Shepherd

Zhong Shenxiu slowly opened his eyes.

As far as he could see, there were two bright moons.

His head felt like it was splitting, and he couldn't help but let out a low groan. He pressed his temples, his mind feeling like it was stuffed with a ball of mush.

After a long, long while, some crucial memories began to surface: the Blood Moon Night, the Ancient God, the ritual...

"System!"

Zhong Shenxiu said subconsciously.

A faint light appeared before him, displaying information only he could see.

At the very top, there was a jumble of garbled characters, indicating that the system had indeed been invaded and was significantly affected.

Not only was the light dimmer than before, but its operations had also become mechanical and rigid.

Zhong Shenxiu subconsciously began to complain, "Could it be that the silly system has become stupid? Why are there garbled characters? Hey, hey, don't censor it, I want to see..."

After fiddling with it for a while, he decided to stop looking at the historical record at the top and instead focused on his own attributes:

[Title: Shepherd]
[Zither, Go, Calligraphy, and Painting: Third Layer]
[Spiritual Turtle Breathing Technique: Third Layer (Cannot be upgraded)]
[Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand: Third Layer]
[Profound Yin Soul Control Fragment: Third Layer (Cannot be upgraded)]
[Heavenly Show Points: 5 (5%)]
[Gate of Ten Thousand Doors: Opening (1%)]

"There are many new things, is this... feedback from the ritual?"

Zhong Shenxiu muttered to himself.

He knew very well that the Ancient God would not specifically fulfill believers' wishes; much of what was granted depended on luck.

When he recalled the ritual sacrifice from before, his memory was a complete blank.

However, his attribute panel now had a few new records, the only clearly visible characters amidst the garbled text:

[Information Fragment One: Its honored name—Gate of Ten Thousand Doors, the High-Dimensional Overseer...]
[Information Fragment Two: Discovered Shepherd profession, requirements—Recognition of a Vengeful Spirit, Ritual of Flesh and Blood, Soul Herder's Secret Potion...]
[Information Fragment Three: Assimilated external power, Transmigration function mutated... Gate of Ten Thousand Doors opened!]

"Heh heh..." Zhong Shenxiu's lips curved into a slight smile.

The reason he had even tried to trick the system was to guard against any hidden traps set by a behind-the-scenes manipulator.

Now it seemed like this silly, or rather stupid, system's trial run had yielded decent results, and even brought many unexpected gains.

"The Heavenly Show Points have also increased significantly. It seems that even though the audience was small, the quality was high..."

"And my body..."

He looked at his palms. His fingers, which had been dark blue and stiff, now moved with flexibility. His skin had a healthy rosy glow, clearly having returned to normal.

Even the wound on his chest had vanished without a trace.

"I seem to be able to fully control the Vengeful Spirit within me... It's as if it's dead, even its instinctual madness has disappeared. Was it the influence of the Ancient God? Or the abilities of my professional title?"

Zhong Shenxiu had a feeling that he had already taken up the profession of [Shepherd], hence the title.

In fact, in the Western world, such high-level professions were difficult to attain and had a series of prerequisites.

For example, to become a [Shepherd], one first had to become the prerequisite profession of [Medium], then completely subdue a Vengeful Spirit and gain its recognition, and after completing the ritual and using the secret potion, there was a certain chance of successfully taking up the profession.

But under the clash between the Ancient God's power and the system, all sorts of requirements were inexplicably bypassed, allowing him to forcefully take up this profession.

"As for the abilities of a [Shepherd], one can manipulate souls, command them to fight for you, and even directly use the Vengeful Spirit's own skills..."

"Right now, I don't know how many souls I can control, but just commanding the Headless Count alone is more than enough. This life-or-death crisis has finally been resolved..."

Zhong Shenxiu lay down for a long time, feeling much better. He finally got up and let out a hearty laugh.

After transmigrating and reliving his third life, he discovered this thing within him. Who knew how much torment and pressure he had endured.

Fortunately, it was finally over, and the skies had cleared.

After his laughter subsided, he looked around and noticed that the altar had shattered at some unknown point in time.

That eerie feeling had completely disappeared. Even the black weeds beside him had withered away at some point.

"Such a sacrifice requires favorable timing, location, and human cooperation. After this, who knows how many years it will take for another opportunity... Even if there were an opportunity, I might not be willing to try. I was completely forced into it before; if I hadn't, I would have been killed by the Vengeful Spirit inside me tonight..."

He walked down from the altar and, after some thought, used his [Shepherd] abilities to control the Headless Count within him. Immediately, he saw a different space.

In that space, surprisingly, someone else was still alive: Feng Xi'er.

After the Headless Count's head was sacrificed, the darkness did not attack again, finally allowing Feng Xi'er to survive. However, Dilia and her servants were all mercilessly destroyed by Zhong Shenxiu, not even their bones could be found.

"So, it seems there's still more to do?"

Zhong Shenxiu stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

Within the alternate dimension, Feng Xi'er suddenly felt darkness surge, and she fainted.

With a flash of light, her body appeared in the real world, collapsing softly onto the ground.

"The Headless Count's alternate dimension ability is truly useful!"

Zhong Shenxiu exclaimed, but he had no intention of killing this beautiful Colonel.

He wanted to continue maintaining his identity as Su Daozhi, which was also for the sake of his future cultivation.

After all... the [Shepherd] class clearly belonged to a Western system, with no clear origins. Although by manipulating the Headless Count now, he could almost rival a cultivator at the fourth realm – a Spiritual Power master – there was no potential to tap into.

To thrive in the Eastern Empire, finding a cultivation method was the priority.

He glanced at Feng Xi'er and Zhong Shenxiu unceremoniously began to search her thoroughly. Unfortunately, besides a token, a sweat towel, and other miscellaneous items, there were no cultivation techniques at all.

It made sense. How could an ordinary person carry Daoist Magic on them when going out casually, creating an opportunity for leaks? Unless they were a spy!

He sighed, looking at his chest.

There, a bloody wound reappeared, seemingly a sword wound, though it bled very little.

This was also using the power of Vengeful Spirits to manipulate flesh and blood, faking the injury.

Zhong Shenxiu bandaged himself and then waited around Feng Xi'er for the young lady to wake up on her own.

Anyway, before, others had only seen him fall to the ground after being struck by a sword, not necessarily dead.

Saving Feng Xi'er, the commanding officer, was a great merit!

This was the true meaning of winning by lying down at the end!

If an outsider were present, they would surely exclaim, "Where is your integrity?"

Zhong Shenxiu shrugged, indicating that he even tricked his own system. "Where do you think it is?"