Intercepting the Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill!

The woods behind Nuoding Academy were dim.

Dense foliage blocked most of the sunlight, with only a few stray beams filtering through the gaps to dapple the leaf-strewn ground.

The surroundings were deathly quiet; not even a bird's chirp could be heard, save for the rustling of leaves in the breeze.

Su Yu and Xiao Wu crouched behind a waist-high bush.

They were only a dozen paces away from the century-old tree in the center of the grove.

Xiao Wu brushed a small bug off her shoulder with a look of disgust and shifted her body impatiently.

Lowering her voice, Xiao Wu leaned into Su Yu's ear and asked, "You dragged me all this way just to stalk this bald fatty? He doesn't even have a shred of decent soul power fluctuation on him; he's a total waste."

Su Yu kept his eyes locked on the front and replied casually, "Don't let his pathetic appearance fool you. He's carrying a massive opportunity. As long as we wait here, we're about to score a huge windfall for free."

Xiao Wu looked unconvinced and curled her lip. "A massive opportunity? Him? Back when I was in the Star Dou Forest, those heaven-sent treasures that could reshape one's destiny were always guarded by several ten-thousand-year soul beasts. To snatch a single immortal herb, soul beasts would fight until they were covered in blood. If this fatty has a massive opportunity, I'll eat every leaf in this bush."

Su Yu turned his head, looked at Xiao Wu's defiant, pretty face, and chuckled. "Then you'd better prepare your stomach for those leaves. The rules of this world are no longer what you remember. This fatty is bound to something called a Sign-in System."

"A Sign-in System? What kind of soul skill is that?"

Xiao Wu was completely bewildered.

"It's not a soul skill; it's a cancer parasitic to this world."

Su Yu explained patiently, "He doesn't need to cultivate, he doesn't need to fight, and he doesn't even need to go on adventures. He just needs to walk to a location specified by the system every day and stand there like an idiot for a while, and the system will stuff all sorts of god-tier rewards directly into his pockets."

Xiao Wu's mouth hung open in disbelief, her face full of absurdity. "You can get treasures just by standing around and spacing out? How is that possible! There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world! If something like that really existed, what does that make us soul beasts who toil for a hundred-thousand-year soul beast cultivation? What about those soul masters who train on the edge of life and death every day?"

Su Yu looked coldly at Zhao Dabao ahead. "That's why I say these people with systems are cheaters. They disrupt the balance of the world. But it doesn't matter; the treasure he gets from signing in today will soon be ours."

Up ahead, the instructor named Zhao Dabao had already stopped beneath the century-old tree.

Zhao Dabao stood beside the thick trunk, glancing around like a thief.

After confirming there wasn't a ghost in sight, his fat face instantly contorted with wild ecstasy.

He rubbed his hands together in excitement, his chubby body trembling with anticipation.

He couldn't even help but pace back and forth, his small eyes glinting with greed.

"Almost there, almost there, just half a minute left."

Zhao Dabao muttered incessantly, his eyes fixed on the empty air in front of him. "As long as I get this Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill, I, Zhao Dabao, can cleanse my marrow and refine my bones. My martial soul will definitely evolve, and my soul power will break through to level thirty. Let's see who in the academy dares to look down on me then—even that old fart of a dean will have to step aside! And those female instructors who don't even look at me straight? They'll be lining up to curry favor with me!"

Su Yu ignored Zhao Dabao's unsightly display.

He took a deep breath, and his eyes instantly turned a brilliant gold.

Eye of Truth, fully activated.

In Su Yu's vision, the glowing golden panel above Zhao Dabao's head was clearly visible.

On the panel, a line of green countdown numbers ticked away.

[Sign-in countdown: 10 seconds]

[9 seconds]

[8 seconds]

Su Yu's gaze became focused and cold.

The Innate Full Soul Power within him began to surge wildly, flowing through his meridians like a tidal wave into the palm of his right hand.

A gray mist rapidly condensed in Su Yu's hand, soon forming a dusty eraser.

Second martial soul, Conceptual Eraser.

In the bushes nearby, Xiao Wu had still been wearing a look of amusement.

But the moment that gray eraser appeared, she was struck as if by lightning.

The intuition of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast gave her a sensitivity to danger and power far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Although she couldn't see the system panel above Zhao Dabao's head, she could clearly feel the terrifying aura emanating from the eraser in Su Yu's hand.

It was a power that completely transcended soul power.

Xiao Wu felt the surrounding air grow heavy, as if an invisible hand were gripping her heart.

She gasped, her pupils constricting sharply, her scalp tingling.

She looked at Su Yu's profile in terror, her body trembling uncontrollably.

She finally understood why this boy, who looked only six years old, could identify her true identity in a single breath.

This method of controlling the rules was a power no human should possess.

[3 seconds]

[2 seconds]

[1 second]

[Countdown finished.]

Beneath the century-old tree, Zhao Dabao rubbed his hands in excitement, unable to wait any longer as he shouted in his mind: "System, sign in immediately!"

Su Yu had been waiting for this exact moment.

Above Zhao Dabao's head, the golden light panel refreshed instantly, and a line of large text popped up:

[Check-in successful! Reward: One Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill. Has been issued to the host's backpack.]

Su Yu focused all his mental energy, his golden eyes locked firmly onto the words "issued to the host's backpack" on the panel.

"Now."

Su Yu whispered.

