Looking at the glaring negative number and the "daily interest of five ten-thousandths" notice on the system panel, Xuan Wazi felt his heart bleed. Although he believed that with his ability to "stir things up," earning back this small number of points would not be difficult, owing usury for the first time in his life—especially this kind of black-hearted loan from the system—still left him deeply annoyed.
"No, I have to get moving right away! System Bro's interest is probably more vicious than a Chaos Demon God's!" Xuan Wazi slapped his thigh and could no longer sit still. He had not even had time to properly digest the newly acquired [Innate Array Dao Comprehension (Complete)] and [Chaos Alchemy Technique (Full Version)] before being forced to put them into practice!
With a flash, he left Carefree Residence once more, heading straight for the areas around Mount Buzhou where Witch Tribe settlements were gathered.
Based on the markers and observations he had made while "exploring the map" before, although the Witch Tribe possessed formidable bodies and did not cultivate primordial spirits, they had a tremendous demand for heavenly and earthly treasures that could strengthen the body and heal injuries. Moreover, most of them were straightforward by nature, without too many twists and turns. They were the ideal targets for testing his new techniques while making a little profit on the side.
He first arrived at a medium-sized branch of the Houtu Tribe located at the foot of Mount Buzhou. Even from afar, he could feel the surging power of blood and qi rising into the sky. Within the tribe, Witch Tribesmen were either tempering their bodies or practicing combat techniques, their shouts shaking the heavens.
Xuan Wazi concealed himself and quietly slipped into the outskirts of the tribe. He set his sights on a small herb garden near the edge of the settlement, guarded by several Witch Generals whose strength was roughly equivalent to the True Immortal realm. Several varieties of witch herbs grew within, radiating dense blood and qi energy. Though their grades were not high, there were plenty of them, and one of them, Blood Essence Grass, happened to be one of the basic supplementary ingredients for a pill called the Blood Strengthening Pill in the Chaos Alchemy Technique he had just obtained.
"Perfect for some practice. I'll also help them 'optimize' the herbs' medicinal properties." Xuan Wazi chuckled, his fingertips moving slightly as the Innate Array Dao knowledge he had just comprehended flowed through his mind. He did not set up any killing or trapping arrays. Instead, he silently placed a small Spirit Gathering and Rain Transformation Array and a miniature Time Flow Rate Array around the herb garden.
The Spirit Gathering Array drew in the surrounding spiritual energy and the earth's vital essence to nourish the witch herbs, while the miniature time array accelerated those nourishing effects within its limited range. The Blood Essence Grass in the garden visibly grew plumper, its color becoming even more crimson and luscious, while the blood and qi fluctuations it emitted increased by nearly thirty percent!
"Done!" Xuan Wazi nodded in satisfaction. What he had done was equivalent to helping the Witch Tribe ripen this batch of witch herbs and improve their quality. It was absolutely a case of "good intentions leading to good deeds." Of course, he would not work for free.
He carefully slipped into the herb garden. Relying on the Chaos Bead's concealment and spatial abilities, he darted through like a phantom. With a flick of his fingers, around one-third of the Blood Essence Grass—the portion with the most obvious quality improvements—was silently collected. What remained were still healthy witch herbs, even better than before, though their overall quantity had decreased somewhat.
"An equal exchange, an equal exchange." Xuan Wazi felt no psychological burden at all. "I improved the quality for you. It's not excessive to charge a handling fee and material costs, right?"
[Ding! The host has used 'optimization' as a pretext for theft. The method was covert, and the planning meticulous, meeting the criteria for Not Being a Person behavior. Reward: Unfilial Points +5000!] [Notice: Debt reduced by 5000 points. Current debt: -437,157 points.]
"Only five thousand?" Xuan Wazi curled his lips, somewhat dissatisfied. "Looks like this small-scale messing around is too inefficient. I need to make a bigger move."
His gaze turned toward the center of the tribe, where the blood and qi energy was even more majestic. Powerful fluctuations from Witch Tribe warriors could vaguely be felt there. There were likely Witch Tribe members equivalent to Profound Immortals or even Golden Immortals. There had to be better things there, but the risks were greater as well.
Just as he was considering whether to repeat the same trick in another tribe or take the risk of wandering around the tribe's central area, a violent energy fluctuation and a burst of shouting came from another direction within the settlement.
"Quick! Stop it! That beast stole the Blood Jade Marrow offered to Lord Ancestral Witch!"
