"Have you heard of the napkin theory?"
"At a round table, if someone picks up the napkin on their right first, everyone else will pick up the napkin on their right. If they pick up the one on their left, everyone else will follow suit."
"And now, I've picked up the very first 'napkin'!"
In the school cafeteria, Su Yuan elegantly pulled out a napkin, wiped his mouth, and sighed softly.
Sitting directly across from him, Chu Lanxi tilted his head and said with a strange expression:
"Why are you suddenly acting so cocky? Did you get some kind of cheat?"
"What do you mean, 'get a cheat'? I've never been without one."
Su Yuan spoke with an air of arrogance, his gaze disdainful.
Chu Lanxi fell silent for a moment. His peach-blossom eyes, which looked deeply affectionate even when gazing at a dog, suddenly curved slightly as he sneered:
"If Commander Su is really so awesome, then you can treat me to meals in the school cafeteria from now on. I won't ask you to do my homework anymore, either. How could I dare ask such an important person as you to do it for me?"
In the past, that killer move would have made Su Yuan surrender at once. But to Chu Lanxi's surprise, today Su Yuan only smiled disdainfully.
"How can a great man live beneath heaven and earth, yet remain forever stuck under another's thumb!"
Hearing that, Chu Lanxi felt something was off.
Could this guy really have gotten a cheat?
As it turned out, Chu Lanxi's guess was exactly right.
At that moment, a virtual progress bar appeared before Su Yuan's eyes, displaying a line of large characters.
[System Loading]
The instant he saw those words, Su Yuan's eyes filled with tears!
After all these years as a transmigrator, he finally had a system too!
Looking back on the first eighteen years of his life, all he could say was that they'd been grueling!
He'd started out as an orphan and spent ten years studying hard. Even after getting into a key high school in the city, he still had to earn tuition and living expenses by doing other people's homework and working odd jobs. He'd never had a moment's rest.
But now, everything was different!
The system was here! The heavens were on my side! The system was here—Su Yuan was finally going to make it!
[System Loading Complete]
The instant the progress bar reached one hundred percent, a crisp, mechanical voice suddenly rang out in Su Yuan's mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on binding the World Chaos System. As long as you keep completing Demon Lord Missions, you can become a Demon Venerable.] [Beginner Demon Lord Mission issued] [Mission: Seize Others' Opportunities (Incomplete)] [As a Demon Lord, killing and looting should be as easy as eating and drinking. Go seize other people's opportunities and use them for yourself!] [Task Progress: 0/10] [Mission Reward: Pure Devil Heart]
Su Yuan: "..."
What the hell was that? Better take another look.
He hadn't misread it. It really was the World Chaos System!
Th-this... who'd put this system on me?
I'm a law-abiding transmigrator. I work hard at my studies, and I can't even afford to rent a decent spiritual root. Now that I finally get a system, the first thing it does is tell me to break the law?
Kill and loot? Seize someone else's opportunities?
He'd never stolen so much as a single cent in his life. The most immoral thing he'd ever done was spot a hundred yuan on the ground, quickly step on it, and then stand there with the owner for three days and three nights.
And now this system had suddenly shown up!
Wh-who was trying to ruin him?
Watching Su Yuan's expression shift from excitement to aloofness, then loneliness, shock, and finally despair, Chu Lanxi could only say one thing: what a performance.
He hadn't expected his classmate to be such an old hand at acting at such a young age.
Thump—
Su Yuan suddenly collapsed onto the table and grabbed Chu Lanxi's hand.
"Dad, I was only joking just now. Don't take it to heart. Besides, I do such a good job that no ordinary student could compare with me."
"That's more like it."
The corner of Chu Lanxi's mouth lifted as he picked up his tray and left his seat. Before going, he added:
"I'm leaving today's homework to you, too. I have something to do tonight, so don't wait up for me."
"Take care, adoptive father."
