Chapter 139  : They Think You’re Too Strong, So They Don’t Want To Play With You Anymore

A few days later in a random underground room, furnished simply with just a table, a chair, and multiple bookshelves lining the wall with different books piled together.

This was where Bai Shixin’s study room was located. Aside from him, the Elder Ancestor of the Bai Family also stood with his hands at his back. Behind him was another young man, also standing in the room.

The atmosphere was tense and heavy. None of them spoke.

The Elder Ancestor finally broke the silence. “Someone came back with the news that Vigilante A just joined the Dark Tournament qualifier match. On the first round of his match, he managed to shatter the Turtle Demon N’gun into pieces that not even a shred of the man’s soul was left. Even Anderson couldn’t do that… What do you think, Shixin?”

Bai Shixin covered his mouth and coughed a few times in reply, but Elder Ancestor Bai did not comfort him like how he used to do.

After he managed to catch his breath, Bai Shixin spoke with much difficulty. “I just saw the recorded video of the match. After a detailed study, I concluded that N’gun had definitely self-detonated. However, we couldn’t determine if he detonated because of Vigilante A’s powerful sword techniques or if he detonated as a way of killing Vigilante A.”

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Elder Ancestor Bai was not pleased. “That’s all you managed to get?”

Bai Shixin bowed his head slightly. “After the spiritual sense battle between Vigilante A and Anderson, the former did not suffer severe injuries but instead had large improvements in his abilities. All of my previous judgments were inaccurate.”

“That was not the extent of your mistakes. You can continue to speak…” Elder Ancestor Bai’s tone was harsh.

Bai Shixin’s voice was quiet, “I theorize that Vigilante A must have an ability that can increase his power after every significant battle, much like the cultivators of Death Aura or Murderous Aura. That is the reason why his abilities would have immense improvements after each one.”

Elder Ancestor Bai finally toned down his hostility. “I’ll not rid you the position of the strategist of our clan today as you managed to determine this about Vigilante A. Your inaccurate judgments before this nearly lost yourself all of my confidence. Now tell me, how should we deal with Vigilante A, with him getting stronger day by day?”

Bai Shixin already formed a plan when he was watching the video where Vigilante A royally kicked N’gun’s ass. He immediately answered, “Although I’ve made a mistake last time, my recommendation in ways to handle him do not differ much. We should observe his movements, and not intervene in any business that does not relate to us.”

Elder Ancestor Bai was quite surprised. “Hm, I wouldn’t be surprised if you said something along the lines of ‘killing with a borrowed knife’, ‘kill with kindness’, or ‘convert an enemy to a friend’. I never expected you to accept your defeat this easily without any hatred and clearly see the positioning of both parties. It seems like even though you lost all your powers, you managed to better your temperament.”

Bai Shixin was relieved. It seemed like his reply was what the Elder Ancestor wanted.

He immediately answered, “You flatter me, Elder Ancestor. Vigilante A is a powerful lone wolf, while we have a clan as our roots. It’ll only cause us unimaginable loss if we were to get ourselves tangled with him without knowing our limits. Then, we’ll only benefit our other opponents. Instead, we should do what you’ve repeatedly stressed and focus on stabilizing our operations and base. As long as we focus on our development, he would definitely not be able to fight us as a clan once we rise to the top.”

“Besides, we did notice an obvious trait of this realm recently. An individual’s ability can only breakthrough if the vitality concentration goes up another level. Even if he becomes stronger with each battle, he would only reach his bottleneck much earlier than us. He wouldn’t be able to level up either.”

Elder Ancestor Bai nodded in approval. “From now on, we will not take notice of any Vigilante A related incidents if it does not directly affect us. We will focus on ourselves, and we’ll be able to defeat others in time once we establish ourselves as a formidable force in our society.”

Bai Shixin nodded to show his support.

