Seized by the System

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

With this renowned, powerful, and just Venerable Dragon God's reassurance, no one in the summit had any doubts on it. Everyone became excited, and messages sent via telepathy flew endlessly across the place.

The scene was as if they had already completed the task and countless Heavenly Merit was raining down on them…

Those cultivators that were all high and mighty were acting just like beasts whenever it concerned their benefit.

At that moment, someone finally spoke coldly, "Nothing will drop into our laps just like that from the sky. If there is going to be an astronomical amount of Heavenly Merit, the initial investment from us will also be astronomical, right?"

Everyone quickly calmed down from their excitement and turned to look at that person.

This person who threw a wet blanket was a young man with average looks and a very stable, concrete aura. It was obvious that his foundation was very solid.

Someone recognized this young man. He was the inheritor of a random Upper Realm Descended One and had always flaunted it. He was prideful and would talk down to other cultivators as if they were dirty peasants, and he will always compare the Upper Realm and the earth with every chance he got.

On this point itself, he was not good in interpersonal skills unlike how Master Ma was. Even though the latter was also an inheritor of the Upper Realm Descended One, he never spoke of it and gained the most benefit from it while keeping it all to himself. He used the bone of the Upper Realm and donned the skin of Mount Indigo to equip himself with it. No one could point anything out.

From the tone of this young man, he would either already be a guide for those from the Upper Realm, or was a backup guide for them.

Xie Dong stood on the circular center stage in prolonged silence and looked at the man.

The atmosphere of the summit quickly became awkward. For a moment, no one knew what to say.

Suddenly, Xie Dong snapped harshly, "Since even you understand that nothing will fall into your laps, then why would you even ask such a nonsense question in the first place! If you wanted to obtain generous returns yet refuse to contribute, then you should just pray that you are reincarnated into a better background next time!"

The young man flushed bright red at that. Just when he wanted to retort, the people beside him pulled him down to his seat.

He remembered what happened with the lightning just now and relented. He kept quiet with his head hung low.

Xie Dong was quite furious about this. These people were so disappointing!

They refuse to contribute, and still dared to want more! Did they really think that he was here to beg for their help?

What a joke!

This Great Wall Summit started because the higher-ups wanted to gather more manpower and to rally all forces that were willing to be united so that all of them could survive difficult times together.

From what he could see now, these people were hopeless for them to rely on! They could never become the reliable Great Wall!

The true power still laid within the Truth Department themselves and the system that sustained the Truth Department - the countless ordinary people that was struggling to survive.

Maybe the individual powers in the summit were strong, but that was exactly why most of them were extremely selfish and would fight over the smallest trivialities. They were completed self-centered and hoped to become a god or immortal by themselves so that they could take control.

What did he even say just now?

Even if he had shown them the way to obtain a great amount of Heavenly Axiom, the young man still dared to complain that the required contribution was too much…

It was just like someone sharing the method to escape the poverty trap, but received complaints that the method was too tiring.

However, it was still inappropriate for him to generalize that to the crowd as there were still some good souls among the bunch.

Xie Dong scanned the summit with his eyes and knew that he had lost his composure. Thankfully, those good people will not mind the anger that he had shown just now.

After all, his fury was targeted towards those who wished to get a free lunch.

After this hiccup, Xie Dong thought that two-thirds of his goals.

The Human Defence and the Earth Defence has finally gotten some basic results. They could move on with implementation after the summit.

How about the Heaven Defence, you ask? Hmph, he might just suggest the higher-ups look for that somewhere else. If they were to rely on these people, there would be major trouble awaiting them.

Then, he continued to speak, "Let's resume our previous topic. As long as we establish the mooncake as our moon shield, there will be no need for us to wait until the day where everything is complete. In the process of building it up, the Heavenly Axiom should be able to sense it and consequently distribute some Heavenly Merit for those who are proactive as an incentive. What do you think of that, Venerable One?"

"That's not wrong," Fang Ning assured.

He had tried to trick the Heavenly Axiom by swearing to establish the Milky Way Nets Above Snares Below. As a result, the Heavenly Axiom had given him thirty thousand locked Heavenly Merits, and only a mere hundred of it was free to be used.

With that as a reference, Xie Dong's statement was indeed accurate.

Of course, he would not keep himself quiet and refuse to support Xie Dong.

On the issue of defense building, his core benefit was the same as what the Truth Department wanted.

If the moon shield could really be built, the society would stabilize further, and his entertainment and enjoyment supply would then be protected and guaranteed.

That was his truest thought from the start till the end. Anything about a chaotic world was not something that he wished to be a part of, nor was he interested to be in it.

He was living well now, and he had no plans to build everything from the start and live his life from the bottom once more…

Besides, he knew clearly how cruel an apocalypse could be.

From what Anderson had managed to compile, information about the Upper Realm was filled with scenes of a true apocalypse that came one after another.

After all, before Anderson descended, the Upper Realm was already neck-deep in the flames of war and the smoke from beacon fires.

The thinning of vitality had caused such a big impact that affected all ten realms across the skies. No being could escape from it.

Even the daughter of the leader of the Celestial clan had to starve. Even though Chong Daqing's huge appetite was a contributing factor, one could always visualize the whole of a leopard even though he was gazing at a spot through a pipe. By looking at Chong Daqing, which was a small segment of the society, one would wonder how those in poverty managed to survive, knowing that they were the lowest in the social ladder?

