Chương 16: Super Safe Leveling Method

After reading my message, I hear Ren Qingquan asking curiously, 'What are you trying to do?' [The Soul Swallowing Technique has mentioned that there are three layers of souls. The outer part that protects the soul, the middle part that stores the soul's memory and will disipate once the outer layer is broken, and finally the core part that contains most of the soul's energy and will start to disipate even before the outer layer is broken.]"And?"

[The book has mentioned that the side effect of the Soul Swallowing technique is caused by swallowing the middle layer of the soul. So, System is trying to use Devour and take the middle layer before the outer and inner layers disappear. Meanwhile, the host will take the inner layer to practice the Soul Swallowing Technique.] [This way, the side effect of the technique can be bypassed.]'Damn, System! You're almost as smart as me! Also, is it okay for the System itself to try and look for a bug to exploit?

I am pretty sure this isn't how your [Devour] function should've been used.' [Host, you should just honestly praise me instead of praising yourself while acting like you're praising me. In terms of intelligence, System don't want to be compared with someone who couldn't even comprehend a cultivation technique on his own. (¬_¬)] After giving my retort, I ignored his inner monologue and quickly asked him to re-enter the market and get close to an area with lots of souls.

Once Ren Qingquan entered the market, I activated my [Devour] while attempting to control it. Devouring the middle layer of the soul without affecting the inner and outer layers is easier said than done. [Devour] usually devoured souls by creating suction forces around Ren Qingquan that pull every soul within range. I've tried it several times to control [Devour] 's power, but it is useless. For example, I've tried to ask Ren Qingquan to place his finger inside a soul before I activated [Devour].

But it just devours random part of the soul instead of the centre first. After a whole hour, I still haven't succeeded. But it can't be said to be for naught. At least after using [Devour] on hundreds of small fish's souls, I have collected 0. 05 points. It ain't much, but it's still points. After a whole day of failure, Ren Qingquan also lost his vigour and sat at a random place in the market.

'System, has all of your experiments failed?' [Indeed.]'Does that mean I got stuck and can't increase my cultivation realm quickly?' [Actually, there's still another thing that the System hasn't tried.] To be honest, Ren Qingquan asked that question at the right time. After the failure, I concluded that with the current [Devour], it's basically impossible for me to target a specific part of the soul to absorb selectively.

It's just that the next experiment requires points, and I don't want to waste my own if it fails. So, I've been waiting for Ren Qingquan to bring up the topic.

'Stop acting mysterious and just spit your idea.' Ren Qingquan said. [System's Devour function can still be upgraded by spending points. So, System has been thinking of spending points to add an additional function to devour only a specific part of a soul selectively.]'You truly are a defective System aren't you?' Ren Qingquan thought while rolling his eyes. Before I can reply to his sarcastic remark, Ren Qingquan continued, 'Let's spend points to upgrade it. [System wanted to. But it's doubtful whether or not the host's current point is sufficient to add that function.] Ren Qingquan opened his panel and checked the amount of points he had. [Name: Ren Qingquan Point: 1 Realm: First Stage Martial Master Martial arts method: Body Tempering Method. Martial arts technique: Iron Palm (Beginner). System function: Devour, Scan, Calculate, Map, Mission, Skill Learning.] [See, you're piss poor.] Although the amount of points I have isn't much better, but I still took the chance to make a comeback for his previous sarcastic remarks. I am just that petty. Ren Qingquan asked, 'Then, how much points do I need?' [...] [Actually System isn't too sure either. How about I give it a try by using your 1 point?] This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Ren Qingquan rolled his eyes.

[Do you wish to spend 1 point to add a selective devouring function?]'Yes!' [System is upgrading, please wait a moment.] With the right to spend his 1 point, I began trying to add a function to devour a specific layer of the soul selectively. Surprisingly, the energy within the dark space I am in isn't running amok, as it does when I have insufficient points. I willed it and spent Ren Qingquan's point to grant the ability to selectively devour a part of the soul on [Devour].

Once I am done, I quickly messaged Ren Qingquan [Upgrade complete!]'Huh? Already? That's quite fast!' Ren Qingquan said in surprise. [Let's continue the experiment, host!] Ren Qingquan nodded and headed to a fish stall while escorted by the guards. As it's already evening, not many stalls remain open. Ren Qingquan went to one of the stalls that still had traces of fish souls in it. Ignoring the stall owner and the guard's weird look, he touched the soul.

I quickly activated [Devour] while willing it to begin absorbing the soul from its middle layers. While devouring the soul, I kept my focus on it and mentally recorded every detail. Once I have devoured the whole soul, I fell into silence for a moment before sighing internally while sending Ren Qingquan a message. [System has good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?] Ren Qingquan rolled his eyes while walking with the guards, 'You don't need to play like that.

