Volume One, Chapter Seven: The Kindly Elder

Liu Yiyun leaned down, staring at the corpse puppet with a wicked grin.

"No! Stop it!"

Before the words had even left the puppet's mouth, Liu Yiyun’s grin widened, and he swung a fist the size of a sandbag.

"So, the 'humble human race,' is it? The 'humble human race,' huh? Eighty, eighty, eighty..." Liu Yiyun chanted as he hammered down like a torrential storm.

"Aaaah!"

The puppet’s screams were incessant. Even though they were inside an illusion, the blows landed on his body with real, physical force. Liu Yiyun did not stop. Listen to that—what a beautiful, soul-stirring sound.

"You mother-fucker, you wanted to kill me, right?"

*Bam! Bam! Bam!* A few more strikes.

"You mother-fucker, you wanted to make me regret it, right?"

*Thwack! Thwack!* A few more strikes.

"You mother-fucker, you wanted to make me kneel, right?"

*Whack! Whack!* A few more strikes.

...

I don't know how much time had passed, but Liu Yiyun’s arm was starting to ache, and he was just about to stop. The puppet seized the chance and shrieked, "Spare my life! Spare my life!"

Liu Yiyun’s eyes widened immediately. Did he just say "my life" (using the royal "wu")? Beaten into such a pathetic state and still trying to act all high and mighty!

With a flicker in his pupils, a large slipper materialized in Liu Yiyun’s hand. He began slapping the puppet across the face: "I'll give you 'my'! I'll give you 'acting tough'! Are you going to keep acting tough? Huh? I’m asking you, are you still going to act tough?"

*Ah!!*

After a final, agonizing scream, the corpse puppet lay on the ground, gasping for its last breath. Subjected to both physical and mental torment by Liu Yiyun, its spirit was shattered. As a dignified Great Demon at the peak of the Golden Core stage, it had no face left to show in the demon realm.

"Tch! Is that all?" Liu Yiyun scoffed. The scenery of the ancient battlefield faded, and the prison cell returned to its original, drab appearance. The puppet’s body had vanished, leaving only its head lying on the floor like a dead dog, motionless.

Liu Yiyun stretched, working out the stiffness in his body. Throwing all those punches was tiring.

"Big-headed moron, activity time is over for today. Get some rest. If you try to act tough again next time I come, Grandpa here is going to slap you silly."

The puppet, lying on the floor playing dead, felt its lip twitch involuntarily at Liu Yiyun's words. *I give up. Who exactly is the demon here?*

***

Is there any way to bully a demon more than this?

After leaving the puppet's cell, he walked over to a square table and sat down. This was where the "wage slaves" of the Demon Suppression Prison hung out to slack off.

"System brother, explain the specific abilities of 'Truth-Breaking'."

[Blah, blah, blah...]

After the system's explanation, Liu Yiyun finally understood that Truth-Breaking was an incredibly overpowered skill. It had two main functions: creating illusions and absolute control. Creating illusions was self-explanatory—it was essentially genjutsu. But the "absolute control" part was truly fascinating; it meant exactly what it said—he could control everything.

The way he had forced the corpse puppet to roll around and kneel earlier was just the most basic form of control. As long as his mental power was strong enough, he could control "anything," regardless of their cultivation level. For instance, once his mental power was maxed out, he could make a Mahayana-stage cultivator’s bowels flow backward and spew out of their mouth. Of course, he didn't even know if such high-level cultivators still had bowels. That just went to show how broken this skill was.

Most importantly, this skill cost zero mana. Zero! He could treat Truth-Breaking like an infinite-firepower cheat.

*Awesome, System brother.*

In short, this was a skill with infinite growth potential that allowed for cross-level combat. Liu Yiyun did a rough calculation: with his current mental power, he could control anything below the Foundation Establishment stage. Well, he didn't actually calculate it—since he could control a corpse puppet suppressed to the peak of Qi Refining, other Qi Refining characters would be a piece of cake. As for Foundation Establishment cultivators, he didn't know how strong their mental power was; he hadn't tried, and he didn't dare to. The Demon Suppression Prison held cultivators of all levels; one wrong move and he might end up dead.

By this logic, he was arguably the number one chore disciple in the Firmament Holy Land. The undisputed King of Chores. Damn it, why am I still a chore disciple?

Whatever, that’s secondary. He had the system now; he’d broken through two minor realms in just one day. What would happen after some time? True disciples, Saintesses, elders, and sect masters—they’d all be fit only to lick his boots. *You guys get out, Saintess, come into the room with me!*

Liu Yiyun had decided: he would lay low in the Demon Suppression Prison. *Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west; don't bully a chore disciple for being poor.* Once he farmed all four levels of the prison a few times and maxed out his cultivation, he would emerge. Once he was invincible, he’d go out and start his own harem.

Let it be any Saintess or Goddess, he’d take them all. By the way, that snake demon didn't seem too bad either.

*Delicious!*

Since his future was mapped out, it was time to keep grinding. He got up and walked toward the next cell, straightened his collar, and prepared to knock politely.

Before he could, an old voice drifted from inside: "Little one, come on in."

*Hmm?* Does this old guy want to try seducing him too? *Please, I’m super brave!* I’m immune to both physical and magical attacks; how do you expect a decrepit old man to play against me?

Liu Yiyun gave a wicked chuckle, reached into his pants, pulled out his "big treasure," and opened the door.

At a glance, the cell held a kind-looking old man with a long white beard. This one looked more normal.

Seeing Liu Yiyun, the old man wore a kind smile: "Little one, you're here to get the deployment materials for the Four Divine Beasts Formation, aren't you?"

???

What formation? The name sounded long and impressive. And what were these "deployment materials"?

Liu Yiyun was stunned. "What are you talking about?"

The old man remained smiling and said slowly, "It seems the war between your Firmament Holy Land and the Southern Territory demon tribes is getting tense. I remember the last time someone came for materials was a month ago; I didn't expect them to be used up so quickly."

With that, the old man reached behind his back, scratched, and then gave a hard tug.

"Hiss!" The old man’s face twisted in pain, and he handed over what he was holding. "Little one, here you go."

"Huh?"

Liu Yiyun was bewildered. He just walked in and got a welcome gift? And this black, dark thing... it looked like a scale? Whatever, free is free. He took it and politely replied, "Thanks!"

The old man: "???"

*What’s going on? Is this guy a temp?* He’d been locked in the Demon Suppression Prison for hundreds of years and had seen countless staff members. Whenever someone came for scales, he’d just throw them out of the cell. This was the first time someone had reached out and taken them by hand. Wasn't Liu Yiyun afraid he would suddenly attack?

*Ah, youth is nice. So reckless.*