Chapter 101: The Manor

Chef He was now filled with deep regret. When disaster strikes, everyone scatters; yet before any real calamity had come, his relatives and friends had already begun to disperse, leaving him humiliated.

Fan Bei, however, had no time to concern himself with these people. To him, arguing with them was merely a waste of precious time and held no meaning.

He called over Steward Huo and gave a few instructions before leaving with Daba.

He needed to monitor Lin Zhongqing’s movements closely through the system logs, so he could provide support when necessary.

After all, he was still human. Although Chen Gang and the others dared not target him directly, their resentful murmurs stoked a faint anger within him.

What, do they really think this place is insignificant, far less stable than Silver City?

That massive claw just now—though he couldn’t see its weak point—he was confident he could forcibly purify it.

Now, with over six million mental energy reserves, and knowing Lin Zhongqing was confident in eliminating the foe, he believed his reserves were equally sufficient.

No one likes to be underestimated, especially when looked down upon face to face.

As Fan Bei drove back, he recalled his earlier preparations. The reason Silver City was so stable was precisely because it had that powerful presence providing protection.

Some ignorant fools had no idea how deep his foundation truly was.

He secretly resolved that while he would continue to develop discreetly, that did not mean he would be a turtle hiding in its shell. On the contrary, the fate of a turtle was hardly enviable—if he didn’t show his claws, he had no right to claim low profile!

Back at the refuge’s duty room, he instructed Daba and Xiaobai to stay by the door.

“Daba, Xiaobai, I’m about to communicate with that great presence. They have dared to brazenly oppress us—it’s utterly intolerable!” Fan Bei feigned anger. “I will let those wicked ones learn the consequences of violating us!”

At this, Xiaobai spoke excitedly, “You should have done this earlier. When that woman was showing off, you could have directly contacted that merciful presence and had them eliminate her at once. Actually, that presence isn’t that strong—just has the advantage of terrain.”

“Uh, that communication actually takes a lot of time. I can’t just rashly disturb such an esteemed elder,” Fan Bei replied helplessly. “Anyway, I need time now.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let outsiders come in to disturb you,” Xiaobai promised firmly.

“You’re deceiving the dog again. Whenever danger arises, you can’t even find a shadow of a ball. For this matter, only Daba can make the master feel secure,” Daba said disdainfully, looking at the iron ball.

“I’m not lying to you—I meant people, not those terrifying ones,” Xiaobai insisted.

“You’re talking nonsense. The last time, that man scared you off…”

Daba and Xiaobai bickered, but Fan Bei was too lazy to pay attention to these two fools and went into his master bedroom.

—

He lay down on the couch, closed his eyes, and checked the steward system page.

An image appeared before him.

……

Spirit Realm.

A world of gray and white, without any landmarks.

Lin Zhongqing was enveloped in layers of white light, moving swiftly through it.

“Brother Dongfang, how much mental energy reserve do we still have in the mall?” she asked.

“Four million points remain. Currently, five points per second are consumed resisting the Spirit Realm’s rejection of you,” Dongfang Yitong replied.

“What a pity. If I had known the consumption would be this high, I would have exchanged all those mental cores beforehand,” Lin Zhongqing regretted.

After discovering the system mall, she quickly found a new use for the mental cores: instead of directly purchasing items, she could first recharge in it to store mental energy, then slowly consume it.

Moreover, she found a service called “Energy Restoration” that allowed her to extract mental energy for cultivation by purchasing it.

When restoring energy, a portion of mental energy is directly infused into the host, replenishing spirit.

Though there were daily purchase limits and restrictions—the service could only be used when energy was insufficient—the utilization efficiency of the mental cores increased dramatically, by over fifty percent.

This was an unforeseen loophole by Fan Bei, but also a significant benefit.

“Don’t worry, I’m still evolving. Next time I exit the system space, it won’t be such a hassle,” Dongfang Yitong reassured.

“System space? Does that mean we’ll eventually have the abilities of those guys?” Lin Zhongqing asked eagerly.

“Slowly. Everything you need will come,” Dongfang said.

Just as Lin Zhongqing brimmed with hope, Dongfang suddenly spoke: “Found it.”

Lin Zhongqing looked up to see a fierce beast resembling a wild wolf lying amid the gray-white expanse, eyes closed and panting.

Its front paw was clearly missing.

From its aura, it was the owner of the giant claw seen earlier!

“I really didn’t expect that. I thought it would be some monstrous creature, but it’s nothing special!” Lin Zhongqing sneered.

—

“I told you, with your current strength, you can easily handle it. Fear comes from the unknown—just like in your country last century. The so-called powers are really nothing. If you unite and strive forward, they’re not to be feared at all,” Dongfang Yitong said matter-of-factly.

“Yes, history repeats itself,” Lin Zhongqing mused, then swung a sword.

“Purification Sword!”

……

Half an hour later, the wild wolf was fleeing everywhere, with Lin Zhongqing in close pursuit.

If not for Lin Zhongqing’s initial unfamiliarity with this new world, the beast wouldn’t have escaped at all.

Fan Bei, watching the battle, nodded slightly. It seemed no intervention was needed from him.

Indeed, a wealthy man paired with a system doesn’t just increase combat power by one plus one greater than two—it’s like adding several zeros after the one!

“Damn woman! Do you really want to fight to the death? I admit this is your territory, okay!” the wolf shouted desperately as it ran.

“Hmph, if you don’t cut the grass to the root, do you think I’ve wasted these years?” Lin Zhongqing pursued relentlessly.

If the opponent hadn’t been so brutal before, refraining from attacking ordinary people and sticking to some principles—like that big boss of the Silver Chamber of Commerce—she might have reached an agreement.

But years of education and experience taught her that when facing an opponent without bottom lines, if you fight, you must fight to the end.

Otherwise, sooner or later, you will suffer a harsh defeat. This isn’t a commercial war in peaceful times—losing could mean death!

“Hmph, foolish human, do you really think you can kill me? This world is not one for humans to survive!” the wolf roared furiously as it fled to a place radiating light.

Fan Bei sensed something amiss. Through Lin Zhongqing’s perspective, he saw the source of the light—it seemed to be a manor.

A manor?

Even a homeless wild wolf could make people in the real world uneasy, even force the Silver Chamber of Commerce’s big boss to concede.

How powerful then must the master of that manor be?