“What…?”

Qi Yao stood frozen in place, momentarily unable to process what had just happened.

Not far away, the bearded man, firmly immobilized where he stood, swallowed with great difficulty. He asked in a trembling voice, “Who… who exactly are you, sir?”

Ever since this mysterious man appeared, the surrounding air seemed to have solidified into iron. He couldn’t struggle, not even an inch, and speaking had become an arduous task.

His two subordinates were in an even worse state. Their entire bodies were stiff, frozen in a bizarre posture mid-lunge. It looked rather comical, but the situation was anything but funny.

At this moment, no matter how slow-witted the bearded man was, he could sense that something was terribly wrong.

The man before him was simply terrifying!

In a backwater place like Qingyun Town, he had never encountered such a powerful individual.

Qi Yuan withdrew his gaze from the wooden grave marker and cast a casual glance at the bearded man.

“You are Xu Biao, the Hall Master of the Black Tiger Gang?”

Xu Biao’s heart skipped a beat. Cold sweat began to bead on his temples as he replied fearfully, “Y-yes… that’s me. Senior, if you have any instructions, please just say the word. This humble one will certainly comply.”

Having confirmed his target for the mission, Qi Yuan couldn’t be bothered with further talk. With a casual flick of his finger, Xu Biao—the Hall Master of the Black Tiger Gang who had tyrannized Qingyun Town for decades—exploded on the spot.

Pop.

He burst into a mist of blood and bone fragments, leaving not a trace behind.

【Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the novice mission. The system will now begin repairing your dantian and meridians…】

The notification sounded in his ear, but Qi Yuan felt not a shred of accomplishment. In fact, he almost felt like laughing.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the poor soul lying in that grave was the original owner of this body’s identity—the one whose name also happened to be Qi Yuan.

Somehow, a glitch had occurred. The Trash-to-God System that should have been bound to the original owner had ended up bound to him instead.

And precisely because the original owner hadn’t awakened the system in time yesterday and hadn’t received the novice gift pack, he had been easily killed by Xu Biao. Now, weeds were already sprouting on his grave.

According to the standard plotline, the original owner should have relied on the system to cheat his way to an epic comeback, dominating all in his path—a textbook wish-fulfillment protagonist. Yet now, he had died without a sound. How tragic.

Thinking of this, Qi Yuan couldn’t help but shake his head inwardly.

For now, this godforsaken system was utterly useless to him. He could only try completing some missions first and see if it would recalibrate later.

Just as his thoughts wandered, a warm current flowed through his meridians and spread throughout his body, gradually converging into his dantian.

Qi Yuan was taken aback for a moment before immediately sensing the internal changes.

The strength of his meridians seemed significantly enhanced compared to before, capable of bearing far more true essence. His dantian’s qi sea had also expanded considerably, its capacity now in no way inferior to that of a Nascent Soul realm cultivator.

Well now! The system’s reward actually had real effects!

Confirming that these changes held no hidden drawbacks, Qi Yuan couldn’t help but show a look of pleasant surprise.

Although he didn’t strictly need to cultivate from scratch, the system had still strengthened his existing dantian and meridians. This indirectly boosted his cultivation potential ceiling.

After all, physical constitution was considered a form of innate talent. He was already among the top-tier geniuses in terms of aptitude. Now, with the system’s enhancement pushing him even further, it was truly an unexpected boon.

It seemed this dumb system wasn’t completely useless after all.

Even if the process was somewhat dull, the rewards were quite sweet indeed.

Having tasted this benefit, Qi Yuan began to look forward to the rewards from future missions.

Right then, a timid voice suddenly reached his ears.

“Thank you… thank you for avenging my brother…”

Qi Yuan turned and looked at the teary-eyed young girl before him.

The original owner’s sister appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. Dressed in simple cloth garments, her figure was thin and frail. Her skin showed the pale pallor of malnutrition. Though sorrow lingered between her brows, it couldn’t completely mask her delicate features—she clearly possessed the makings of a beauty yet to fully blossom.

