Seized by the System

Upon observing that things had settled down, the Spirit King Bodhisattva smiled briefly before he dematerialized into nothing.

He had plenty more things to deal with; the Spiritual Insect Reincarnation had to be halted temporarily since the most important thing to deal with now was to convert the Demonic Realm into a Spiritual Insect Realm.

A few moments later, he was back on the tropical island located somewhere in Central America.

The sea breeze blew gently around him as it provided him respite after being surrounded by gunsmoke. Tropical plants covered the entire island once again after the heavy rain, the lush greenery full of vigor as the wind blew through them.

The seagulls were visiting the island once more too, as they circled high above sea level.

In the shallow waters, small fishes swam about.

“All living creatures really do vie for freedom under the autumn sky…” ¹ The Spirit King Bodhisattva’s gaze swept across this vibrant scene of nature, yet his heart was clouded over.

His old rival from the previous realm had arrived again.

The War Demon Lei Tian was nothing in comparison.

The truly powerful and formidable one was the demon that lived deep in the hearts of any creature with a soul.

He sighed and walked towards the portal that was glowing slightly.

When he had first arrived here with Vigilante A, he had seen a vastly different sight.

Within the Demonic Realm, there was already a small piece of land that was wrapped in gusts of white gas, separating it from the black gas all around the place.

Furthermore, it was as if the black gas harbored a deep-seated hatred towards the white gas, for it would occasionally morph into various forms before it lunged out at the white gas.

There were malevolent spirits, demons, fairy maidens, and evil beasts.

Spirit King Bodhisattva ignored them all and walked into the small area surrounded by white gas.

He sat down with both legs crossed and started chanting.

“I am repeating what I have heard, I have heard that all living creatures with a soul are able to understand the meaning of Buddhism…”

He suddenly stopped chanting and remained motionless as he expression changed.

In his mind, he saw a young man appear and the young man’s appearance was obviously the original one of the Spirit King Bodhisattva’s body.

“You bald donkey, you’ve used the body for so long so now it’s my turn for some fresh air now.” The young man rudely spat, seemingly unafraid of the revered Bodhisattva.

“I have been merciful, my benefactor. You’re full of evil thoughts now, so you cannot come out. Are you not going to recite the Diamond Sutra ² I gave you?” said the Spirit King Bodhisattva while smiling gently.

“D*mn, why are you talking about that? At first you told you wanted to use my body for half a year because you wanted to cultivate the Spiritual Insect Reincarnation Technique, so I agreed. Now you tell me you want to convert this entire Demonic Realm, and how long will that take you? I can’t take this anymore, give me a few days to breathe some fresh air.”

Just as the Bodhisattva was about to say something, his expression hardened as a realization dawned on him.

“This was worse than I thought. That Demonic Energy is so powerful that even the slightest touch was able to awaken all these desires within you, my benefactor. You should hurry up and recite the Diamond Sutra so that you’re able to suppress it.”

“You’re trying to pull the wool over my eyes again… If I cultivate it anymore, I’ll become a monk for real. I’ve already lived as a virgin for the past 23 years, I don’t want to keep living as one, so hurry up and return my body to me,” said the young man angrily.

Spirit King Bodhisattva shook his head and replied, “My benefactor, ten or so years ago we came to an agreement that after you let me use your physical body for 50 years, I’ll repay you by gifting you with a body of the Gilded Bodhisattva, which will allow you to enjoy longevity. You had promised that you wouldn’t go back on your word.

“Despite that, whenever I felt like you would be lonely, I would always let you out.

“Yet you always go around committing misdeeds. You like listening to words of flattery and you promote villainy; you’ve almost flushed all my efforts down the drain. Today, you’ve been polluted by the Demonic Energy, so your desires were awakened. If you leave and commit any serious crimes, I will never let you out again.”

