NOVEL NEXT Chapter 84
Chapter 84: Time to Farm Hard Monsters
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Qiao Zishan was really glad that Vigilante A had gotten a butler. Or else, on the matter of sharing martial arts knowledge, he would have hesitated to ask Vigilante A. It was too easy for people to mistake that as being greedy about other people’s school of martial arts, or worse, being thought as a spy.
He immediately said, “If the two Venerable Ones are willing, that would be great. Please help me to ask them if you could.”
Zheng Dao agreed. Then the two found another tea house to sit as Zheng Dao contacted Fang Ning.
Coincidentally, Fang Ning had wanted to talk to Qiao Zishan about solving the impenetrable defense issue. Even if Qiao Zishan did not contact him, he would need to find an excuse to contact Zishan.
He replied immediately, “Let’s meet and talk.”
Within the time for a cup of tea, Vigilante A appeared in front of the two.
“Venerable One.”
“Hero.”
Vigilante A said, “I understand the issue. Character building is not a difficult issue to solve, but I need to know what your cultivation method is before I can tailor the solution to you.”
Qiao Zishan’s face lit up and said immediately, “Of course.”
He slightly recalled the method and prepared to recite the method to Vigilante A.
At this moment, his phone rang.
He apologized and then walked out of the private room to take the call.
Qiao Zishan said, “Hello, is it Elder Feng? What’s the matter?”
A stern voice came from the other side of the phone call, “Zishan, are you going to leak the Morality cultivation method unreported?”
Qiao Zishan was not surprised that his own actions were monitored. The city was where the Truth Department was stationed, so every corner was monitored. As the Leader of the Truth Department’s Special Investigation Unit, he has tons of secrets and was definitely put under strict surveillance. He was not trying to be discreet, as he never did anything remotely bending the rules, so they would definitely find out.
He asked in a hushed tone, “Elder Feng, I was just sharing what I found about cultivation with two friends, that doesn’t count as leaking, does it?”
Elder Feng replied, “The cultivation of Morality is our trump card against demonic creatures. If we share it out simply, would you take responsibility if they discover the method’s weak point?”
Qiao Zishan said, “For the sake of letting more people learn this, the Truth Department had already shared it with the Truth Department, allowing all members of the Truth Department to learn it freely. Anyone who could learn it at an entry-level can study under me, it was just because not many people can learn it. If the demons want to know, they’d have already found out.”
Elder Feng countered, “That’s what I wanted to say. When your family wanted to open it to everyone to learn, I have objected strongly. None of you listened, saying the more people could learn it, the better the chance to fight a winning fight with the demons. And look what it has come to? All of those people who could learn it was struggling to continue.”
“Conversely, Elder White who was hidden among us could send people to learn it. After this demonic spawn laid his hands on the entry-level method, he must’ve realized that Morality is the demons’ natural enemies. The reason he had left us to start his own clan must be related to this.”
Qiao Zishan was speechless, he had never been the type to argue, “And your point is?”
Elder Feng said, “The rules had already been set in place, so I will follow. Since it was sanctioned that any member of the Truth Department could learn it freely, you cannot share it simply with any outsiders, unless Vigilante A would join the Truth Department.”
Qiao Zishan sighed, but Elder Feng was higher in authority than he is, and he was right. With his non-confrontational personality, he could only relent, “Alright, I will follow your wishes.”
When he returned, Qiao Zishan apologized to the two and explained the situation, saying Elder Feng forbade anyone who is not part of the Truth Department from learning it.
Zheng Dao comforted Qiao Zishan and offered his understanding. After all, as someone in an organization, every little decision could be restricted, it was a normal occurrence.
Vigilante A asked, “Who’s that Elder Feng?”
Qiao Zishan answered, “He was in charge of the cultivation methods in the Truth Department, the Hallmaster of the Truth Department’s Hall of Lores. Power-wise, he’s about the same as my uncle, but his position is higher than my uncle’s.”
Vigilante A asked, “How does he usually behave?” 1
Qiao Zishan did not hear the underlying message of Vigilante A’s question, he said, “Many people said he was overly stubborn, but I could tell, it was all for the greater good. Other than that, he’s pretty fair.”
Vigilante A said, “That’s a shame. If that’s the case, I shall take my leave.”
Qiao Zishan thought it was because both of them could not share their knowledge about cultivation, so he apologized again, “I’m sorry to have wasted your time to make this journey. I didn’t think it through, please forgive me.”
Before he finished, Vigilante A had already left through the window. It was faster through the window anyway…
Staring at Vigilante A’s silhouette, Qiao Zishan felt a little guilty. Not only did he wasted Vigilante A’s time, his own issue was not solved.
Aside from guilt, there was also a hint of annoyance in his heart. He would never find out what he had lost because of Elder Feng’s stubbornness. But he knew it must be important, because the method for Qiao family’s Morality cultivation had always been stuck on the cultivation of character…
In the System Space.
