Chapter Two: Feeling Myself Tremble

Congratulations to the host for completing the villain task: Spying on the protagonist, Fairy Lin Qingwan, while she was bathing.

Rewards: 1. Notoriety points +500, now totaling 5000 (points can be used for lottery draws and prize exchanges); 2. One Body-Tempering Elixir (exclusively for pure martial artists).

Host, please continue your efforts and stride forward on the path to becoming an unparalleled villain, the likes of which have never been seen before!

"Such generous rewards?" Jiang Lin was rather surprised as he rode through the air on his spirit energy-formed steed. After all, he had merely stolen a glance at Senior Sister Lin while she was bathing; was the reward so rich simply because she was so beautiful?

"Forget it, no point overthinking. I’d better return to the sect and report back." With a sharp command, he urged his spirit horse toward the Sun and Moon Demon Sect in Wutong Province.

...

There were nine provinces under heaven, and Wutong Province ranked squarely in the middle in terms of size. The Sun and Moon Divine Sect was likewise middling among the demon sects of Wutong, neither small nor especially prominent.

After three days and nights of travel, Jiang Lin finally returned to his cultivation grounds at Twin Pearl Peak.

"Little Linlin~~" he had just landed when a young woman, dressed in a fluttering white gauze dress patterned with butterflies, flung herself into his arms.

"Master, please comport yourself," Jiang Lin protested, wanting to push her away but finding himself quite unable.

"It's fine, it's fine! Little Linlin, are you hurt anywhere?" She raised her delicate face from his embrace, eyes as limpid as autumn waters, her flawless features framed by thick, snowy lashes that seemed to beg one to pluck a few.

"I'm fine, but if you keep hugging me like this, Master, I might suffocate."

"Ah... sorry." Reluctantly, Jiang Yunyi released him, fixing his collar with tender fingers.

"Here, Master, these are four dragon veins I found recently on my trip to a secret realm. Please hand them in quickly; this should fulfill our annual quota."

Catching his breath, Jiang Lin took out the four dragon veins from his storage ring, releasing a wave of spiritual energy that swept across the summit of Twin Pearl Peak.

Each peak in the Sun and Moon Divine Sect had a quota for evil deeds, much like the system's assigned tasks—in simpler terms, performance targets. If the quota wasn’t met, everyone on the peak would be held accountable, and the peak itself could even be seized. Though Twin Pearl Peak only had Jiang Lin and Jiang Yunyi...

Still, this was the only home Jiang Lin had in this world, and no matter what, he couldn’t bear to lose it.

For three years, Twin Pearl Peak had failed to meet its quota—zero performance, in fact. If it happened a fourth year, the peak would be taken away. For that reason, Jiang Lin had stealthily infiltrated Dragon Gate Sect and, with some regret, retrieved four dragon veins to pay the debt in one go.

Though he felt guilty, he consoled himself that he could repay the debt with some rare treasure he might find in the future.

"These are indeed pure dragon veins, brimming with energy and both thick and robust. But little Lin, did you really find these yourself? Stealing isn't good, you know."

"Master, we are in a demon sect..."

"Even so, it's not right!"

"Fine, I really found them myself."

"Really?"

"Yes, really!"

They locked eyes for three seconds before Jiang Yunyi broke into a radiant smile. "I believe you."

Jiang Lin sighed with relief. Thankfully, his master was beautiful and slightly naïve—easily persuaded.

Jiang Yunyi tapped the four dragon-shaped (though to Jiang Lin, they looked more like carrots) veins floating between them, turning them over in her delicate hands.

"Little Lin, we should hide these well. They’ll help you break through to the Sea-Gazing Realm, and if you keep up your boxing practice, perhaps you could even forge a pure martial courage. Ouch..."

Before she could finish, Jiang Lin knocked her lightly on the head. Clutching her head, she pouted like a squirrel, her limpid eyes looking up at him in wounded reproach.

"Master, what are you saying? If we lose the dragon veins, we'll lose our home. Forget it, I’ll turn them in myself—it might even get us some extra funding to repair our house, which is long overdue. Besides, I don’t need them..."

"But we could just live in a thatched hut, it’s fine! The dragon veins are really good for you."

As Jiang Yunyi reached to take the dragon veins, Jiang Lin quickly raised them overhead. She clambered over him but could not reach.

"Give them to me."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"I'm your master."

"Master."

"Hmm?"

"The crow is here."

"Hmm?"

"Paper for sale! Paper for sale! One snowflake coin per newspaper! Paper for sale..."

At the summit of Twin Pearl Peak, a large crow with a bamboo chest on its back cawed its way over.

Jiang Lin stowed the dragon veins and flicked a snowflake coin high into the air. The crow caught it and dropped off a newspaper. "Thank you for your patronage... come again!"

"Little Lin, you really do love reading the paper, don't you?"

Jiang Lin shot his master a look. "We have to keep up with the times. What if things change?"

Taking the paper, Jiang Lin felt a growing unease for reasons he couldn’t quite name. Sure enough, as soon as he unfolded it, a glaring headline leapt out at him.

"Shocking! Why was Senior Sister Lin Qingwan of the Dragon Gate Sect crying her heart out in the woods? Why has she locked herself away in silence? Why has her cultivation dropped two entire realms? What exactly happened? Is this a twist of morality, or the collapse of human nature? Read the special column for the untold secrets of Fairy Lin Qingwan..."

*Ding...*

As he was halfway through the article, the system chimed.

Main Plot Triggered: The protagonist, Lin Qingwan, born with a sacred body, suffered damage to her Dao heart due to the host’s actions. Her Dao heart is expected to heal within three years. From then on, she will loathe the demon sects, cleanse nearly ninety percent of them from Wutong Province within ten years, and, in the eleventh year, storm Wutong Province and kill the host countless times over ten years of relentless pursuit, finally scattering his ashes and ascending to immortality. Host, beware!

Suddenly, Jiang Lin began to tremble.

Kill me countless times before ascending? Scatter my ashes? Could Senior Sister be a sadist?

No! Such a thing must never happen! I must nip this in the bud, or else in ten years, I’ll be killed tens of thousands of times! Death hurts—I’d go mad from it!

"Little Lin, what’s wrong? Did you do something bad?" Jiang Yunyi asked worriedly, seeing the cold sweat on his brow.

"Master, we’re in a demon sect—doing bad things is what we do."

"No, I raised you. You can’t do bad things!"

...

Actually, his master hadn’t always been like this. She used to be the cold, aloof queenly type. But seven or eight years ago, during an excursion, Jiang Lin had carelessly snatched a girl’s sugar-coated hawthorn, which had led to a group of elders springing up to defend her. In the ensuing chaos, his master had been gravely wounded and fell into a coma protecting him. When she awoke, her personality had completely changed.

Still, Jiang Lin rather liked his master’s new personality.

But... what about ten years from now...

"Don’t worry, Master, I’m fine. I’ll go hand in the dragon veins now."

Though his master was silly and naïve, she was frighteningly perceptive at times. Fearing she’d grow suspicious, Jiang Lin conjured his spirit horse and rode off, pondering how to set things right.

Arriving at the Sun and Moon Divine Sect’s task completion office, he handed in the dragon veins, managed to secure a generous amount of funding, and left deep in thought, searching for a way to remedy the situation.

Just then, standing before the “Villain Task Board,” Jiang Lin’s eyes suddenly lit up!