Chapter 356 - Slaying Demon with Morality

“In spring I sowed a wicked demon, in fall I reaped a boss…”

The System muttered to itself and captured a hiding thief in the basement of a deserted apartment.

It was a thug in his twenties who was used to poaching and hiding while others were distracted by the incoming disaster, so he was never found.

The local law enforcement had been exhausted trying to keep the peace, leaving the thief to do as he wished for a long time. It was not until today that the System found him.

With Zhi Nan becoming a regular nuisance in kill-stealing, the System could not catch the big fish, so it could only settle with small fries.

The System had always been flitting in and out as the Eastern Pharos, shining its light all around the world and suppressing the evil creatures, but now it could only find small fries…

Vigilante A hung the thief up with his vitality and flew to the airspace of a certain law enforcement building in this city. Several guards were patrolling around.

The front of the building was busy as people walked in and out.

Vigilante A had just wanted to throw the thief in when Zhi Nan appeared in front of his eyes again.

His unimpressive face carried the mysterious smile as usual.

The System immediately said furiously, “Billionaire Host, this dude is becoming more and more of a prick, he would even interfere with a thief that I want to catch. You have to think of a way for me to fight him, we can’t let him step all over us.”

Fang Ning was also having a headache dealing with him, he comforted the System, saying, “Let’s listen to what he wants. I don’t think he would interfere with us for fun.”

Vigilante A let go of the unconscious thief and stared at Zhi Nan expressionlessly.

A cold glint flashed as he shot daggers out of his eyes at Zhi Nan.

“Heh, Almsgiver Fang, it’s been a while, how do you do?” Zhi Nan greeted as if he did not notice the stare.

Vigilante A was silent, communicating only with his looks.

“Heh, my visit here today was to take another person from you.” Zhi Nan did not mind and continued.

The System almost exploded. It told Fang Ning, “Dammit, he is really trying to steal from me again… Thieves are recyclable resources and our main subject in daily experience farming, I can’t hold it in anymore!”

Fang Ning frowned as well. ‘Sir System is right, how many thefts and burglaries happen every day?

‘It’s clear as day when people whined about losing their phones, motorbikes, or wallets.

‘Different from other criminals, thievery is hard to completely eradicate.

‘The number of thieves Sir System catch depends on its efficiency and had nothing to do with the number of thieves, that’s because thieves were made much quicker than Sir System’s efficiency.

‘There are 3,600 seconds in an hour. Even if Sir System could nab a thief every ten seconds, it could only catch 8,640 thieves in a day. Assuming every thief could contribute fifty experience points, the System could earn not more than 500 thousand experience points per day, and a little more than ten million experience points per month.

‘Of course, this is nothing compared to major villains. After all, each major villain could give several hundred million experience points each.

‘However, it’s a regular income that never stops. With time, it could grow to solve the System’s basic expenditures. Without them, it would mean the experience points would be difficult to accumulate.’

After the series of thought processes, Fang Ning said, keeping in mind a guess he made about Zhi Nan, “If that’s the case, even though the System Map did not show him as threatening toward us, you still should be able to warn him with Morality. In my estimation, Morality should be effective toward him…”

The System said satisfactorily, “I knew you have an idea. Hold on.”

System Notification: [The System activated Legendary Atmospheric Morality Technique.]

[The System consumed 100 Morality Bars and all of the Aggro Bars to activate the legendary esoteric skill Morality of the Realm. Effect: Controlling Morality, one can inspire awe from all evil. Range: All areas in which Favorability rank reached ‘Worship’.]

Fang Ning noticed the system notifications as Vigilante A’s body shook. Dragon-shaped white auras coiled around him as sounds of dragon roar appeared.

The dragon-shaped aura shot toward the sky and scattered to all directions.

At that moment, the earth seemed to tremor as time seemingly stopped. White aura shot into the sky from each of human settlements.

Starting from Qi City and Ji City, it was as if the whole of China had begun to boil. Everyone’s heart jumped like something had left their bodies.

Above Vigilante A were the dragon-shaped auras. As if being commandeered, the sky was covered by white aura that not even sunbeams were able to penetrate.

Vigilante A stood nobly like a god as it stared at the man-in-black-robe.

For the first time, Zhi Nan was not smiling, staring back at Vigilante A with a serious face.

He nodded after a while, expressing his approval by clicking his tongue. “You truly are my First Paradise Lord. Even with such puny strength, you were able to make the Morality of the realm heed your calls. Even in the Upper Realm, this is a rare sight.”

“How dare you!” Vigilante A glared as his body shook again. Pillars of white aura shot down from the sky toward Zhi Nan.

Their target was not Zhi Nan, however, but the ground three feet in front of him.

Countless arrows of white aura charged faster than the wind.