"Watch out for its venom!"
"Form an array! Don't let it escape!"
Xuan Wazi swept the area with his divine sense and saw a Fierce Beast shaped like a lizard, with bony spikes growing from its back and dull scales covering its entire body. It roared as it broke through the blockade of several Witch Tribe warriors. In its mouth was a fist-sized crystal radiating an alluring red glow—the Blood Jade Marrow, which could greatly strengthen the physical bodies of the Witch Tribe!
This Fierce Beast was no weakling, roughly equivalent to an early Golden Immortal. Its hide was thick and tough, and the venom it spat carried intense corrosive properties, making it quite troublesome for the Witch Tribe warriors surrounding it.
"An opportunity!" Xuan Wazi's eyes lit up. This was a chance to openly "help out" while also reaping some benefits—the Blood Jade Marrow and the Fierce Beast materials!
He did not reveal himself immediately. Instead, he quietly circled ahead of the Fierce Beast's escape route, rapidly forming hand seals with both hands. Using his Hunyuan mana as the foundation and combining it with the Innate Array Dao he had just comprehended, he instantly set up a simple composite array of "Drawing a Prison upon the Ground" and "Gravity Stacking" before the beast.
The Fierce Beast was frantically fleeing, just about to rush beyond the tribe's borders, when it suddenly felt its limbs grow heavy, as if it had fallen into an invisible swamp. Its speed plummeted! Shocked and enraged, it struggled desperately, but could not break free from the sudden restraint for the moment.
The Witch Tribe warriors chasing behind it had no idea what had happened, but their combat instincts made them seize the opportunity. All kinds of powerful combat techniques and thrown spears rained down upon the Fierce Beast, shattering its scales and leaving it drenched in blood.
Xuan Wazi seized the moment. As the Fierce Beast was being focused down and its attention was completely drawn to the Witch Tribe warriors, he flashed to its side like lightning. Two fingers formed a sword, and an invisible blast of force condensed with the Great Dao of Strength Fragment precisely pierced the beast's relatively vulnerable eye, driving straight into its brain!
"Pfft!"
The Fierce Beast's enormous body suddenly stiffened. It let out a mournful shriek, crashed to the ground, twitched several times, and stopped moving.
The entire process had been as fast as lightning. From setting up the array to striking, only an instant had passed. The Witch Tribe warriors had not even seen how Xuan Wazi had appeared. They only saw the Fierce Beast suddenly restrained before a blurry figure instantly killed it.
Having succeeded with one strike, Xuan Wazi did not linger. With a sweep of his sleeve, the Fierce Beast's corpse and the Blood Jade Marrow clutched in its mouth were directly stored inside the Chaos Bead. After finishing all that, he grinned at the still-dazed Witch Tribe warriors, waved his hand, and blurred away once more, vanishing from the spot like Qingfeng.
Only a group of stunned Witch Tribe warriors remained, staring at one another.
"Who... who was that just now?"
"So... so strong! He killed that evil lizard in one move!"
"He took the Blood Jade Marrow and the Fierce Beast's corpse..."
"Forget it. He helped us solve a huge problem, and he did snatch the Blood Jade Marrow back from that Fierce Beast's mouth... Let's consider it his reward."
The Witch Tribe was relatively simple-minded. Though they found that person's appearance and disappearance somewhat strange, he had helped them after all, so they did not investigate further and began cleaning up the aftermath.
In the distance, Xuan Wazi looked at the newly acquired Fierce Beast materials and the decent-quality Blood Jade Marrow inside the Chaos Bead, nodding in satisfaction.
[Ding! The host struck amid the chaos, seized the spoils of battle, and successfully showed off before the Witch Tribe before leaving in style. Behavior evaluation: Excellent! Reward: Unfilial Points +30,000! Fierce Beast materials have automatically been converted into points +15,000. Blood Jade Marrow (can be used personally or exchanged)!] [Debt reduced by 45,000 points. Current debt: -392,157 points.]
"Now that's more like it!" Xuan Wazi's mood improved considerably. "Looks like I still need to find more chances to 'uphold justice' and 'help others' if I want to recover points quickly!"
He weighed the Blood Jade Marrow in his hand, then looked in another direction and decided to wander near another Ancestral Witch tribe. After all, the Primordial World was so vast. There should be many more Witch Tribe settlements that needed his "help"...
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