The Real Cheat

After Shen Yuan made his refusal clear, Fu Hua did not dare bring up the subject again. However, his attitude did not change because of Shen Yuan's rejection.

In Fu Hua's view, even if the Fu family could not cling tightly to Shen Yuan's thigh and become a player capable of influencing Great Xia's situation, building a good relationship with such an expert would still bring enormous benefits.

Shen Yuan returned to the first-floor hall.

After the events of two days ago, everyone in the Fu family except Fu Hua had chosen to move out of the residence. Only Fu Hua remained behind, waiting for Shen Yuan to emerge from seclusion.

However, Shen Yuan had not expected to see a scene in the hall that completely exceeded all expectations.

The black kitten he had renamed Bai Xue was lazily sprawled across the sofa, her two paws wrapped around a remote control even bigger than she was. A plate beside her held all sorts of freeze-dried snacks.

As she watched the television drama, Bai Xue stretched out her tongue to scoop up a piece of freeze-dried food from the plate and chewed away. Her adorable little face was filled with indescribable contentment.

"What exactly did I raise?"

Even Shen Yuan was somewhat puzzled by the sight. He walked straight toward the sofa.

Bai Xue, engrossed in the drama, stretched out a little paw and patted the plate beside her, signaling for the servant to put down some new-flavored freeze-dried treats and not disturb her television-watching mood.

Yet after waiting for quite a while, Bai Xue still did not hear the sound of the treats being set down. The person approaching the sofa seemed to have stopped behind her.

Bai Xue furrowed her tiny brows and turned around unhappily to look behind her. That single glance nearly made her heart and lungs stop.

The great demon who had been in seclusion for two days was standing behind her with an unfriendly expression. Every bit of her eating and watching television had fallen into the great demon's eyes.

Bai Xue shuddered all over and hurriedly tried to stand, but in her panic, one paw stepped on the edge of the plate, sending the plate full of freeze-dried treats crashing down onto her.

Her fur covered in freeze-dried food, Bai Xue struggled free from beneath the plate, then crouched carefully on the sofa with an adorable, ingratiating expression.

"Meow~ mi~!"

Seeing Bai Xue's reaction, Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes. He finally confirmed that Bai Xue was definitely no ordinary kitten.

No matter how intelligent an ordinary kitten was, it could not possibly fear him merely because he was watching, much less take the initiative to curry favor with him.

"Could she be one of the demons that tried to attack me that night as well?"

The thought flashed through Shen Yuan's mind, but after glancing at the kitten covered in freeze-dried food and trying desperately to act cute, he swiftly discarded it.

"With Bai Xue's build, she'd struggle to catch even a big rat, let alone attack a human. At most, she's just a little demon that gained intelligence beneath the Spirit Tide."

Casually grabbing the kitten by the scruff of her neck, Shen Yuan shook off the freeze-dried food stuck to her body, then placed Bai Xue back onto his shoulder.

Seeing that the great demon did not seem to intend to hold her accountable, Bai Xue finally breathed a sigh of relief in secret.

Before entering the residence the day before yesterday, Bai Xue's talent had sensed a peculiar soul body within it.

Later, after Shen Yuan obtained the Dark-Bright Sword, Bai Xue detected the sword servant hidden inside it.

She had originally wanted to secretly steal the soul body and take a few bites to nourish herself, but who could have known that the soul body was actually alive? It frightened Bai Xue so badly that she hid beneath the bed on the spot.

After Shen Yuan entered seclusion with the Dark-Bright Sword, the Fu family servants brought her out from under the bed and provided her with delicious food and drink.

These two days had absolutely been the most comfortable days Bai Xue had ever experienced in her life.

All she had to do was open her mouth, and there would be tiny freeze-dried treats in every flavor, along with catnip. She had the enormous television in the hall all to herself, and even if she watched for an entire day and night, no one would come to stop her.

Even during the time she had been protected by the Maine Coon, Bai Xue had only ever eaten snacks stray cats stole from shops and played with swapped phones. When had she ever enjoyed treatment like this?

Bai Xue quickly lost herself in such a lavish life. She even wished the great demon would stay in the quiet room for another year or two.

Unfortunately, that life had lasted only two days. Once Shen Yuan emerged from seclusion, Bai Xue could only obediently return to his side.

She greatly enjoyed this life, but she also understood that the Fu family was treating her so well only for Shen Yuan's sake.

On top of that, her little life was still held in Shen Yuan's grasp, so she did not dare entertain any thought of resistance.

Glancing at the little ball of fur curled up on his shoulder, Shen Yuan prepared to head outside.

"Is Mr. Shen going home? Let me give you a ride!"

Seeing this, Fu Hua hurried over with a smile.

There was still some distance from this villa district to the old city, so Shen Yuan did not refuse Fu Hua's goodwill.

Outside the residence, a sleek black luxury sedan had long been waiting. Fu Hua once again took the driver's seat and personally drove Shen Yuan.

Along the way, Fu Hua deliberately tried to start conversations, attempting to draw closer to Shen Yuan.

Yet topics like before—openly signaling that he wanted to align himself with Shen Yuan and asking Shen Yuan to intervene in Great Xia's affairs—were never mentioned again.

Strictly speaking, among the entire Fu family, only Old Master Fu had some measure of friendship with him. He had come this time solely out of consideration for Old Master Fu.

Now that he had saved Old Master Fu's life, any debt of gratitude had been completely repaid. Shen Yuan could have simply ignored them from now on.

However, some of the things he had experienced at the Fu residence made Shen Yuan realize that the Fu family was not entirely useless.

Gently scratching Bai Xue beneath the chin with his right hand, Shen Yuan listened to the kitten's continuous, blissful purring and spoke in an even tone.

"I can give you an opportunity."

Fu Hua, who had been constantly trying to initiate conversation, was instantly invigorated. Realizing the implication behind Shen Yuan's words, he hurriedly said,

"Whatever Mr. Shen requires, the Fu family will naturally spare no effort!"

Shen Yuan waved a hand, his voice turning several degrees colder.

"It is merely a transaction."

"The Fu family will search within Great Xia for ancient legends from ten thousand years ago and things related to them. The more, the better."

This transaction was naturally inspired by what Shen Yuan had gained from the Sect Master Register and the Dark-Bright Sword.

The two hidden achievements he had completed would each have been extraordinarily difficult tasks ten thousand years ago.

But after ten thousand years of seas turning into mulberry fields, compounded by a long period of spiritual energy depletion, many difficult tasks had become unbelievably simple.

Writing down a name allowed him to become the master of the Falling Cloud Sect. Defeating a frail, old, sick, and disabled man who had only just entered the Refining Essence Realm allowed him to complete the Peerless Sword Immortal achievement and obtain two precious Earthly Fiend Divine Ability seeds. Such a thing would have been unimaginable ten thousand years ago.

If he had transmigrated here ten thousand years ago, Shen Yuan would have been nothing more than someone following the beginner's guide, climbing step by step from the very bottom with the system, until he finally ascended and became an immortal.

But now, relying on the changes brought by ten thousand years, Shen Yuan could easily complete hidden achievements and obtain precious divine abilities. Wasn't that far more satisfying than following the rules step by step?

Shen Yuan increasingly realized that his greatest cheat was not merely the system itself, but also this time gap that had arrived ten thousand years late!