Seized by the System

The Heavenly Morality that emitted from the red dragon went on continuously. Nie Renkuang felt his Cultivation Base deteriorate rapidly.

At first, persisting was no problem for him, but when he realized that his resistance had dropped from resisting three of his opponent’s attacks to two, he felt a great sense of… excitement.

‘That’s right, this is precisely what I want to feel.’

He thought excitedly, ‘How many years has it been since I last felt this feeling of dancing with Death. It has finally appeared once more.’

He was no stupid Boss; be it the Black Cat Tom or that heliotrope Claude, one had called him cunning beyond belief while the other had appraised his high intelligence, and they both had called him extremely calculative.

However, if it were any other evil Boss, they would have not only had the confidence to take Vigilante A head-on despite knowing Vigilante A was much stronger, they would have also taken advantage of Vigilante A’s extreme power to build a stronger foundation for themselves too.

Even someone as wise as Bai Shixin merely wanted to take advantage of Vigilante A by instigating him to turn against their natural enemies, the Earthly Hound Clan. Bai Shixin would never blatantly deal with the devil by asking Vigilante A to act against his own interests.

However, Nie Renkuang had the guts to do just so. His name was no fabrication; it was a name that he went by in the Upper Realm, since he really used to be as mad as his name suggested… ¹

Most men of resourcefulness were calm and restrained, and they usually acted behind-the-scenes. Take Ren Ruofeng for example—the amount of times he had truly made a move was little to none, and even then he would only make moves in serious situations.

However, Nie Renkuang was a man of resourcefulness that was different from the rest.

He liked direct battles, and was even prone to being infatuated with these battles.

All battles were welcomed, be it a battle of wits, brawn, or ferociousness…

Currently, he knew that he was teetering on the line that separated life and death.

His spiritual sense was operating like crazy, as it was searching for his lifeline.

However, he knew that if he managed to emerge victorious in this battle, his personal demonic boundary that had stagnated in the previous realm might finally loosen up.

After all, in the previous realm where his power was at its highest, he could destroy an entire continent single-handedly if he used his full strength. When compared to the Bai family’s Elder Ancestor who was blessed with extreme aptitude, he was only slightly weaker.

The calm reflected on his face did not reflect what was happening around him; he stood tall on the sand dune beneath him, bathed in streams of white gas, as everything around him, be it the moving black sands or the all-consuming Demonic Energy, rushed to escape from him.

His heart thumped with excitement; the very essence of Vigilante A’s Heavenly Morality was powerful and subduing, and it was the first time he had seen something like this. The Demonic Energy of this realm was already very pure since it could be compared to lots of places in the previous realm, but it was still inferior in general.

He felt his own power deteriorate even further; from being able to resist two attacks, to being able to resist only one and a half attacks…

In such a perilous situation, he still managed to keep a calm state of mind. His spiritual sense suddenly dispersed from one steam into three, before the streams shifted into alters.

This was a Demonic Ability that was unique to him only—”Persona Partition” that belonged under “Phantasm”, which was used to handle the most serious of situations. The alters were respectively called ‘Fight’, ‘Hold’, and ‘Fight’.

In what would seem like a second to an outsider, his three alters would have already undergone countless discussions before providing him with the most logical suggestion. With their help, it was easy for a war-addicted madman like him to seem like a wise and intelligent person to outsiders.

‘Flight’ spoke up first, its tone one of haste, “Since our host still has the energy to take at least one attack from Vigilante A, we should run now unless we want this place to be our grave. Our host never leaves a way open for retreat for himself, since he’s an idiot that likes seeking out thrills and dancing with death. He doesn’t seem like he has given up on that dangerous addiction of his from when he’s alive.”

‘Hold’ continued calmly, “Wait and see, I feel like we’re face-to-face with a great opportunity here. If we run, I’m afraid that we might be no different an ordinary demon.”

