Chapter 4: One Auto-Run a Day, and the Demonic Path Keeps Its Distance

Who?!

Zheng Jingshan?

No, it couldn’t be Zheng Jingshan.

That man was domineering by nature. If he had already caught up, he would have shown himself and struck directly, not hidden in the shadows.

As for everyone else... the rest of the Pei clan should be focused on getting the fifty Bone-Tempering Pills Zheng Jingshan had promised, not rushing over to hunt him down.

At first Pei Ling suspected he was simply too tense and had mistaken his nerves for a false alarm. But very quickly, his expression changed.

He realized that the gazes spying on him from the dark were multiplying.

What had begun as one or two faint, almost nonexistent lines of sight had rapidly grown into a tangible presence from all directions, silently fixed on him.

This feeling...

Pei Ling instantly thought of the folding screen in Zheng Jingshan’s room.

His heart lurched as he looked sharply around, but there was nothing within sight.

And yet that solid, physical sense of being watched only grew stronger.

In the murky depths, it almost felt as if he were already surrounded, as if something from every direction was inching closer and closer.

Pei Ling’s face turned dark. His cultivation was still too low, and his knowledge too shallow. He had no idea how to deal with this situation.

After a quick burst of thought, he decided to keep moving forward.

Going back was even more of a dead end.

If it was only this sensation of being watched, then he could at least pretend nothing was wrong.

However, after running for a while longer, Pei Ling suddenly felt cold.

Ever since he had drawn in qi and opened his meridians, stepping onto the path of cultivation, this had never happened before. Especially now, when he was sprinting at full speed and his blood was boiling all over his body, how could he possibly feel cold?

Pei Ling knew something was wrong, but there was nothing he could do.

Soon, that icy chill spread through his entire body. It was not only as if he had fallen into an ice pit, but even his consciousness began to feel heavy.

"Where is the problem?" Pei Ling knew he could not keep letting this continue. He stopped abruptly and quickly replayed everything that had happened in his mind. The folding screen was definitely the problem!

But setting aside the fact that Zheng Jingshan had placed restrictions on it to avoid harming members of the Pei clan, last night when the system had been controlling his body, he had openly cultivated in front of that screen for a long time. After returning to the courtyard, he had even gone to the main hall... and until some time after he had left the crowd, there had been no abnormality.

Why was it coming after him now?

"System, I want to cultivate!" Feeling his thoughts growing slower and slower, Pei Ling’s sense of danger spiked. Suddenly inspiration flashed through him, and he said in a deep voice, "Choose the Bone-Tempering Art! Smart duration! One-click auto-run!"

"Ding dong! The Smart Cultivation System is at your service!" In his mind, the system’s mechanical voice had never sounded so pleasing.

The instant the system took over his body, Pei Ling felt as though he had suddenly lightened all over.

The cold, the sluggishness, and all the other symptoms faded at once.

He could not help letting out a long breath. "Just as I thought!"

Last night he had cultivated in front of that folding screen for so long. The reason nothing bad happened beyond the feeling of being watched was not because the screen had failed to attack him, but because he had been cultivating at the time.

No, maybe it was because his body had been under the system’s control.

No matter which it was, at least he was safe for the moment.

That familiar pain returned, but as Pei Ling let go of the tension in his heart, his desire to flee only grew more urgent. Ideally, he wanted to leave the territory of the Dark Abyss Sect entirely.

Goddamn demonic sects really were demonic sects. Even the belongings of some random disciple were this damned sinister.

He, Pei, had been keeping his head down and surviving diligently for all these years, and he had almost been brought down by this!

As the Bone-Tempering Art continued, Pei Ling felt as if he had come alive again, and even the crack of breaking bones sounded especially pleasant.

But!

Not long after, the system suddenly went "ding dong" and said mechanically, "Detected that the host’s blood and qi are severely depleted. Continuing to cultivate the Bone-Tempering Art will cause irreversible damage..."

"Ding dong! Detected that the host lacks Blood-Qi Pills. The system will provide three Blood-Qi Pills free of charge!"

Pei Ling: "?!"

Pei Ling: "Wait..."

Before the thought could even finish, the system had already manipulated his body to stop cultivating. He suddenly stood up, twisted on his heel, spun around one hundred and eighty degrees, and headed straight for Yuanlao Mountain!

********************

Yuanlao Mountain, a deep underground cavern.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Along with a tearing fit of coughs, the man slumped against the wall suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood. In an instant, his already weak aura withered even further.

He gasped for a while. Only after gathering a little strength did he shakily open a jade bottle and bring its mouth to his lips with difficulty.

