Chapter 164: A Fox a.s.suming A Tiger’s AuthorityTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Fang Ning heard it but chose to not reply. Instead, he allowed his beloved game book to show his opponent’s details.
[Shen Xingchen. s.e.x: Male, Hobbies: Training to become stronger, Age: 19. Ident.i.ty: Disciple from Shen Family of Ji City.]
[Alignment: Neutral.]
[Power level: Mug-level Powerhouse. Description: Looks like a teacup, with slightly better cultivation proficiency.]
Fang Ning read it and shook his head. He walked straight past Shen Xingchen and entered the main door to the farm.
Brett Black Dog wagged its tail and followed Vigilante A without batting an eye on Shen Xingchen.
Shen Xingchen tightened his fists in secret as he was ignored by a man and a Dog at the same time. When they were a distance away, he kneeled again and yelled, “Great Hero, please take me as your disciple, or I will kneel here forever!”
Fang Ning wasn’t interested in him as he entered the farm and walked towards the villa.
Even after a month without visits, the interior of the farm remained unchanged. It looked like there were a few snowy days recently, as some spots were still covered with a thin layer of snow that had yet to melt.
Butler Zheng and Yellow Dog walked out from afar.
Zheng Dao looked apologetic, “I am sorry, Venerable One, I was just training with Brother Xue in my free time and we ended later. Forgive me for coming out late.”
Black Dog heard it and seemed to feel ashamed as he withdrew his head.
Fang Ning waved his hand, “Butler Zheng, don’t need to be polite. That guy outside, try to find a way to get him to leave. Next time if every Tom, d.i.c.k, and Harry comes to get me to tutor them, this place won’t ever be peaceful anymore.”
Zheng Dao nodded, “Previously when the Venerable One wasn’t around and uncontactable, I tried to get him to wait inside, but he refused to, so I didn’t chase him away. If that is the case, I will go and ask him to leave. If the Venerable One desires to be somewhere quiet, I will contact the Truth Department. Ding Xiang mentioned before that place has a few hiding formations.”
Fang Ning nodded. If that was so, he wouldn’t need to think about moving. He hated moving to a new place…
Fang Ning sat in the living room and drank a cup of tea before asking Yellow Dog’s progress in his Atmospheric Morality Technique training. So long as he was using the ident.i.ty of Vigilante A, he would need to do what was needed of him.
Yellow Dog became full of self-confidence and explained his training progress. It was hard to blame him. He was approved by the System, so it was natural for him to feel self-a.s.sured.
Fang Ning saw the System notification, [Follower Yellow Dog Xue Ba has progressed well with his training of Atmospheric Morality Technique, learned a beginner skill “Righteousness”.]
Unfortunately, Brett the Black Dog surely hadn’t learned anything, if not the System should have notified him. Zheng Dao had a lot of issues to handle so it was normal for him to progress slower, but it wouldn’t be long until he reached the same level.
Yellow Dog finished his report, and it was now Black Dog’s turn. However, he looked down at the ground and didn’t say anything.
“Brett, this is not going to work if you continue this way. I will give you ten more days. If you still can’t learn it then you will have to deal with the consequences.”
Fang Ning told Brett seriously, completely forgetting the fact that he, too, had yet to learn it…
He only knew that ten days later, when the System finished its training in isolation, it would surely ask what Brett had been doing for the past month or so.
The System would not be as kind as he was. It would do well to not a.s.sume that the System was something that came and went randomly and looked as if it were easy to handle. That impression only stems from the fact that Fang Ning and he were from the same body, thus the System couldn’t do much to him other than locking him in the black room.
It would be different to the others, though. The truth was the System was a cold-blooded master that killed without hesitation…
Black Dog felt dejected and looked like he had lost everything in the world.
Xue Ba the Yellow Dog didn’t take the chance to put down Black Dog like how he usually would. He was acting like a gentleman.
He tried to help. “Venerable One, Brett has been trying many times. Unfortunately, he is not the most talented when it comes to studying. When I try to teach he will turn lazy and sleepy, sometimes making some low-cla.s.s jokes, and he has yet to overcome those obstacles. I hope the Venerable One can give him extra time.”
Black Dog Brett turned and gave him a look, “Why do I get the feeling that you’re taking the chance to frame me instead of helping here? You’re openly trying to beat me down, aren’t you afraid of halting your morality training progress?”
