Seized by the System

Xie Dong once again quietened the next wave of opposers, and then continued to speak.

What he said next, was exactly what everyone had guessed he would say.

“The Heavenly Axiom is no longer about justice. It plays favoritism with those that are beneficial to it. Everyone here is a cultivator seeking eternal life, I do not think that anyone here is hypocritical about this fact. We are modern people and do not need to pretend to be polite about it. Most cultivators are about trying to fulfill what past technologies were unable to do – achieving everlasting life. As for becoming stronger, I think that would be secondary. After all, no matter how powerful you become, if you can only live for a hundred years, it would be meaningless.”

Of course, not everyone attending the meeting would agree to this point of view , if you could live like a cowardly turtle for thousands of years, you would still never measure up to a majestic eagle living for mere decades.

However, with such a thundering presence in front of them, no one had the courage to object and were forced to quietly listen to Xie Dong’s words.

“There’s a great saying: those who obey the mandate of heaven shall flourish while those who defy it will perish. The belief of anyone coming to a good end can only be found in novels and on television… If every one of you is searching for eternal life, you will naturally benefit from the Heavenly Axiom by conducting acts beneficial to the Earth and the Heavenly Axiom. Beneficiaries of the Heavenly Axiom will encounter less bottlenecks while cultivating, not to mention receiving a boost in luck. Even if you become a ghost, you will have the chance to be reborn…”

“In this respect, I think Mount Indigo Monastery’s Master Ma will have the deepest understanding. Master Ma, would you be willing to discuss your experiences on this topic?” Xie Dong smiled.

He had not reached out to Master Ma in advance. Any secret communication would have been easily discovered among the many cultivators. If he had done so, it would greatly diminish the credibility of what was happening right now.

Nevertheless, he knew that Master Ma would agree with his statement.

As the leader of Public Relations, he knew the Mount Indigo Monastery very well. Coupled with his talent of recognizing the truth from the lies around it, he was very clear of what Ma Futian was thinking.

It was apparent that the moment Old Master Ma heard his words, his face lit up in delight. He had to butter up everyone by the lake earlier and act humble, a feat that he achieved with much reluctance.

Everyone attending the meeting were known cultivators from China. To be able to take a seat there, one would at least have to be a Pond-level cultivator.

Take his son, who was also the disciple next-in-line, Ma Ping, for example. He trained endlessly and laboriously, just to be lucky enough to achieve Bathtub Level, but he could only sit outside the circle and listen in from the outside.

Equality did not exist in this reality…

He cupped his fists together and tidied his beard before replying: “It is too kind of you, Leader Xie. I am without capability and slow-witted. As taught by our former teachers and masters, slaying demons has always been my responsibility as the master of Mount Indigo Monastery. I have been lucky the last free years to have been able to successfully cultivate despite facing difficulties. Now that I think back on it, it wasn’t because I was lucky, it was because I had done something good for Heaven and Earth and accumulated some merit from the Heavenly Axiom. It has helped me through troubled times; where instead of being in a distressed situation, I made vast improvements in cultivation…”

These words immediately garnered the attention of those at the meeting. Not a single person wanted to miss a word.

Ma Futian was always traveling around the world, and was on par with the Venerable Dragon God, Bodhisattva Spirit King, Tianjing Fawang as one of China’s Four Great Cultivators.

He was, however, the only pure local among them as he was not a Descended One nor a doppelganger.

Thus his words had a lot of credibility.

For a moment, everyone was tempted.

Old Master Ma was ahead in age and did not have much potential, but he was able to cultivate until the Lake-Level.

It was all because he had slayed demons and improved the wellbeing of the people on Heaven and Earth, earning merit from the Heavenly Axiom.

Those in attendance were younger and had higher potential. If they were to earn the merits of the Heavenly Axiom, they might then able to achieve a higher cultivation level.

If Vigilante A was the one that had uttered these words, he might have been greatly envied but would not be able to inspire the desire for higher power. He had the Upper Realm Dragon God within him and was vastly above the audience. …

Once, there were those who were eager to compete in cultivating speed with Vigilante A. However, by the time he had upgraded and destroyed Bosses more powerful than the next, everyone else was left far behind and realized they were not even qualified to pick up the shoes of the dead Bosses. Most had already given up by then.

Cultivators were people who had a strong sense of self-awareness, being a group of people who had to cultivate their hearts and self-check their physical-being every day..

At that moment, a sound rang.

