground after collecting some precious things like spirit stones and medicinal pill from Lackey A. Among them, there is also the formation plate Lackey A previously used for his final attack.

That is when I get a bit confused. 

Where is the feeling of being observed? Did I count the time wrong? 

But after another three minutes passed and the sky was still clear, my confusion deepened. 

What is happening here? 

Another four minutes passes and the sky is still clear. Yet another ten minutes passes and the sky is still clear. 

Even after half an hour, the sky is still clear without any trace of cloud. 

⊙_⊙

Where is the promised lightning strike? 

Ren Qingquan also realized the lack of lightning bolt and asked me about it. 'System, where is the lightning bolt that usually descends after I devoured things?'

[Maybe it got delayed?]

To be honest, I don't even believe that answer. Then, I activated [Calculate] to look for the possible reason. 

While at it, I heard Ren Qingquan's next question. 'System, what did you devour previously which gave me 1 points?'

Hmm. I didn't devour anything special. I am sure I only devoured Lackey A's remnant soul and nothing else. I didn't even devour the surrounding sands and ai-

Wait a minute. That is it! 

While answering Ren Qingquan's previous system, I also wrote something into the quest panel. 

[System previously just devoured that guy's remnant soul. So, System thinks the reason those lightning bolt doesn't strike is because System only devoured that guy's remnant soul.]

Then, I activated the newly added quest function once again and sent a quest to Ren Qingquan. 

[Quest: Experiment.

Detail: Check whether only devouring a remnant soul will cause the world to send lightning bolts. 

Reward: 1000 points.]

As Ren Qingquan already has enough rest. Upon seeing the quest, he immediately went near the sea and activated his Body Hardening and Armament Transformation once again to create a propeller. 

Opening the system map, he swam for two minutes and targeted a nearby random fish at Body Tempering Stage or equal to Martial Master stage and pulled it toward the shore. 

Next, he slashed that fish and then collected several stones nearby before granting one of them with Lv 1 [Devour] and threw it out toward the fish. 

'Devour the soul of that fish.' Following Ren Qingquan's will. I activated the Lv 1 [Devour] placed on that stone and specifically selected the fish's remnant soul as my target. 

As the amount of energy gained from devouring that fish's soul using a Lv 1 subsystem is only 0.2 points. After dividing it into two parts for Ren Qingquan and myself, he only got 0.1 points. Because the total amount of points obtained are less than 1, I only wrote it as 0 energy.

[Ding! Successfully devoured 0 points!]

After seeing that notification, Ren Qingquan quickly ran away and waited. 

Just like when I devoured Lackey A's remnant soul previously, even after ten minutes has passed, there is still no sign of any lightning cloud. 

Waiting for another ten minutes to make sure. I finally concluded it is possible to absorb the soul without repercussions. 

So, I rewarded Ren Qingquan with the quest reward. 

[Congratulations for completing 'Quest: Experiment'. You have been rewarded with 1000 points.]

'Hehehe. That reward is equal to 100 minutes of my hard work.' Seeing the amount of points gained from the quest, Ren Qingquan grinned before asking me. 'System, can you tell me the specific amount of points I gained from devouring that fish?'

[The exact amount of point host devoured is 0.1]

Seeing the exact amount, Ren Qingquan started to calculate which option is better. 'I can gather 600 points per hour from those lightning punishments. Meanwhile, the amount of points I can obtain from killing and absorbing souls is only less than 0.1 points /minutes which is depending on how many creatures I killed.'

Hearing Ren Qingquan thinking up to this point. I feel the need to remind him. 

[Host, if swallowing the soul doesn't cause any lightning strike. That means you can use your 'Devour' to swallow them. Which increase your income by 100x compared to using a Lv 1 Subsystem]

Reading my message, Ren Qingquan's eyes widened as he facepalm in disbelief. 'How can I forget about this!'

As devouring things with his own [Devour] concerned his own well-being, Ren Qingquan decided to do several more experiments to make sure about it. 

Summoning his propeller once again, he went toward the sea and pulled three Body Tempering Stage fishes toward the shore. 

Collecting three stones from nearby, he granted them with Lv 1 to Lv 3 subsystems containing [Devour] and other random functions. 

At first Ren Qingquan wished to use only Lv 1 subsystem. But, just in case the lightning will only descend when a certain amount of souls are devoured at once. He decided to experiment with different leveled [Devour]. 

Ren Qingquan then killed one of those fishes before activating the Lv 1 subsystem to collect those fishes' souls. 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 0 points!]

Then, he moved toward another fish before killing it. Throwing the stone with Lv 2 [Devour], I followed his command to activate it. 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 0 points!]

After I sent another identical notification, Ren Qingquan moved on toward the third fish. 

Killing it with a slash of his energy sword, he throws a stone with Lv 3 [Devour].

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1 point!]

This time, I sent a notification telling Ren Qingquan he gained one point of energy. 

