Chương 15: Caught Red Handed.

After some contemplation, I decided to lend him a hand and shared my vision to help him see the souls. Otherwise, the plan to power level Ren Qingquan will fail in its infancy. [Ding! Detecting the host's difficulty. The system has added an Augmented Reality function. The host may activate the AR function to see souls and other things within the range of the host's 'Scan'.]'What an advanced thing.' Ren Qingquan stopped trying to sense the soul in his surroundings and reopened his eyes.

'Also, aren't you a heavenly comprehension system? A system that seem straight out of xianxia novel. How come you know about something like AR?' Ren Qingquan pinched his chin.

'I have my suspicion. But, did you see my memory? Or are you also from Earth?' The sudden question greatly surprised me. I quickly churned my mind, but failed to think of any answer. Should I come clean with him and tell him I might be a transmigrator who got delayed during the reincarnation process? Or should I answer him with lies to lower his guard? After all, even I'll feel weird if I found out my cheat is actually just a random guy observing my daily life while hiding in a place god knows where.

After weighing the benefits, I decided to lie and spew whatever nonsense that came to mind. [System is actually the PC in your previous life. After you transmigrated, the system gained some sentience and some abilities to help the host.] [Here, listen to the familiar wind*ws starting screen.] I sent a screen showing the familiar effect of wind*ws PC starting, complete with the audio. Ren Qingquan nodded at my answer while closing his eyes. Suddenly, his nodding head stopped, and he shouted in his mind.

'Wait a minute, I don't have a PC!' Whoops. [Then, System might be your gaming laptop? Smartphone? Smart TV? Or perhaps a calculator? Anyway, System has some data regarding Earth, although most of it consists of online novels.] Ren Qingquan: (¬_¬)'Then, I think you might be my phone. Because before I got reincarnated here, I usually read my novels with my phone. Furthermore, I sometimes downloaded them, so that might be the reason for you to have many knowledge related to online novels.'

Ren Qingquan said while rubbing his chin. Wait a minute, you actually accepted my nonsense?! Well, it's good that Ren Qingquan isn't among those troublesome super smart people. He seems to be someone that only used his brain occasionally. Ren Qingquan asked another question.

'I just want to make sure, is the Earth you come from the same as my Earth? Are there any data about me in your memory?' [The System doesn't have any data regarding a specific person on Earth. Most of System's data is regarding basic information in the world and about novels.]'Do you know M*Don*ld? Sams*ng? Appl*?' Ren Qingquan kept on spewing several other brand names that I know of. [Yes, System know about M*Don*ld, Sams*ng, Appl*, Wind*ws, Goo*le, and other brands.] Ren Qingquan nodded and asked once more.

'Then, what about novels? Do you know about S*lo L*veling? R*ver*nd Ins*nity? Overl*rd?' [Yes, one of the books should also be why the host has chosen Corpse Refining.] I saw Ren Qingquan flush with embarrassment when I mentioned it. So, he changed the topic.

"Then, do you know how you end up becoming my system?" [Actually System didn't know how things ended up like this. When I realised it, I had become the host's System.]'I'll just trust your word for it. After all, you're my cheat.'

'Distrusting my own cheat, the one thing I could truly depend on in this weird world, is gonna be too bothersome.' Ren Qingquan shrugged.

'By the way, are you sentient? Or am I talking with something akin to an automatic chat program?' I thought for a moment before deciding to reply to this question with the truth. After all, I have just experienced first-hand how sharp Ren Qingquan can suddenly be. [Yes, System is sapient, somehow.]'Does that mean you're a sapient System that has read the same novels as I am?' I don't know why Ren Qingquan asked this question. So, I just replied with affirmation. [Correct.] I could feel Ren Qingquan trying to hold a smile from creeping up his face.

'That's good, I've always wanted to have a real-life friend who I could talk with regarding my hobby!' I rolled my nonexistent eyes while trying to stop myself from replying to his words with sarcasm. Given our current situation, our relationship should be more like that of online friends who often chat through a social media app. Also, He is focusing on the wrong thing. But whatever, it works in my favour anyway.

Ren Qingquan, who hasn't heard any reply from me, suddenly said in his mind, ' System, what're you waiting for? Quickly activate the AR function! The more time we waste, the more soul will be wasted. Also, should I continue to call you System, or do you have a name? Or you want me to name you?' Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. [Host may continue to call the System as System.] After replying, I immediately get into work and an illusory view on top of Ren Qingquan's regular sight. On the illusory view, there are some mists, which are the souls that I've detected. [The Augmented Reality function has been turned on.] Ren Qingquan checked his surroundings and immediately saw several mists.

"What are those?" He asked in a low voice while looking at the mists floating above the stall near him. [Those are souls.]'Then, I'll just need to use Soul Pinching Finger before activating Soul Swallowing Technique to swallow those souls.' Ren Qingquan immediately took action, circulating his spirit qi using the Soul Pinching Finger technique and enveloping his index finger with it. Then, he moved his index finger toward the mists like souls under the confused stare of the guards and stall owner.

Once he's done, Ren Qingquan activates the Soul Swallowing Technique and directly absorbs the fish soul into his body. Although it's called the Soul Swallowing Technique, Ren Qingquan actually didn't need to bring the soul to his mouth and swallow it. All he needed to do was activate the Soul Pinching Finger, which also isn't limited to the fingers, and envelop part of his body with the Soul Pinching Finger spell.