He raised his right hand, gripping the gray Conceptual Eraser, and from a distance of over a dozen paces, he slashed fiercely at the panel through the air.

This was an operation that directly interfered with the underlying logic of the system's reward distribution.

Modifying the ownership of an item was far more difficult than modifying the target of a common quest.

Su Yu immediately felt his soul power being drained away frantically; the vortex of soul power in his dantian shrank by more than half in an instant.

A fine layer of sweat beaded on his forehead, and his face turned several shades paler, but he did not pause his movements for even a second.

The gray mist traced a bizarre trajectory through the void, landing precisely on the system panel.

The four characters for "host's backpack" were instantly swallowed by the gray mist.

The golden light particles that formed the characters struggled violently under the power of the Conceptual Eraser, but they only held on for half a second before collapsing and dissipating entirely, leaving a blank space on the panel.

Immediately following this, Su Yu used his finger as a pen, channeling his remaining soul power to quickly write four new characters in the blank space.

[Su Yu's pocket]

With a flash of golden light, the prompt on the panel was forcibly rewritten:

[Check-in successful! Reward: One Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill. Has been issued to Su Yu's pocket.]

The power of the rules completed its closed loop at this moment.

The reward transmission channel originally connected to Zhao Dabao was snapped by Su Yu, then forcibly reconnected to himself.

Xiao Wu, the hooligan rabbit crouching nearby, witnessed the entire process of Su Yu gesturing through the air.

She clearly felt the surrounding air undergo a strange distortion, as if some hidden law of heaven and earth had been forcibly twisted by an invisible pair of hands.

Xiao Wu widened her eyes, covering her mouth tightly with both hands, terrified that she might let out a gasp of shock.

Her heart hammered against her ribs, and the look she gave Su Yu was filled with profound awe.

Under the ancient tree, the mechanical yet beautiful chime of the system sounded in Zhao Dabao's mind right on schedule:

"Ding! Check-in successful, reward has been issued."

"Hahaha! It's issued! My Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill!"

Zhao Dabao danced with excitement, his chubby face crinkling like a chrysanthemum.

He couldn't wait to reach for the cloth storage bag at his waist that served as his backpack, preparing to welcome the moment of his rebirth.

Meanwhile, behind the bushes a dozen paces away.

Su Yu let out a long, heavy breath and put away his Eye of Truth and the Conceptual Eraser.

Although he had consumed a massive amount of soul power, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He felt his rough cloth pocket suddenly grow heavy, as if something had appeared out of thin air.

Su Yu calmly reached into his pocket and firmly grasped the object that had materialized in his palm.

He pulled his hand out and opened his palm.

A pill the size of a longan lay quietly in his hand.

The pill was a translucent, milky white, with a faint fluorescent glow flowing across its surface, emitting a rich, refreshing fragrance.

As soon as the scent of the pill spread, the surrounding air seemed to become a little fresher.

When Xiao Wu smelled this fragrance, her eyes widened until they were as large as copper bells.

She stared straight at the Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill in Su Yu's hand, an audible gulp coming from her throat.

As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, she knew the value of this pill better than anyone.

This was absolutely a genuine, top-tier treasure of heaven and earth; the pure energy contained within was enough to make even a trash martial soul undergo a complete rebirth.

"This... how is this possible!"

Xiao Wu stammered, her voice filled with incredulous shock. "You've been crouching here the whole time without moving an inch, so how did this top-grade pill end up in your pocket? What kind of sorcery did you use!"

Xiao Wu felt her worldview being severely impacted once again.

She had originally thought that when Su Yu said he was going to intercept the loot, he intended to rush over, beat that fat man up, and steal the item.

Who could have imagined that Su Yu would simply gesture at the air, and the fat man's fortune would teleport directly into his pocket?

This method was ten thousand times more unreasonable than an outright robbery!

Su Yu tucked the Top-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill back into his pocket and turned to look at the shocked Xiao Wu, his tone indifferent: "This isn't sorcery, it's rules. In this world, as long as you master the rules, all fortunes belong to me."

Xiao Wu looked at Su Yu's calm and collected demeanor, and a stormy sea surged in her heart.

She secretly rejoiced that she had chosen to submit yesterday; if she had truly set herself against such a monster, she feared she wouldn't even know how she died.

At this moment, Zhao Dabao under the century-old tree was on the verge of madness.

He reached his hand into his storage pouch and fumbled for a long time, but felt nothing at all.

"What is going on? Where is the pill?"

The ecstasy on Zhao Dabao's face froze, replaced by a wave of anxiety.

He unfastened the pouch and dumped everything inside onto the ground.

A few copper coins, half a leftover flatbread, and a filthy handkerchief scattered across the floor, but the Marrow Cleansing Pill that exuded a faint fragrance was nowhere to be found.

Zhao Dabao stood frozen in place, cold sweat instantly pouring down his forehead.

"Impossible! The system clearly notified me that the reward had been issued!"

Zhao Dabao slapped his clothing pockets violently, turning every pocket on his body inside out.

He even took off his outer robe and shook it vigorously, then removed his shoes and shook them out, attempting to find the pill that could change his destiny.

However, his pockets and shoes were completely empty.

Zhao Dabao panicked completely; he collapsed onto the ground, frantically grabbing at the few strands of hair he had left, muttering in terror, "It's gone... how could it be gone... System, speak to me! Where did you send the reward? Is there a bug!"