This Damaged Scroll Can't Be Repaired?

Ye Feng stood in the clearing, staring at the scattered bones and corpses on the ground, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the sword hilt.

The scene from the system experiment still replayed in his mind.

The more he thought back, the heavier his caution grew.

The system's power far exceeded his expectations, but it also harbored unpredictable risks.

"If I modify time forward in the future, I could make enemies die of old age. But if I miscalculate and they break through to a higher realm in that accelerated flow, I'd lose more than I gain." Ye Feng muttered to himself, recalling the third bandit who had broken through to the first level of the Qi Gathering Realm after the modification.

"On the flip side, if I'm facing a life-or-death crisis, I might forcibly modify my own time to boost my strength. But the risk is too great—I can't use it unless there's no other choice."

What unsettled him more was the possibility of modifying time backward.

"If I could send an enemy back a hundred years..." His pupils contracted, and he dared not dwell on it.

"What if they vanish outright, or regress into an infant? That kind of power defies heaven—it's a forbidden line I must never cross. If I ever used it, I'd likely trigger Heavenly Retribution or draw the attention of beings far stronger than me."

The resurrection ability was equally off-limits.

Ye Feng knew well that raising the dead violated all natural laws. If he did it in front of others, he'd be branded a freak.

"Until I'm strong enough, none of the system's abilities can be exposed." His face turned grim.

"Especially those ancient powerhouses on the verge of death. If they found out I could control time, they'd probably capture me and keep me caged, using my power to extend their own lives. Then I'd truly be doomed beyond redemption."

Pushing aside his thoughts, Ye Feng turned and headed back into the stronghold to clean up the battlefield.

He had assumed the First Boss's storage ring held all the resources, but while searching the First Boss's quarters, he spotted a discarded damaged scroll lying at the corner of a table.

The scroll was made of ancient material, with faint text on it. But due to its extreme age, the ink had faded, making the contents completely illegible.

"What's this?" Ye Feng picked up the scroll, his thought stirred. "System, modify the damaged scroll back a hundred years and restore the text."

A familiar light flickered across the scroll, but when it faded, the scroll remained unchanged—the writing still blurred, with no difference at all.

"Huh?" Ye Feng frowned, surprised.

"Modifying it by a hundred years did nothing? This scroll isn't ordinary." He had previously modified spirit stones, techniques, and even living beings with success. This was the first time the system had failed to affect something.

Given that the First Boss had left the scroll casually on the table instead of storing it in his ring, he clearly hadn't recognized its peculiarity, treating it as nothing more than old paper.

Ye Feng carefully folded the scroll and placed it into the Mysterious Storage Ring he had just looted from the First Boss, thinking to himself, "Once the system's time modification cooldown resets, I'll try modifying it over a longer span. Maybe I'll find some clues."

After dealing with the scroll, Ye Feng began inventorying the resources in the storage ring.

First was gold—a full ten thousand taels, piled in a corner of the ring, gleaming with a dazzling luster.

By this world's prices, a thousand taels of gold could exchange for one Low-grade Spirit Stone, and even then, supply rarely met demand. Those ten thousand taels were equivalent to about ten Low-grade Spirit Stones.

"So much gold. I wonder how many families the Black Forest Mountain Bandits had to rob to amass this." Ye Feng sighed.

Aside from the gold, the ring also held twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones—the primary Cultivation Resources the First Boss had scrounged from everywhere, and exactly what Ye Feng needed most.

But soon, Ye Feng noticed a problem.

There were no scrolls of techniques or martial skills in the ring—only basic resources like gold and spirit stones.

He immediately understood why the bandit leaders, despite their decent strength, only used the crudest martial arts.

The First Boss was already at the ninth level of the Qi Gathering Realm, yet he still relied on the most basic Mountain Splitting Fist, which didn't even qualify as a Human-grade Mid-tier Martial Skill.

This was the plight of a rogue cultivator.

High-level techniques and martial skills were mostly monopolized by sects, making them nearly impossible for rogue cultivators to obtain. Even if they managed to break through to a higher realm, they could only practice low-level skills—empty in power despite their cultivation level, trapped in a miserable state.

"Good thing I joined the Feiyun Sect. If I were a rogue cultivator, raising my strength would be far too difficult." Ye Feng felt a surge of relief.

After finishing the inventory, Ye Feng walked out of the stronghold and called toward the surrounding woods, "The cleanup is done. Come out and carry the three leaders' bodies back."

The Zhang family guards, who had been hiding in the trees, rushed out at his voice.

When they saw the bandit corpses littering the stronghold and Ye Feng standing completely unharmed, they were all stunned.

"This... it's only been ten minutes or so? And it's all over?" one guard stammered.

"My god, bodies everywhere—not a single survivor left... Lord Ye Feng is terrifying!"

"No wonder he's an immortal master from the Feiyun Sect. His strength is simply godlike!"

The guards muttered in awe as they briskly carried out the bodies of the First Boss, Second Boss, and Third Boss, their eyes filled with worship and respect as they looked at Ye Feng.

Ye Feng followed behind them, heading toward Qingmu Town.

Back at the Zhang family estate in Qingmu Town, the clan leader Zhang Jingshan was already waiting at the gate.

When he saw the three leaders' corpses, he wept with joy, his old face streaked with tears, and fell to his knees before Ye Feng with a thud.

"Thank you, Lord Ye Feng! Thank you for ridding Qingmu Town of this great scourge! From now on, the townsfolk can finally sleep in peace!" Zhang Jingshan kowtowed repeatedly.

Ye Feng quickly helped him up. "Elder Zhang, no need for such formalities. It was my duty."

Zhang Jingshan wanted to keep Ye Feng for a few more days and treat him well, but Ye Feng politely declined.

He still had to return to the Feiyun Sect to submit the mission and collect his contribution points.

After bidding farewell to the Zhang family, Ye Feng mounted his bay horse and galloped toward the Feiyun Sect.

Two hours later, he finally arrived back at the sect and headed straight for the Mission Hall.

Steward Li, who was in charge of registration, was dozing behind the desk. Seeing Ye Feng enter, he rubbed his eyes and broke into a smile. "Oh, it's young friend Ye Feng. Why are you back? Is there something else?"

Ye Feng walked up to the desk and said calmly, "Steward Li, I'm here to turn in a quest."

Steward Li nodded instinctively at first, but the next moment, as if suddenly realizing something, he jerked his head up, eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Ye Feng.

Ye Feng had only accepted the "Eliminate the Black Forest Mountain Bandits" quest that morning. A few hours had passed, and he was already done?

Wasn't that too fast?