The flaws were spreading

Qingfeng Daoist nearly slapped [Long Xi] over the head.

But in the end, he held back.

Looking at the overly familiar [Long Xi], Qingfeng Daoist began to question his life profoundly. From last night until now, every person he had met seemed a little unhinged.

What had happened to the world?

Had he spent too long in secluded cultivation?

"Master, Master," [Long Xi] called softly to Qingfeng Daoist. "Still not enough? Am I not thoroughly wicked enough yet?"

You're already talking about betraying your master and destroying your ancestral lineage. What the fuck more do you want?

Qingfeng Daoist took a deep breath. "You may do the other things, but there's no need to betray your master and destroy your ancestral lineage."

He had swallowed a bellyful of anger at Lin Bai's place. After turning it over in his mind all night, he had concluded that he could not beat Lin Bai because his own master had failed to teach him properly.

Qingfeng Daoist decided that change would begin with himself. At the very least, his disciple must not end up like him, getting swindled and then showering the swindler with gratitude.

So, the moment [Long Xi] asked to become his disciple, he had unconsciously used Lin Bai's personality as the standard he demanded of him.

Who could have known that, right out of the gate, he would encounter someone who refused to play by any rules?

"Master, wasn't that just to prove I'm wicked?" [Long Xi] chuckled. "No matter how lawless a demonic sect is, we can't betray our masters and destroy our ancestral lineage. Wouldn't that cut off the succession?"

"I am not from a demonic sect." Qingfeng Daoist's plump face gave a violent twitch, and his headache grew worse.

"..." [Long Xi] wore a knowing expression. "Master, I understand. It's camouflage. No matter how filthy we are inside, we can't let it show on the surface."

"..." Qingfeng Daoist took a deep breath, once again fighting the urge to slap [Long Xi] to death. But remembering that he himself had laid down those requirements, he could hardly blame the young man before him.

Still, he could not accept this disciple. He was just about to reject the flighty young man when realization struck him. Wasn't this fellow's knack for climbing any pole he was offered exactly like Lin Bai's?

This was precisely the kind of disciple he wanted!

Without a disciple like this, how could he ever turn the tables on Lin Bai?

After a moment of silence, Qingfeng Daoist looked at Long Xi. "Come here. Let me examine your root bone."

[Long Xi] obediently stepped forward.

Qingfeng Daoist reached out, squeezing and tapping his body. The more he examined him, the more astonished his expression became. Finally, he seized [Long Xi]'s wrist and placed his fingers over his pulse.

A moment passed.

He looked as though he had seen a ghost. "All your meridians are open?"

"Master, I'm a genius, aren't I?"

[Long Xi] was secretly pleased. He could level up with experience and learn any skill, so of course all his meridians were open. If the game company held players back with aptitude restrictions, what the hell would be the point of playing?

More than a genius!

Turbulent waves surged through Qingfeng Daoist's heart, and he regretted the demands he had made of [Long Xi] even more. If he raised such a promising seedling into a monstrous fiend, he would be a sinner against the entire cultivation world...

Clearing his throat, Qingfeng Daoist said, "Long Xi, I can accept you as my disciple, but you must forget every word I said earlier. Those who cultivate the Dao should restrain themselves and observe propriety..."

"Master, I understand!" [Long Xi] shot Qingfeng Daoist a knowing look.

You understand jack shit!

Qingfeng Daoist saw through his thoughts at a glance, and anger welled up inside him. He wanted to refuse him, but he simply could not bear to let such a promising young man with fully open meridians slip away.

I brought this on myself!

No!

It was all Lin Bai's fault!

If not for him, how could I ever have come up with such a horrifying idea?

Thinking of Lin Bai, Qingfeng Daoist began to feel that [Long Xi]'s personality was actually rather good. With all his meridians open, his disciple's cultivation was bound to sail smoothly ahead. He was destined to make a name for himself in the cultivation world.

Perhaps his disciple could avenge the humiliation he had suffered at Lin Bai's hands. A good person would never be able to deal with a villain like Lin Bai.

Accept him!

I must accept this disciple.

Change at the Returning Dragon Temple must begin with me.

At last, the wavering Qingfeng Daoist made up his mind. "Long Xi, follow me inside to pay homage to our founding patriarch and perform the discipleship ceremony. Today, I shall lead you through the gates of cultivation."