However, Zhi Nan looked like he was not affected even a little. His body was still, behaving as if what happened was a breeze of cold air.

“Almsgiver Fang, you’ve succumbed to the poison of hatred again, this shouldn’t be.” Zhi Nan sighed in disapproval.

“What a d*ck, he’s such a tricky enemy,” said the System angrily, “wasting so much of my Morality Bars! Billionaire Host, your plan failed…”

Fang Ning said thoughtfully, “Wait for it.”

A little while later, the smiling Zhi Nan’s face darkened. The black robe that covered his body began to show flickers of white light.

His plain-looking face shifted uncontrollably.

A good-looking face of a youth appeared. His face was graceful and smart, but one of sorrow.

“Dammit, you haven’t died off! The Morality of this realm could bring you out!” Zhi Nan’s muttered coldly, no longer feeling smug.

His hands formed an Anjali Mudra as he tried to retreat into the void.

However, his Space Diversion Technique failed as he was immobilized in the air.

“Hey, Richman Host, you’re a genius!” exclaimed the System happily, “he’s a pure black dot on the System Map now!”

‘What?!’ Fang Ning was shocked. His outlandish guess was true. Zhi Nan’s goal was much bigger than what he had shown!

At that moment, a three-headed dragon appeared in the air.

The three heads were azure, crimson, and purple respectively.

In the next moment, a divine sword with a dragon hilt was formed!

White auras descended from the sky, enveloping the sword, and blitzed toward Zhi Nan!

“Curses! My time has yet to arrive!” Zhi Nan grunted and struggled against the force that held him. A pitch black aura burst out of his crown, disappearing in mid-air.

Following that, the sword pierced his body, which was being ripped apart piece by piece!

Zhi Nan’s body was as tough as a diamond!

“The past fades like a puff of smoke, why suffer unnecessarily…”

A sigh whispered. The diamond-like body began to soften.

The remaining body of the sword drilled through Zhi Nan’s body before it exploded, turning into black dust that sprinkled across the air.

The white auras in the air looked as if it had found its archnemesis and pursued them, wrapping them up automatically.

The black dust began to sizzle as soon as it touched the pillars of white auras. Each particle wriggled and quivered, trying to wrestle their way out.

The chaos they would cause if they had succeeded running away could be anticipated!

Even the remains of a demon were terrifying enough. Like a dead centipede, it would not fall even if its breath had left its body!

However, more and more white auras joined the struggle…

The handsome man’s face had disappeared by this point. Since the beginning, it had never spoken to Vigilante A.

System notifications popped up.

[The System used Body-Sword Unity technique, the System used Strength in Unity…]

[The System has defeated one of Demon Lord Zhi Nan’s avatars of knowledge.]

[The spirit of Zhi Nan’s avatar had run away.]

[The System earned 1,500,000,000 Experience Points.]

[The System obtained 1 Heavenly Merit Point. Currently has 1 point. Every point allows the System to listen to the will of the Heaven once. Every 100 points allow the System to summon the Heavenly Axiom to help once.]

[The System acquired an astronomical amount of Reputation. The System’s Mythos increased from 35 points to 50 points.]

[…]

The System said in surprise, “Defeating him once nabbed me 1.5 billion. If I can finish him off permanently, wouldn’t that give me at least 100 billion? This is only an avatar, which means his power was much weaker than his main body. I could only imagine how rich we’d be after defeating him…”

Fang Ning could almost visualize the System drooling.

He preened and said, “How was that? You have to have been impressed, I told you to wait.”

“I am, but Richie, how did you manage to find that weakness?” asked the System curiously.

Fang Ning was getting ready to spill, but he held himself back and said mysteriously, “A Heavenly secret shalt not be revealed.”

‘That idiot System had been ready to make trouble recently, it was getting harder and harder to trick it…

‘I can’t do it like before anymore and tell it everything I was planning. I have to keep some secrets.’

The System said bitterly, “If you’re not gonna tell me, I will not let you have the holiday.”

Fang Ning immediately asked, “How many days of the holiday will you let me have?”

“Ten days,” said the System forcefully.

“I shall tell you how I did it. It’s easy. After I’d heard the backstory of Zhi Nan from Bodhisattva, I concluded he must be the obsessions of Prince Ji.

“The nine avatars must have been his nine obsessions. In that case, there’s a problem. Where is the real Prince Ji? He must be a kind person. After all, he became a monk because his country was destroyed.”

As soon as Fang Ning heard about the holiday, he put his tiny scheme behind. He was one such gullible person…

“So that’s why you wanted to use our Morality to invoke his kindness and defeat the avatar from inside.” The System said in a shocked tone.

It had finally understood that the difference between the Host’s and its imagination was like the difference between the Host’s and its fighting capability.