Feeling Qi Yuan’s gaze upon her, a faint blush rose on Qi Yao’s fair and youthful face. She nervously lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes directly.

Although she possessed no cultivation herself, having been born into an arcane arts family clan meant she still possessed some discernment. This mysterious expert had effortlessly slain Xu Biao—a Qi Refining third layer Hall Master—with just a raise of his hand. He was clearly no ordinary cultivator.

Especially that profound aura about him—deep as an abyssal pool—it even stirred within her an impulse to prostrate herself in worship.

Qi Yao vaguely sensed that this man before her was anything but ordinary; he was perhaps even more formidable than her own Qi family’s Foundation Building realm ancestor…

To mortals, Foundation Building realm cultivators were already akin to immortals or deities—lofty existences one could only gaze upon from afar but never hope to reach.

As for higher realms… those were simply unimaginable.

“It was merely a trivial effort; hardly worth mentioning.”

Qi Yuan gave a faint smile and spoke in a gentle tone. “No need to call me ‘Senior.’ Just call me Brother Qi.”

Given how these comeback systems typically operated, the original owner’s sister was likely a key character. There would surely be system missions related to this young girl in the future. Building some rapport with her now definitely wasn’t a mistake.

Therefore, from the moment he confirmed that the original owner was truly dead and gone, he had decided to take Qi Yao back with him to the Supreme Mystery Sanctuary and bring her completely under his control.

As someone accustomed to ruling from above… he detested any variable beyond his control.

Hearing this, Qi Yao was slightly taken aback. After hesitating for a moment, she shyly uttered in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s hum:

“Brother Qi… thank you…”

Qi Yuan nodded slightly. Then, casually and without hesitation, he dispatched the two Black Tiger Gang lackeys who had been knocked unconscious by his Golden Core realm pressure earlier.

He had managed to stand out amidst fierce competition and ascend to become the Holy Scion of the Supreme Mystery Sanctuary precisely because he wasn’t soft-hearted or merciful.

Even when facing seemingly insignificant enemies… one must never let their guard down.

Only by uprooting every last trace could future troubles be permanently eliminated.

Just then… mission information once again appeared on Qi Yuan’s system interface.

【New Mission: The Path of Escape (Difficulty: Four Stars)】

【Mission Description: After experiencing perilous battles… you have defeated Xu Biao (Qi Refining third layer), Hall Master of the Black Tiger Gang, while still possessing a mortal physique… thus stepping back onto the path of cultivation once more… However, your act of slaying Xu Biao is about to provoke frenzied retaliation from the Black Tiger Gang…】

【Mission Objective: Escape Qingyun Town with your younger sister Qi Yao while surviving pursuit by the Black Tiger Gang.】

【Additional Reward Condition: Eliminate Li Hu (Qi Refining fifth layer), Leader of the Black Tiger Gang.】

【Mission Rewards: 100 Reversal Points; 5 High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills; 200 Low-Grade Spirit Stones; unlock Epiphany function.】

【Additional Reward: Moderately improve the host’s abysmally poor spiritual root aptitude; acquire talent: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.】

Huh?

As he read the text, Qi Yuan’s expression gradually grew peculiar.

This dumb system remained as delirious as ever.

Ignoring all those nonsensical, mismatched descriptions earlier… the key to completing the mission lay in achieving the “Mission Objective.”

At this very moment, images began surfacing in his mind depicting himself being chased down by a group of weaklings who didn’t even possess cultivation…

Of course, the mission itself posed absolutely no difficulty whatsoever. Even just for the reward of improving his spiritual root talent alone, he would hold his nose and go through with it…

But the problem lay in the logistics: How was he supposed to make Li Hu, a Qi Refining fifth layer ant, muster the courage to pursue a Golden Core Perfection realm cultivator?