The next day.
As usual, he cooked, ate, and cultivated.
Before long, Zhou Yong showed up at his door.
"Punk, I heard you bullied my younger brother?"
The original owner's soul inside Jiang Tianlin trembled at the sight, a testament to the deep-seated fear the original owner felt toward him.
"You must be Zhou Yong?"
"That's right!"
"Punk, you haven't answered my question yet."
"Oh, right, no. I just said a few words to him."
"What did you say to him?"
"You should ask him yourself." He caught sight of Zhou Kuang.
"Get over here!"
"Brother..." The two brothers whispered to each other for a moment.
"I get it now. Whether my brother Zhou Kuang was right or wrong is not for you to interfere with. Since he told you to get on your knees, kowtow, and call him grandfather, that's what you're going to do! Otherwise, you die! I was able to cripple you once, and I can certainly do it a second time."
"..." Jiang Tianlin fell silent.
Right at that moment, Xiao Muyu arrived. "Zhou Yong," she said, "I warned you not to give my senior brother any trouble. Did you not understand me?" As she spoke, her aura surged outward.
"You've reached the Dao-Entering Realm?!" Zhou Yong was utterly shocked!
Then he said, "Fine, Xiao Muyu, I'll save you some face this time. But can you protect him for a moment, or can you protect him for a lifetime? Hmph, let's go!"
"Hold on," Jiang Tianlin spoke up. He didn't really want to, but the System's multiple-choice prompt had arrived yet again:
*Ding! A new quest is now available. Please make your choice:*
*First: Beat Zhou Yong to a pulp right in front of Xiao Muyu. Reward: Random.*
*Second: Show cowardice, get on your knees before Zhou Yong in front of Xiao Muyu, kowtow, and call him grandfather. Reward: Random.*
*Third: Provoke Zhou Yong, make a friendly gesture toward Zhou Kuang, and say, "You know what, Zhou Yong? You shouldn't have messed with me. Actually, I'm an peerless expert just experiencing mortal life, which is why I was like this. Since you forced my hand, I'm definitely going to beat you until you're mentally disabled!". Reward: Random.*
*Fourth: Stay silent. Reward: Random.*
"Well, another set of choices?"
"..."
"System, what is the meaning of this?"
"Hee hee hee, I think blind boxes are a lot of fun, so I prepared one for the host. Wishing the host becomes a European Emperor!"
"..." European Emperor, my foot. In his past life, he had bought World Cup lottery tickets and lost so badly he ate instant noodles for three months straight.
"Is there something else?" Zhou Yong asked impatiently. If not for his wariness of Xiao Muyu, he wouldn't have stopped. Watching Jiang Tianlin stare into empty space—making a distressed face one second and a smiling one the next—Zhou Yong concluded that the guy had completely lost his mind, making Zhou Yong feel like an idiot for standing there.
"In that case, I choose none of them."
"Junior Sister, can you use some minor spell to control Zhou Kuang and make him beat up Zhou Yong? I think having a big oaf like Zhou Kuang beat him up would be the most satisfying thing ever, heh heh heh!"
Xiao Muyu was left speechless. How had her senior brother turned into such a cheeky scoundrel? He used to be such an upright person; why had he changed so much ever since Zhou Yong crippled him?
With no time to overthink, since her senior brother had given the order, as the junior sister, she couldn't disobey.
Thus, she rapidly changed hand seals, forming a spell. Suddenly, Zhou Kuang lost control of his own body and lunged straight at Zhou Yong. Zhou Yong's thoughts were still focused on Jiang Tianlin, and before he could react, Zhou Kuang knocked him down with a single punch.
Then came the sounds: "Bang, bang, bang!"
Zhou Yong's face was thoroughly wrecked.
"Get lost! Snap out of it!" Zhou Yong finally snapped back to his senses and sent Zhou Kuang flying with a punch.
"Bang!" Zhou Kuang crashed to the ground.
He scrambled back up, finally regaining his senses. "Brother, what happened to me? Your face..."
"Shut your mouth! Let's go! Jiang Tianlin, I won't forget today! And you, Xiao Muyu, the two of you better pray you never fall into my hands, otherwise... Hmph! Let's go!"
And off they went.
"Awesome!" That was Jiang Tianlin's only thought.
*Ding! In view of the host's performance, the System hereby grants an extra reward: one Netherworld Brick!*
*--* Damn it, you scumbag System, this works too? You can just bypass the choices like that, huh?
He glanced at the woman beside him and temporarily abandoned the thought of using a brick to beat the System to a pulp.
"Many thanks, Junior Sister! I wonder why Junior Sister came looking for me?"
"It's nothing, just... how did you find that thing of mine last time..."
"???"
"..."
"The purple one..." Her face turned red again.
Now he understood. If he didn't get it now, he'd have to be an idiot.
"Uh... about that, if I told you it flew over here all by itself, would you believe me?"
"..."
"Looks like you don't believe it. Sigh, Junior Sister, I like you. Do you believe that?"
"..."
*Ding! A new quest is now available. Please make your choice:*
*First: Kiss Xiao Muyu on the lips. Recommendation: Run immediately after kissing! Reward: Random.*
*Second: Tell Xiao Muyu that what you just said was a joke and apologize. Reward: Random.*
*Third: Kiss Xiao Muyu on the cheek. Reward: Random.*
*Fourth: Kiss Xiao Muyu on the hand. Reward: Random.*
"Well, another set of choices? This scumbag System is really determined not to let me act like a normal human! But screw it, I'm just going to lie flat and give up on everything! I'm not picking any of them!"
"Junior Sister, there's a snake behind you!"
"Ah!"
"Heh heh heh!" He reached out and pinched the tip of her nose.
Even he thought he must be out of his mind.
"Ah!" She froze in place.
After a long while, by the time she came to her senses, he was already gone.
"Senior Brother, what was that supposed to mean?" she muttered to herself, her face burning hot.
"That was thrilling!"
*Ding! In view of the host's performance, the System has decided to reward the host with a titanium-alloy kitchen knife, which has been placed into the System space.*
*Damn it, you scumbag System, you ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊ ＃％％*
Naturally, the System played dead.
Having vented his frustration, he settled his mind and began to cultivate. At present, he was only at the First Layer of Awakening Realm and was no match for Zhou Yong at all.
Those two sets of choices hadn't yielded anything useful. Cultivation still depended on one's own efforts.
Before he knew it, he had cultivated through the entire night. He had to admit that this cultivation technique was indeed formidable; it performed auto-body-tempering, completely eliminating the need for Body Tempering Pills.
Now, in less than two days, his bottleneck at the First Layer of Awakening Realm had already loosened. At this rate, breaking through to the Second Layer of Awakening Realm was just around the corner.
As for the Heart Refining Pill required for the Fourth Layer of Awakening Realm, he had no idea what to do. Three top-grade spirit stones were far beyond what he could afford; his only options were to try his luck at the black market or an auction house.
He decided to head to the black market to try his luck.