Surging Collapse Points, the System's Hidden Clauses Reappear

After Xiao Shan's aura completely dissipated, Tian Yan had originally intended to retrieve those threads directly, but Jiang Lin stopped her first.

"Brat, what is it? Do you have something else to say?"

Tian Yan's gaze swept toward Jiang Lin.

"Ahem, Sister Tian Yan, could you also bring out the storage soul tool on Xiao Shan's body? As the lord of a city, he should have some valuable things on him."

"What, wasn't the money from those people earlier enough for you?"

Tian Yan wore a half-smile. Whether it had been the gate guard Suke, Xiao Yan, Xiao Chenyuan, or the people Tian Yan had killed afterward, Jiang Lin had thoroughly looted all their valuables.

Jiang Lin now had at least several thousand Gold Soul Coins on him!

"Sister Tian Yan, you've got that wrong. Who would ever complain about having too much money?"

"Heh, fine. But if I do that, it'll count as my second move, won't it?"

The smile on Tian Yan's face grew wider, but Jiang Lin could no longer smile after hearing that.

"Sister Tian Yan, you must be joking. Since you're unwilling, forget it. Sister Dragon, do you have any way to do it?"

"Mm, I can try."

Little Dragon Girl nodded and stepped forward. The phantom of the Ice Dragon immediately appeared behind her, then passed through the soil and burrowed toward the secret chamber.

Compared to Tian Yan's ease, Little Dragon Girl's cultivation was still far too low.

In no time, beads of sweat were rolling down her forehead. About ten minutes later, Little Dragon Girl's face had already turned deathly pale.

"Sister Dragon, how about we forget it?"

Jiang Lin felt somewhat reluctant to let her continue. He came to Little Dragon Girl's side and began persuading her.

"Cough, cough. Don't worry, Jiang Lin. I'm fine. It'll be done soon."

Little Dragon Girl did not give up so easily. Another five minutes passed before a trace of joy finally appeared on her face. Then, an extremely faint dragon phantom flew out from underground, clutching a ring emitting a purple glow in its claws. It was precisely Xiao Shan's storage soul tool.

"Whew—"

"Jiang Lin, take a look. Is this it?"

Little Dragon Girl held the ring out to Jiang Lin. However, perhaps because she had exhausted too much energy, her footing gave way and she fell backward.

Fortunately, Jiang Lin noticed at once and hurried forward, catching Little Dragon Girl in his arms.

"That's it, Sister Dragon. Thank you."

Seeing Little Dragon Girl's pale face, Jiang Lin was immediately moved.

After all, he had only mentioned it casually. Even if Little Dragon Girl had ultimately failed to retrieve the storage soul tool, he would not have been too disappointed.

"Sister Dragon, rest and recover here first. We'll leave once you've recovered enough."

"Mm."

Little Dragon Girl did not object. With Jiang Lin supporting her, she sat down cross-legged and began circulating the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra within her body.

Jiang Lin then began examining the soul tool ring.

Since Xiao Shan was already dead, the spiritual imprint he had left on the ring had long since dissipated. As Jiang Lin poured his spiritual power into it, a mountain-like heap of Gold Soul Coins appeared before his eyes, along with several meditation techniques and some miscellaneous items.

"Damn, Xiao Shan really was worthy of being a city lord. He actually had 17,000 Gold Soul Coins!"

Jiang Lin's eyes widened. Xiao Shan's assets alone far exceeded the combined wealth of everyone before him. It seemed Xiao Shan had truly embezzled quite a lot, but now it all belonged to Jiang Lin.

Just as Jiang Lin was about to continue examining the meditation techniques, the system's notification sounded beside his ear.

[Ding!]

[It has been detected that Notting City's lord Xiao Shan and a large number of city guards have died. Notting City's future has changed.]

[Settlement will now begin. Notting City's future timeline deviation: E-. Collapse Points +7300.]

[Current Collapse Points: 7630.]

"Se-seven thousand?"

"Did I just take off in one go?"

Jiang Lin's face immediately filled with shock and wild joy upon hearing the system's notification.

But soon after, Jiang Lin fell into silent thought.

"Why did this give so many Collapse Points? Even breaking up Tang San and Xiao Wu only gave 1,300. This time, it directly multiplied several times over. Could it be because of their numbers and cultivation?"

"Right, the first time the system rewarded Collapse Points seemed to be because I killed Alto and those people!"

"If that's the case, perhaps I can obtain a huge amount of Collapse Points even without following Tang San around."

A sharp glint immediately flashed through Jiang Lin's eyes. He could only feel a towering road, forged from endless white bones and corpses, slowly unfolding before him.

[Ding!]

[It has been detected that the host's thoughts are gradually becoming dangerous. The system will now issue its first warning to the host.]

[According to Article 13479 of the system's hidden clauses, any large-scale slaughter caused by the host's subjective malice will result in a proportional deduction of Collapse Points according to the severity of the malicious slaughter, as punishment.]

"Damn, hidden clauses again?"

"Well, there goes my chance to openly fleece the system. But if I heard correctly, those hidden clauses mentioned subjective malicious slaughter, didn't they?"

"If that's the case—"

Jiang Lin narrowed his eyes and asked inwardly.

"System, if someone comes to attack me first, and I'm forced to fight back and kill him, that shouldn't count as subjective malice, right?"

[Ding!]

[This behavior constitutes legitimate self-defense and does not fall under the system's punishment clauses.]

"Mm, that makes sense. Otherwise, the system would have warned me back in Holy Soul Village."

"But why does the system have such hidden clauses? Could it be that previous hosts exploited this loophole and became murderous maniacs?"

"That does seem possible."

Although Jiang Lin considered himself no villain, if the system had not warned him in time, he might truly have become that way.

"Whew, that's fine too. If people don't offend me, I won't offend them. Cultivating peacefully doesn't seem so bad."

"Besides, I already have enough Collapse Points to draw from the Bronze Card Pool several times."

"With Tian Yan and Little Dragon Girl by my side, I don't need to worry much about my safety either—"

"Looking at it this way, perhaps I should find somewhere to cultivate peacefully for a while. Only by raising my cultivation can I unleash more of the King's Power Sword and Pure Yang Flame's power."

"And there's also the inheritance of the Ancient God Art. Once I reach the Soul King realm, accepting that inheritance will definitely bring about a drastic change in my strength. By then, even without Tian Yan and Little Dragon Girl by my side, I won't fear most Soul Masters."