Chapter 107 : The System Decided to Conduct an Experiment
Fang Ning retrieved the Atmospheric Morality Technique tome and proceeded to pass it to the yellow dog, Xue Ba.
Xue Ba immediately stood on its hind legs, using its forelegs to receive the tome.
Fang Ning did not think much, he placed the tome on to its outstretched legs.
‘Plop!’ Xue Ba could not keep its balance and fell on to the ground. However, it recovered quick enough by rolling over, letting the tome fall onto its soft belly to avoid dirtying it.
The dog was indeed one who loves reading, as evidenced by its treatment of the tome. Fang Ning had finally realized how insensitive he was. Xue Ba was so intelligent, Fang Ning had always treated it as a human. It had just recovered from the injury, asking it to support itself with its hind legs while holding the thick tome did prove to be a little more than challenging.
Fang Ning bent down to pick up the tome, ‘It can’t be helped, I can’t wield Sir System’s abilities, and my own Spiritual Sense was not strong enough, or else I’d be levitating the book, wouldn’t it look cool?’
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The black dog Brett heard the commotion and stealthily lifted its head from its forelegs. It saw what had happened and immediately shot its comrade a dirty look that said, “Look at you, you’re so obsessed with books, your limbs lack training. You can’t even hold a book properly. Soon, you’ll be part of the old-and-frail archetype…”
The yellow dog retorted with its own dirty look, “P*ss off…”
Fang Ning said, “Okay, I shall return to my study. Be sure to keep it safe from other people aside from Butler Zheng, I will tell him this myself. As of now, Xue Ba, you should learn it first before teaching Butler Zheng. You have a better understanding of cultivation, after all, so you would learn it faster.”
The yellow dog sat up properly and replied, “Don’t worry, Master, I will read this book from cover to cover even if I had to forgo eating and sleeping, just so I can teach it to Butler Zheng as soon as possible.”
Fang Ning said, “Good to hear your enthusiasm. It’s still some time before the Feast, I had been busy the past few days, so I need to rest a little. Xue Ba, follow me to my study, you can read the book there; Brett, you’re physically strong, so come on over to the study to guard Xue Ba. The Demon Slayer Feast will be prepared in a while, so let’s not waste time.”
As soon as he finishes, Fang Ning picked up the book and strode toward the study.
Listening to its master, the yellow dog followed smugly as he wagged his tail, while the black dog followed behind, looking defeated as if it was showing fealty to its new lord.
Fang Ning came upon his study and set the Atmospheric Morality Technique tome on his table. He instructed the dogs and said that he was going to rest, as well as that it should study diligently.
The yellow dog listened and nodded, as soon as Fang Ning had left, it lunged in front of the table and sat on the chair, opening the tome carefully with one of its forelegs.
The black dog, Brett, squatted in front of the study as per its master’s order and was being a good guard.
The yellow dog roughly scanned through the book and said, thoroughly moved, “Atmospheric Morality Technique is definitely out of this world, it even has illustrations in addition to the already detailed descriptions! If I can’t learn this, I might as well be the same with some muscle-headed dog! Master was so good to me, awoo…”
Brett heard it and thought the nerd dog was showing off.
However, it refused to let Xue Ba win, so it turned around and was surprised to see the yellow dog in tears, “Oh my, are you for real? You even teared up! You only cried last time when the rats almost cooked you!”
“What do you know, musclehead,” Xue Ba wiped its tears away using its paw and shot Brett a look of contempt. It fell into the depths of its memory immediately after, “I have followed two masters before. I was always cautious around them, and they had treated me well, allowing me to read their books. But the cultivation-related stuff was always hidden away, I wasn’t allowed to see so much as one word on them. This is normal, and I wouldn’t dream of it. The technique I’ve cultivated at the moment was only passed to me after I’ve given them half my life.”
“This new master is different. I was only doing my job, and he rewarded me with this. Awoo, do you know? The technique recorded in this book was a good one, it could even be the treasure of some clans back where we come from.”
“Not only this, the book has all the cultivation tips recorded inside, coupled with illustrations and detailed explanations. You would know this, anywhere else, it would be passed down through recitations, and you would only know the steps you’re following once you reached a high enough level, not in written form. Master had them all written in the book. He placed so much trust in me, I would definitely learn this as soon as I can so that I can help him sooner…”
Brett had never cared about books, but cultivation was not alien to it. It was a cultivation geek, so it knew the tome was indeed good.
It did not snap back at all. Instead, it nodded in agreement, “That’s very true, the cultivation tips is the most important one. The one I was cultivating was also only given to me after I’ve gone to hell and back. Our new master is treating us really well. I, Brett, will not forget to train. The sooner I recuperate, the sooner I can be of use to master so he can pass that to me too.”
Xue Ba said, “You’ve got it right. If you would have some credit under your belt, Master would have let me teach this to you. So now, you need to listen to him, guard this place well, and turn away any strangers. As soon as I’ve memorized it, I will return it to Master, we can’t let these cultivation tips be leaked.”
Brett the black dog nodded and proceeded to be a good watchdog.
After a while, it felt something was off in the back of its head, it was as if he had forgotten something immensely important.
It could not remember what the thing was, and Xue Ba was completely focused on reading the tome, so it did not dare to ask.
