"System."
Xuan Qing asked gloomily in his mind, "What's with these two natives? What are they up to?"
The Devouring System fell silent for a moment, then analyzed, "They may have come to keep an eye on you, Host."
"Keep an eye on me?"
Xuan Qing's gaze turned cold. "Those two Late Grand Unity cultivators?"
Though injured, he was still at Grand Unity Perfection, and he had the system on his side. Why would he fear these two "famous paupers"?
For some reason, the Western World of this Prehistoric World hadn't been destroyed by Luo Hou, but Jieyin and Zhunti could certainly be no stronger than him.
Then he thought of the Heavenly Dao, and Hongjun... Could the Heavenly Dao have put them up to it?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and his resentment toward the Heavenly Dao grew.
It had sent such a pair of nobodies to watch him. Did it think so little of him?
In the days that followed,
whenever Xuan Qing went out, he always "happened" to run into Jieyin or Zhunti.
Sometimes, not far from his abode, Zhunti would be sighing over a withered weed. "Alas, life is hard. Even this weed's withering is part of its tribulation..."
Sometimes, after devouring some unlucky cultivator and heading back, he'd find Jieyin sitting on a boulder, gazing at a muddy spring with a sigh. "The sea of suffering is boundless, but turn back and you'll find the shore. Benefactor, you've committed too much slaughter..."
Every time, Xuan Qing's face darkened. He'd hurry away, cursing inwardly:
"The sea of suffering is boundless? That muddy puddle by your door is your sea of suffering!"
"Turn back and you'll find the shore? Where's this shore? Your lousy cave? You call that hole a shore?"
"Sighing over a withered weed? Why don't you sigh over those few pathetic Bodhi leaves of yours?"
What Xuan Qing found even harder to stomach was that, shabby as their abodes were, they seemed to exert some inexplicable "influence."
After the two settled in, even the already-scarce spiritual energy nearby seemed to take on an air of "sorrow" and "urging people to goodness."
It made devouring it feel unpleasant, as if he'd eaten something unclean.
At last, after Zhunti happened upon him once more and said, "Fellow Daoist, this road is perilous. Why not join us in contemplating the wondrous Dharma of Nirvana?" Xuan Qing finally snapped.
He returned to Qinglian Abode and roared at the system:
"System! I'm moving! Right now! I can't stay in this lousy place anymore!"
"To my left are two paupers who chant sutras, whine about being broke, and spy on me all day!"
"To my right are turbulent currents of Chaos Fiendish Qi!"
"What kind of person could live in a place like this?!"
Devouring System: [...Searching for a suitable location. Warning: Avoiding areas under close Heavenly Dao surveillance will consume a large amount of energy and may delay the 'revive Dao Companion' progress.]
Xuan Qing looked at the lotus leaf in his arms, its glow dimming. He clenched his fists, but in the end, sat back down with a resentful scowl.
"Damn it... You win!"
He stared toward Jieyin and Zhunti's cave, red light flickering in his eyes.
"Once I've devoured enough and become a Quasi-Saint, yours will be the first lousy cave I tear down! I'll devour the two of you along with it!"
A hundred li away, inside the shabby cave,
Jieyin and Zhunti sat facing each other. The muddy spring before them reflected their calm, impassive faces.
Zhunti said, "Senior Brother, he's full of killing intent. I'm afraid he's come to hate us."
"Never mind," Jieyin replied. "From what I've observed, he's stubborn and irritable. Though powerful, he lacks wisdom and is prone to straying from the right path."
"We're here, firstly, to watch him by order of the Heavenly Dao, and secondly... perhaps we can seize an opportunity to guide him toward the Dharma and goodness. That would be a merit in itself."
Zhunti nodded, a glint flashing in his eyes.
"Senior Brother is wise. But before we guide him, we ought to let him suffer a little more. Then he'll understand the value of our Western Dharma."
The two fell silent.
Only the low murmur of sutra recitation remained in the cave, facing off across the distance against the resentment that had nearly taken solid form inside Xuan Qing's abode.
Solar Star.
"Congratulations, Host! You've successfully laid low through the first lecture and received the reward: Early Quasi-Saint cultivation."
The Survival System's voice rang out.
Di Jun nodded in satisfaction.
