Master of the System

Emily exhaled and leaned back in her plush chair. In her hands, there was a sealed document from Elder Azalea of the Moon Lotus Sect. Whenever the elder sent another letter, Emily knew there was going to be a good business opportunity. However, there was always a chance the letters would contain a termination of their partnership, which was why Emily always took a shower, washed her face, and sacrificed a goat to the god of luck before unsealing them. Just two minutes ago, she had sacrificed three goats since she had been feeling ominous for quite some time.

While holding her breath, Emily tore the wax seal and opened the envelope. Her eyes scanned the page, and a sigh of relief escaped from her chest. It seemed like the sacrifices had paid off; her partnership with the Moon Lotus Sect hadn’t been terminated. Not only was it intact, it was stronger than ever before. Elder Vremya of the Moon Lotus Sect was increasing the amount of titan hearts available for sale from one hundred a month to a thousand. With the increase of hearts in the market, the price would surely drop, but it’d also mean more people would be able to create automated golems. They’d no longer be a status symbol of the rich and wealthy.

Of course, to match the increase in titan hearts, the Moon Lotus Sect would sell more bottles of titan blood as well. Emily found it a bit odd that they didn’t increase the amount of titan flesh as well, but it didn’t really matter. With this new increase in stock, she’d be able to complete her current mission much faster than expected. However, even though one of her problems were solved thanks to this letter, she still had an even bigger problem on her plate that she had no idea where to even begin tackling.

[Mission: The Better Merchant]

[Long ago, the system was split into one hundred parts. You were one of the lucky ones who had obtained a fragment of it; however, that also means there are ninety-nine other users just like you. Unite the system fragments by taking over other users’ merchant companies. For every system fragment you obtain, the system shall increase by one level, unlocking more features. Defeat your first enemy and obtain your first fragment!]

[Reward: World Map Unlocked]

Emily furrowed her brow. There were billions of people living in the world. Of them all, she had to locate ninety-nine people. However, these ninety-nine people were merchants, so that narrowed down the number from several billion to hundreds of thousands. Currently, she was in the process of identifying her competitors. There were a few companies currently in her sights, but they were massive. How was she supposed to take over their companies?

***

Grandpa Vremya stroked his beard. His army of golems was sufficient now. The hearts and blood he had been using to make them weren’t as necessary to have anymore. As such, he decided to sell them off, increasing his monthly income. Since he had developed his nascent soul, the amount of spirit stones he needed to maintain his cultivation speed increased. Other than spiritual energy, to grow his soul seed, he also needed combat experience to influence his nascent soul’s personality. At this point, all he could do was wait for people to come pick a fight with him. He wasn’t worried about though since Rachel announced the existence of a hostile force. He wondered when they were coming.

“Vremya! Come outside!”

Grandpa Vremya climbed to his feet. If it wasn’t an emergency, Azalea would never call him out of his abode like this. She always entered and squatted in front of him until he opened his eyes. Once outside of his abode, Grandpa Vremya instantly saw why Azalea had called him out. Overhead, there were dozens of massive ships, each one ten times the size of the largest airship within the sect. The Moon Lotus Sect’s alarm formation triggered, and ear-piercing sounds rang throughout the vast landscape. Thousands of sect disciples emerged from their abodes. A few people flew through the air, but there was one very noticeable person flying upwards.

“What’s going on?” Azalea asked. “Are those the ships Sect Leader Rachel was talking about? Is she charging towards them?”

Grandpa Vremya stroked his beard and squinted his eyes. As a nascent-soul cultivator, he could see the veins on the wing of a fly over a mile away; there was no need to squint, but he did it out of habit anyway. “Those aren’t airships. Those are spaceships.”

“Spaceships?”

“They’re vehicles capable of traveling through space,” Grandpa Vremya said, gesturing towards the sky. “It’s the void beyond clouds.”