Waiting for twenty minutes, until the sun slowly descended toward the horizon. Ren Qingquan is finally sure he won't be struck by a lightning bolt upon [Devouring] souls and decides to devour a fish's soul himself. 

He then glanced at the sun which slowly set, and decided to quickly pick up a fish as his experimental material.

Summoning his propeller, he jumped into the sea once again. 2 minutes of swimming later, there is already a fish on Ren Qingquan's hand.

Killing it with a single slash, he asked me to devour the soul of that fish. 

Activating Ren Qingquan's [Devour], I targeted that fish's soul and swallowed it. Sensing an increase of 20 energies, I sent half of it to Ren Qingquan. 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 10 points!]

As I don't want him to suddenly die due to being struck by lightning, I focused most of my attention toward the sky above Ren Qingquan. I also prepared myself to activate [Transfer] and teleported him upon sensing any slight change. 

After ten minutes, I sensed no change. 

Perhaps because Ren Qingquan has overclocked his brain from all the experiments and got tired. Upon seeing there were no lightning clouds after 10 minutes passed, he pulled his 2x2x2 metal shelter from [Storage] and decided to sleep.

Chapter 53. Farming Points.

Meanwhile, as Ren Qingquan fell asleep like a log, I still focused myself on the sky. 

Although I lost the sense of sight shared by him through [Anchor]. But, the range of [Scan] is far enough for me to sense any change happening at the cloud layer above. 

Just like that, I spend the whole night observing the surroundings for any sign of danger while Ren Qingquan is still happily sleeping. 

To be honest, I slightly miss the feeling of sleeping. Since I arrived in this consciousness space, I lost the ability to sleep. Luckily I never feel tired, and my mental focus is always at tip top condition thanks to [Calculate].

You may have realized it after I repeated the word 'sleeping' so many times. That's right, I am frickin jealous! 

Now that I think about it. Since I entered this consciousness space, I either spent my time in complete darkness, busy doing experiments, taking care of Ren Qingquan, or observing things. 

I seriously need a vacation time. 

When the sky brightened, Ren Qingquan finally woke up from his SLEEP. Even until now, there is still no sign of lightning from the sky. 

It looks like lightning will indeed not descend when souls are devoured. 

Once he wakes up, the first thing Ren Qingquan does is to ask me a question. 'System, can you store the dust in my clothes and body to achieve something like those Dust Removal Techniques in xianxia novels?'

Hearing his request, I rolled my eyes. His requests are starting to get more and more brazen each day. Do you think I am a vacuum cleaner?

But I still do it anyway as that is quite easy. 

Activating [Calculate] to make sure I didn't accidentally tore some of his flesh, I activated [Storage] and stored the dust and other dirty things in his body into his storage space. 

[Done]

Feeling his clean body, Ren Qingquan finally rose from his bed and moved outside his 2x2x2 metal shelter. 

Throwing the filth I previously stored in [Storage] to the sand nearby, He then stored the metal shelter into [Storage].

'Alright, what should I do today?'

After I heard Ren Qingquan mumble that, I saw him quickly running toward the sea while thinking. 'Let's test how many points I can gather by killing fishes within an hour.'

With that thought, he activated Body Hardening and Armament Transformation before summoning a propeller under his feet. While at it, I also saw him creating swimming goggles using Armament Transformation. 

Opening the system map, he searched around for any dots marking creatures at the Body Tempering Stage. Seeing a dot several hundred meters from him, Ren Qingquan quickly moved his body and changed his direction toward that dot. 

After a minute, he successfully found a fish and killed it by using a sword created by Armament Transformation. 

Sensing an increase in my energy as he devoured the soul of that fish, I sent a notification to him. 

[Ding! Successfully devoured 12 points!]

Because this fish is slightly stronger compared to the previous fishes. The amount of points it gives is also slightly higher. 

Stopping to take a breather while reading my notification, Ren Qingquan then continued to look for more Body Tempering Stage fish to kill. 

It's not like he can't just kill normal fish without cultivation. But, the amount of effort spent definitely doesn't justify the result. That is unless he can find a huge school of fishes. 

As he continued deeper and deeper into the sea. Without realizing it, he is already several kilometers from the island. At his current area, the seafloor is already tens of meters below the sea surface. 

Speak of the devil. From [Scan], I sensed a massive amount of fish gathering together under the lead of a Peak Body Tempering Stage fish. 

It seems Ren Qingquan also saw those schools of fishes through a system map. 

With the help of his propeller, Ren Qingquan quickly swam toward the location where those fishes gather. 

Even when he is still several hundred meters from his destination. I already see Ren Qingquan activating his Armament Transformation and turning his propeller into a war crime worthy weapon. 

First, I saw him enlarge the blades of those propellers. Next, he added another set of fans that rotate in reverse direction. The new fan is located close to the previous fan. Finally, he sharpeners it and turns the whole thing into a killing machine. 