Having severed one of his corpses meant there was a lot he could do now.
The first lecture had only just ended, and apart from the Ancestral Wu, it was highly likely no one had reached the Quasi-Saint Realm yet.
In other words, he was now the strongest after Hongjun.
Even so, he wouldn't leave the Solar Star.
The waters of the Prehistoric World ran deep. He had to keep laying low until the Journey to the West Measure Calamity, when the risk of dying wouldn't be so high.
I, Di Jun, will lie low from the Prehistoric World all the way to the Journey to the West!
After gaining Early Quasi-Saint cultivation, Di Jun didn't tell anyone. To outsiders, he was still at Grand Unity Perfection.
As for Tai Yi,
ever since returning from Zixiao Palace, he'd hardly spent any time on the Solar Star. He was always visiting the abodes of various Great Powers.
Was he planning to establish the Demon Clan?
It seemed the Heavenly Dao had corrected the story's course. After all, Di Jun was supposed to be the one who established the Demon Clan.
What Di Jun didn't know was that
Tai Yi wasn't visiting those Great Powers' abodes to establish the Demon Clan. He was completing the tasks assigned by the Many Sons, Much Fortune System.
His "cultivation" throughout the Prehistoric World was bearing fruit.
The Many Sons, Much Fortune System's task progress was steadily advancing.
Though he hadn't yet truly "reaped what he'd sown," his carefully sculpted looks, his ardent attentions, and the novel trinkets he occasionally redeemed from the system shop had brought him closer to quite a few Female Immortals who favored romance.
In the Prehistoric World, Tai Yi's reputation as a "brown-nosing bird" was growing, but he didn't care.
What did reputation matter? Once my little Golden Crow chicks were spread across the Prehistoric World, each with an extraordinary lineage, who would dare mock me?
Meanwhile, in a Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land somewhere in the Prehistoric World, a small "Dao discussion" had just ended on a sour note.
"Preposterous! This is simply outrageous!"
A Daoist dressed in a crimson robe, with a jujube-red face, was so furious he could barely contain himself. His Daoist title was True Lord Li Huo, and he crushed the teacup in his hand.
Across from him, Lady Lingrui, a gentle-looking Female Immortal with deer antlers sprouting from her head, was pale and silent, her fingers twisting together inside her sleeves.
Several fellow cultivators nearby shook their heads and sighed, their faces full of disdain.
"That Tai Yi relies on being born of the Solar Star and having a Golden Crow's body. He's all smooth talk, swaggering around with all sorts of clever trinkets!"
Hermit Qing Mu fumed. "The other day, he even set his sights on Fellow Daoist Lingrui!"
"Who doesn't know that Fellow Daoist Lingrui and Fellow Daoist Li Huo have been together for dozens of yuanhui? They've never said it outright, but everyone knows how they feel!"
"And it's not just Fellow Daoist Lingrui!"
A cultivator who looked like the well-informed Bai Xiao Sheng lowered his voice.
"The direct descendant of the Northern Darkness Black Tortoise clan, Jade Rinse Fairy of West Kunlun, and even... I hear a Rakshasa Princess near the Blood Sea has received his attentions!"
"Utterly shameless!"
"Those feathered and horned creatures truly know nothing of propriety!"
"I hear his elder brother, Di Jun, spends all day holed up on the Solar Star. Maybe even he thinks his little brother is an embarrassment!"
True Lord Li Huo sprang to his feet. Fiery energy surged around him, bathing the cave in red.
"We can't let this go! If Tai Yi dares to flirt with Lingrui today, tomorrow he'll set his sights on your Dao companions and sisters!"
"If we don't teach him a lesson, what will become of the Female Immortals' good names? What will become of us male immortals' dignity?!"
"True Lord Li Huo is right!" someone immediately agreed.
"Let's go! We'll demand an explanation!"
"Right, let's go! He's been hanging around the Coast of the East Sea lately!"
The cultivators, all at least Early Grand Unity, with the strongest among them—True Lord Li Huo—at Late Grand Unity, surged into the air on beams of light and headed straight for the Coast of the East Sea.
A few of them really were "injured parties": Tai Yi had approached their Dao companions or the people they admired. Now they were united in outrage, and their numbers were impressive.