Azalea stared at Grandpa Vremya with an odd expression. Why was he so knowledgeable compared to her? They both belonged to the same sect; they had access to the same teachers and the same library. The only difference was in their upbringing. She was brought up by royalty, and he was brought up by an old lady who indulged in debauchery. Was the old lady actually an extremely well-read expert? Even though Azalea was curious about space, now wasn’t the time to be asking about it. “Are spaceships deadly?”

“Depends,” Grandpa Vremya said. “You know how some airships don’t carry any cannons on them, but some do? It’s the same for those. I’d have to board them to see what kind of weaponry they have. From down here, I can’t analyze much about them.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter; we’re about to see if they’re capable of shooting.”

Azalea frowned and focused her gaze onto the ships. In the short time she had spent conversing with Grandpa Vremya, Rachel was already on the verge of striking one of the spaceships. A massive barrier, comparable to the one that guarded the Moon Lotus Sect, surged out of the ships like a ripple in a pond. When the barrier reached Rachel, she merely raised her hand, and like a bubble, the barrier popped, disappearing even faster than it had appeared.

“Wow!” someone shouted. “The sect leader’s awesome!”

Grandpa Vremya’s brow furrowed. As far as he could tell, that barrier was capable of defending temporarily against a false immortal. It was impossible for Rachel to shatter it without a mindboggling-overpowered heavenly treasure. Since that was the case, she must’ve possessed one. Grandpa Vremya thought he knew the extent of the Moon Lotus Sect’s strength, but it seemed like he had underestimated it.

“We come in peace!” a metallic voice said, coming from the spaceships. “We are from the United Federation of Bread, a civilization located millions upon millions of miles away from your planet. Please, stop your offensive, or else we will be forced to defend ourselves.”

Rachel furrowed her brow and paused in midair, her icy wings flapping to keep her in place. She pointed her sword at the ship, and her voice rang out. It wasn’t loud, but everyone could still hear her thanks to the spiritual energy she infused in her words. “You fly over our sect’s airship and claim you come in peace? Why don’t you place knives against our throats and claim you’re here to help us farm while you’re at it?”

Azalea pursed her lips. The spaceships really were unbridled. They took on a threatening posture whilst claiming to be peaceful. Although she had been raised away from the royal family, that didn’t mean she was a political fool. “These people are really hateful.” She turned her head to the side to see if Grandpa Vremya would agree with her, but to her surprise, he wasn’t there. “Vremya?” Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the old man flying through the air, sitting on a golden frisbee with his legs crossed. It didn’t take very long for him to arrive at Rachel’s side.

“We really do come with peaceful intentions,” the metallic voice said. “This—”

“Impudent!” Grandpa Vremya shouted, his voice like thunder. He waved his hand, and a large golden disc appeared underneath the ships. With a booming sound, all of the spaceships were slammed together and sucked towards the golden disc. With a wave of his hand, Grandpa Vremya slammed the disc into the ground by the sect’s entrance, avoiding the sect’s defensive barrier. The ships were stuck to the golden disc, and despite their best efforts, they couldn’t escape its pull and were slammed into the ground as well. “In this world, the Moon Lotus Sect reigns above all! If you want to make peace with us, then you best damn well follow our rules!”

Azalea’s jaw dropped. Was this what Grandpa Vremya meant when he said he was going to influence his nascent soul into a domineering one? His actions were certainly quite overbearing. Without even giving the other party a chance, he had bent them to his will.

Rachel’s eyes gleamed as she stared at Grandpa Vremya. Ever since that one time during his special-privilege match against Ruby, she had never seen him fight. There were a few times where he subdued people with golems, but he had never personally made a move. Now that she saw him do what she couldn’t, how could she not feel something deep within her heart? Her fingers gripped her sword’s hilt tighter. If it weren’t for the invaders, she definitely would’ve challenged Grandpa Vremya to a duel to alleviate the burning sensation in her chest! Instead, all she did was land by the entrance of the sect, facing the cluster of grounded ships. If someone came out of them and showed any hints of hostility, she’d put an end to them.