Seized by the System

Gu Buwei was observing silently as all this was transpiring.

The tan middle-aged man could see through all the deception involved. With his wisdom, it was a relatively common occurrence.

It was just like some of the conmen among humans. They would sell rare pets at a high price and somehow make their pets run back to them…

It was a world of thousands upon thousands of mysteries, and this was one of the simplest types.

Seeing the bulk of the Dragon Clan’s Honey-flavored Pills, even Gu Buwei who was indifferent to the secular wonders was tempted.

These pills were able to directly increase the strength of a spirit!

If it were at the Azure Mountain, the disciples would definitely scheme against each other, playing out a real-life political TV series, and that was the norm.

Everyone knew that even though Vigilante A was greedy, he would never lie or water down his products. If he could bring out these pills, every single one of it would be of the highest quality.

The trick it was employing might have worked on someone else, but would it work on Vigilante A?

Gu Buwei shook his head silently. Vigilante A’s strength was thousandfold than that of the cunning rat demon.

Tricking him would prove to be a difficult task…

At that thought, Gu Buwei looked up into the sky subconsciously. Unfortunately, it was a clear sky with no sign of clouds so he could not divine any fortunes… probably not very favorable.

…

At that moment, in the System Space.

“Hm? Why is this trade so easy? It must be because my pills are so good that it was famous everywhere that the rat is willing to exchange. Hah! I should ask Butler Zheng to double the price, no triple it!” exclaimed the System.

“Aren’t you just plain dumb? He obviously wanted to trick you…” Fang Ning said in exasperation.

“What? There are still people who would try to trick me?” yelped the System in disbelief.

“That’s right. He just wanted to summon the monument back to him after the exchange. And he’s not stupid, he would never admit to reclaiming it and would only say that you lost it,” explained Fang Ning.

“Goddammit, can people trust each other anymore? So many tricks up their sleeves. However, he will not get his wish. What could escape after entering my System Space?” The System said indignantly.

“Mm, that’s why he’s only wasting its time, and his avarice will be his downfall.” Fang Ning sighed.

“Since it doesn’t matter if you reminded me, I wouldn’t be tricked, so this time, you’re not gonna get the merit you want.” The System stated flatly.

“I’ve said nothing about wanting to be credited, can you stop judging me based on my behavior last year?” Fang Ning said desperately, “Would I still care about that little merit you give out? Doesn’t matter if you give me a break in the future, I will be able to go out myself.”

“Hm? What are you trying to do?” The System set the trade aside and asked.

“Heh, I won’t tell you. You only need to know that you don’t have to worry about my safety in the future,” gloated Fang Ning.

“I’ll find out sooner or later anyway. From now on, I will open a thread to keep an eye on your every move,” said the System dismissively.

“What, how can you be this shameless as a system?” exclaimed Fang Ning exasperatedly.

“Hmph, I can be as impulsive as I want as a system…” said the System proudly.

At this point, the Infernal Flame of the Devil Rats saw that Vigilante A was silent for a while.

He regretted slightly. ‘Did I ask for a price too high?

‘That’s right, Vigilante A would never haggle, perhaps he is upset about this.

‘Ah well, I’m tricking him anyway, the more I can earn, the better. I have nothing to lose.’

He continued, “Having said that, I have heard of your fame. As you protected the peace on Earth, I shouldn’t ask you for much more. Even though your offer is still slightly undervalued compared to my treasure, I am willing to part with it by taking a tiny loss.”

His expression was that of heartbreak, and a believable one at that.

Gu Buwei shook his head. ‘He really thought Vigilante A could be deceived, not knowing that he is the loser in the end. However, due to the cloudlessness of the sky, the fate was still not set in stone.

At this point, Vigilante A recovered from his inert state after hearing his words.

“That would be fine,” said Vigilante A lightly as he pushed his palm out. All thirty bottles of the pills glided across in the air.

If there was a possibility, the Infernal Flame would want to disrupt the transaction by invoking a gust of demonic wind and swiping the pills away…

He had done that plenty of times in the Upper Realm. After all, he was a rat demon with a natural instinct and an affinity for stealing.

However, due to the power that Vigilante A wield, it should still look like a fair transaction.

With that said, he was relieved it was him. If it were other powerhouses, they might have tried to snatch it away immediately without a chance for the trade, let alone to trick.

‘A gentleman can be fooled by a logically-sound argument, after all.’

He muttered some words having that thought in mind. A monument about several meters tall began to slowly emerge from the lava, shrank, and hovered toward Vigilante A.

As soon as it was close enough, Vigilante A waved his hand and the monument disappeared.

Gu Buwei was surprised. The monument was fully ocher, emitting a rich, dense sense of the earth, as its name suggested, but it was mostly featureless.

As soon as the transaction was done, the Infernal Flame bade him goodbye and scrambled away hurriedly without saying another word.

‘How would this demon try to trick Vigilante A?’

Gu Buwei gave it a thought and disappeared into thin air.

…

At that moment, in the System Space.

The green frog circled its new companion while making sounds of approval. “This kid with a background is of a different class. It has such a nice outfit as soon as it’s born.”

The ocher-colored Earthly Monument was about six meters tall with a smooth, jade-like surface. Compared to the Divine Monument, currently a green frog, it was also tinier in size.

The Divine Monument was ten meters tall with an unimpressive black body. It was only after the System’s “education” that it turned into its current greenish-purple shade of nobility.

The Earthly Monument was fully in the shade of the muddy ground. The color was a little old-fashioned, but at least it was dressed up…

The Earthly Monument trembled a few moments, seemingly communicating with the green frog.

“You wanna go home? That’s impossible. It’s better if you’d just update your new master’s profile so you’d get less beating. I’m only doing this for your own good,” advised the frog.

The monument trembled violently in a fit of furious refusal.

“You’re a fierce one, aren’t you? What a shame, you’ve followed someone bad and have been sold. I know a good guy here, if you are willing to change your master, I promise you won’t get beaten up,” the green frog coaxed compassionately.

At the end of the day, they were connected by a hint of comradeship. The frog began to soften its words, not wanting its little sibling to go through what it had gone through before.

The Earthly Monument swayed hesitantly.

The green frog noticed it and immediately showed its original form. A greenish-purple monument appeared in front of the Earthly Monument.

The Earthly Monument was shocked into stillness.

Fang Ning stood a little bit away from them as he observed the exchange.

Soon after, the green frog’s voice rang beside his ears. “My brother, we have it. My fellow monument is willing to become your follower.”

“Uh, this, how could I receive this?” Fang Ning was ecstatic. His opportunity had come so quickly. However, he still pretended to be surprised, in case a certain idiot notices.

“Dammit, I wanted to bind it with me, why does it want to follow you as its master? No, this won’t do, it’s not safe, I have to throw it into the cultivation cauldron,” protested the System.

Fang Ning immediately persuaded it, “As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. Even though you have made the Divine Monument bow at you, it still harbors some resentment toward you. If I weren’t being the good cop this whole time, it would still hide a good amount of information from us.”

“Hm, you have a point. Ah well, I’ll save my experience points,” said the System with a slight doubt.

“I can’t believe I, Fang Ning, would be able to receive a treasure like this just by staying at home.” Fang Ning had removed the last obstacle between him and the Earthly Monument, so he skipped toward the Earthly Monument preparing himself for it to call him its master.