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Just you wait! (muttering under his breath)"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. I said I'd do your homework for the rest of my life."
Su Yuan snapped to attention. Only after Chu Lanxi had vanished completely from sight did he look at the irritating System Panel and let out a long sigh.
"That Dog System is going to be the death of me. If you weren't going to be any good, why show up at all? What am I supposed to do with a Demonic Cultivator system?"
"These days, divine power surveillance networks cover every blind spot. Demonic Cultivators have no way to survive. Break the law, and you're guaranteed to get caught!"
After quickly shoveling down the rest of his meal, Su Yuan left the cafeteria, exited the school, and headed toward the nearby subway station.
Flying swords and spirit boats occasionally streaked across the sky, zipping between the towering buildings.
There were even people riding cranes.
Look, there was a string of pale-yellow auspicious clouds trailing behind that crane.
Wait, those didn't look like auspicious clouds. That crane had just taken a dump in midair!
Fortunately, in the next instant, a city sanitation worker shot skyward on a flying sword. With practiced ease, he caught the airborne mess in a bag, then went over to demand a fine from the crane's owner.
Su Yuan had long since gotten used to things like this.
He was a transmigrator. One day, on his way home from work, he'd gotten into a serious accident while saving someone, and then found himself in this world, where the Cultivation Civilization was highly developed.
From what he'd learned, more than three hundred years ago, this world, called Blue Star, had been almost identical to Earth in terms of development. There had been no cultivators, either.
But on the eve of the Industrial Revolution, Spiritual Qi Resurgence had swept Blue Star. The ruins of ancient cultivation inheritances appeared across the world, setting it on a path of development completely different from Earth's.
After more than three hundred years of stumbling progress, humanity on Blue Star had unified, and the world had settled into peace.
By Su Yuan's era, cultivation knowledge was widespread. High-level cultivators had already left their home planet to explore the Sea of Stars, and artificial spiritual roots had entered households everywhere, truly bringing about Universal Cultivation.
Su Yuan was an orphan who'd gotten into a key high school for the immortal path through his own hard work...
But with the college entrance exams only two hundred days away, his grades were still around the middle-to-upper range of the school. He had basically no chance of getting into a top cultivation academy.
He'd thought the system's arrival would change things, but it was clear that hope had come to nothing.
Su Yuan was now wondering whether he should learn a trade ahead of time, so he could find work after graduating from college.
He couldn't really go mix cement at a construction site, could he?
When the subway arrived, Su Yuan walked up to an apartment building and stopped. He swiped his card, entered, took the flying elevator to the twenty-eighth floor, opened the door to one of the apartments, and went inside.
It was an apartment with an actual floor area of more than eighty square meters, with two bedrooms and a living room. With Su Yuan's orphan's finances, there was no way he could afford a place that big on his own. He shared it with someone.
His roommate was none other than his good classmate Chu Lanxi, with whom he shared a father-son bond in both directions.
Tomorrow was the anniversary of Spiritual Qi Resurgence, a statutory holiday that gave everyone three days off in a row. So Su Yuan wasn't in a hurry to help his son with his homework. He flopped onto the sofa, took out his phone, and started looking for work in various temp-job group chats.
He'd already given up on the system. Only working could keep him alive.
Before long, Su Yuan had found a job as a restaurant server. After agreeing on the pay with the restaurant manager, he took his and Chu Lanxi's homework out of his storage pouch and started writing furiously.
By the time he finished the homework, it was already midnight.
Experts recommended that Qi Cultivators sleep four hours a day. As a Fifth Layer of Qi Cultivation cultivator, Su Yuan planned to watch short videos for another hour before going to bed.
Just then, his phone suddenly rang.
Chu Lanxi: Kiddo, I've got a delivery arriving soon. Go pick it up for me. Your father will be home in ten minutes.
After reading the message, Su Yuan clicked his tongue.
At that very moment, a sudden rush of wind came from outside the window.