Due to its massive size, the propeller directly increased Ren Qingquan's speed several times. 

Initially, I calculated he might need around two minutes to reach the school of fishes. But thanks to his bigger propeller, Ren Qigquan arrived nearby that school of fishes within half a minute. 

Upon arriving near those fishes, the massacre happens. 

Ren Qingquan's propeller turned blade sucked those fishes and slashed them into fine pieces. Those corpses quickly dyed the initially blue sea into the crimson color of blood. Looking at the corpses of their kin, the surrounding fishes quickly dispersed and fled in all directions. 

Pausing at the place with many corpses, Ren Qingquan asked me to activate [Devour].'System, devour the soul of these fishes.'

Hearing his thoughts, I started devouring the souls of those fishes. Feeling the increase in energy, I sent him a notification.

[Ding! Successfully devoured 48 points!]

Seeing my notification, Ren Qingquan became energized and quickly chased after the fleeing fishes. Starting from the group with most fishes. 

Just like that, Ren Qingquan spent half an hour killing those fishes. Opening his panel, I saw him staring at the system shop's daily refresh time while thinking. 'Fifty minutes have already passed since I entered the sea. Let's return to the island and check my earnings.'

That's right! Ren Qingquan used the system shop as a clock. 

At first I wanted to add a clock to the system panel. But, since Ren Qingquan already used the daily shop's refresh timer. I am too lazy to do it. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Moving his body, Ren Qingquan swam toward the water surface and looked around to search for the island he came from. 

Thanks to the sharp eyesight he gained due to increase in cultivation, he quickly found his target. Activating his propeller that already returned to its normal size, he went toward the island. 

One hour after leaving the island, Ren Qingquan finally returned. After asking me to store the bloody sea water stuck on his body and clothes, he decided to look at his personal panel. 'System, show my panel.'

[Name: Ren Qingquan

Realm: Qi Refining 5/5 (Completion) 

Absorbed Spirit Qi: 1 +0 (Auto Refill ON) 

Point: 46.000

Profession: Formation master (Extremely Weak.)

Cultivation Method: Immortal Body Tempering (Immortal Ascension)

Magical Technique: Armaments Transformation (Perfection), Agile Step (Perfection), Body Hardening (Perfection), Super Duper ... Turtle Shell Technique (First Section), Turtle Divination Art (First Section) 

System function: Devour, Shop, Scan, Library, Map (1000 meters radius), Calculate, System Storage (100 cubic meters), Sub system, Quest.]

Once I showed him his personal panel, I saw him frown in distaste. 

Due to the automatic spirit qi refill function he asked me to add, which always makes sure the amount of spirit qi he has stays at 1 strand. The amount of points he gained from one hour of hard work is only slightly more than 300 points.

While looking at that panel, I heard Ren Qingquan thinking. 'The amount of points I gained from killing and absorbing souls is actually only half of the points I gained from devouring lightning!'

Ren Qingquan then continued. 'Furthermore, most of those 300 points come from that school of fishes I luckily found. If I include the exhaustion from swimming around looking for a creature to kill. Devouring lightning won by a large margin!'

So, after a short rest, Ren Qingquan returned to his previous job of devouring lightning bolts using stones. 

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Four hours later, amidst continuous explosion sound caused by lightning striking the stones he granted subsystems. Ren Qingquan is staring at the dark cloud fixedly due to boredom. 

From the thought shared by Ren Qingquan through [Anchor], I found out he is actually staring at the shape and motives of those clouds. 

'That one looks like a rabbit. Is that a carrot shaped cloud? I hope that the rabbit -shaped cloud will come near the carrot-shaped one. ' Since the last two hours, he has been thinking something along this line. 

Suddenly, Ren Qingquan spoke to me. 'System, what do you think will happen if I throw something with a subsystem and devour those clouds? Will it stop those lightning from striking? How many points do you think those clouds are worth?'

It seems after that idea entered his mind, Ren Qingquan couldn't stop.

Personally, I am also quite curious about it. So, I sent a message to encourage him. 

[System is not too sure about it. So host, you can try to do it.]

Seeing my answer, Ren Qingquan nodded and immediately tried to send a stone granted with Lv 1 subsystem toward the cloud. 

But due to the distance and gravity, that stone already fell far before reaching midway toward the clouds. 

Ren Qingquan then tried several other ways like creating a giant slingshot from Armament Transformation which also failed. 

Seeing him trying so hard, I sighed and told him something that might help. 

[Actually, host. As the subsystem's functions all come from System, System also has all the function hosts can grant to a subsystem. Which includes the 'Transfer' function.]

It's not like I tried to hide [Transfer]. After all, I accidentally wrote it into the subsystem function. I just never mentioned it explicitly. 

Guess even if Ren Qingquan is nor sharp enough to notice my blunder, the situation will still force me to come clean with him. 

