Is It Wrong to Bully the Novice Village for System Rewards?

Once the Enforcement Hall convoy vanished into the clouds, the remaining Outer Sect survivors exchanged panicked glances. They wanted to run, but their legs refused to obey. Terrified of provoking the “Demon Lord” further, they could only kneel in place, heads bowed.

Their faces were ashen. Their knees knocked together audibly. They looked like condemned men waiting for the axe.

Seeing this, a gentle, welcoming smile bloomed on Qi Yuan’s face. He stepped forward, radiating friendliness.

“Senior Brothers, please, stand up. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Big Qi, a humble new disciple who joined your peak today. I hope we can look out for each other in the future.”

As he approached, the disciples nearly wet themselves. They scrambled backward, trembling violently.

“Junior Brother Qi… No! Lord Qi! Please spare us!”

“I was wrong! I was blind! As long as you let this lowly one live, I will bleed for you! I will go through fire and water to repay your great kindness!”

“Yes, yes! Lord Qi, please raise your noble hand and let us go!”

Sigh.

It seems these guys really do see me as a homicidal maniac.

Qi Yuan shook his head helplessly. He tried to soften his voice even further.

“Gentlemen, there is no need for fear. In time, you will discover that I am actually a person of excellent moral character. I am easy to get along with and take great pleasure in helping others.”

He spread his hands warmly. “We are all fellow disciples. Why act so distant?”

Excellent moral character?

Easy to get along with?

Hearing these words while standing in a literal lake of blood, not a single disciple believed him. If anything, their terror spiked. They began slamming their foreheads into the dirt, the thumping sound resembling a frantic drumbeat.

“We wouldn’t dare… we wouldn’t dare! We know our mistakes! Please, Lord Qi, give us a chance to live!”

Standing to the side, Ji Chan’er couldn’t watch the farce any longer. She issued a cool, indifferent command:

“Get up. Clean the corpses out of the courtyard. Having them piled up like that is unsightly. And remember—the Enforcement Hall has already closed this case. Keep your mouths shut.”

“Yes, yes, yes! We obey Senior Sister Ji’s decree!”

The command was like a pardon from the heavens. The disciples scrambled to their feet, stumbling over each other in their haste to drag the bodies away and scrub the bloodstains.

Once the courtyard was clear of witnesses, Qi Yuan rubbed his nose guiltily. He looked at the beauty beside him and smiled sheepishly.

“Fairy Ji, listen, let me explain. This time I…”

“No need.”

Before he could finish, Ji Chan’er cut him off. A tender smile touched her lips, and her eyes shone with genuine appreciation.

“This Seat understands. With your prideful temperament, you would naturally disdain living comfortably as an Inner Sect Disciple under my protection. You wanted to carve out your own path in the Saint Sect, relying solely on your own ability. Isn’t that right?”

She blinked her beautiful eyes, her gaze free of any reproach.

“Earlier, I spoke too harshly. I failed to understand your difficulties. But thinking about it now… for you to have such ambition proves that you are indeed the man Ji Chan’er has set her sights on.”

…Huh?

Qi Yuan blinked, stunned.

He hadn’t even started his excuse yet, and this demoness had already concocted a noble backstory for him? And she looked… proud?

Is this the legendary ‘woman’s heart is a needle in the sea’?

She was over-interpreting everything, but hey, if it worked in his favor, he wasn’t going to complain.

Qi Yuan immediately adopted a solemn expression and nodded.

“Ahem… Fairy Ji truly has eyes like torches. You saw through my ambition at a glance.”

Even with his thick skin, admitting to such high-minded nonsense made his face heat up slightly.

Ji Chan’er smiled, her expression radiating a captivating charm. “This is no place to talk. Come to my cave dwelling.”

She flicked her wrist, and a streak of light shot from her storage bracelet. An exquisite jade boat expanded in the wind, growing to dozens of feet in length. It hovered steadily before them, glowing with soft light.

“Follow me.”

Ji Chan’er stepped onto the deck. Qi Yuan quickly followed.

Whoosh—

The luxurious vessel tore through the air, transforming into a streak of light that vanished into the horizon.

A short while later.

The flying boat descended toward a majestic mountain peak nestled deep within the sect’s core.

Here, the spiritual Qi was thick enough to form mist. Clouds steamed and rosiness weighed heavy in the air. Rare spirit beasts roamed the cliffs, and the vegetation was lush and vibrant. The environment was lightyears beyond the desolate grimness of the Outer Sect.

carved into the belly of the mountain was a massive cave dwelling, its entrance gate alone towering over a hundred feet high.

Ji Chan’er led Qi Yuan through layers of protective formations, entering a main hall that redefined luxury. Carved beams, painted rafters, and spirit jade floors greeted them.

“This servant greets the Master.”

The moment they entered, a dozen beautiful maids in flowing misty skirts glided forward, bowing in unison.

These women were all young, stunning, and possessed decent cultivation bases. They were clearly carefully selected confidantes.

“Dismissed.”

Ji Chan’er waved a hand. The maids retreated silently, leaving the hall empty.

She moved to a wide, jeweled throne and sat down gracefully, gesturing for Qi Yuan to take the seat beside her. Once settled, her curiosity finally broke through.

“Now is not the recruitment season for the Saint Sect. Yet, you managed to enter Blood Refining Peak as an Outer Sect Disciple. There must be a special reason. What happened?”

She had been born into nobility and fast-tracked to Legacy Disciple status. She had never trudged through the mud of the Outer Sect. She knew Qi Yuan must have used connections, but the details baffled her.

Qi Yuan paused, then decided to stick to the (mostly) truth.

“Fairy Ji, it’s a long story. While I was traveling, I was momentarily careless and… well, I was captured alive by an Outer Sect Disciple named Chen Huai.”

“He sold me to a spirit mine under the Saint Sect’s jurisdiction as a slave laborer. As luck would have it, the Righteous Path attacked the mine…”

“I managed to escort a man named Situ Yun back to the sect. As a reward, he arranged for me to join the Blood Refining Peak.”

Since the demoness was technically on his side, there was no need to hide the logistics. He simply omitted the System’s involvement.

“What?! You were captured alive? By a Saint Sect disciple?!”

Ji Chan’er’s jaw dropped. The shock on her pretty face was unfeigned.

She knew exactly what kind of person Qi Yuan was.

The man sitting before her was a chaos incarnate. A calamity in human skin. The massacre at Blood Refining Peak was proof enough of his lethality.

And he was captured? Alive? By a nobody from the Outer Sect? And sold into slavery?

It was absurd. It was absurdity stacking on top of insanity until it looped back around to being impossible.

Who on earth is this Chen Huai?

How could the Outer Sect harbor a monster capable of subduing Qi Yuan, and I’ve never heard of him?