Ye Feng stood in the open ground, looking at the white bones and corpses left behind, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the hilt of his sword.
The scene from the system experiment just now was still replaying in his mind.
The more he thought about it, the heavier the wariness in his heart became.
The system's abilities far exceeded his expectations, but they also concealed unpredictable risks.
"Modifying time forward can make an enemy die of old age, but if I miscalculate and instead let them break through their realm within the altered flow of time, I'll have gained nothing and lost everything." Ye Feng muttered softly, recalling the scene of the third-ranked bandit breaking through to the first layer of the Qi Gathering Realm after being modified.
"But conversely, if I encounter a life-or-death crisis, I might be able to forcibly modify my own time to increase my strength. It's just that the risk is too great. I can't use it unless absolutely necessary."
What shocked him even more was the possibility of modifying time backward.
"If I modified an enemy to a hundred years ago..." His pupils narrowed, and he did not dare think any further.
"What if it made them disappear entirely, or devolve into an infant? Such a method defies the heavens. It is absolutely a taboo that means certain death if touched. Once used, it might draw Heaven's Retribution or attract the attention of an even more powerful existence."
The ability to resurrect was likewise not something he could use recklessly.
Ye Feng understood perfectly well that resurrection violated common sense. If he used it in front of others, he would inevitably be treated as some kind of aberration.
"Before I have sufficient strength, these abilities of the system must never be exposed." His expression turned solemn.
"Especially those experts on the verge of dying of old age. If they found out I could control time, they might capture me and keep me captive, using my ability to prolong their lives. By then, I'd truly be doomed beyond redemption."
Suppressing the thoughts in his heart, Ye Feng turned and returned to the stronghold, beginning to clean up the battlefield.
He had assumed that the First Boss's Storage Ring already contained all the resources, but while searching the First Boss's quarters, he discovered a Damaged Scroll casually discarded at the corner of the table.
The Damaged Scroll was made of an ancient material and bore some blurry writing. However, because it was far too old, the characters had faded and its contents were completely unreadable.
"What is this?" Ye Feng picked up the Damaged Scroll. With a thought, he said, "System, modify the Damaged Scroll to a hundred years ago and restore the writing on it."
Familiar radiance flashed across the Damaged Scroll, but after the light faded, it remained exactly as it was. The writing was still blurry, without the slightest change.
"Hm?" Ye Feng furrowed his brows, somewhat astonished.
"Modifying it by a hundred years was actually useless? This Damaged Scroll isn't simple." He had previously modified Spirit Stones, cultivation techniques, and even living people successfully. This was the first time he had encountered something the system could not modify.
Seeing that the First Boss had casually placed the Damaged Scroll on the table instead of putting it in his Storage Ring, he clearly had not discovered its strange nature and had merely treated it as an ordinary piece of old paper.
Ye Feng carefully folded the Damaged Scroll and put it into the Mysterious Storage Ring he had just seized from the First Boss. He pondered, "Once the system's time-modification cooldown resets, I'll try modifying it over a longer period. Maybe I'll be able to figure out its secrets."
After dealing with the Damaged Scroll, Ye Feng began counting the resources inside the Storage Ring.
First was gold—ten thousand taels in total, piled in a corner of the Storage Ring and gleaming with dazzling radiance.
According to the prices in this world, a thousand taels of gold could be exchanged for one Low-grade Spirit Stone—and even then, they were difficult to buy despite having the money. Converting these ten thousand taels of gold, they were equivalent to ten Low-grade Spirit Stones.
"So much gold. I wonder how many households these Black Forest Mountain Bandits robbed to save it all up." Ye Feng sighed with emotion.
Aside from the gold, the Storage Ring also contained twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones. These were the main cultivation resources the First Boss had scraped together from all over, and they were also what Ye Feng needed most at the moment.
However, Ye Feng soon discovered a problem.
There were no cultivation technique or martial skill scrolls in the Storage Ring—only basic resources such as gold and Spirit Stones.
He immediately understood why the leaders of the Black Forest Mountain Bandits were not weak, yet used only the lowest-grade martial arts.
The First Boss was already at the ninth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm, but he still used the most basic Mountain Splitting Fist, which did not even count as a Human-grade Mid-tier Martial Skill.
This was the plight of Rogue Cultivators.
High-level cultivation techniques and martial skills were mostly monopolized by sects, making them difficult for Rogue Cultivators to obtain. Even if they were lucky enough to break through to a high realm, they could only cultivate low-level martial skills. They possessed the realm but lacked the corresponding battle power, leaving them in a miserable situation.
"Fortunately, I joined the Feiyun Sect. Otherwise, with the status of a Rogue Cultivator, increasing my strength would have been far too difficult." Ye Feng secretly congratulated himself.
After finishing his inventory, Ye Feng walked out of the stronghold and shouted toward the surrounding woods, "The cleanup is finished. Come out. Carry the corpses of the three leaders back."
The Zhang Family guards lying in ambush in the woods hurried out when they heard his voice.
When they saw the mountain bandit corpses covering the ground inside the stronghold, as well as Ye Feng standing there completely unharmed, they were all stunned.
"Th-this was only a little over ten minutes, right? You finished them all?" one of the guards stammered.
"My heavens, the ground is covered in corpses, and not a single survivor was left... Lord Ye Feng is far too terrifying!"
"As expected of an immortal master from the Feiyun Sect. This strength is simply divine!"
The guards exclaimed in amazement as they efficiently carried out the corpses of the First Boss, Second Boss, and Third Boss. Their eyes brimmed with worship and respect as they looked at Ye Feng.
Ye Feng followed behind them toward Qingmu Town.
When they returned to the Zhang Family residence in Qingmu Town, Zhang Jingshan, the Zhang Family patriarch, had long been waiting at the entrance.
When he saw the corpses of the three leaders, he became so agitated that tears of age streamed down his face. With a "thump," he knelt before Ye Feng.
"Many thanks, Lord Ye Feng! Many thanks for ridding Qingmu Town of this great scourge! The townspeople can finally sleep peacefully!" Zhang Jingshan repeatedly kowtowed as he spoke.
Ye Feng hurriedly helped him up. "Master Zhang, there's no need for such formality. It was what I ought to do."
Zhang Jingshan still wanted Ye Feng to stay for a few more days so he could entertain him properly, but Ye Feng politely declined.
He still had to return to the Feiyun Sect to turn in the mission and collect his contribution points.
After bidding farewell to the Zhang Family, Ye Feng mounted a jujube-red horse and sped toward the Feiyun Sect.
Two hours later, he finally returned to the sect and headed straight for the Mission Hall.
Steward Li, who was responsible for registration, was dozing behind the desk. When he saw Ye Feng enter, he rubbed his eyes and smiled. "Oh, it's Young Friend Ye Feng. Why have you come back again? Is there something else?"
Ye Feng walked to the desk and said calmly, "Steward Li, I'm here to turn in a mission."
Steward Li nodded instinctively at first, but in the next second, he seemed to realize something. He suddenly raised his head, his eyes widening as he stared at Ye Feng in utter disbelief.
Ye Feng had only accepted the "Exterminate the Black Forest Mountain Bandits" mission that morning. It had been merely a few hours, yet he had already completed it?
Wasn't that far too fast?
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