Thinking until this point, I sighed once again. Yeah, I know I am just trying to give myself an excuse to feel less bad about lying. But, what is wrong with trying to keep a trump card or two for myself. 

While I am trying to soothe myself, Ren Qingquan finally responded. 'System, does that mean you can teleport items or even people?'

Oh no! Hearing him mentioning teleporting people, I just remembered something! 

Ren Qingquan practiced the Immortal Body Tempering Method. And one of the side effects of that method is to turn someone LAZIER!

So those bad feelings I previously felt don't actually come from lying. That is actually because of [Calculate]'s subconscious warning! 

Lazy people and teleportation ability are like a match made in heaven. God knows how many points Ren Qingquan will waste once the side effect of that cultivation method kicks in and he finally turns lazy. After all, activating [Transfer] is not free!

Although it will only waste his points. But his points are also my points! If he spent it on some useless thing like teleporting to the toilet from bedroom because he is too lazy to move. I think I might die from stress. 

Furthermore, several days ago, he already showed some symptoms of turning slightly lazier.

Luckily, Ren Qingquan's next question calmed me down. 'Then, system. How many points do I need to activate [Transfer] to teleport these stones to the clouds?'

If the first question he asked is related to teleport himself. That basically answered my bad guess. 

[Answering to the host, the cost for 'Transfer' is calculated by distance, size, and energy the item contains. As the size and energy contained in those stones are negligible. So, to teleport a stone toward those cloud layers requires 1000 points due to the price of 1 point per meter.]

Looking at the price, Ren Qingquan can't help screaming out loud. "What?! So expensive?"

[Indeed. That is why, system recommended the host to upgrade 'Transfer' using 11.000 points first before using it.

By paying 1000 points, the host can decrease the price to 10 meters per point. And by paying another 10.000 points, the host can decrease the price by 100 meters/points! This is such a good deal! System recommended the host to immediately purchase them.]

I saw Ren Qingquan roll his eyes after he finished reading my message, before answering. 'Alright. I spent 11.000 points to upgrade [Transfer].

Seeing him fall into my sales pitch, I smiled and then used the 11.000 points he gave me and spent it all on [Transfer].

[Ding! Upgrades successful.]

Seeing that notification, Ren Qingquan opened his personal panel once again. 

[Name: Ren Qingquan

Realm: Qi Refining 5/5 (Completion) 

Absorbed Spirit Qi: 1 (Auto Refill ON) 

Point: 35.000

Profession: Formation master (Extremely Weak.)

Cultivation Method: Immortal Body Tempering (Immortal Ascension)

Magical Technique: Armaments Transformation (Perfection), Agile Step (Perfection), Body Hardening (Perfection), Super Duper ... Turtle Shell Technique (First Section), Turtle Divination Art (First Section) 

System function: Devour, Shop, Scan, Library, Map (1000 meters radius), Calculate, System Storage (100 cubic meters), Sub system, Quest, Transfer (100 meter/points).]

Chapter 54. The Heavenly Will Is A Good Programmer

After purchasing those upgrades, I saw Ren Qingquan used a stone with Lv 1 [Devour] as bait to summon those lightning clouds.

Once six minutes passes and the clouds gather. He held the stones granted with Lv 3 and Lv 2 subsystems containing [Devour] from his previous experiment. Then, asked me to transfer them toward the cloud.

'System, activate transfer and send these stones to the cloud layer above. Send them slightly higher than the cloud so they can devour those clouds as they fall. '

Following Ren Qingquan's request, I took 22 points from him and activated [Transfer] to send both stones 1.100 meters above.

Seeing the stones in his hand disappear, Ren Qingquan immediately said. 'System, activate their [Devour].'

With Ren Qingquan's thought, I activated the [Devour] attached to those stones. Immediately, I sensed a massive amount of energy absorbed by those stones and stored in my energy storage.

This is seriously the most energy I ever devoured in a second. Both of those stones actually devoured 300 energies every second!

Sharing half of the energy to Ren Qingquan, I sent him several notifications.

[Ding! Successfully devoured 150 points!]

[Ding! Successfully devoured 150 points!]

[Ding! Successfully devoured 150 points!] x7

Seeing the amount of points both of those stone net him, I saw Ren Qingquan's eyes widened.

What a pity, after 10 seconds, those stones already fell outside of the lightning cloud's area. When another 5 seconds passed, both of those stones hit the ground and shattered into pieces. Which made me lose my connection with them.

While looking at the shattered pieces of stones, Ren Qingquan quickly opened the subsystem panel and checked on the Lv 2 and Lv 3 subsystem section.

As both sections are now empty due to those stones getting destroyed, he quickly said. 'System, help me separate one hundred pieces of my metal plate with 100 grams each! Also, turn them into umbrella shapes with thin membranes made out of metal on the canopy part and thicker on the shaft to make sure they don't overturn in the sky. '

Hearing the panic in his tone, I quickly separated the metal plate he stored in [Storage] into a hundred pieces weighing 100 grams each and turned them into a hundred umbrellas.