‘Fight’ roared angrily, “What are we afraid of, it’s only death, right? We might be killed by Vigilante A, but we won’t be scared to death by him. I too think that we just might be able to defeat him, all we have to do is hold on for a little longer.”

‘Flight’ angrily retorted, “You pair of idiots, you both will be the end of us. Isn’t the opportunity you both are talking about this very Demonic Realm? That’s right, nobody is the true ruler of this realm yet and our host, the Thunder Demon Lei Tian is the perfect candidate.”

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid that a powerful demon has already colonized this place and is already in the process of fusing the incomplete Heaven’s Path of the Demonic Realm in this world. If it came to a fight, we would have to depend on Vigilante A’s mood entirely since our host may have been strong once, but he is nothing more than cannon fodder now. The risk is too high.”

‘Fight’ laughed dryly, “You’re right. When a human dies, they should die with honor, if they don’t, their name will live on forever. This is the perfect chance for us to become the demon lord of this area, so that we’ll be able to control a sealed, small world which we can enter or leave as we pleased. It would be perfect for me to spend the rest of my years in there without a care too. This is an extremely rare opportunity, if we miss this chance, we might have to wait another ten thousand years. When that time arrives, we might be long separated from our host.”

‘Hold’ hesitated before saying, “Wait a minute, just a second, this is really a chance that shouldn’t be missed. We’ve already analyzed Vigilante A’s behaviors thoroughly, and we know our host like the back of our hands. He would never attack the weak, he only likes hunting the strong, which is why he started playing simulation games too.

“Ever since he descended into this realm, he was unlike the other demons who dyed their hands red with the blood of the innocent. Vigilante A doesn’t pay attention to matters of the Upper Realm, his Path of Heavenly Punishment only applies to matters of this realm. Even if there was a sliver of a chance of an anomaly, the most that Vigilante A would do would be to lock us up into the Draconic Penitentiary, where his soul and spirit would be destroyed.”

‘Flight’ did not respond and remained silent.

This long discussion had happened over the course of mere seconds, since it was all the effort of spiritual sense. The conclusion was then sent back to Nie Renkuang, who made his decision immediately. He took a deep breath and breathed in the white gas falling rapidly from the sky, before he finally accepted that his power really was deteriorating rapidly.

The red dragon looked at him expressionlessly.

The System was confused. “Is there something fishy going on with this stupid bird?”

Fang Ning was shocked and immediately asked, “Did he use another wicked trick again?”

The System answered, “As usual, once I release my Morality, any person of morals would feel invigorated about accepting it into their bodies. Just like when I released my Morality during the meeting of the Alliance of Justice and Order, other than that trio of clubheads, all the other attendees felt a sense of ease and vigor.

“Why does this fellow not only seem like he’s in extreme pain, his power is also rapidly deteriorating? Even if he’s been sullied by Demonic Energy, it should’ve cleared from his body following the cleanse and he would’ve shown significant improvement instead.”

Fang Ning immediately went on alert and said, “Does that mean he isn’t a person of justice, but rather a person of ill will? Unfortunately, I don’t have my beloved game book with me, so I can’t check his Alignment.”

The System groaned, “If that stupid book can tell, wouldn’t I also be able to tell? It follows the principles of my system after all. From what I can perceive, that guy doesn’t seem to walk the path of justice, yet he isn’t evil either. How weird.”

Fang Ning’s active imagination immediately caused a lightbulb to go off in his head. “Say, could he have cultivated some hidden evil technique, but due to his humanity, he hasn’t committed any evil deeds yet and is teetering on the edge of both sides? Look at his war-crazed expression, I think he just might walk the easier path.”

The System instantly came to a realization, “You’re right, yet another accurate guess, Mr. Rich Boss. No wonder I felt like punching him, it was because of that. This is getting increasingly troublesome.”

Fang Ning nodded his head, “That’s right, and you just said that you don’t want him to feel any anxiety over his choice if he chose to become a demon. If the problem is the technique he is cultivating, then we can’t keep pumping him with Morality. This really is a troublesome situation. A heroic System like you cannot go back on its word, since I predict the consequences might be troublesome if you did.”

