Chapter 118: Leveling Up

Night in the Evil Spirit Mine was still bustling with activity, the sounds of combat echoing incessantly.

Fan Bei stared at the man in the distance. Although the figure was blurred by the night, Dabai had already locked onto the individual's scent. It was none other than He Xing, the man who had hired an "Assassin" to deal with him.

He would leave the Assassin to Lang Sheng; as for this small-time thug, he would handle it himself.

Truth be told, Fan Bei couldn't fathom how this guy still had the heart to hunt monsters and mine ore after plotting against him. Perhaps all villains shared this subconscious mentality—that they were the only ones entitled to harm others, while everyone else should passively wait to be victimized. To that, Fan Bei could only say they had watched too many movies and television shows where the heroic protagonists just sat around waiting to be schemed against.

Now, he would teach them a lesson.

With a flick of his thought, a faint mist emerged. Under the cover of night, it blended into the natural autumnal frost, and no one noticed anything amiss.

He Xing, who was busy fighting an evil spirit, had just swung his fist at the creature when he suddenly felt his arm paralyzed. He instinctively wanted to cry out for help—the Oil River Caravan members were nearby. At that moment, he assumed he had simply encountered a more powerful evil spirit. Only when he realized he couldn't even make a sound did he suspect that things were not so simple.

However, before he could fully grasp the situation, the evil spirit lunged!

"How could this happen?"
"Have I been exposed?"

As these thoughts raced through his mind, the grey-white entity in his vision grew larger and larger, eventually burrowing into his nostril...

"What's going on? Why did Captain He suddenly go quiet?" The nearby Oil River Caravan members immediately noticed the anomaly and rushed over to investigate. Several had been secretly guarding He Xing, watching his every move, yet they never imagined that such an accident could happen so quickly.

"Oh no! Captain He has been possessed by an evil spirit!" the man who arrived to check on him cried out in panic.

Watching the commotion from afar, Fan Bei left without a sound.

Two days later, the mining camp was in an uproar.

"What? The President of the Star Chamber of Commerce killed another Overlord-level evil spirit?"

"Yeah, they’re over there holding the creature's core, declaring that some monster called an 'Assassin' wanted to stop us from mining and disrupt order, so they wiped it out."

"Sigh, compared to them, we’re just commoners and they’re the 'whales' of the game," someone sighed.

"You're overthinking it. We're just slaves. Commoners at least have the freedom to choose whether to play or not. Do we have that freedom?"

Fan Bei heard this and remained calm. It seemed Lin Zhongqing was becoming increasingly proficient. The cost for Lang Sheng was truly high. As for whether she would suspect him—she certainly would, but she would never guess the truth about the System tasks. At most, she could only speculate about his past relationship with Lang Sheng.

Forget it. Three strikes and you're out. After this last job, he would abandon his assets, join Lang Sheng, and hide until he was invincible before coming out again.

...

Inside the Star Chamber of Commerce President's wooden cabin.

"Congratulations, President Lin. Your power is boundless, your might unparalleled. Unifying the world is only a matter of time," Fan Bei said.

Dabai followed behind him, boredly playing with its own paws.

"I always feel like your words are too insincere," Lin Zhongqing scoffed. She looked at him suspiciously. "But you really lucked out. Just as you were threatened, someone came and asked me to take action."

"It's all good luck, but luck doesn't put food on the table. I've decided to entrust my assets to President Lin to manage. I only want one-third of the annual output."

"No, one-fifth. And only one-fifth of the profits," Lin Zhongqing corrected him.

"Fine. For the sake of the two times you've helped me, I won't haggle over the numbers," Fan Bei said, gritting his teeth as if in pain. In the end, whatever she spent would be consumed by the System, and the lion's share would eventually flow back to him anyway.

"Huh, you're surprisingly easy to talk to. I'm starting to think Lin Qing died too easily," she probed.

"I'm the type of person who responds to kindness but resists force. If someone tries to pressure me, I won't let them have their way. My things will only be given or sold by me. If someone tries to seize them, I'd rather burn or discard them than let them succeed," Fan Bei said calmly.

"Valley Master Fan certainly has a personality," Lin Zhongqing nodded and called someone over to sign the asset management contract. She only engaged with him because of the land. Perhaps this Fan Bei had some background or secret, but so what? Could any secret be bigger than her own? If it were truly significant, he wouldn't be at the point of effectively selling his assets under the guise of management. Once it was in her hands, could he ever take it back?

She didn't waste much thought on such a minor character; she only cared about continuously strengthening herself. She was already at Level 20. With 19 attribute points in Strength, Agility, Spirit, and Charisma, she followed the 'System Brother's' suggestion and poured them all into Spirit. She had considered adding a few to Charisma, but figured the System probably wouldn't care for her charm anyway, so she let it go.

She had already touched the threshold of the Epic tier. The wheat in the field had long begun to evolve toward a transcendent realm, faintly carrying an air of mythology.

After signing the contract, Fan Bei suddenly asked, "I heard you're planning to build a stronghold at this mine?"

"Yes, that's the plan, but this is unclaimed land, and building an official settlement is quite troublesome," Lin Zhongqing replied, not wanting to elaborate.

Fan Bei didn't press further and returned to his tent.

From then on, his days were spent meditating and sleeping during the day, and taking the two 'Bais' out to hunt monsters at night to gain combat experience. With the Star Chamber of Commerce patrolling the area, this stronghold seemed even safer than Phoenix Cry Valley, so he didn't need to worry about it anymore.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye.

In a flash, another year had passed, and the calendar turned to January of the 36th year of the Shengxie Era.

This made him sigh; there was truth in the old saying that it’s easy to enjoy the shade when resting under a big tree. He had expected the Oil River Caravan to cause more trouble, but they had retreated, likely terrified by how Lin Zhongqing had wiped out their 'Assassin' and afraid to act recklessly on her turf.

He checked his cultivation progress. His 'Wutong' tree had turned golden, meaning he had smoothly reached the Golden Tier, surpassing Lang Sheng, who had only just broken through to that level.

Dabai had long since become a Level 50 dog. When it was Level 10, its stats were: "Level 10, Strength 8, Agility 10, Intelligence 2, Charisma 9." It had caps: "Strength 15, Agility 21, Intelligence 5, Charisma 45." After the System maintenance, its Intelligence was adjusted to Spirit. Having leveled up 40 times, it had 40 free points. Its current stats were: "Strength 15, Agility 21, Spirit 5, Charisma 9," with 21 points added and 19 held in reserve.

Xiaobai had adamantly forbidden it from adding to Charisma, lest it attract unwanted attention. Fan Bei highly agreed; over the past three months, he had noticed Lin Zhongqing's gaze lingering on Dabai several times. If he added the remaining 19 points to Charisma, he didn't know how many more 'He Guis' would come knocking.

Unable to add points, the dog wasn't very proactive in hunting anymore, just going through the motions. Even so, it was stronger than a brown bear and faster than a cheetah. Combined with its various skills, it was an absolutely ferocious beast.

However, Fan Bei's greatest gain was that he could upgrade 'Father of the System' to create new systems. This time, he would learn from the lessons of the past six months and plan carefully. Both Dabai and Lang Sheng’s systems had been arranged under duress, but Lin Zhongqing’s system had been carefully considered and had yielded the greatest results. If he hadn't given it to a 'whale,' he was certain his current development wouldn't have gone so smoothly.