But before he could pour out the pills inside, his internal organs spasmed violently. Unable to hold it in, the man broke into another violent coughing fit, and the jade bottle fell to the ground.

By the time he finally managed to steady himself and reach for the bottle nearby, his movements abruptly froze. He snapped his head up toward the dark tunnel.

Not long after, a rat shot past.

The man looked wary and, without changing expression, pinched a pitch-black pellet into his hand.

After quite a while, the surroundings remained calm and still. Only then did he gradually relax, stuffing the pellet back into his sleeve. A look of vicious hatred surfaced in his eyes. "The Dark Abyss Sect... heh. I never thought I, Wu Tingxi, would end up in such a state that even a mere rat makes me jump like a frightened bird!"

He laboriously picked up the jade bottle, but did not take the pills immediately. Instead, he rubbed the pellet hidden in his sleeve, malice flickering in his eyes, and muttered under his breath, "If Master had succeeded in changing his cultivation method back then, would we personal disciples have ended up like this? Too bad I entered the sect too late, and my strength is too weak. I’m afraid there’s no way out now... otherwise..."

Wu Tingxi’s expression shifted unpredictably. He let out a bitter sigh and raised the bottle. Just as the pills inside were about to slide out, a figure suddenly burst out of the tunnel.

"What the fuck!" Pei Ling stared dumbfounded at the cultivator in front of him, whose aura was feeble. "This looks like the traitor they’re looking for?"

The system gave no response. It simply and decisively snatched the jade bottle straight out of Wu Tingxi’s hands. Then it poured out three Blood-Qi Pills, shoved all of them into Pei Ling’s mouth, and casually tossed the bottle into a corner.

Then, just like last night, the same thing happened again: the system showed absolutely no intention of leaving quickly. It guided Pei Ling’s body to an open patch of ground nearby, sat down cross-legged, and said, "Ding dong! Pill delivery complete. The system will continue cultivating for you..."

Pei Ling: "...?!"

What the fuck, you’re doing this again???

Last time, at least nobody was in Zheng Jingshan’s room. This time, the poor bastard was right there in front of him, staring at him with his eyes wide open, all right?!

Wu Tingxi was first struck by shock.

After all, he was in a dire situation right now, on full alert. Even a rat passing by was enough to put him on edge. The newcomer had moved so fast that he had not even had time to react, and after his pills were stolen, his first feeling was fear and astonishment, not anger.

But!

Once the system started cultivating, Wu Tingxi realized that the young man in front of him was nothing more than a tiny third-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

After observing for a while and confirming that he had not misread it, Wu Tingxi was so furious he almost died on the spot. The intense emotion tugged at his injuries again, and after a violent bout of coughing, Wu Tingxi gave Pei Ling a long, hard look. He did not strike immediately. Instead, while coughing, he painfully crawled toward the jade bottle in the corner.

"System! Can we kill him first and then cultivate?"

"Kill him first, come on!"

"I’ll give you a five-star review right away after I kill him!"

"If killing him is off the table, then fine, just run now and I’ll still give you five stars!"

Pei Ling spat blood. "You fucking idiot! Stop cultivating already!!!!"

The system remained unmoved and focused solely on cultivation.

And so Pei Ling could only watch helplessly as Wu Tingxi rested three times before finally crawling to the jade bottle, trembling as he opened the stopper and gulping down all the remaining Blood-Qi Pills inside in one go.

After that, Wu Tingxi forced himself to roll over and sit up. He shot Pei Ling a venomous glance, and then, astonishingly, he too began to cultivate.

Pei Ling’s heart sank. He could see that Wu Tingxi was badly injured. Rather than cultivating, he was clearly using the process to dissolve the medicine’s power so he could temporarily suppress his injuries.

And what would he do after suppressing them? There was no need to ask.

After some time, before the system’s cultivation had finished, Wu Tingxi opened his eyes first, gave Pei Ling a sinister smile, and then picked up a stone from beside him and hurled it at him.

Pei Ling: "System?!"

Bang!

The next moment, a bump had risen on his head.

At the same time, the system said, "Ding dong! External attack detected. This cultivation session ends here. Thank you for using the Smart Cultivation System, one-click auto-run, ascension without worries! We look forward to your cultivation review. If you’re satisfied, please give us five stars!"

Yes. The system had run.

Pei Ling: "!!!"

"Kid, I don’t know whether you’re pretending to be stupid or you really are stupid." After testing him, Wu Tingxi finally relaxed and sneered. "Either way, since fate has brought us together, I, Wu, will send you on your way today!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a point of green light suddenly lit up at his fingertip!