[Done!]

Ren Qingquan then quickly pulled those metal umbrellas and granted them with Lv 1 [Devour]. Then, he quickly asked me to activate [Transfer] and spent 1.100 points to teleport those umbrellas into the sky.

Taking those 1.100 points, I sent all of them to the sky and spread it evenly throughout the clouds.

Activating [Devour] placed on them, I feel yet another surge of energies. This time much bigger than previously!

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1000 points!]

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1000 points!]x19

Even after sharing half of it with Ren Qingquan, the amount of energy I gained is still reaching 1000/seconds. With every single one of those metal umbrellas giving me 10 energy/seconds.

Thanks to Ren Qingquan's idea, the umbrella shape helped to slow down their fall which allowed the subsystem to devour more clouds.

After another ten seconds, just like the previous stone, those umbrellas also fell into the ground. But, unlike those stones, these metal umbrellas don't lose contact with me upon reaching the ground. From [Scan], I found out only some of their outer layers melted due to being struck by lightning.

Although they are already beaten out of shape, I can still sense their connection through [Anchor]. To be honest I still don't quite understand when an item will stop being anchored.

Then, I saw Ren Qingquan running toward those umbrellas while opening the subsystem panels. Seeing as those metal umbrellas are still connected with the subsystems, he told me. 'System, quickly activate [Transfer] and send them once more toward the sky!'

Taking 1.100 points from Ren Qingquan once again, I sent those umbrellas to the sky.

Just like before, those metals devoured 1000 points of energy every second. Writing something into the panel, I sent it to Ren Qingquan.

[Ding! Successfully devoured 1000 points!]x15

Due to being slightly broken with some tear and damage on the canopy, those umbrellas are unable to stay in the sky as long as before.

Looking at the notification I sent, a smile creeps up his face. Just when Ren Qingquan is going to continue farming the lightning cloud. The cloud which was previously only one kilometer diameter suddenly rapidly expanded while more and more lightning were churning inside.

It seems Ren Qingquan's experiment seriously angered the world as the cloud's range kept on expanding until it reached tens of kilometers in diameter.

Those clouds blocked all light from reaching Ren Qingquan which in turn darkened the surrounding area. The only source of light in the surrounding area only comes from the occasional lightning within the cloud.

Inside the dark cloud, several lightning dragons swim between them. Which is actually not an imagery because there are indeed several lightning shaped eastern dragons swimming in those clouds. Those dragons have scales, claws, beards, antler horns, and other characteristic of a dragons.

*Rumble*

With a blinding light, those lightning dragons descended together. Their targets are the one hundred pieces of metal umbrellas Ren Qingquan used to devour the lightning cloud previously.

When I saw that, I slightly panicked. Because nearby Ren Qingquan, there are still several metal umbrellas scattered around.

Quickly activating [Transfer], I targeted Ren Qingquan and sent him to another end of the island. Due to Ren Qingquan's equipment, strength, size, etc. Even though I only transferred him for 1 kilometer. The cost of [Transfer] directly rose to 1000 points of energy! This thing is such a scam!

Of course I didn't pull the energies from my own pocket and used Ren Qingquan's points instead.

[Ding! The system has activated the emergency escape procedure! Cost: 1.000 points.]

At the same time as my notification, those lightning dragons reached the island.

*BOOM!* *Bzzzzt*

After a blinding light and an explosive sound, I can only hear a ringing sound from the sense shared by Ren Qingquan. I also lost contact with those hundred pieces of metal umbrellas.

Although your life is short. But it is worth it! Giving my short prayer to those metal umbrellas, I focused back on Ren Qingquan.

Soon after the blinding light, the island trembled and the surrounding sea waves turned even more tumultuous.

Ren Qingquan raised his head and looked at the cloud that stopped churning lightning. I can sense his heart loudly thumping from barely surviving that disaster like scene.

After the cloud slowly dispersed, I scanned Ren Qingquan and checked for any damage on his body. Except for a rupture in one of his eardrums, there is no other serious damage.

Using [Create], I created a new eardrum for him right at the location of his ruptured eardrum. And voila! Ren Qingquan has already reached full health! Of course I didn't forget to take my payment from him.

Waiting for ten minutes, those lightning clouds finally dispersed.

I saw Ren Qingquan cleaning his cloth as if nothing happened and went toward the location where those dragon shaped lightning struck.

Arriving at the location struck by those lightning dragons, the originally sandy beach has turned into a crater. Near those craters, there are many glowing glasses created due to the heat.

Looking at that scene of ruins, I saw Ren Qingquan gulped while cold sweat ran through his face.

'Luckily the system activated that emergency escape procedure. Otherwise, I might turn into dust already.' Hearing his thoughts, I proudly raised my nonexistent head. Go and praise me more!!

