Master of the System

Elder Formation’s expression darkened. She was in charge of analyzing the reports within the sect. Of course, a job like that was impossible for one person alone. Some elders and core disciples worked with her. They would read reports, summarize the important aspects in one or two sentences, and pass their summaries on to Elder Formation. Evidently, one of the core disciples must’ve been newly hired because the summary in Elder Formation’s hand could easily be called an essay. After she read the first line, her face hardened. Why did the reports involving Grandpa Vremya always result in her having to leave the office to pay him a visit?

Elder Formation called for a crane. If what was written on the report was true, then she definitely had to talk to Grandpa Vremya in person. Honestly, these problems should’ve been handled by the sect leader, but Rachel was still too busy cultivating. During the flight to Grandpa Vremya’s residence, Elder Formation read the report again and furrowed her brow. The last time Grandpa Vremya went on a mission, he selfishly cleared out a spirit-stone mine. This time, he found something beneficial to the whole sect. No matter how she saw it, his good deeds outweighed the bad.

At Grandpa Vremya’s residence, Elder Formation was stopped by a barrier. Before she could say anything, the barrier was disabled, revealing Azalea standing at the entrance. Elder Formation took one glance at Azalea before recoiling. “Junior Azalea?” Elder Formation asked and fixed her posture. “You’ve … grown.” Although she had read the report, she wasn’t ready for the sight of the disciple’s bulging muscles.

Azalea let out a sigh and stepped to the side, gesturing for the elder to enter. “Greetings, Elder Formation,” Azalea said. “Senior Brother Vremya’s waiting inside.”

Elder Formation nodded and made her way into Grandpa Vremya’s abode. She found him sitting on a cushion, cultivating. When she approached him, he opened his eyes and nodded at her in greeting. “Junior Vremya,” Elder Formation said and took a seat on the ground in front of Grandpa Vremya. “It seems like your most recent endeavor has been fruitful.”

“Ask what you want, but don’t waste my time,” Grandpa Vremya said.

Elder Formation exhaled and nodded. She wouldn’t get offended at Grandpa Vremya’s tone. Thanks to the past years of dealing with all the sect reports, she appreciated the value of time much more. “Is it true this titan blood can replace the liquid medium in rune enchanting?” Elder Formation asked. Rune enchanters were rare. They used to be popular thousands of years ago, but the craft died out as the years passed. In order to enchant an item, a liquid medium was required. There were a few recipes to craft the liquid medium, but they all required special ores that were only found on certain mountains. Unfortunately, the special ores took tens of thousands of years to form, and nearly all the known ore deposits were used up as the years went on, leading to the decline of the once-popular practice. Of course, knowledge of it persisted throughout the years by the wealthy few who could still afford to buy the ores.

Grandpa Vremya nodded. “Titan blood is perfect for rune enchanting.”

“What do you know about rune enchanting?” Elder Formation asked.

“A lot.”

Elder Formation was dumbfounded by his answer. For someone who didn’t like wasting time, couldn’t he have been more specific? Well, the specifics didn’t really matter in the end. Everyone in the sect was entitled to their own secrets. Instead, she chose to ask about something else. “Is it true eating dried titan tentacles can increase a regular person’s physique comparable to the equivalent of a golden-core cultivator?”

“Look at Azalea.”

Azalea resisted the urge to run over and slap Grandpa Vremya upside the head. If she did, it would’ve made her eavesdropping too obvious. Elder Formation glanced at Azalea. The question was a bit silly, but it still had to be confirmed through Grandpa Vremya’s mouth. Elder Formation asked what she knew was going to be another privacy-invading question. “How confident are you in your golem-creation ability?”

“No one in this dimension is better than me.”

If it weren’t for the sect rules against oppressing disciples, Elder Formation would’ve slapped the arrogance right out of Grandpa Vremya’s face upon hearing his response. Now that she thought about it, it was a good thing most of the elders had severed their emotions. If they could still get angry, perhaps Grandpa Vremya wouldn’t even be alive at this moment. “Can I see the golems included in the report?”

Grandpa Vremya waved his hand, and golems appeared behind him, filling his abode. He didn’t summon all of them because there wasn’t enough space, but what few he did summon was enough to stun Elder Formation. “Regular iron can become this strong?” Her eyes narrowed at the Frostwind Armor Golem. With its ten hearts, Elder Formation felt like she could feel the golem’s pulsating energy from where she sat. The report really didn’t include any lies, not like she was expecting it to. Elder Formation furrowed her brow. With this newfound knowledge, there was only one thing to do that made sense—and that wasn’t to kill Grandpa Vremya to steal all his secrets and claim credit for them. “Would you like to become an elder of the sect? You’ll be in charge of teaching disciples rune enchanting and golem creation.”

“Vremya as an elder?” Azalea blurted out, her face painted with disbelief. How was he going to teach anyone as an elder with him being the way he was? However, after her outburst, Azalea covered her mouth and looked away. It wasn’t her place to voice her discontent with the upper brass’ decisions.

Grandpa Vremya glanced at Azalea before focusing his gaze on Elder Formation. “What’s the pay like?”

“I’ll have a contract prepared for you,” Elder Formation said. “I think you’ll find the pay quite satisfying. It’s based on a nascent-soul cultivator’s needs.”

Grandpa Vremya nodded. It seemed like becoming an elder would be even more efficient for his cultivation than completing missions and gaining contribution points. Since that was the case, he didn’t see why he shouldn’t accept the position. The only thing he’d have to deal with was the karma of teaching students.

***

Jordan panted for breath. He was floating in the void, so it didn’t make sense for him to breath in so heavily. Even though he was an immortal who no longer needed to breathe, he still resorted to old mortal habits when his spiritual energy was completely drained. His system had sent him to the titan secret realm, threatening him with death if he didn’t attend. However, it seemed like the system just wanted to kill him. There was no way he could survive this hell.

Immortals and beings stronger than immortals were everywhere, fighting against an endless swarm of darkness. They were losing, being pushed back over and over. If it weren’t for the short, plump man holding the line, the darkness would’ve completely overwhelmed them. Every time Istoriya waved his hand, a cataclysmic scene from history would be summoned. The blast from a supernova that happened billions of years ago struck the wall of darkness, pushing it back but only for a second. A long-lost star was born, grew, collapsed, and turned into a black hole, sucking in millions of titans before disappearing, unable to stay in the present for too long. A massive hand that seemed to be created from the laws of time and space swatted at the titans before disappearing a second later. It eliminated billions of the creatures, only to have them all replaced in a matter of seconds.

A tentacle extended towards Jordan, and he barely had the energy to lift his blade. The tentacle slapped Jordan’s weapon away, and as exhausted as he was, he could only wait for the tentacle to finish him off. He closed his eyes, picturing his favorite disciple, wanting her to be the last thing he saw before he died. However, even after remembering her whole lifetime, Jordan realized he wasn’t dead. He opened his eyes, and there wasn’t anything in front of him except for a flaw in the fabric of space. More and more twisted space appeared in front of him, and the titans were sucked into nothingness, stretching out like strands of spaghetti.

There was the sound of cheering, and Jordan turned his head. Gravitat was back, and the wall of black holes was rapidly spreading across the vast horizon. Istoriya lowered his arms and floated over to Gravitat. “Did you succeed?”

“He’s trapped in here,” Gravitat said and gestured towards the warped space following behind him. “Now, it’s your turn to fulfill your end of the bargain. Give me Kosmos.”