Master of the System

“Doesn’t it count as divine intervention when you get Pravos to help your avatar grow?” Karta asked, her tail occasionally twitching. Her paw was resting on Vremya’s personal computer, transmitting her divine sense into it. After a bit of begging, Vremya eventually conceded to Karta’s wishes and livestreamed his avatar’s progress. “Sure, it’s not directly helping your avatar with rare treasures, but isn’t it cheating if Pravos plants a system on someone else and directs them to help you?”

“It’s fine,” Vremya said. “Think about it. There’s an innumerable number of gods granting people systems. When the god of masochism creates an avatar, you think it doesn’t encounter any of those people? What if because of one god, a war is created, and the god of masochism’s avatar takes part in the war, using it to grow stronger? Does that count as divine intervention? It doesn’t.”

“Then can’t you just have Pravos give someone lots of treasures and have them hand them to your avatar?” Karta tilted her head. “Why don’t you just do that if Pravos’ users can intervene?”

Vremya shook his head. “Those items are tainted by the heavens.” He reached into his fanny pack and pulled out a bag of apple chips. “See the aura on this? If my avatar consumes some, he won’t be able to develop his own divinity.”

“Are those … apple chips? Old man, why do you have apple chips!?”

“They were in the bag,” Vremya said and shrugged. He glanced at Pravos. She was hunched over, her face scrunched up in front of her screen. Even though her eyes were useless in the darkness created by Gravitat, she was still sitting as if they were working. “Is the sect ready for my avatar?”

“You should’ve given me more time to work on fixing this sect,” Pravos said and sighed. She clutched her head, her hair spilling through the gaps in her fingers. “There’s just so many things wrong with it and the person running it. I think your avatar has a decent chance at entering the sect, but it’s … not as strong as it used to be. I-it’s still the best sect around though!”

Karta growled. “I can’t believe you have a bag of apple chips! I thought you loved me! Okay, I didn’t think you loved me, but I thought you were on my side!”

Vremya snorted and put away the bag of chips. “You raised a good point,” he said, ignoring the dog’s comments about betrayal. “I wonder if it’ll count as divine intervention if Pravos orders Rachel to gather rare treasures and pass them onto my avatar. There’ll probably be divine contamination from the mission if she does that; it’s better not to take that chance.”

***

Kid Vremya stood in the middle of the crowd with an impassive expression. Today was the day the Moon Lotus Sect recruiters arrived at the village. The whole village had woken up even earlier than usual, and the familiar sounds of work were nonexistent. Despite the fact the recruiters hadn’t arrived yet, the atmosphere was tense, and the vague smell of soap filled the air. The recruiters were here to choose disciples based on talent, but it didn’t hurt to look and smell presentable either.

“Isn’t it weird how the Moon Lotus Sect is recruiting members here?” someone muttered. “They’ve never done it before, so why would they start doing it now?”

“Maybe they’re an evil sect, and they’re actually gathering children to use in sacrifices or evil rituals.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard they’ve been declaring war a lot. The Sun Cactus Sect became a vassal, and even the Ten Faces Sect became a vassal too. Does that mean they’re walking a mix of evil and righteous?”

“Hush,” a woman said. “The recruiters are cultivators. They’ll be able to hear you from a mile away. Try not to think negative things about them either; it’s possible they can read minds.”

“Will you guys stop it?” an old man asked. “You’re scaring the children. They don’t want to hear that the people coming for them are evil and might be killing them in sadistic rituals. No one wants to hear about how their eyes are going to be plucked out, or how their ears will be chopped off and worn as necklaces.”

Bawling sounds filled the air as a child standing beside Kid Vremya opened her mouth wide and cried. Kid Vremya put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. Even though the old lady who had raised him had some shortcomings, there were some useful things he learned from her. “Don’t cry,” Kid Vremya said. “You’re absolutely talentless, and you’ll live a life of mediocrity. There’s no way you’ll be accepted by the Moon Lotus Sect even if they are taking kids as sacrifices because you’ll weaken the effectiveness of the ritual.”

“R-really?” the girl asked and hiccoughed. “I won’t be taken away? My eyes and ears won’t be cut out?”