After the Elder Ancestor finished his last speech, he pointed at the young man before speaking again. “This Nie Yuan is the smartest one among the younger generation of the Giant Rat Demon Clan. I picked him, and now I’m handing him over to you. I hope you continue to be just and fair, Shixin, and teach this young man all of your knowledge and experience. Two heads are better than one, Shixin, and our clan will only prosper if we have numerous bright minds blooming within us.”

Bai Shixin looked at the young Giant Rat Demon after he heard what the Elder Ancestor said. When the young demon noticed that he was looking at him, the younger demon quickly stopped his wandering eyes and nodded in an effort to please the elder demon.

A hint of annoyance curled around Bai Shixin’s heart after he saw that. He liked intelligent people, but not those who feign intelligence. Still, he gave the Elder Ancestor a hold-fist salute.

“Rest assured, Elder Ancestor, I will definitely educate him in the best way I can.”

Elder Ancestor Bai nodded, pleased. He then walked out with his hands still on his back.

“Greetings, Teacher Bai,” Nie Yuan immediately bowed and greeted after the Elder Ancestor left. Bai Shixin did not acknowledge him, but instead walked towards a shelf and took a book before tossing it to the young rat demon. Nie Yuan caught it hastily. On the cover of the book were the words ‘The Art Of War’.

“See me after you can quote it by heart,” Bai Shixin said emotionlessly. After a brief wave of his hand, the young rat demon excused himself obediently.

Bai Shixin heaved a long sigh after he was the only one left in the room. Then, he walked to another shelf and took a book from it. It was also The Art of War, identical to what he gave to Nie Yuan. Bai Shixin flipped to the last page.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

A hint of darkness flashed in his eyes as he repeatedly considered the quote. How difficult would it be for them to track the overly active Vigilante A? The hero would be fighting for justice day in day out, and he would never stay still to cultivate. If they were to lose the powerful man, there might be a possibility of them being stopped at their door just like the incident with the Insect Demon. If he didn’t get his intel from a special source, he would’ve most probably died in the attack. After all, he did make a sneak attack at the hero. Though, Vigilante A’s retaliation was so strong that Bai Shixin lost all of his powers since…

///

Fang Ning had no idea that someone was missing him at the moment. He was happily reading the System Notifications that popped up, very much pleased to find that Sir System had become stronger once again. From now on, he could be more relaxed as he played around.

[The System expended a gigantic amount of EXP to cultivate the Dragonization Ability and upgrade it to Advanced Level. It has now reached the level cap, and cannot be upgraded before a level up. Current effects are stated below:

High-Level Gorging. Can consume the amount of food required for three months of activity in one go. There’s no need for sustenance for the following three months.

All Dragon Series Abilities have increased power. Current ability level has a 300% boost.

All Dragon Series Abilities are swiftly consolidating. Currently, 20 Dragon Series Abilities have consolidated. 12 other Abilities are still consolidating…]

When Fang Ning was still reading the System Notifications, Sir System suddenly spoke.

“Say, Host, you’re always staring at the progress of my abilities. I gave you the game book a long time ago, but why haven’t you checked your own progress?”

Fang Ning had no idea what to do when he got that question. He tried to twist himself out of the situation by making up excuses. “There’s no point in checking my attributes, no? I have cultivated for only half a year, so I’m definitely still a Mug…”

“No, no, you’re flattering yourself there. Let’s talk after we’ve read it, okay?”

Fang Ning’s precious game book levitated to him and displayed itself before its eyes. It automatically flipped to the Character Attribute Interface, and Fang Ning could do nothing but to sneak a peek at it.

[Fang Ning. Sex: Male, Hobbies: Games, Novels, Indescribable Videos etc. Age: 29. Identity: Restaurant Owner, Venerable White Dragon, Warden, System Host etc.]

[Alignment: Neutral with inclination towards Righteousness.]