After calming himself down. As if a goldfish with short term memory, I heard Ren Qingquan think. 'Let's continue to farm the lightning cloud.'

Then he continued. 'The profit from farming the lightning cloud is just too big!'

Hearing his words I rolled my eyes. Never mind, he is not a goldfish with short term memory. But instead a greedy merchant willing to die for profit.

Picking hundreds of pieces of glasses created from lightning striking the sand on the islands. He granted them with Lv 1 [Devour].

Just like before, Ren Qingquan threw one of them as bait to summon the lightning cloud.

'System, activate [Devour].' Following his idea, I activated the Lv 1 [Devour] on that glass.

After three minutes passes, I feel the feeling of being observed by a huge existence targeting that glass. Let's just call it the World Will or Heavenly Will for convenience.

Together with the feeling of being observed by the Heavenly Will, from the sense shared by Ren Qingquan, I heard a cracking sound as if a glass shattering.

*Crack*

It seems Ren Qingquan also heard that sound as he asked. 'Huh? System, do you hear a cracking sound?'

[Yes.]

While I am answering Ren Qingquan, more and more cracking noise arrived. The sound also became louder and louder.

*Crack* *Crack*

Activating my [Scan], I tried to search for the source of those sounds.

When I finally pinpointed the location as the space slightly above the glass with Lv 1 [Devour]. A crashing sound akin to something breaking can be heard.

*Crash*

The space above that glass anchored with Lv 1 [Devour] shattered and a crack appeared in its place. That crack devoured the surrounding thing and only closed when it swallowed the glass with Lv 1 [Devour].

After that glass got swallowed into the spatial crack. It immediately lost contact with me.

Looking as that glass got swallowed by the crack in space, I hear Ren Qingquan think. 'Capable of summoning lightning and causing spatial crack. System, do you think it is actually the world itself which stopped me from devouring things?'

Replying to Ren Qingquan, I wrote a message on his screen.

[Perhaps. But, the system is already more than 90% certain it is indeed the world which stopped things from being devoured.]

Next, Ren Qingquan granted several more glasses with Lv 1 [Devour] and made them start devouring things.

The result is still the same as the previous glass. After activating [Devour] for several minutes, a crack will appear which soon sucks the glass.

Ren Qingquan also tried to hold onto the glass by using his whip made out of Armament Transformation. But, the space crack slowly turned wider and stronger until finally it even swallowed the Spirit Qi he used to create that whip.

Seeing the result of his experiment, I sighed. Guess the Heavenly Will already fixed this BUG.

Unwilling to give up, I saw Ren Qingquan continue to grant Lv 1 [Devour] to more glasses.

But, except for a decrease in the time required for space to shatter. There are no other changes.

Then, I saw him raising his middle finger toward the sky or to be exact the heaven. Before cursing for several minutes and finished with a loud scream. "Fuck you, Heavenly Will!"

Hearing him throwing the last curse, I guess both of us somehow decided to call it the Heavenly Will.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After his fit of anger, Ren Qingquan calmed down and requested. 'System, open my personal panel.'

[Name: Ren Qingquan

Realm: Qi Refining 5/5 (Completion)

Absorbed Spirit Qi: 1 (Auto Refill ON)

Points: 68.000

Profession: Formation master (Extremely Weak.)

Cultivation Method: Immortal Body Tempering (Immortal Ascension)

Magical Technique: Armaments Transformation (Perfection), Agile Step (Perfection), Body Hardening (Perfection), Super Duper ... Turtle Shell Technique (First Section), Turtle Divination Art (First Section)

System function: Devour, Shop, Scan, Library, Map (1000 meters radius), Calculate, System Storage (100 cubic meters), Sub system, Quest, Transfer (100meter/points).]

Although things are pretty chaotic. But, this whole mess granted Ren Qingquan 33.000 additional points. Which is the most he ever gained in a day.

Chapter 55. Return To The Sect

After the whole space crack event, everything returned to square one and I saw Ren Qingquan lose his will to continue experimenting.

Luckily, even if we lost the greatest source of income coming from devouring those lightning punishments like an attack from the Heavenly Will. But, it is still possible to gain points from killing creatures and absorbing their souls.

Deciding to leave the island and return to Pure Wave Sect, Ren Qingquan walked toward the sea.

Personally, I wish for him to stay on this island to devour the souls of surrounding creatures. But, looking at his haggard expression I decided to go easy on him and didn't send any quest to force him to continue.

When he arrived at the shore, I heard Ren Qingquan asking me a question. 'System, can you change my metal plate back into that bowl shaped boat? Or am I lacking some metals to create it?'

Well, the amount of metals he has is indeed sufficient to create a boat. But, I didn't immediately create it and instead asked him about Lackey A.

[Host, do you remember that guy you killed yesterday?]

Ren Qingquan replied upon hearing my sudden question. 'What is wrong with that guy?'

[How do you think he arrived on this island?]