Yellow Dog Xue Ba looked back at him and said, “My righteousness is active right now. I am telling the truth, and everything I said was for your own good.”
The truth always hurts, and the term “trying to help you” was the most dreadful…
Black Dog turned mute that instant and had a stunned expression.
Fang Ning was indirectly hit by his words and thought, “Oh. The reason I can’t master the Atmospheric Morality Technique is the same as Black Dog. I, too, have the same problem with low-cla.s.s entertainment, and I’d feel sleepy when I see how thick the Atmospheric Morality Technique book is…”
He avoided continuing such awkward conversation and waved his hand, “We will talk about this later. Recently I managed to kill a major demon. Later, the Truth Department will award me with a huge reward. Yellow Dog also managed to progress well in his training, so we should celebrate all of this together. Tonight, we shall have a huge feast.”
Black Dog Brett heard him and started drooling. But when he looked at Yellow Dog, Yellow Dog was sitting straight, and he felt that the differences between them were getting larger…
Shortly after, butler Zheng entered the main hall and gave Fang Ning a fist salute, “Venerable One, the youngster has left.”
Fang Ning was amazed. The guy was insisting on reaching his own goal and was threatening to kneel forever. He was becoming a headache, but Zheng Dao managed to send him off easily. He understood that every job had its own specialty.
Zheng Dao always one that always had the attention for minor details. When he saw the look on the Venerable Dragon G.o.d, he didn’t wait for him to ask, and instead started explaining immediately, “I just told the youngster that the Mount Indigo Monastery to the north is currently opening their doors and accepting talented students. The leader of the monastery, Master Ma, is much stronger compared to our Venerable One, and he greatly welcomes all talented people from across the earth. When he heard me, he hesitated, before standing up and then leaving. If my words sound exaggerated and offensive, I hope you can forgive me.”
Fang Ning waved and said, “No worries, seems like after the previous incident, your psionic ability has improved greatly. With just a single sentence you made him believe you.”
Zheng Dao replied humbly, “You exaggerate, Venerable One. This was all thanks to you asking brother Xue to teach me about the Atmospheric Morality Technique. After my training, my psionic ability also improved greatly, and I was filled with righteousness. Whatever I say will become convincing naturally.”
Fang Ning nodded. He remembered what Anderson had said; all superpowers were just a physical manifestation of one’s innate talents.
Zheng Dao’s psionic ability meant that he was talented in training techniques related to temperament. The Atmospheric Morality Technique was, coincidentally, a technique that required great temperament.
If Zheng Dao managed to master the Atmospheric Morality Technique, he might reach an unimaginable level.
When he thought of this, Fang Ning asked, “I met Master Ma personally, and I know he’s skillful, but he is definitely weaker than I am. If you say such lies to him, will it affect your progress in mastering the Atmospheric Morality Technique?”
Zheng Dao smiled and replied, “Thank you for caring, Venerable One. Since you had already decided, then letting him stay here will only waste his own time. I used those words to get him to move to somewhere else, and it all originated from my righteousness. All this will only help me in my training and will have no negative effect. As for Master Ma, his is wise and ambitious. If he is to take Shen Xingchen as his disciple, he will for sure tutor him patiently and make him a great man.”
Fang Ning nodded before shaking his head and sighing. “Shen Xingchen. He has the required proficiency and temperament for cultivating. Unfortunately, he loves fame and fortune. I have many issues to handle so I won’t have the time to tutor him as well. This will be a good alternative for him.”
Zheng Dao nodded in agreement. He had no idea if the System master really had some major issues to handle, but for Fang Ning, his biggest issue was to play video games and read novels in peace. Where would he have the time to teach his disciple…
Fang Ning felt satisfied acting like a boss and commenting on the youngsters. However, he felt that the audience was too little; only one man and two dogs to be exact.
At that moment, he completely forgot whether or not he had the qualification to do so. At least Seng Xingchen was described in detail by the gamebook about his ability. He was barely mentioned at all. The gamebook gave him a “…” comment just to save his pride.
The reason he could comment on him was that Sir System was acting as his backbone.
