This Is How to Be an Old Man

A streak of sword light flashed across the sky like a meteor.

Li Yu landed on Yinghuo Ancient Star.

"This Sword Escape Technique really is marvelous."

Li Yu looked over the desolate reddish-brown landscape before him and nodded with a smile. "I got to Yinghuo so quickly. It's much faster than the Radiant Cloud Flight from before."

"This location..."

Li Yu looked around, utterly unable to tell which way was which. "Well, I have the system, so I'm not afraid of getting lost."

"System, indicate the direction of Da Lei Yin Temple."

The system instantly displayed something resembling a compass, its faintly glowing needle pointing directly in the proper direction.

"How convenient."

Li Yu chuckled and raised his sword light, about to take off, when he suddenly heard the system notification: "Host Zhou Yi has entered Da Lei Yin Temple."

"Has that kid Zhou Yi already arrived?"

Li Yu halted his sword flight and opened the System connection. "Other than the Bodhi Tree, Da Lei Yin Temple is full of worthless junk. It'll be a while before Nine Dragons Coffin Pull takes off again, so I might as well watch the show first!"

"System, take over the Supreme Heavenly Book."

After finding a rock to sit on, Li Yu used the System connection to directly take control of the Supreme Heavenly Book system and observe Zhou Yi's group through it.

Zhou Yi walked out of the Heavenly Palace Ruins.

"So this is Da Lei Yin Temple? The Buddha's sacred ground—how did it become so ruined?"

Fifty meters ahead stood a dilapidated ancient temple in silence. A bean-sized light faintly shone out from within its doors.

Before the ancient temple stood an enormous ancient tree.

The entire tree was withered. Though its branches were as vigorous as coiling dragons, only five or six crystalline, jade-like green leaves dotted the whole tree.

"This is the Bodhi Tree?"

Zhou Yi frowned slightly as he looked at the withered ancient tree. "The Dao Ancestor wants me to sacrifice the Bodhi Tree to him. But how am I supposed to perform the sacrifice?"

"Zhou Yi is quite good at keeping his word!"

Seeing this, Li Yu smiled and nodded. "The Bodhi Tree and that Bodhi Seed can help people attain enlightenment and improve their comprehension. I'd better keep them for myself!"

With a thought, Li Yu instructed the Heavenly Book Spirit to explain it to Zhou Yi.

The Heavenly Book Spirit had originally been something akin to an intelligent program. The moment Li Yu gave the order, it immediately responded.

"Your Majesty need not worry."

The Heavenly Book Spirit manifested a form, bowed to Zhou Yi, and replied, "Your Majesty, to sacrifice the Bodhi Tree to the Dao Ancestor, you need only stand near it, silently recite the Dao Ancestor's title in your heart, and state your intention to offer it as a sacrifice."

"That's all? The Dao Ancestor truly possesses boundless divine powers!"

Zhou Yi sighed inwardly and headed toward Da Lei Yin Temple.

At the same time, Ye Fan and the others also emerged from the ruins and saw the temple.

"How could there be a temple here?"

"And there's a dead tree too. What a huge tree!"

The sight of the ancient temple and withered tree before them sparked a flurry of astonished discussion.

"Hey! Zhou Yi, be careful. This place is too strange."

When Li Xiaoman saw Zhou Yi walking toward the ancient temple, she hurriedly called out a warning.

"It's fine!"

Zhou Yi turned back and smiled at Li Xiaoman before continuing onward.

The others cautiously followed him over as well.

When he reached the Bodhi Ancient Tree, Zhou Yi stood still and silently recited in his heart, Dao Ancestor above, your disciple Zhou Yi offers the Bodhi Ancient Tree as promised. Please accept it.

Pop!

A faint burst sounded as an invisible wave swept over the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

The enormous Bodhi Ancient Tree instantly shattered. No wood chips flew about, nor did dead branches scatter. There was only ash filling the sky, drifting down in a fluttering shower.

"Very good!"

A vague voice sounded beside Zhou Yi's ear. He seemed to see an ancient-looking old man smiling and nodding at him.

"Haha! I got both the Bodhi Ancient Tree and the Bodhi Seed!"

Li Yu could not help laughing. Having others do the work while he reaped the benefits felt incredibly satisfying!

This so-called sacrifice was simply making use of the Supreme Heavenly Book's resource collection function through the system connection. Using this trick to play god was truly convenient.

"Ah... what happened?"

"Zhou Yi, what are you doing?"

"Ah! Ash got in my eyes. Hurry and blow it out for me."

When Zhou Yi sacrificed the Bodhi Ancient Tree, the people behind him had just arrived nearby. As the tree turned into flying ash, they were immediately left covered in dust.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Zhou Yi apologized to everyone with a face full of remorse, explaining, "I don't know what happened either! I had only just walked over here when the tree suddenly turned to ash."

Naturally, Zhou Yi would not admit that he had caused it. In the blink of an eye, he came up with an excuse.

"Maybe this tree had already turned to ash, but it simply hadn't fallen apart yet. The sound of your footsteps shook it when you came over, so it shattered."

"That's certainly possible."

Ye Fan nodded. "Many ancient artifacts have had similar problems when they were unearthed. Something that looked perfectly intact would shatter the moment it was touched."

"Mm! We should be careful when we enter the ancient temple later too."

Zhou Yi nodded, glanced at the crowd, and said, "Even an ancient tree can turn into ash. Who knows whether this ancient temple might collapse as well? Everyone, be careful."

As he spoke, Zhou Yi moved forward with utmost caution.

At that moment, in Zhou Yi's mind, Li Yu once again instructed the Heavenly Book Spirit to speak.

The Heavenly Book Spirit said, "Your Majesty, your future achievements are destined to be extraordinary, but your current strength is somewhat lacking. There are still some damaged Buddhist treasures within Da Lei Yin Temple. If the Supreme Heavenly Book recovers these Buddhist treasures, you will be able to exchange them for some power."

"Damaged Buddhist treasures?"

Zhou Yi's expression did not change, but a glint flashed in his eyes. "The Supreme Heavenly Book encompasses all things, but every item requires Energy Points to exchange for it. If I recover these Buddhist treasures, I'll be able to exchange them for extraordinary power."

"Stop!"

Thinking of this, Zhou Yi quickly turned to the people behind him. "Everyone, we saw bones scattered everywhere along the way just now. Whether this ancient temple is dangerous or not is still unclear."

A grave expression appeared on Zhou Yi's face. "I suggest choosing a few people to investigate first. If there's no danger, then fine. If there is danger, those behind us will still have time to provide aid. What do you all think?"

"Tch! Who knows what you're plotting?"

Liu Yunzhi shot Zhou Yi a cold glance. "Choose a few people to investigate? You want people to test the waters for you, don't you? If there's danger, someone else goes in to die? If there are benefits, you get a share? Why don't you investigate it yourself?"

"Liu Yunzhi, what do you mean?"

Zhou Yi deliberately showed anger on his face, but inwardly, he gave Liu Yunzhi a silent thumbs-up. What perfect cooperation.

"Since I was the one who suggested it, of course I'll go!"

Zhou Yi stepped forward with a righteous expression. "Is anyone else willing to come with me?"

"..."

The crowd fell silent.

"Fine! I'll go alone!"

Zhou Yi snorted coldly and started walking, while secretly laughing to himself.

Li Yu was laughing as well.

"Zhou Yi really is deeply scheming! This kid has potential. Unfortunately... no matter how capable you are, you still can't escape this old man's grasp! Hahaha!"