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

Chapter 253: Even If Your Grandfather Came, He’d Have to Thank Me

At that exact moment.

Within a dimly lit cave dwelling deep inside the Nether Fiend Sect’s inner sanctum.

“Senior Brother Chen. To what do I owe the displeasure of this midnight intrusion?”

Wu Hengshan glared at his uninvited guest, his voice rough and dripping with overt hostility.

In the inner sect, the two of them had been bitter rivals for years. Wu Hengshan knew perfectly well that beneath Chen Tianhuan’s benevolent, harmless smile lay the heart of a venomous viper. Countless disciples had been unwittingly maneuvered into early graves by this exact smile.

Now, Wu Hengshan was no saint. He was a brutal thug who butchered people as easily as drinking water. But compared to the treacherous bastard standing before him, he was practically a paragon of virtue.

“Junior Brother Wu,” Chen Tianhuan greeted, his smile never wavering. He stepped further into the cave. “What is your assessment of Big Qi?”

A vein pulsed on Wu Hengshan’s forehead. “That kid is just like you,” he sneered coldly. “A two-faced, silver-tongued snake. Sooner or later, I’m going to make him choke on his own blood!”

A thick, murderous aura rolled off Wu Hengshan as he spoke. He was a man of explosive violence and staggering arrogance. Being publicly humiliated and stepped on by some lowly Outer Sect Disciple had planted a deeply rooted seed of hatred in his chest.

Chen Tianhuan’s smile deepened at the outburst. “Oh? It seems Junior Brother Wu does not acknowledge the legitimacy of our new trial champion.”

“Champion? What absolute bullshit!”

Just bringing it up made Wu Hengshan’s face contort as if he had swallowed a live toad. He slammed his fist into a nearby stone table, cracking it. “The bastard popped a Mortal Transformation Pill in secret and relied entirely on brute force to smash his way to the top of the tower! How is that any different from blatant cheating? At the end of the day, he’s nothing but a late-stage Foundation Building weakling. In a real fight, as long as I keep my distance, I could mince him into meat paste with a few casual strikes!”

“You are entirely correct, Junior Brother Wu,” Chen Tianhuan nodded, his tone turning heavy with implication.

“Currently, we and that Big Qi have all been taken under the Sect Leader’s wing. It won’t be long before we are officially accepted as Novices and become fellow disciples. However… even among fellow disciples, there is a strict hierarchy of worth.”

Chen Tianhuan began to pace, his voice lowering into a conspiratorial whisper. “Big Qi’s cultivation might be pathetic, but he is ambitious, deeply cunning, and sickeningly skilled at flattery. The Sect Leader already looks upon him with extreme favor. If this trajectory holds, the resources and patronage he receives will eclipse ours combined.”

He stopped, turning a glacial stare upon Wu Hengshan. “Even the Sect Leader’s personal treasury is finite. Every scrap of resource Big Qi claims is one stolen directly from our pockets. If we allow him to mature, it is only a matter of time before we are reduced to his groveling lackeys… or worse, his bloody stepping stones.”

By the end of his speech, Chen Tianhuan’s voice was devoid of all warmth. A terrifying, predatory light flickered in his eyes.

“Let him try!” Wu Hengshan roared, his face flushing with fury. But as the echo of his shout faded, his brow furrowed in apprehension. He fell silent for a long moment before grunting, “So what? Big Qi is riding the peak of his fame. He’s the Sect Leader’s new golden boy. We can’t just march over and butcher him. If we did, we’d be tortured until our souls shattered.”

Wu Hengshan didn’t value human life, but he wasn’t a suicidal lunatic either. You had to know who you could kill and who you couldn’t; it was the only way to survive in a Demonic Sect. Furthermore, Chen Tianhuan’s manipulation was so glaringly obvious that a blind man could see it.

“You misunderstand me, Junior Brother Wu.” Chen Tianhuan chuckled, the corner of his mouth curling upward. “Naturally, we cannot kill him. Even if we must, now is not the time.”

He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a silken hiss. “But just because we cannot kill him does not mean we cannot break him. As his Senior Brothers, taking it upon ourselves to teach our future Junior Brother some proper respect and etiquette before the formal ceremony… well, who could fault us for that?”

Wu Hengshan’s eyes widened, a dark realization dawning on his face. “You mean…”

Chen Tianhuan’s eyes narrowed into crescent moons, brimming with absolute confidence. “Precisely. Before the apprenticeship ceremony, we corner Big Qi. We beat him within an inch of his life and force him to swear a Heavenly Dao Oath of absolute obedience to us. Once the oath is bound to his soul, he will never be able to defy us again. He will become our loyal dog, fetching whatever we desire.”

He raised an eyebrow, a spine-chilling smirk splitting his face. “And if you still feel uneasy? We simply wait a few months, assign him a guaranteed-death sect mission, and let him perish ‘naturally’ in the line of duty. A clean, tragic accident. Not even the Sect Leader could pin the blame on us.”

Wu Hengshan’s eyelid twitched. He shifted uncomfortably, a flicker of genuine hesitation crossing his features. “Senior Brother Chen… the boy’s body cultivation is freakish. What if we fail to subdue him? Won’t we just be dropping a boulder on our own feet?”

It was easy to talk big, but the mental image of Qi Yuan literally tearing an Asura in half with his bare hands was still burned into Wu Hengshan’s retinas. Facing a humanoid meat-grinder in close quarters was an uncomfortable prospect.