This was like a Fox a.s.suming a Tiger’s authority. 1
Zheng Dao suddenly mentioned, “Venerable One, two days ago, Zhao Xiangwen, the president of Xingsheng Group from Qi City, called to inform that the first batch of trial vitality medicine has already matured. They’re planning to hold a ceremony for harvest to increase publicity.”
“He said if you want to get involved, I am to inform him, and he will come personally to invite you. By then many famous people from various places will be in Qi City. If the Venerable One can go and comment on the quality live, the medicine’s sales will surely skyrocket in the future.”
Fang Ning heard that and felt troublesome. He hated attending crowded events. Previously he was forced to do so by Sir System. Besides, if president Zhao was the one saying it, it meant that the event will be even bigger than previous times, even famous people would be coming…
As he was just thinking about Sir System, the System started talking.
The System said, “You have to go. I’ll give you ten days for you to do anything, but not just to just enjoy yourself. You will need to do something beneficial. Besides, without these cheap herbs, I won’t be able to make cheap pills. And without those cheap pills, how are you going to earn money from your games, and without money, you will never play games comfortably…”
Fang Ning replied helplessly, “Okay okay, I’ll go. I don’t need you to lecture me. Both my ident.i.ties are shareholders of the company that planted the vitality medicine, I have a third of the shares combined. I’ll work harder, even if the money that I earn doesn’t belong to me…”
System, “It is good that you understand. When the time comes for you to judge the quality of the herbs, just tell me. I have some really good comments in mind.”
Fang Ning replied, “Just keep a low profile. Don’t make your act too obvious…”
When Fang Ning mentioned the word “act”, it got excited. The number of audience members wouldn’t even matter. By then, who could be stronger than Vigilante A? When the time comes, he could just continue his act…
The two men and dogs gossiped for a moment more before each left for their respective places.
Fang Ning didn’t have the mood to play games, so he decided to take a walk on the farm to relax.
Green pine, cypresses, and other evergreen trees were planted at both sides of the roads. Even when the weather was cold, the whole farm still looked lively.
In the distance by the roadside, he saw a worker taking his time tr.i.m.m.i.n.g those trees.
He sighed. He came to a realization that regardless of what era it was, large amounts of human resources were still required for things to work. This idea would never change.
He pondered for a moment before walking towards the worker.
The fellow was in his forties and had an honest look about him. He was wearing a pair of gloves and tr.i.m.m.i.n.g those wilted branches with big scissors.
“Hey there, sir, how should I call you?”
The worker heard him and stopped his work. He smiled and replied, “Boss, I am no sir. My name is Luo Xingrong. I am a gardener for the Xingsheng Group.”
Fang Ning understood clearly that president Zhao always made sure things were well organized. When he gifted Vigilante A a farm and a villa, he also took out a small group from his company to manage the water and electricity of this property, as well as hiring people for maintenance.
With this small group, Vigilante A wouldn’t be required to handle tiny issues, and butler Zheng wouldn’t need to worry too much and instead only focus on the usage of the farm and the villa.
Vigilante A was so full of pride to the outside world, but behind him was a group of normal people working tirelessly for him. Without them, he would be dragged away by multiple small problems…
Fang Ning thought about it and asked, “Since Mister Luo works here, you must have met two dogs that can speak human language. Were you afraid of them?”
Luo Xingrong wiped his hands and replied, “Before I was sent here to work, the company already gave me different kinds of training. The salary here is twice the pay of other places, so I was ready for anything. But this is a whole new era. Finding a tutor for personal training, the appearance of animal sapience, these are some of the most trending news around.”
“The cat my daughter has has also learned to talk. It’s actually beneficial for it to learn to speak human language, because it can help with many things and longer just eat for free. But the cat also gained a bad temper, and it no longer entertains when we feed it leftovers.”
Fang Ning nodded. Humans always had stronger adaptability. Those from Central China were also the best at this; so long as they had food on their table and lived a peaceful life, they could settle down easily.
Vigilante A was always living above the others and isolated himself in the System s.p.a.ce. His only interaction with the society was through the internet and net forums, and he never really talked to normal people in the world or interacted with a lower level in the society. This was a time for him to regain what he had lost.
If he didn’t understand the situation present in society, his position as a leader would not stay for long. He could be potentially swept aside by another more experienced Sir System. He was a System that could play the game of words…