Seized by the System

Time passed day by day.

The Land of Sanguinity was always that dull. Between the heavens and earth, there was no vitality at all.

“Now I understand why the Realm locked away our memories.” Standing in front of the River of Blood, Qiao Zijiang turned to her brother.

“Why?” Qiao Zishan responded with a puzzled look.

“It’s to allow everyone who comes in to forget everything in the past and fall into the purest state of killing,” Qiao Zijiang said as her eyes darted around, “that person was right. This is an extremely cruel piece of land. It’s merciless and ruthless and I believe it’ll come to no good end. Well, those who submit will be at ease while those who defy will suffer. We’re now under this ruling.”

Xu Rui sat not far away, listening to the dialogue between the two.

He had already been thinking for three days. There had been a voice speaking to him in his mind.

Right now listening to Qiao Zijiang’s words, he had finally made up his mind.

The young man stood up silently and walked to the riverbank. After looking at it for a good while, he began to undress…

Now that he had no magic, clothing was just something that stood in the way when it came to moving in the water. It no longer provided the slightest protection.

Once he had stripped naked, he jumped into the water.

Dark shadows started rushing towards him immediately…

“Brother, when are you going in?” Qiao Zijiang asked in a concerned tone.

“Oh, if that’s the case, I’m not going to fall behind,” Qiao Zishan said exasperatedly with his brows furrowed.

It was against his nature to kill and he had always believed in stopping wars with martial arts. He cultivated the Path of Morality, but under these circumstances, he could only make the best of it.

Otherwise, they would only be stumbling on the spot while others were training through levels. When the moment came, the outcome would not look good at all.

Not long after, Qiao Zishan, like Xu Rui, jumped into the water.

At the same time, a strange eyeball appeared above the ground. After looking around at its surroundings, it disappeared into the soil.

…

By the river where the giant tree was at, a group of white men in red robes were busying themselves. The twelve Astral Formations were finally coming to form.

“These foolish guys! While they’re addicted to killing, we’ve already grasped the roots. Sure enough, these Chinese are always so shallow. They only know how to look at the surface, and not go deep in depth.” Countess Barito looked proudly at her own handiwork.

“Yes, My Countess. Another three days and the Astral Formations will be formed. Then, the entire river will be refined, and we’ll be able to control this world. From then on, evil shall shroud the world of man and the living will be at our feet. Blood will be our drinks and souls will be our bread,” an alchemist who was dressed in an all-red robe said in a flattering tone.

“Ha ha, indeed. I cannot wait for the day to come,” the countess said as she stared at the River of Blood that was still flowing steadily.

“Rest assured, countess, they can’t use magic now, whereas we still have the aid of our alchemic weapons. Every movement in this arcane realm is controlled in our hands, and there shall be no accidents,” the subordinate continued.

…

At the same time, above the River of Blood.

Along with Vigilante A’s last hit on the chest, a wicked spirit which was a hundred feet high suddenly crashed and fell into countless lumps of flesh. It was an extremely grim sight to see.

“Rich-man, the competition here is a bit too much. According to the spies I sent out, besides the bunch from the Truth Department and William, another group of people in red robes have just arrived. What should we do?” The System was not happy even after capturing a Lake-level wicked spirit. On the contrary, he was extremely worried.

“When did you send out spies? Why don’t I know about this?” Fang Ning asked gloomily. This fellow was hiding more and more things from him these days…

“Obviously when you lost your memories and you were asleep. Everything I said to you back then is too troublesome to explain again, so I just never told you. You know everything now, don’t you?” The System argued boldly.

“Hurry up and tell me about all the competitors’ situations then. Know yourself and your enemy and victory is assured” Fang Ning urged.

“Black Robe’s hunting monsters just a few miles away upstream. He’s being attacked by that damn book from time to time so he’s probably useless already; As for William, that boy’s exploring the streams. He seems to be searching for the source of the River of Blood; Qiao Anping and his people are also caught in a battle in the river; our biggest threat is the group of red-robed people who seem to be doing some sort of Astral Formation or something. They say that they’re refining the river, but magic is forbidden here, so how can their magic still work?” The System pointed out everything.