'System, stop playing riddle and just tell me alre-' Midway through his grumble, Ren Qingquan stopped as realization struck him. 'Wait, damn. I forgot that guy also has a boat!'

[Indeed].

He opened the system map before asking. 'Then, system. Where is the boat that guy left? I don't see it on the map. Furthermore, I remembered it being capable of turning invisible. So, searching for it will be a pain.'

After he said that, I answered.

[Host, of course you can't sense its location. That boat has been pushed several kilometers away from the island due to the previous lightning dragon attack.]

Maybe due to the lightning attack or other reason, that boat has shown itself. Thanks to [Calculate], my ability to sense detail has increased. Which makes me capable of seeing the fleeting silhouette of that boat when Ren Qingquan is looking around.

Opening the system map, I placed a simplistic boat mark at the map's corner.

[The boat's location has been marked in the system map.]

After reading my notification, he started swimming toward that boat by summoning a propeller at his feet.

Several minutes of swimming later, he finally arrived at the small boat Lackey A used. The size of that boat is quite small with only 3 meters in length.

Climbing above the boat, I saw three small circles which are probably the formations engraved in this boat. Two of the formations are located at the boat's right and left side respectively. Meanwhile the other is located at the rear.

With the help of [Scan] and [Calculate], I tried to guess the function and how to use those formations through comparing data from other formations.

While Ren Qingquan is scratching his head in confusion about how to move the boat without anyOUR and even prepared to use Armament Transformation to propel it. I finally finished analyzing those formations.

Looking at Ren Qingquan who had dipped one of his feet at the rear of that boat and prepared to activate Armament Transformation, I sent a message to him.

[Host, actually you can spend some spirit qi into the formation engraved in the boat to move it.]

Ren Qingquan quickly pulled his leg which had been half duped into the sea water. Next, I introduced those formations to him before instructing him how to activate the formation.

[Host may use the formation at the rear to drive the boat forward by placing your spirit qi and controlling it with your mental power. You may also increase the boat's speed by adding spirit stones.

As for the formation at the side of this boat, one of them is used to activate the stealth mode while the other is used to turn the boat into miniature form. Similarly, the host may activate them by using your spirit qi.]

Ren Qingquan followed my instruction and sent a trace of his absorbed spirit into the formation. He then used his mental power to drive the boat toward Pure Wave Sect.

Thanks to the similarity between controlling Armament Transformation's whips, and controlling this boat. Ren Qingquan easily drove it with extremely high speed.

While he is busy controlling the boat, I am preparing myself to spread a part of my attention toward that Young Master Gu. Just because I haven't mentioned him for some time, doesn't mean I forgot about him.

Feeling the Lv 1 [Scan] anchored at him, I focused on his surroundings. As it is merely a Lv 1 [Scan], I can only detect a ten meters range from Young Master Gu.

Currently, Young Master Gu is sitting in the middle of a formation while in a meditative position. His expression is incredibly serious with cold sweat trickling down his face. Around him, there is a jade bottle and several hundred pieces of spirit stones placed in certain positions. Inside the bottle, there are tens of pills with unknown usage.

Through the [Scan]'s limited distance, I tried to record the formation he is sitting at. That formation is actually capable of gathering spirit qi from inside the spirit stones and sending it into Young Master Gu Cheng.

Because the level of [Scan] I used is extremely low, I can't peek at what Young Master Gu Cheng's doing internally. But, from that formation's function, and how he often looks constipated. I think he is currently busy breaking through?

After all, when Ren Qingquan cultivated previously, he didn't have that constipated look.

Within ten minutes, I had finished recording the formation Young Master Gu Cheng used. Storing that information into my [Storage], I stopped focusing on him and went to check other people Ren Qingquan has granted subsystems.

When I observed the ninetieth subsystem ten hours later, Ren Qingquan finally arrived at the shore nearby Pure Wave Sect. Thanks to the fast speed of Lackey A's boat, Ren Qingquan's return time is actually several times shorter than the time he spent to reach that island.

Jumping from the boat, he landed to the ground with a somersault. This time, due to the boat's fast speed, it didn't shake too much. Which barely caused him any sea sickness.

Activating the formation to turn that boat smaller, I saw him store the boat inside [Storage]

As the sky had already darkened, he decided to look for a suitable place to place his 2x2x2 metal shelter and take a rest before running to the Pure Wave Sect tomorrow.

Selecting a hidden cave a kilometer from the sea, he pulled his shelter and entered it to sleep.

While Ren Qingquan is sleeping, I just randomly placed my attention at several random subsystems to pass my time. Just like usual, most people are either cultivating or doing daily chores.

Placing my attention to check on the group from Martial Arts World. Except for fatty Zhang that loved to smash doors and Ren Qingchen the regressor, everyone is still sitting in meditative posture trying to sense the ambient spirit qi.