The young man was speechless at first. Soon, he regained himself and said, “How despicable, the great Dragon God Hero is also a Dragon God that descended from the Upper Realm. I’ve noticed that he looks ordinary, and yet his white dragon is allowed to come out all the time. Isn’t that white dragon afraid of being polluted by Demonic Energy?”

The Bodhisattva laughed bitterly and continued, “Nobody’s the same. Despite his ordinary looks, he is incredibly gifted and has a strong cultivation base, as he possesses a True Dragon form. If you are able to cultivate to Arhat’s state and achieve Arhat Dharmakaya ³ , then I’ll definitely let you out.”

As things turned out, most of the powerhouses had already completely perceived the System as a Dragon God that had descended.

As for the white dragon’s actual identity, they had already seen it through and had come to the conclusion that it had formed as a result of the spiritual sense cultivation of the original owner of the body.

The young man was angry, yet there was nothing more he could say.

He knew that he would not be able to cultivate to even Bhadanta ⁴ state on sheer willpower and conduct alone.

There was no need to even think about achieving some “Arhat’s state” at this rate. He would just have live through the remaining 30 plus years until he obtained the Gilded Boddhisattva body, then he would be able to enjoy longevity for the rest of his life.

The Spirit King Bodhisattva had finally appeased the original consciousness of the body and felt a sense of unease.

He could not help but feel envious of the Venerable Dragon God. They were both Descended Ones that had to share spiritual senses with another for the same body, but how did the Venerable Dragon God manage his relationship with the original consciousness of his body?

It seemed like the original consciousness cooperated with him very well, as the Spirit King Bodhisattva had never witnessed any conflicts of interest happening within in.

The Demonic Energy really was quite powerful, however, and it was completely different after obtaining Heavenly Order. The Spirit King Bodhisattva was long already a clean and pure body, so it could not enter his body, which was why it instead targeted the original consciousness of this body. It left no opportunity overlooked.

He still wondered how the Venerable Dragon God managed to do it? The white dragon did not seem like it was free from human desires and passions either…

The Spirit King Bodhisattva could not help but worry once he thought about this. He was afraid that what had transpired just now might have been the Demonic Energy revealing itself on purpose after all. Otherwise, Tianjing Fawang probably would not have been able to detect it.

If that were the case, was it actually planning on turning the Venerable Dragon God into a demon?

He immediately stood up upon this realization.

“Bald donkey? What are you trying to do again? Stop trying to use my magic to travel between realms just so you’ll look cool. Every time you use my magic, I’ll have to suffer dizziness for a few days…” The young man in his consciousness complained away.

The Spirit King Bodhisattva paid no attention to the complaints and instead retrieved a mobile phone…

If it were nothing important, he would not choose to waste magic either.

…

After Vigilante A bid Tian Zhu and Tianjing Fawang farewell, he continued running around to arrest petty thieves…

A few moments later, a sudden appearance of a single System Notification gave Fang Ning quite a shock.

[A mysterious gust of Demonic Energy invaded the System Space and was caught by the System. It has been deposited into the System Preservation Area.]

Fang Ning’s expression immediately changed after he read it. He then calmly said, “You see, just how good am I at foreseeing the future? Luckily I was careful enough, otherwise we would’ve been in deep trouble.”

The System replied, “How brilliant, Mr. Multi-Millionaire Host. Unfortunately, this Demonic Energy has no form or shape as it is no monster or demon, so it won’t give us any experience points. I won’t be able to use it as material either since it’s evil, so anything I craft from it would be too wicked for use.”

Hearing what had just been said, Fang Ning thought of something and answered, “Who said it would be useless? Don’t we have a great demon or something locked up? I think it might be quite useful to that demon.

“By the way, that War Demon Lei Tian that was locked up by you into the System Prison, why did it give such a large amount of experience points? I made a wild guess that time, but I haven’t had the time to ask you about it yet.”

The System ruthlessly exposed its Host, “You were just too lazy to ask and then forget to after you kept dragging things out… I did kill him that time, and his soul had dissipated into nothing, which was why we got experience points. However, it must’ve been revived by that Heavenly Axiom all of you keep talking about, which was why I was able to catch its soul and had it locked away into the System Prison.”