"You love me, I love you, Chef God Restaurant welcomes you."

A group of children ran back and forth across the open space, hopping and skipping as they copied [Deng Libuduo]'s singing.

Even more townsfolk gathered around the restaurant entrance to watch the lion dance troupe perform.

Lin Bai now had ample funds. He had booked the lion dance troupe for seven days straight and divided them into two teams. One performed at the entrance, while the other paraded through the streets holding signs to advertise for him.

Money could make even ghosts turn a millstone.

With great fistfuls of money thrown their way,

every lion in the troupe became flawed. Some lacked tails, some were missing an ear, and some had performers limping inside them...

They complemented the restaurant's incomplete sign perfectly.

No matter when, throwing money at things was always the simplest road to success.

The flawed lion dance troupe made two circuits of the city.

The task of letting a thousand people experience flaws... was successfully completed, and Lin Bai received Morning Flight as his reward.

Then,

the moment he read the movement technique's description,

Lin Bai's own negative emotions nearly burst through the roof.

This so-called movement technique, Morning Flight, meant exactly what its name said. Its usable time was rigidly limited to the period from the first glow of dawn until the sun had just begun to rise.

During that period, drawing the purple qi of the dawn glow from heaven and earth into the body would allow a person to fly.

But once the sun had truly risen, continuing to use Morning Flight would cause the sun's power to scorch the meridians, leaving the user in agony so unbearable they would wish for death...

Its only advantage was probably that it did not consume the user's own internal energy.

Whoever had invented this chicken-rib scrap of a movement technique was a genius, too.

Who the fuck scheduled their fights down to the minute?

Following that logic, there ought to be a Noon Flight and a Night Flight to complete the set.

No, that wasn't right either. If it really could form a complete set, it wouldn't have come from the flawed creation system...

[Let three thousand people experience flaws...; reward: 7.79 years of internal energy]

The follow-up task went back to rewarding internal energy, but Lin Bai, freshly tormented by Morning Flight, offered the system's mother some affectionate greetings in his heart.

Adding 4.9 years of internal energy to 7.79 years would theoretically allow him to execute two complete sets of the Dragon-Subduing Ten-Slash Palms,

but that damned Nine Suns Scripture kept jamming up!

How was he supposed to stand that?

Why did the system providing his lifesaving skills have to be a flawed one?

After a bout of silent griping, Lin Bai began to consider what path he should take next.

The know-it-all teacher system had activated for no apparent reason, and the comprehension it rewarded was not much use to him.

He did not know whether the other systems might reward something useful. Perhaps he should unlock another system, one that could make up for the flawed system's flaws.

"What the hell?"

[Bitter Gourd Vine] and [Crazy Guy] were stunned by the sea of people outside the Chef God Restaurant. Then their gazes settled on [Deng Libuduo].

"A player?" [Bitter Gourd Vine] asked.

"He put all this together?" [Crazy Guy] asked in astonishment. Modern, brainwashing songs and dances, along with those bizarre marketing methods—none of it looked like something a native of the cultivation world could come up with.

"If he did, he's playing on a much bigger scale than we are!" [Bitter Gourd Vine] said. "Compared to him, we look so lame."

"Is this an instance?" [Take It or Leave It]'s voice came from beside them. Standing next to him were [Chronic Laziness] and another player named [Shangguan Tiezhu].

In the crowd, two more players, [Jing Buyi] and [Silver], had gathered together to watch the spectacle.

The grand event at the Chef God Restaurant had attracted nearly half the city's closed-beta players.

After all, a haunted house and a story about a Taoist catching ghosts sounded far too much like a story quest.

"Why don't we go over and ask?" [Chronic Laziness] stared intently at [Deng Libuduo]. "Guys, it looks like we really can't play this game the usual way. If Deng Libuduo put all this together, the money he makes in one day would cover ten deaths for all of us combined. Maybe we've been going down the wrong path. Exploiting bugs is a minor trick, after all..."

No sooner said than done.

The group threaded through the crowd toward [Deng Libuduo].

Players did not need to consider the consequences of their actions. Especially now that [Deng Libuduo] had shown them a new way to play the game, they were eager to seek advice from their senior.