The part that's enveloped with the Soul Pinching Finger will gain the ability to touch souls to a certain degree. The higher the mastery, the more solid the soul will be, to the point that the practitioner can grab a floating soul like a solid object. Then, he just need to activate the Soul Swallowing Technique and absorbed that soul from the place he touched that soul. Once I saw Ren Qingquan starting to activate the Soul Swallowing Technique, I immediately focused on his condition.

The Soul Swallowing Technique has mentioned the basic side effects of the technique, which are to obtain the target's habits. So, once I see Ren Qingquan show any odd signs, I'll warn him about it. While I thought so, he finished swallowing one of the souls. On Ren Qingquan's body, I sensed a slightly different spirit qi entering his body. The spirit qi is a pure, refined spirit qi that the Soul Swallowing Technique has mentioned.

Once the spirit qi appeared, I could see Ren Qingquan's meridians seemed to be burdened with the pure spirit qi. I wanted to warn him to start absorbing the spirit qi with the Body Tempering Method. But fortunately, Ren Qingquan sensed something was wrong and immediately used the Body Tempering Method before I told him to. With the help of the Body Tempering Method, the pure refined spirit qi changed its properties from pure refined spirit qi into refined spirit qi marked with his aura and cultivation method.

Once he's done, Ren Qingquan sighed in relief and tried to start swallowing another soul. When I saw that, I tried to stop him at once. [Host, please wait for a moment. System needs to check the condition of your body and see whether there's any adverse effect from that soul swallowing.] Ren Qingquan paused his movement and agreed, 'Okay.' I saw him patiently waiting and started checking Ren Qingquan's condition. First, the amount of spirit qi in his body has increased slightly.

Although the increase is minuscule, but it's still an increase. Then I realised that while he is marking the refined pure spirit qi generated by the Soul Swallowing Technique, his vital energy has somehow increased slightly. I guess that the process of marking the refined pure spirit qi with the Body Tempering Method has actually helped Ren Qingquan to strengthen his body. Finally, I checked Ren Qingquan's physical activity and found no unusual behaviour. After my observation, I sent Ren Qingquan a message.

[System hasn't detected any side effects from the technique yet. Furthermore, the vital energy within your body has slightly increased during the process of marking the refined pure spirit qi gained from the Soul Swallowing Technique.]'Eh? Does that means my martial arts realm has just progressed?' [Indeed.]'Then, I'll continue collecting souls.' Ren Qingquan immediately got to work and collected more souls under the curious look of the stall owner and the guards following him.

It took him a few minutes to finish absorbing more than twenty fish souls. Most of them are on the verge of being destroyed. After he absorbed the sixteenth fish, Ren Qingquan suddenly paused.

'I feel uncomfortable. System, can you do that whole body check thingy? I don't know why but I think I am having a harder time breathing.' I heard it and quickly checked Ren Qingquan's conditions. As he said he was having trouble breathing, I focused my [Scan] on Ren Qingquan's lungs. It took me some time, but I found that Ren Qingquan's instinctive breathing rate has slowed. Not only that, he seems to have gained a weird habit of expanding part of his neck muscle while breathing air.

I have some guesses, but the symptoms aren't too severe yet. So I asked Ren Qingquan to keep swallowing souls to be sure. [Insufficient data. Please swallow more souls.]'Will it be dangerous if I swallowed even more souls?' Ren Qingquan asked. [There's no need to worry. System just needs the host to swallow around twenty more fish souls. It shouldn't be enough to cause any danger.]'I'll believe you.'

Ren Qingquan moved to another fish stall and began circulating the Soul Pinching Finger technique before touching the souls floating above the cutting board. After Ren Qingquan swallowed ten other fish souls with the Soul Swallowing Technique, his instinctive breathing speed became even lower. Right now, I can be certain that this is caused by the side effect of the Soul Swallowing Technique. After swallowing close to fifty fish souls, Ren Qingquan should be getting the habit of the fish.

To be exact, their breathing habit! Unlike humans, who breathe by expanding and contracting their lungs, fish breathe by letting water pass through their fins to absorb the oxygen within. Once I concluded my analysis, I became utterly stupefied. This side effect is a bit too exaggerated, right? While in deep thought, I heard Ren Qingquan continuously asking me for an answer.

'System, how is it? Have you checked what's wrong with me? Am I dying? Should I go to the doctor right now?' Unable to bear Ren Qingquan's spam messages any longer, I sent him a message. [System has finished analyzing your problem. Your troubled breathing is caused by the side effect of the Soul Swallowing Technique. Basically, you have gained the breathing habit of the fish.]"Damn it!" Ren Qingquan suddenly shouted out loud. His shout scared the stall owner to the point that he almost dropped his knife.

"W.. what's wrong, sir?" The stall owner asked timidly. Ren Qingquan shook his head and apologised, "Sorry, it's nothing. I just thought of something troublesome." He then waved at the two guards next to him and pointed at a nearby empty shaded area, "let's rest for now. We'll continue the inspection in a moment." While walking toward the place to rest, Ren Qingquan keeps on grumbling in his mind, 'Damn it! So did my plan to power level failed? Does that mean I need to start cultivating slowly?'

Hearing his complaints, I sent him a message. [Please work together with the System for an experiment. It might allow you to use the Soul Swallowing Technique without worrying about the side effects.]