“Master Ma has indeed done a charitable thing by standing up to speak. Looks like he no longer needs to cultivate in private since he will now earn his merits in public. Our elders of old said that cultivation requires one to step out into the world the moment one came into it. . Looks like they were right, and the saying is not unfounded,” someone remarked.

“You are right. This must be the legacy of Master Ma, to work on the principle of first come first served.”

“Haha, Big Spender, your limelight has been stolen by Old Master Ma, you probably can’t pretend anymore…” Sir System gloated cheerfully.

“Am I such a shallow person? I’ll have the chance to play up my pretense soon. I do not believe they would waste my time callously by inviting me over just to sit down,” said Fang Ning indignantly.

“Erm… you are talking as if Vigilante A’s reputation was created by you.” quipped Sir.

Whisperings were rife in the meeting as insecurity filled the air.

After all, not everyone had the opportunity to lead the way. For one, it was not easy to be valued.

Second, the Upper Realm did not require much to lead the way as the resources of cultivators were always limited. Those left behind might as well concentrate on being a coolie.

Most of the cultivators in the meeting chose to be neutral.

They would follow whoever provided the most benefits.

If you were destined to die, there would be no takers but if the risk was low, one might still observe and decide from the sidelines.

If there were huge benefits to be gained, for example an illegal skills such as the Pill of Eternal Life… one might consider risking death. .

The merits of the Heavenly Axiom were once a distorted concept that had no guarantee as it was a journey far beyond the reach of many.

Now, with many top cultivators picking on this topic, it of course was causing some sort of commotion.

Everyone knew how great the ‘Help of Heaven’ can be. You can pick any lottery ticket and hit a jackpot of 500 thousand dollars; on the other hand, ‘Trouble from the Heavens’ will have someone sleeping at home getting run over by a car crashing into the house.

These are all real stories that can be seen on the news.

And now, this ‘Heaven’ has a consciousness. It was not like before, where everything met in coincidence can be constituted as luck, statistics, or even the Chaos Effect.

Xie Dong, Ma Futian, one a leader of the Truth Department, and another a Lake-Level Superior Being, were able to clearly state the meaning of “Man helps the heaven, Heaven helps the man”.

Herein was the question.

How does one help the heaven to do more with less and truly attain merit from the Heavenly Axiom?

Someone had put up their hand with this question in mind.

Xie Dong nodded and pointed with this hand with the manner of a spokesperson.

“Hello, Leader Xie. A wise one once said, “To do good with sincerity but not be rewarded, Sin without meaning to and you will not be punished.” We are now earning merit with purpose and doing good with an agenda, would the Heavenly Axiom not reward us instead?”

This was a very young man who looked to be around 20-years-old. To achieve Pond-Level at this age is a wonderful talent in China, one that would be loved by Heaven and Earth.

Xie Dong gave a smile, he loved this sort of technical question as it implied that everyone was starting to see things his way.

He replied on the spot,- “I think this is a question that only the Venerable Dragon God is able to reply… Do give us guidance, Venerable One.”

Fang Ning was secretly elated at these words but maintained a calm demeanor. He took his time contemplating and waved his hands around, enjoying everyone’s expectations and the look of envy in their eyes.

Sir was equally jealous:” What are you doing? Do not embarrass yourself in front of everyone. All you do is sleep in every day, including just now, right before you came. You had not done any homework at all.”

“I have millions in the Dragon Prison Support Group, if I am unable to answer the question, basically no others will be able to answer them. In which case, there is not chance me being an embarrassment,” said Fang Ning confidently.

As he was replying Sir, he had secretly informed Anderson within the system to put the question out there for the souls to reply.

Sir was speechless but suddenly voiced out:” In that case, you would not need me to answer your question either.”

“Erh…” Fang Ning was dumbfounded and did not know what to say.

He was worried about a mandated hint from the system, but after waiting a while, no such hint emerged.

“Hey, why are you being so obedient?” exclaimed Fang Ning, who felt slightly relieved.

“Erm, I do not waste cultivation time to have unnecessary meetings. Unlike you, there is no need for me to pretend to be anything,” Sir said scornfully.

“Well said, now you finally recognize how to differentiate the workload between us. I am truly consoled by this,” Fang Ning said cockily.

After showing up to Sir, Fang Ning did not waste much time in conversation. Anderson had already prepared the notes.

Fang Ning took a look at it, cleared his throat, and officially started his act, or rather,, started answering the question.

All he said were a few words.

“The way of the Heavenly Axiom, is all about a means to an end.”

There was a commotion after the crowd heard the words.