“Relax. I wouldn’t have come to you if I didn’t have a foolproof guarantee.”

Chen Tianhuan smoothed his expression and casually slipped a small, obsidian bottle from his sleeve. “This bottle of Muscle-Melting Bone-Dissolving Powder is the grand welcoming gift I’ve prepared for our dear Big Qi. It is the ultimate bane of all body cultivators. A single breath of this, and even a steel-cast Vajra would melt into a puddle of impotent sludge, completely at our mercy.”

He tapped the bottle, his voice dripping with sinister glee. “Furthermore, the idiot took a Mortal Transformation Pill. For the next ten to fifteen days, his Qi is entirely sealed. Aside from his physical shell, he is no different from a mortal. Combine his weakened state, my poison, and our combined might? It is an absolute certainty.”

Chen Tianhuan leaned in. “Opportunity only knocks once. He will never be more vulnerable than he is tonight. The time to strike is now.”

A cold thrill shivered up Wu Hengshan’s spine.

He factored in the pill’s cooldown too? This snake is terrifying. Targeted by Chen Tianhuan with such meticulous malice, Big Qi was undeniably a dead man walking. And really, if he could permanently cripple his biggest rival with zero risk, why the hell shouldn’t he?

His hesitation evaporated. Wu Hengshan gave a sharp nod. “Done! Since Senior Brother Chen has mapped out every detail, count me in. We crush the brat together and neutralize the threat!”

“I knew you were a man of decisive action, Junior Brother Wu.” Chen Tianhuan laughed aloud, his eyes flashing with a macabre light. “There’s no time like the present. To prevent any unforeseen complications, we strike tomorrow night…”

The next day.

Long before the sun crested the horizon, the Ji Clan’s ancestral estate was already boiling with frenetic energy. Brilliant pillars of spiritual light pierced the heavens, auspicious clouds rolled in waves, and the entire domain was draped in miles of celebratory silk and glowing lanterns.

Today was the 80,000th birthday of the Ji Clan Ancestor, Ji Qingcang.

This was not merely a mandatory attendance event for the Nether Fiend Sect; it was a spectacle that demanded the attention of the entire Five Regions Demon Domain.

In truth, The Saint Sect was merely a massive puppet maneuvered by the three great families from the shadows. And as the uncontested sovereign of those three families, the Ji Clan possessed a terrifying foundation and sphere of influence that eclipsed ordinary sects, cementing them as a top-tier superpower.

Because of this, heavyweight demonic factions like the Nine Nether Sect, Eternal Night Palace, Seven Fiends Valley, and the Nether River Cult had all dispatched elite envoys bearing heavy tributes.

The sky was utterly choked with traffic. Luxurious flying palanquins, colossal airborne dreadnoughts, terrifying spirit beasts, and glowing Magical Artifacts swarmed toward the estate from every direction. The heavens flashed with endless streams of escape light as guests wove together like a grand, chaotic tapestry.

Inside the opulent cabin of a private flying boat, Qi Yuan let out a long, satisfied exhale. Having just finished a highly rigorous, physical “discussion of the Dao,” he stretched his limbs and glanced at the woman draped over the velvet bedding.

“Fairy Ji,” he asked casually, “what exactly did you prepare for our family’s Ancestor’s birthday today?”

Ji Chan’er lay nestled amidst the rumpled silk sheets, her waterfall of black hair beautifully disheveled. A lingering, rosy flush painted her jade-like skin, and her voice carried a thick, satisfied languor.

“I managed to acquire an Earth Emperor Fleeceflower Root that is roughly seven to eight thousand years old,” she murmured, tracing a finger over the blankets. “It’s considered a High Grade treasure among life-extending earthly materials. It’s more than sufficient to show my filial piety as a junior.”

A second later, his phrasing caught up to her. She shot him a glare that was half-amused, half-scandalized. “What do you mean ‘our’ family? You speak as if you and the Ancestor are old drinking buddies.”

Qi Yuan offered a lazy smirk.

I might not be drinking buddies with old man Ji Qingcang, he thought cynically, but considering this cheap son-in-law literally saved the old fossil’s life in the tower, even if your grandfather came down here right now, he’d have to get on his knees and thank me.

Naturally, he wasn’t suicidal enough to say that out loud. He merely coughed to clear his throat and smoothly pivoted the conversation.

“Well, I heard the old man is a big fan of health preservation,” Qi Yuan said, rummaging through his spatial ring. “So, I specifically tracked down a meditation cushion woven from the silk of a Solar Flame Silkworm. It features an integrated heating matrix to warm the old man’s bones and promote healthy blood circulation.”

With a flick of his wrist, Qi Yuan produced a circular, crimson cushion roughly the size of a millstone.

Honestly, since the Ji Clan Ancestor had his lifespan crisis forcefully resolved by Qi Yuan anyway, he didn’t really need a grand treasure. Qi Yuan had simply dug through Tu Ruoxu’s storage bracelet and picked out the first random trinket he found to half-ass the gift requirement.

This cushion was unequivocally another one of the Ten Thousand Ancient Holy Scion’s bizarre, modern-adjacent inventions. Its sole, monumental function was to make your butt comfortably toasty when you sat on it. It was essentially a glorified, spiritual electric heating pad—absolutely perfect for an 80,000-year-old boomer with stiff joints.