Realization dawned on Fang Ning as the System’s words fell. ‘So I was right that time all along, the Heavenly Axiom really did make his wish come true.’

He immediately thought of what the Spirit King Bodhisattva had said the other day, which he could not help but connect to the Demonic Energy’s sudden invasion this time. His heart immediately clouded over with unease.

“The newly-born Heavenly Axiom of this realm is actually trying to encourage war and bloodshed. It does not possess even a sliver of mercy, and it also doesn’t want the humans to live peaceful lives…”

Were this words not directed at him in particular?

Fang Ning was quite disappointed at this. What was so bad about everyone living peaceful lives where they could eat and enjoy to their hearts’ content while enjoying longevity at the same time?

He had nothing to say about the evildoers that wanted to torture humans, but why did the newly-born Heavenly Axiom wanted to participate in something so cruel too?

Why could not it act like it used to? Ignoring everything and allowing all sentient beings to develop as they pleased; was that not better?

Huh, something does not seem right about that either.

Fang Ning seemed to connect two and two together as he had grasped the exact sequence of ideas. Just as he was about to say something, he received a call.

The System exclaimed excitedly, “The number belongs to the Spirit King Bodhisattva, I wonder if he’s finally going to present us with his ‘proper thanks’?

Fang Ning muttered, “Be patient, and let me take the call first.”

He answered the call, and the Spirit King Bodhisattva was actually calling to tell Vigilante A what he was worried about just now.

Fang Ning immediately replied, “Don’t worry, Bodhisattva. The Demonic Energy did have ulterior motives, but I’ve already subdued it. It is currently in the Draconic Penitentiary, and it definitely wouldn’t stir up any trouble.

“Yes, thank you so much for worrying, Bodhisattva. I have a destiny to fulfill, so my willpower is as strong as steel. I will persist unswervingly, and I will not have some Demonic Energy corrupt my will. I can swear to the heavens above that I will definitely not allow it to corrode me even slightly…”

“Yes, yes. I hope to hear from you again soon.”

Right as Fang Ning ended the call, the complaints of a certain Sir could be heard.

“Mr. Rich Boss, you were so busy talking about nothing in particular, yet you couldn’t be bothered to ask about something proper like his ‘proper thanks’ that he should be giving us?”

Fang Ning replied, “No, even I know to save some face. Besides, we know just how the Spirit King Bodhisattva is, so the longer it goes unmentioned, the bigger the reward we’ll get.”

While they were in the middle of their conversation, another System Notification suddenly appeared.

[The Host has just made a Heavenly Oath, Obsession has strengthened to its peak and cannot be removed in the current realm. The Host has completed Obsession: Shut-In till the End of Time and has triggered Rare Lazy Achievement of ‘Past Praying for Redemption, Beyond Cure and Help’.]

[Effect—When cultivation is done actively, efficiency will be reduced. Mental resistance against abnormal conditions has greatly improved. No longer able to end System control on own accord.]

“Oh sh*t… I actually had chances to actively end your control? Why have you never mentioned anything like this?” Fang Ning was shocked beyond reason.

The System mocked, “I thought you already knew about this, since you’re so smart. However, even if you’ve finally found out, it’s practically useless…”

Fang Ning spat, “So what? If I ask for Relief Time, you still have to give it to me…”

The System deadpanned, “Who gave you such confidence?”

“The numbers in my bank account.”

“Oh, I get it now. Mr. Rich Boss, are you planning on buying your Relief Time from now on? You humans always go on about how time is more precious than gold. From now on, a day of Relief Time will cost exactly a billion in gold. If my calculations are correct, the three billion you owed me from before should be equivalent to three days of Relief Time right? What a bargain.”

Fang Ning was speechless. He ignored the idiot of a System and shifted his focus into what he was just thinking about instead.