Forced to Be a Villain: Starting With My Brain Extraction System

"Shrinking Step, an Earth Grade movement technique."

Zhiran looked through the jade slip Lian Yue had given him using his mental power and was shocked. It was a one-time use memory jade with an Early Earth Grade technique etched inside.

He never expected that the compensation from that girl would be an Earth Rank technique.

To be honest, he was speechless. For a moment, he even wondered if Lian Yue had mistakenly thrown this technique his way.

But considering her status, he realized it was more likely that she simply didn't have any techniques lower than this.

'She really is the Sect Leader's daughter. So generous!'

Zhiran smacked his lips, speechless. Even in his previous life, as a Gold Core cultivator, Earth-grade techniques weren't so easy to get.

After showing his surprise, he finally looked around and saw that he was alone.

He had already left the Martial Pavilion, and he was currently in a secluded spot.

'Should I… learn it?'

He then couldn't help but doubt.

After all, no matter how he looked at his situation, it seemed he got extremely lucky this time.

But precisely because of that, he was conflicted.

Just as Zhiran was in doubt whether he was in some kind of ploy of heaven, or a plot of the protagonist, he suddenly felt his consciousness platform stirring.

'Hmm?'

When he looked inside his mind, Zhiran saw that one of the heads inside his platform suddenly got active just like before, as if sensing the Shrinking Step technique.

In an instant, Zhiran felt his mind become serene, as if ready to comprehend the technique in the jade in his hand. It was clearer than before.

'Wine Monkey?'

Surprisingly, the brain that got activated this time was that of the Wine Monkey.

'Damn… so this guy has an affinity with this movement technique?'

Zhiran suddenly remembered the vision he saw before when the Wine Monkey suddenly disappeared from his place into the chamber.

Now that he thought about it, that movement was quite similar to the Shrinking Step.

'Then, let's practice it. I can't leave an Earth Grade technique to gather dust just because of my suspicion, can I?'

Zhiran decided directly as soon as he felt the reaction from the brain of the Wine Monkey.

So without wasting time, he immediately sat cross-legged on a boulder and closed his eyes. Then, he placed the jade right between his eyebrows, activating it instantly.

"Swoosh!"

The moment his mental power made contact with the jade, the jade mysteriously began to turn into vapor, seeping into his brain from his glabella.

Then, immediately, Zhiran felt complex information being fed into his mind, or rather, being engraved.

In just a few seconds, he had already learned all the ins and outs of Shrinking Step.

And as soon as Zhiran learned all the information inside, he felt the brain of Wine Monkey become extremely active.

'Swoosh!'

In an instant, Zhiran felt a large portion of his mental power disappear, causing him to feel dizzy with a headache.

But simultaneously, Zhiran began to see visions one after another. It was the vision of a monkey's silhouette shifting from one place to another with just a few steps.

Although it looked like walking, Zhiran saw that it crossed a large distance in an instant.

It was almost as if he shrank the earth beneath his feet, teleporting to a distant place instantly.

"Hah…"

The vision didn't last long, as the moment Zhiran felt his mental power bottom out, it completely disappeared.

Still, Zhiran realized he unknowingly mastered the Shrinking Step to Basic Mastery.

Without even practicing once, he already reached such a proficiency. Although he still needed to practice it physically to use it effectively, Zhiran was still shocked.

'Damn… this is just too good a cheat. Unfortunately, it requires too much mental power.'

Zhiran was very happy with the result he got.

After feeling that his headache had subsided, he stood up from his location and looked toward a relatively distant boulder.

Then, suddenly, with a thought—swoosh—his figure disappeared from his place, appearing close to the spot he had been looking at.

It almost looked like teleportation, if not for the trail of spiritual energy and Zhiran stumbling and looking embarrassed.

Still, it was an impressive display of a movement technique that subverted one's perception.

'It seems I need to practice a bit to get used to it.'

Zhiran thought while gauging his spiritual power in his dantian. He noticed that just for this displacement, he used a considerable sum of spiritual energy.

So, if he wanted to use it in a battle, he had to master it perfectly.

'Let's practice on the way to the secret realm then.'

Zhiran decided and disappeared from his place, heading towards the Affairs Pavilion. He still had some news from his clan that he needed to get.

After that, he would leave the sect immediately.

**

'Did he just… learn that technique in such a short time?'

While Zhiran disappeared from his position using his newly learned technique, he didn't notice someone watching him quietly from the shadows.

It was Lian Yue, who had followed him quietly after he left the Martial Pavilion.

In fact, she had been following him the whole time. After all, that jade contained a very precious technique that she couldn't allow to leave the Divine Cauldron Sect.

Actually, Zhiran was quite right in his guess. The reason why Lian Yue gave such a high-ranked technique was really because she didn't have any lower-ranked ones with her.

But it was also because it was the only technique she fully owned in her arsenal.

In fact, she had snatched it from a demonic cultivator in a secret realm with luck.

Unfortunately, although she got it and learned it just like Zhiran, no matter what she did, she couldn't perform that movement.

Even now, she hadn't learned it to a beginner level. But just now, seeing how easily Zhiran performed that method, there was no doubt he had already learned it.

'How is it possible? Is he a genius? Who is he?'

For the first time, Lian Yue was completely shocked. Something that she couldn't even learn was directly mastered by an unknown disciple who was just at the Qi Condensation realm.

How could she not be surprised?

'Let's follow him quietly. Maybe I will learn his secret?'

After the shock came the interest that couldn't be hidden in the beautiful eyes of Lian Yue. Now she was really curious about this junior who seemed like a hidden genius.

So, with a mischievous smile, Lian Yue's figure suddenly disappeared like a shadow as she followed behind Zhiran, completely unknown to him.

**

"Senior, this is the letter from your clan."

A young disciple handed a jade slip to Mo Zhiran with a smile.

"Thank you!"

Zhiran thanked the young man before leaving the Martial Pavilion. Only when he was far did he take out the jade slip and place it between his eyebrows.

Unless necessary, Zhiran never used his Divine Sense inside the sect, as he didn't want to risk being discovered.

'Hmm… so it is just an invitation?'

After scanning the content inside, Zhiran realized that the news was just an invitation from the Mo Clan.

Apparently, they already knew that all three of them had entered the Inner Sect of the Divine Cauldron Sect.

So, the clan leader invited them to celebrate. It seemed just like him; the clan leader also sent the invitation to Tianyu and Su Ruyue.

'But with Su Ruyue entering the closed-door cultivation, I think only Tianyu and I are available.'

Zhiran thought, wondering whether he should go. To be honest, he didn't have much affection toward the Mo Clan.

In his last life, he directly left it after he found that being near Tianyu did no good.

And for all those years, not once did anyone from the clan contact him. Except for Su Ruyue, nobody ever cared about him.

Well, now that he thought about it, there was another person who cared about him and even stopped him from leaving the clan.

'Mo Lianhua…'

Zhiran suddenly remembered the name of someone who was quite kind to him while he was in the clan.

Unlike others, she was exceptionally kind to him. In fact, most of the reason why he could tag along with Tianyu was also because of her.

After all, his talent wasn't that good among other clan members.

Unfortunately, she disappeared suddenly one night without any news, and Zhiran then never heard about her at all.

Zhiran even forgot about her already.

Just… her peculiar identity caused him to recall her figure.

After all, surprisingly, that person was none other than the biological mother of Mo Tianyu.

Zhiran could still remember that soft figure of a mature woman who always looked amiably at him.

To be honest, most of the reason why he endured Tianyu might also be because of her.

'Heh… then it is decided. Let's go to the clan then. It is on the way to the secret realm anyway.'