“They won’t,” Kid Vremya said, taking his hand off the girl’s shoulder. He closed his eyes and focused on his body, exploring his meridians with his qi. In the past three months, he had successfully widened his meridians and officially became a cultivator. In fact, he had already reached the third stage of qi condensation. However, he hadn’t learned any combat techniques; instead, he was pondering on the existence of gravity. What was gravity? How did it work? He didn’t have to understand it completely. He only needed to understand enough to slightly weaken Gravitat’s blackhole to free his godly self.

“Oh?” a feminine voice asked. The crowd gasped and raised their heads. Standing above them, there was a woman wearing blue robes with a silver pin in her hair. She waved her hand, and the crowd was roughly split apart, leaving Kid Vremya standing alone in the center. The woman landed in front of Kid Vremya, and he opened his eyes. The woman squinted, meeting Kid Vremya’s gaze. She squatted down to be on eye level with him. “How old are you?”

Kid Vremya was about to answer, but he paused. How old was he? No, the woman was referring to his avatar’s body, not his actual age. “I’m four and a half.”

The woman stretched out her hand and smiled at Kid Vremya. “And you’ve already reached the third stage of qi condensation.” Her eyes narrowed. No wonder why the sect leader had been so insistent on sending people to the outer regions. The sect leader was a monster with foresight even greater than her cultivation talent. She must’ve known about this child’s appearance, or she wouldn’t have pushed so strongly to implement her new policy. “Would you like to come back with me to the Moon Lotus Sect?”

“E-excuse me,” a man said from the crowd. “My daughter—”

A sword made of ice appeared in front of the man’s face, pointing right between his brows. The woman from the Moon Lotus Sect paused and retracted her sword. Someone was recording the event. She didn’t think a backwater village would have a recording device, so she had acted a bit too hastily. “My apologies,” she said to the frightened man. “I thought I sensed a hint of evil cultivation techniques coming from you, but it seems like I was mistaken.” Her gaze swept over the crowd, and everyone took a step back from the pressure. “The only one qualified to join the Moon Lotus Sect is this child here,” she said, holding her hand out to Kid Vremya once more. “Take my hand, child.”

Kid Vremya was expressionless as he grabbed the woman’s hand. Even though she seemed a bit off her rocker, she was the only one who could get him into the sect. He needed the resources to fund his cultivation. Besides, it wouldn’t be his first time cooperating with a crazy woman. When it came to levels of mental illness, no one could compare to Kosmos. In fact, Kid Vremya wasn’t sure if he even knew any normal woman. Pravos was only filled with thoughts about justice, and Karta was a dog obsessed with money. In the first place, what did it even mean to be normal?

The woman grinned, and in a flash, Kid Vremya was standing on top of a large crane. Beside him, there was the woman, and behind him, there was the old lady who had raised him as a baby. “She’ll be coming with us,” the woman said, gesturing towards the old lady while speaking to Kid Vremya. “The Moon Lotus Sect is currently in a state of alertness, and we’re protecting our disciples’ family members just in case our enemies retaliate in a cowardly manner.” The woman tapped on the back of the crane’s head with her heel, and the bird flew forward. She smiled at Kid Vremya and released his hand. “You can call me Elder Formation. What’s your name?”

“Vremya.”

“Vremya,” Elder Formation said and nodded. “A good name. Would you like to be my disciple? I’m the elder in charge of the defensive and offensive formations at our sect. Everyone respects my position. In the future, no one will dare bully you if you become my disciple. In fact, I have a gift for you.” Elder Formation took off her necklace and placed it around Kid Vremya’s neck. “This will protect you and help you cultivate at the same time.” If she could get this genius to be her disciple, in the future, her faction would be the one to rise to power. She could guarantee there was no one else as monstrous as the child before her, and he would definitely become the sect leader even if the sect was accustomed to only having women around. If she became the master of the future sect leader, even Sect Leader Rachel would have to give her face!

“Vremya, what are you doing?” the old lady asked. “Do you remember the story I told you about the horse and the gift? Quickly, become her disciple!”

“Alright,” Kid Vremya said and nodded at Elder Formation. “I’ll be your disciple.”

Elder Formation laughed upon hearing Kid Vremya’s answer. Kids were so easy to trick! “Excellent. When we arrive at the sect, we’ll go through the ceremony and officially become master and disciple.” Elder Formation’s eyes glittered as she stared at the horizon. The future seemed so bright! Who knew she’d have a fortunate encounter after being forced to go on such a tedious mission? Fate worked in mysterious ways.