“Yeah, it is slightly troublesome. If that’s the case, I’ll have you solve this problem instead…”

“D*mn, not again. Your money-mindedness pushed you into making a hasty promise, and now I’m being blamed.”

The System replied confidently, “Didn’t we make a deal last year? Any difficult problems are to be solved by you. Do you want me to cut off your Internet connection again?”

‘Sh*t, when was the last time this idiot threatened me with this?’

Fang Ning was speechless. The gears in his head turned rapidly when suddenly, his eyes glinted with realization, ‘I’ll just blame someone else too…’

He then said, “This is a difficult problem, and it’ll use up a lot of my brain cells, so I want a few days off after this.”

The System huffed, “If you solve this, I’ll give you three days off.”

Fang Ning was pleased but showed none of it as he continued, “I’ll have to invite a fellow cultivator, then the problem will be solved.”

The System immediately caught on and said, “You’re trying to bluff me again… But I know where you’re going with your trick, you’re just trying to push the problem onto someone else. I’ll do this the next time too and I won’t be giving you anymore days off since it’ll just delay my practice time.”

Fang Ning smiled, “Don’t be silly, all you know is pushing the problem onto someone else. However, do you know what circumstances decide who has the shoulder the problem? Then you don’t have to worry about pushing the problem onto the wrong person and making things worse…”

The System replied, “Ren Ruofeng definitely knows… He’s an ally now, so he won’t set me up.”

Fang Ning was rendered speechless, it seemed that he would have to up his game.

With Ren Ruofeng around, his status as an inept advisor would be threatened. Furthermore, Sir System was not a character that was jealous of the talented and envious of the strong, so he had no choice but to pick up some skills that the old man did not know…

Nie Renkuang’s trio of alters had finished their discussion and he had decided to hold on until the situation flipped in his favor. However, he had no idea that his fate had already been decided by the two presences in the mind of the fire dragon before him.

At the same time, Nie Renkuang rejoiced when he realized the white gas that descended from the sky had suddenly disappeared.

His face was one of gratefulness, but he thought differently. ‘As expected of my Persona Partition, how very wise. They predicted perfectly that the situation would flip in my favor, and their prediction came true.’

The fire dragon then spoke up, “Hmm, I have discovered that Demonic Energy has overtaken you entirely. I’m afraid of any unforeseen circumstances, so I have sent for someone else to heal you.”

Nie Renkuang could not help but laugh dryly within himself. ‘Other than this Heavenly Morality, I’m only afraid of one other person. Unless you’re able to call for that person, otherwise I would be able to deal with anyone that you send my way.’

However, he replied with a smile, “I’ve troubled you a lot, Dragon God Hero, and all for a little bit of Demonic Energy, which I think I’ll be able to control. The person you’re inviting must be an incredible figure, I feel terrible for bothering you with my problem.”

The fire dragon shook its head and said, “No, I live up to my words and keep all my promises. I will take my leave first so that I can bring him here. Don’t worry, the demon lord here won’t run away.”

Nie Renkuang’s collected demeanor and calm expression did not betray the urgency he was feeling.

He wanted to say that the demon lord would not dare to run away, but if they dragged out any more time, the fusing of the Heaven’s Path of the Demonic Realm just might succeed and when he returned, they might be the ones running away instead.

However, he did not dare say anything; Vigilante A was no easy person to bluff after all.

He had found out from Huang Rui that Vigilante A had double personalities, and one of those was an extremely crafty and cunning character. No demon lord has been able to cause any significant damage to Vigilante A.

Vigilante A must be suspicious already; all that Morality still could not disperse of the Demonic Energy within Nie Renkuang, which was already a red flag in itself.

If he completely revealed the true nature of the Demonic Realm of this area, then he would be practically exposing his true identity to Vigilante A.