Su Yuan turned to look and saw a delivery guy in a helmet and an Imperial Yellow Robe, riding a flying sword straight toward him.
Just before it was about to crash into Su Yuan's window, the flying sword suddenly turned sideways and stopped at the window in the nick of time.
"Hello, Kangaroo Delivery is at your service. Here are the spirit fruits you ordered."
Su Yuan opened the window and took the delivery from the courier.
"Enjoy your meal and have a wonderful day. Please give us a five-star review."
The delivery guy flashed a row of gleaming white teeth.
Su Yuan was just about to speak when another rush of wind came from nearby. A quick glance revealed a middle-aged man in a security guard uniform, charging after them on a flying fork, his momentum fierce!
"No deliveries allowed inside! Where do you think you're going, kid?"
The security guard bellowed. The flying fork beneath his feet turned into a streak of sharp red light and shot straight at the delivery guy!
The delivery guy showed no fear. He formed a Sword Finger, and a hundred strands of blue Sword Qi swirled around him, meeting the incoming Anti-riot Fork!
Amid the clanging collision between the fork and the Sword Qi, the delivery guy fled at lightning speed. As he left, he burst into laughter.
"Old Wang, your fork isn't fast enough, and it sure isn't vicious enough! You'd better hurry home and retire!"
"Hmph!"
The security guard gave a cold snort and pointed from afar. Two missiles suddenly shot out from the prongs of the Anti-riot Fork, hurtling toward the delivery guy as he stared in shock.
With two loud booms, the missiles hit the delivery guy and turned into two spiritual-power nets, tying him up tight.
"Bet you didn't see that coming. The property management upgraded our equipment!"
The guard beckoned, and the flying fork returned beneath his feet. Holding the hapless delivery guy by the scruff of the neck with one hand, he then turned toward Su Yuan and saluted with a stern expression.
"Protecting the residents is our duty!"
With that, he flew off with the delivery guy.
Su Yuan: "..."
So this was how masters fought? But wasn't something off about the whole scene?
Su Yuan was practically a local by now. He was only a little surprised, and after closing the window, he pretended nothing had happened.
He looked at the heavy delivery bag, then at the price on the receipt. The corner of his mouth twitched.
Chu Lanxi sure knew how to enjoy himself. He'd gone out partying all night, and now he wanted some fresh fruit when he got home. How could the gap between people be so huge?
He casually opened the bag and glanced at the box of bright-red cut fruit inside. Just as he was about to toss it onto the table, a ding suddenly sounded in his ear.
[Demon Lord Mission: Seize Others' Opportunities (In Progress)]
Su Yuan: "???"
What the heck?!
Ten minutes later, Chu Lanxi walked in. He wore a black leather jacket, had legs that went on forever, and looked like a total cool guy. He reached for the delivery bag on the table by the entrance, only to find it empty.
"Strange. Where's my dragon fruit?"
Chu Lanxi muttered to himself, switched on the lights, and swept his gaze over the living room. He heard a rustling sound coming from Su Yuan's room.
He tiptoed over to Su Yuan's bedroom and pushed open the half-closed door. Su Yuan was sitting at his desk with his back to the door, hunched over as he worked on something.
A faint fruity fragrance drifted over from that direction.
Chu Lanxi raised an eyebrow and strode toward Su Yuan. He grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and, looking at the scarlet juice smeared near Su Yuan's mouth, narrowed his eyes and barked:
"Where's my dragon fruit? Su Yuan, did you see it?"
"No, no."
Su Yuan's gaze darted away.
Chu Lanxi pointed straight at the box of cut fruit hidden in Su Yuan's drawer.
"Then what's this you're eating?"
"Ba-ba-na-na."
Su Yuan kept playing dumb, struggling to swallow the last bite of dragon fruit.
[Demon Lord Mission: Seize Others' Opportunities (In Progress)] [Task Progress: 1/10]
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