Just gimme both of the news at once.' I am asking for the sense of ceremony, you know. [The good news is that the selective devouring function indeed has been added. As for the bad news, the selective devouring function is actually the kind of function that increases in effectiveness with the more points spent on it.]'So?' [Basically, that 1 point you spent isn't enough for the selective devouring function to help you cleanse the whole middle layer of the soul.] [Actually, scratch that. With only 1 point spent, the function is basically useless. According to System's analysis, for it to become even slightly useful, you'll need at least 100 points.] Ren Qingquan paused to think before continuing.

'does that mean I'll need to collect some points first before I can start my leveling plan?' [Correct.]'Then I'll return for now and plan my next move. Tomorrow, I'll start farming for points. Ren Qingquan slightly nodded while looking at a familiar carriage that had arrived from a distance. Soon, the carriage stopped in front of Ren Qingquan. From inside the carriage, I saw Xiao Cai, who slowly exited the carriage and helped Ren Qingquan to enter.

After he bid farewell to the two guards who had accompanied him, Ren Qingquan returned to the Ren family residence and trained for a moment before getting bored and going to his room. He read novels for a few hours before he finally went to sleep. Bored, I tried to check others' [Scan], but found there aren't many interesting things happening. So, I simply studied the book Ren Qingquan has scanned or read some novels to ease my boredom. Time quickly passed, and another morning arrived.

After completing his morning routine, Ren Qingquan followed Xiao Cai toward the fish market before Xiao Cai left with the carriage. Just like yesterday, she promised to return and brought him back when evening fell. Once Ren Qingquan arrived at the fish market, I saw the previous two guards quickly running toward him. Ren Qingquan nodded at them as he said, "Today, I am planning to check the processing area." The two guards nodded and led Ren Qingquan toward the processing area.

Unlike the bustling market, the processing area is filled with busy workers. They constantly brought fish from one place to the others before killing and processing them. From gutting to bleeding the fish, all of the processes make the scene look quite bloody. The fishy smell has also become even weirder after being combined with the smell of fish guts, the worker's sweat, and the fish's blood.

I can hear Ren Qingquan's incessant complaining as he rambles on and on about how he thought the fish market's smell was already bad enough, but the processing area still beats it by a landslide. When I saw Ren Qingquan's face that had paled and how he was trying his best to stop himself from retching, I've never been happier with the fact that I have no physical body or nose to smell that place. Once Ren Qingquan had gotten used to the smell, he walked towards the area where the workers are slaughtering fish.

The moment he arrived, Ren Qingquan walked toward the centre of the area, accompanied by the two guards. I can see that the surrounding workers seem a bit annoyed with Ren Qingquan, who suddenly butt around and delays their work. But when they looked at the two guard next to him, all of them obediently continued their work in silence. Once he arrived at the center of the processing area, Ren Qingquan shouted internally, 'Activate Devour!'

I activated the [Devour] on Ren Qingquan and saw the surrounding souls start to gather toward him. For the next few hours, Ren Qingquan simply stood there while reading some novels in the library. Meanwhile, I bussied myself by collecting data on the surrounding souls, checking others' [Scan], and studying the items that have been scanned and stored in my database. This continued until evening, when Ren Qingquan finally met Xiao Cai, who arrived in a carriage.

The moment Xiao Cai got down from the carriage to help Ren Qingquan, I could see her nose slightly twitch when Ren Qingquan passed by her. When they arrived at the Ren family residence, Xiao Cai immediately said, "Young master, I shall prepare your bath." I saw Ren Qingquan nodding, while trying to force his mouth from twitching.

'Did i really smell that bad?' [System doesn't have any sense of smell. But based on Xiao Cai's expression, your smell should've gone beyond bad and reached the level of a biological weapon.] Ren Qingquan: (¬_¬) He ignored my word and entered the bathroom in his courtyard. While lying inside a wooden bathtub filled with warm water, I heard Ren Qingquan contemplating.

'Today, I've gathered one point, and it seems gathering one point a day is far from the limit of the fish market.' He opened the mission panel and stared at the point-gathering mission.

"Maybe it's possible to finish this mission and collect 100 points in 30 days as long as I find the correct route." I can't help but feel happy when I hear Ren Qingquan's words. If he indeed found a way to consistently earn 100 points within thirty days, then I'll be able to start experimenting with more things. So, I encouraged him. [Good luck, host. System will try its best to help you as much as possible. After all, the richer the host, the more perfect System will be.]