‘Now that Xue Ba is Master’s new favorite, his rank is higher than mine, I can’t disrupt his study, Master has made that much clear.’
The black dog thought for a long while before it realized what was wrong, ‘Oh shoot, I forgot to do my pushups!’
‘This is wasted time while I guarded! I have a good nose, I can smell anyone as soon as they get close, I don’t have to stand still like this.’
So it started to do pushups while standing guard…
‘He really is an idiot,’ thought Xue Ba the yellow dog. It turned and saw the black one doing pushups and immediately rolled its eyes. However, it left Brett alone and directed its focus entirely on the Atmospheric Morality Technique…
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Fang Ning was exhausted, but he endured his sleepiness and called over Zheng Dao who was in the midst of arranging details of the Demon Slayer Feast.
“Butler Zheng, the success of this demon slaying operation was largely because of your connections and intermediary. I have decided to impart to you a technique of the highest class. This is important, so remember to not leak it.”
As he heard the Venerable Dragon God say that, Zheng Dao replied, “These are all my responsibilities, you needn’t reward me like that, Venerable One.”
Fang Ning waved his arm and said, “No further comments. You can look for Xue Ba to learn it in the future, I have just given it an order. It should be learning to cultivate that technique right now. Resume your work, I’m a little overworked, I need some rest.”
Zheng Dao was very moved, ‘How long ago was it when the Venerable One taught me Qinggong? This was just a little work, but the Venerable One once again wanted to teach me a technique, all because he was concerned about my safety and inability to protect myself against demons.’
He could tell that the Venerable One was exhausted from his tone of voice, ‘It looks like the work of demon slaying does take a huge toll on him.’ Zheng Dao did not insist further, but instead bowed and retreated with deep gratitude.
After Zheng Dao had left, Fang Ning entered Vigilante A’s private room upstairs, planning to snooze for a few hours.
‘It’s really not easy being a boss. It took so long to do just a few things, and this was only three followers. If I have more followers, where would I find time to play my games?’
Fang Ning laid in bed and sighed.
He also realized that he had not slept in his body for a long time, it sounded really weird. ‘Ah, I don’t care anymore, I just want to sleep. Sleeping in my own body does feel better…’
After his cultivation, all other thoughts left fleetingly as Fang Ning drifted off not long after he shut his eyes.
As Fang Ning went into sleep soundly, system notifications appeared.
[The System is evaluating…]
[The System is evaluating…]
[The System has decided to conduct an experiment…]
The system notification was really obvious, but Fang Ning slept like a log, he did not even know what had happened, and so he would not know a certain something controlled his body as he slept…
Five minutes later, Vigilante A’s body arose from the bed.
It was safe to say that the System sneakily took over the body after its host fell asleep. Indeed, it said its host could have full control of his body for a week, but since the host was asleep, it would not waste the opportunity to use the body, that would be stupid.
Fang Ning had no idea his sleeping time in his own body was a mere five minutes…
Vigilante A opened the window and left the room with a flutter.
His movement was unseen by anyone in the farm but the two dogs in the study. They immediately sensed that their master’s scent was leaving the farmhouse quickly.
They felt touched immediately, ‘Master said he would rest, but has it only been five minutes? He’s now on his way to uphold justice again, who else could do things like this? I should be more hardworking.’
The black dog promptly started increasing the speed of his pushups, and the yellow dog started flipping through the tome swiftly…
Vigilante A traveled along the road, seemingly having a specific destination in mind.
In the end, he landed without a sound near another farmhouse with a similar architectural style to the one in which he was residing.
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Madam Zhao was sitting on the sofa in the living room. Dozens of people including the butler, gardener, security, personal physician, private teacher and more were standing in front of her.
This entourage was much larger than the one Fang Ning had, but she could manage them properly and not be vexed. In comparison, Fang Ning could barely make it through with three followers, so he’s definitely not a great boss.
Madam Zhao’s face was kind as she told everyone, “It’s almost December, and soon it’ll be a new year. All of you had worked hard to ensure the past year went as smoothly and as peacefully as possible. You can each get a red envelope 1 from the butler, think of it as an early bonus. Those of you who are going home for the new year, be safe, don’t travel alone, and stick with the crowd.”
“Thank you, madam,” everyone had only gratitude on their faces. Their employer would give them bonuses for every important event, no matter if it was the New Year or the Lunar New Year. As long as they did not make any major mistakes, everyone would be rewarded heftily.
“That’s enough, go be busy.”
Everyone continued with their work.
Madam Zhao went into a smaller living quarter and found President Zhao.
“It’s almost the New Year, let’s ask Fang to come over tomorrow.”
President Zhao lifted his head and set down the papers with the shocking headline, “Unidentified Body Appears in Northern Territorial Waters, Suspected From The East”.
“That is for sure,” President Zhao took his cell phone, “I’ll shoot him a text.”
Madam Zhao said, “Mm, is Yao Yao still practicing her guqin 2 ?”
President Zhao said, “Yes, her school is having some kind of a New Year evening party, she had already signed up to perform a classical piece called Guangling Verse 3 by Ji Kang or something like that, I understood nothing.”
“Girls should learn more about the four arts 4 ,” Madam Zhao was not particularly impressed or disinterested and only nodded to express her satisfaction. She immediately felt something around and said, “Hm, I think something is moving around us. Don’t go away, I’ll check it out.”