The people in the Upper Realm had the habit of praying for the rain or using other supernatural methods to solve all agricultural problems. However, they could no longer pray for the rain with the lack of vitality, which had directly lead to frequent disasters.

Looking back, there was once in the Earth's history that such time of hunger and starvation had existed…

When the people in the summit heard this, they all nodded in agreement.

Since they could reap the gains with every step they took, it was acceptable even if they were required to contribute more.

Their worst fear would be to invest in large amounts but have no idea if they would be getting any returns. That would directly affect their confidence.

Everyone collectively concurred Xie Dong's sentiment.

"Leader Xie is correct. Since the Venerable One has said so, we would definitely feel more relieved and protected. How should we cooperate after this, though?"

"Similar to the matters I have said before, we will go into details about this after the summit." Xie Dong was finally feeling the exhaustion after such a long conference.

Thankfully, he had made proper preparations beforehand. Otherwise, it would be a challenge to control these people.

Aside from that, he was also grateful that the Venerable Dragon God has cared about his reputation enough to help him in his words. Everything happened so smoothly because no one dared to question his authority.

In the end, this was all thanks to the good relations that he had established beforehand. Without that, the Venerable One would have no reason to assist him.

"With that, the fourth actionable agenda for today is to end the summit…"

Everyone was just about to continue taking down some notes before they heard that. Suddenly, they felt like they could not believe what they are hearing…

They are ending the summit just like this?

Somehow, it felt quite unsatisfying?

The Truth Department should have proposed more tasks for them to cooperate and work towards, no?

The actual proceedings differed with their expectations, though.

After Xie Dong announced for the summit to end, someone soon noticed the Venerable Dragon God, Monastery Master Ma, Xie Dong himself and a few other powerhouses exchange some private words before leaving the summit together. No one knew where they were leaving for, or what they were going to do next.

"Sigh. Let's not assume that we're more important than we actually are. It was very kind of them to even be willing to bring us along this ride." When the summit dispersed, someone went up to those who were stirring trouble and chillingly hissed at them.

The troublemakers proceeded to leave the summit as quickly as possible with their heads buried low, seemingly to report to their masters.

///

A few days later at the Headquarters of the Truth Department in China, Xie Dong was giving a report in the Head Advisor's office.

"The task that Advisor Ren issued this time was completed quite smoothly. Two-thirds of the core goals were basically done. The Human Defence and the Earth Defence of the Triple Defence of the Heaven, Earth, and Humans was successfully started. Only the Heavenly Defence should seek assistance elsewhere, it was suggested that we do not rely on those clans, families and tycoons."

Ren Ruofeng was not bothered by that.

Frankly, the reporting was just a ceremonial procedure. Everything that happened on the summit, including any changes and incidents were seen by his eyes at the exact moment that they happened - he was watching the live broadcast of the summit the whole time.

"Mm, let's put this summit issue aside. After this, you can go out and pass the work that you have to someone else."

"Ah, Advisor, I-I really don't want to leave you or the Truth Department. For the Truth Department, I have…" Xie Dong was astonished. Did he get caught slacking off again?

No, that's impossible. He did everything he could, and he did not miss anything much. He just did not work overtime or set up meetings…

"Hold on, hold on. What I meant was that I wanted to transfer you to work on the mooncake." Ren Ruofeng waved his fan and stopped Xie Dong's emotional speech. "It will be built into a moon shield in the future. Since you've guarded the deep sea bed for quite some time and thus have great experience in adapting to hostile environments, you should be the one to pioneer this and complete any scouting and investigating efforts before everything starts."

Xie Dong thought to himself listlessly, 'I don't want these great experiences in adapting to hostile environments…'

"However, if you want to survive there in the long term, you will need to achieve at least Lake-level. I've just evolved from Cutlery-level to Bucket-level, and would probably not stand a chance against a hostile environment like that. Even though I could survive relying on current technology, building a space station there would definitely not be a project that could be completed in a short period of time." Xie Dong tried his best to reject it.

"Oh, we already had a solution for this problem. Since you've achieved great milestones in your work all these years, and also have extremely valuable individual skills, the organization has decided to help you to reach Lake-level…"

Xie Dong hissed in surprise at that and was quickly overwhelmed by joyful bewilderment.

Once a person reached Lake-level, one could return to the prime of their youths with just a snap of their fingers. Master Ma's white beard that was slowly turning black was the best evidence for that.

Could it be that he was that lucky too?

From looking like he was 43, could he finally become a true 34-year-old, or maybe even 24-year-old?

Of course, returning to 18 was too much of a stretch for him.

Not everyone had the luck Advisor Ren had that lead him to be chosen by the Upper Realm Celestial Swine as a double cultivation partner.

Perhaps the others had no idea of these secrets, but he had the skill to identify the lies of others and thus could guess the truth. As long as he listened to some rumors, he could form the truth on his own.

"Look at how ecstatic you are. Soon you will know that this was nothing as compared to everything else." Ren Ruofeng took his folded fan and fanned himself, trying to look mysterious.

"Yes, yes. Advisor, you're wise indeed." Xie Dong finally had a taste of a free lunch, his heart thumping with endless excitement.

The saying 'With Heaven's assistance' was probably describing situations like this.

However, from a bucket, it was still possible to become a pond. If he were to suddenly become a lake, would it turn around to drown himself instead?

No, that was impossible. Advisor Ren was a great and cunning strategist that would become more skilled the older he became. There was no way that he would allow such a flaw to happen.

Xie Dong chucked his worries aside and became motivated once more as he prepared himself to welcome new challenges.