“Let me think.” Fang Ning listened and started to deliberate.

Everything aside, these competitors were nothing against the System. Everyone was frightened out of their wits of the System.

Now, all of them seemed to have completely let go since that the realm had so many restrictions, and Vigilante A was no longer a threat. They had all lightened up.

However, they have neglected a key point. Though under the ban, the System was a martial arts system. Now that magic and space were banned under the law, it was the best place for a martial arts candidate like him…

After a short while, Fang Ning started roaming around.

“So, what do you think?” The System asked in a hopeful tone.

“I can’t think of anything. I’ll have to find Anderson and ask him and his guys. They were the early few to reincarnate in the West, so they should be most familiarized with these people’s ins and outs.” Fang Ning shook his head.

“Quick, go and ask them. They seem to have been arraying something since three days ago. If we want to interfere, we must hurry. You’ve got to come up with an excuse for them to turn red.” the System urged.

“Got it,” Fang Ning said as he soon arrived at the gate of the Draconic Penitentiary.

After some small talk, Anderson immediately took up the role of the faithful hound and began giving bits of advice and suggestions.

“My subordinates had already checked the background of this group of alchemists back in the Equator Summit. The so-called alchemy for this group of people is just a method of cultivation in the Upper Realm. According to an early western metallurgy legend, after they inherit all knowledge, they combined it with modern technology and developed a sect, which they called alchemy. The alleged Astral Formation is actually just a refinery method enhanced using powers of the heaven and the stars, combined with the terrain…”

With just a few sentences, Anderson managed to turn these self-proclaimed mysterious fellows inside out.

Fang Ning nodded in agreement. After all, that was the truth.

During the Era of Vitality, all the mysterious side systems of Earth were inherited from the Upper Realm. Earth had always been a materialistic world, so there were not many effective mysterious refining systems. Most of them were just for deceitful purposes, which was something merely used to put people off…

“They’re definitely going to fail. A bunch of guys pretending to be mysterious… How will this place allow them to refine the Empyrean Roots? Master, you don’t have to worry about this group of buffoons. However, the guy who’s probing around, William. With his intelligence and character, he is certainly a threat. I believe you must press your advantage and strike first. With your powers, I believe he is nothing,” Anderson said fiercely, once again showing his dark side.

“Hey, I’ve always been frank and righteous. Since when would I do something like that? This’ll never be mentioned again.” Fang Ning shook his head.

“Oh, I have misspoken. Please forgive me, Master,” Anderson quickly responded.

“Forget about it. I know you’re devoted and faithful. This matter will not be mentioned anymore, I have my own limits. Just continue integrating all information and deduce this realm’s situation. After everything is settled, I will ensure that you are well rewarded.” As Fang Ning spoke, he spoke out of a bossy manner and he was entirely delighted through it all.

“Thank you, Master. I will do my utmost.”

After talking to the good-for-nothing military advisor, Fang Ning returned to his lounge with a peace of mind.

“You’ve heard it all. Don’t worry about them and let’s just do our own thing. Everything will fall into place eventually.” Fang Ning reassured the System.

“You’re trying to fool me again. Anderson just said it, that William kid is our biggest threat. I’ll have to send out a few more spies to keep an eye on him,” the System said unwillingly.

“Hey, that fellow had always been a completely harmless guy. We don’t have any reason to deal with him anyway. Sigh, dear Sir, this is the part you’re most unhappy about. So often, the biggest enemy isn’t the opponent, but ourselves,” Fang Ning said reluctantly.

“Yeah, I can clearly destroy him with just one hit, but now I have to watch him compete with us. It’s really infuriating!” The System replied in a resentful tone.

“Forget about it, forget about it. Everything in this world has its pros and cons. If uprooting evil and taking away my Pay-To-Win powers means that we’ll have to bear with the inconvenience, then so be it,” Fang Ning comforted.

“Hmph, I’ll just let him go this time then. If he wants to turn black, then he can just wait for it!” The System shouted angrily.

Fang Ning nodded in agreement. The System was indeed different from himself, this guy had never covered any human sympathy…