The System was a little dejected, “It’s too bad. If we could hear his family’s cultivation method for Morality, I would be able to complete the method through inference. With the Morality module in place, we could definitely learn a martial art that complements the current martial arts system. It was all that Elder Feng’s fault. If Qiao Zishan did not vouch for his character, I would have given that old fart a good beating, we can definitely get the entry-level cultivation method from him too.”
Fang Ning was not at all upset, “They should be the ones who felt left out. I have my own methods of obtaining it, and it’s easy.”
The System was surprised, “Qiao Zishan had just told us that unless we become one of the Truth Department, we can’t be told the information. There is no way that we will join them, we’ll have no time to farm monsters. How do you plan to obtain the method?”
Fang Ning was smug, ‘You’re not human, you wouldn’t know. Qiao Zishan had said, ‘Anyone from the Truth Department can learn it’, I knew then how we can obtain it. I’ll get it for you immediately.”
The System was excited but was also perplexed, “Hey, you agreed to do it so quickly. I thought you would have wanted some remuneration. After all, you had been asking for money the past two days.”
Fang Ning gave it a helpless stare, “I have my boundaries, alright? Improving you would be improving myself, and that was also to make sure our minion stays safe. Would I stuff you up on that?”
The System said, “Hm, that’s a good philosophy. I’ll retract my quest reward then.”
Fang Ning immediately changed his stance, “No, no. Since you’ve already asked about it, how could I let you down? How can I refuse the reward? Just give me a token reward, I’m going to play the new game soon, I need more money to play the game.”
The System immediately rejected him, “Your games are purely a time-waster. If it weren’t for you repeating your mantra of ‘work hard, play hard’, I wouldn’t have let you play any games at all. After your emotional meltdown, I’d already given you 2.5 million, and I didn’t even want it back. You want me to spend more money on that? No!”
Fang Ning said, “Hey, hey. This is not only for me to play (That’s a lie,) I’d taken some time to do some research and found out some things in that game was pretty deep. Not that you know what it means to be so complicated, but I need to test it out, so I need the budget.”
The System was hesitant, “How can a game be so complicated? Let’s make a deal, if you can get me the method of cultivating Morality, I will transfer to you the 2.5 million I’ve held back the other time. However, if you were only boasting about the game, and if the game is lousy, don’t blame me if I sell your equipment…”
Fang Ning shuddered. He thought, ‘There is a little something in there. But now, I can’t stop looking into it, or else I would never be able to play a game without fear again…’
He said, “I will immediately get the cultivation method for you…”
Almost immediately, he logged onto QQ looking for Hummingbird Society.
“I am searching for Qiao Family’s Entry-level method of Morality cultivation. DM me your asking price.”
One person replied, “With your ability, if you are interested in that basic cultivation method, it should feel lucky. It’s rare that you would ask us for help, so don’t worry about the fees, I’m sending the e-book over to you.”
Fang Ning responded, “Nice. I’ll remember your assistance. If there are any villains you need help getting rid of, I’ll help you once for free.”
The System observed the whole thing and was stunned, “With only two posts? It’s such an easy thing to get. According to Qiao Zishan, that Elder Feng guy was doing all he could to stop its spread.”
Fang Ning said, “This is Information Era, there were so many people in the Truth Department who knew about it. Even if it was not spread on the management level, wouldn’t the Greater Rat demons of the Bai Family leak it? Elder Feng must have known about this, he just wanted to make it harder for us.”
The System said, “No wonder the idea came to you as soon as you heard it. Quick, download the document, I’m going to learn it now.”
Fang Ning nodded, ‘The people from Hummingbird Society think it’s basic, and Elder Feng didn’t think there were many people who could train it at an entry-level, let alone an in-depth cultivation. They didn’t know how strong the System’s learning capability is, and how it could even infer the advanced-version from it…’
‘The weakness to that was that it uses up too much Experience Points. With just the learning and leveling of Dragonization Ability, Sir System was already stretched so thin he was still below level twenty. Fortunately, it was worth investing in it.’
Fang Ning downloaded the e-book titled Qiao’s Entry-Level Morality Cultivation. He checked it out, it was so difficult, he gave up almost immediately, but not long after that, he received a system notification…
[System Notification: The System learned Atmospheric Morality Technique incomplete version, Technique rank: Rare martial arts ability, extremely high compatibility with current martial arts system. The System’s Experience Point insufficient, it could only learn the incomplete version. Current Level: Beginner. The System is affected by the following buffs:
1. Morality Envelopment. Whenever the Morality Bar is full, it can continue to store Morality. The current level allows the extra storage of Morality equal to the current Morality Bar.
2. Bonus to all martial arts whenever Morality is expended, current bonus at 50%.
3. Functional expansion of Morality Module. Current technique level skill: Morality Shelter. Morality Shelter can provide the effects of Morality Protection to allies. Activation of skill will expend the Morality stored in the System. The amount of expenditure correlates positively to damage received.]
Fang Ning slapped his head, ‘Right, not enough Experience Points, I can only learn an incomplete version, maybe I should look out for some elite monsters to boost my experience a little…’