Ren Qingchen is still busy cultivating and absorbing the surrounding spirit qi like before. Meanwhile, Fatty Zhang is currently walking to who knows where.

As I am curious about where Fatty Zhang is going, I keep on staring at the [Scan] attached to him and don't switch my attention.

After fifteen minutes, I saw him returning to a house slightly bigger than the one Ren Qingquan got in the Pure Wave Sect. Then, sitting on the bed, Fatty Zhang began meditating and absorbed the surrounding spirit qi.

Ehh? That's it? What a waste of my time and excitement!

The next day, Ren Qingquan finally woke up and quickly stored his metal shelter before running to the sect.

One hour later, he arrived at the opaque barrier guarding the sect. I am not sure how the sect's formation decided between enemy and friend. Anyway, once Ren Qingquan arrived, the barrier easily allowed him to pass through.

After running until the sun rose above his head, through Ren Qingquan's eyes, I finally saw the Pure Wave Sect's buildings.

'There are still 10 days left before my mission's deadline.' Counting the day and seeing as there is still a lot of time left, Ren Qingquan went to the direction of his residence instead of completing his mission first. 'Let's rest for a moment.'

Once he arrived at his residence, another hour had already passed. I seriously want to complain about the Cultivation World's public transportation infrastructure.

When he saw the bed in his bedroom, Ren Qingquan immediately jumped into it and lay on it like a corpse. If someone accidentally entered the room, they might think they entered a crime scene.

Several minutes of staring at nothingness later, he suddenly spoke to me. 'System, can you help me to break through my cultivation?'

[Please wait, system is calculating]

I activated [Calculate] and [Storage] to look for the answer to his question. First, I read through the cultivation methods I have collected which actually just amounted to 2. But, although they indeed teach how to achieve a breakthrough, the words they used are a bit confusing and contain much unnecessary imagery.

In Pure Wave Sect's Pure Wave Method-Qi Gathering Section. It talks about turning into the wave and pushing things. Meanwhile, The Immortal Turtle Tempering Technique talks about solidifying shell nonsense.

I got the approximate intention that the cultivation method tried to convene. But, I am still not 100% sure.

So, After another minute of searching, I marked a place that will increase my confidence at helping Ren Qingquan to breakthrough.

Within the sect's guide book he obtained when he first entered the sect, there is something called cultivation room mentioned. It is said to be of great help for cultivation and breaking through.

If I visited that place and used my [Scan] on people trying to breakthrough, I might be able to ascertain what the hell this whole breakthrough business is and help Ren Qingquan to achieve it with 100% certainty.

Marking the location where the sect's cultivation room is located, I sent a message to Ren Qingquan.

[Host, currently the system is unable to help you achieve a breakthrough as there is no sufficient data. Please visit the sect's cultivation room to help the system collect more data about how cultivators breakthrough.]

Looking at my message, Ren Qingquan opened the system map. When he saw an additional icon with the shape of someone meditating at the corner of the map, he asked. 'System, how far is the location of that cultivation room from my house?'

[Around 4 kilometers]

Seeing the distance I gave, he immediately deflated. 'Let's do it tomorrow. I just want to rest for today.'

And so, Ren Qingquan wasted his whole day staring at nothing or just rolling around his bed.

Tomorrow arrived and I saw him leaving his bed. After a simple bath, he activated Agile Step and followed the mark I left in the system map toward the sect's cultivation room.

When Ren Qingquan arrived at the place I marked, he saw a huge ten storied pagoda. On the right side of that pagoda's door, there is a counter with the sign Resource Department's Cultivation Room Registry written above it.

Different from those groups of Miscellaneous Hall's, something building I often see before, which is written with beautiful calligraphy and simple materials. The sign of that Resource Department's Cultivation Room Registry is made out of solid gold!

Furthermore, the word 'Resource Department's Cultivation Room Registry' used another different material with dark color and slight metallic luster which give off luxurious feels. From my [Scan], I can feel a massive energy contained within that dark metal material. The whole sign directly screams nouveau riche.

Behind the counter, a familiar fat boy is seen sitting in a meditative position. Sensing Ren Qingquan's arrival, that fatty stood up. Looking at Ren Qingquan's face, that fatty wore a shocked expression before screaming excitedly. "Brother Ren!"

Looking at fatty, I immediately connected the dots. It seems after fatty successfully sensed spirit qi, he was sent here to do a job.

Ren Qingquan waved at Fatty Zhang upon hearing his greetings. Then, both of them started to converse with each other.

Just like I guessed, from Ren Qingquan's conversation with Fatty Zhang. He indeed has been tasked to man the counter for the Cultivation Room Registry. As the elder who took Fatty Zhang and that senior brother that still hasn't been named is a part of the Resource Department. He easily pulled some string to help Fatty Zhang take the job.

Then, fatty also leaked a lot of secret news like how the job to man a counter is one of the most profitable jobs and has been monopolized by the higher ups for their disciples, and many other spicy gossip.