[Power Level: …]

Fang Ning was immensely relieved after he read that. “Look, there’s ellipsis on the book! It must mean that I have a System in me, and thus have unlimited potential that there’s no way for it to determine my Power Level…”

The System snarled, “D*mn this stupid book, I have clearly given you a Power Level of a Rice-Level ordinary human, but it somehow refused to show it…”

Fang Ning hollered in laughter as he hugged the game book in his arms. “My beloved game book would never slander its precious owner. Now, let me see how amazing you are now, Sir System…”

The game book immediately flipped to the Dossiers after Fang Ning ended his sentence.

[Name: N/A, Sex: N/A, Hobbies: Cultivation and Farming Monsters, Age: 0.5. Identity: The System.]

[Alignment: Defender of Justice.]

[Power Level: Pond-level powerhouse. Description: Size of a swimming pool. Extremely high endurance and agility, moderately high speed, strong attack, moderately high defense, multiple skills and abilities, extremely high ability in escaping, extremely high ability in surviving…]

Fang Ning pursed his lips as he read the adjectives that almost filled the page. “I feel like you’re just b*llsh*tting. Wait, you’re not even a living organism, why would you be in the Dossiers? You just trying to show off, aren’t you?”

The System retorted, “I’ll show what I want to show, and I’ll hide what I want to hide…”

The System’s Power Level in the book changed once again after it spoke.

[Power Level: The supreme being of all, with a star-shattering fist and earth-shattering feet. Each breath becomes a cloud…]

Fang Ning gaped in disbelief, but soon understood what was going on. “I understand now, my precious game book is now in the System Space, and you can be as powerful as you can if it evaluates your Power Level here.”

Just as the System started to reply, Fang Ning suddenly noticed an incoming email notification on his computer. He immediately clicked it open.

After he read through the email, Fang Ning said, “Alright, cut the prattling off. We have actual work to handle. Zheng Dao just forwarded me an email relating to the Dark Tournament qualifiers match.”

The System rushed, “Go on.”

Fang Ning continued, “It’s not good news. It’s probably a side effect of your excessive bragging just now. You’ll need to mentally prepare yourself.”

The System chided, “Do you think I’m as mentally as weak as you?”

Fang Ning didn’t bother to reply. He started to explain the contents of the email. “The organizers think that you’re too strong. You basically one-hit N’gun into powder even though he was specially selected as your opponent because he had the strongest defense. They will no longer pair you up with a well-matched opponent in the qualifiers.”

“For the safety and fairness of the Tournament, they are prepared to temporarily set you as the King of the Dark Tournament this year, and they’ve announced your results to the other Supreme Challengers. All Challengers will have a Right to Challenge the King, and they can choose whether to use that right of theirs. They’ll be responsible for their own losses, injuries, or death. This right will be in effect within the year.”

“Now, no one has used their Right yet. So, the bad news is that you can no longer return to the Arena to join competitions and earn money until the year is over. If no one challenges you, they would then award you the reward of being the King of the Dark Tournament at the end of the year.”

The System was pleased. “That’s a good news! We could just sit and wait for the huge sum of money to arrive at our doorstep at the end of the year.”

Fang Ning was honestly worried about the intelligence of this idiotic System. “Yeah right, it’s a good news indeed. Have you not considered the fact that they might not send us an invitation letter next year? This is the qualifiers match, but they have declared that they couldn’t find an equal match as our opponent. If we don’t have an opponent, how can we have a match? If there’s no match, why would they invite us next year?”

“You’re making it sound so complicated,” complained the System, “Couldn’t you speak in an easier way?”

Fang Ning sighed, “Basically, they think you’re too strong, so they don’t want to play with you anymore.”

The System was immediately flustered. “No, no, I’m not that strong! I didn’t kill N’gun, quick, tell them that…”

As the System continued to ramble, its Power Level in the game book changed once more.

[Power Level: Basin-level. Description: The size of a basin. Average endurance, agility, and speed, normal attack power, poor defense, flashy but inefficient skills…]

Fang Ning had lost his words. “…”