The sun was warm, the air was sweet with the scent of spirit herbs, and I was about to emotionally devastate a hundred innocent people for personal gain. My life had taken a dark turn.
I'm a monster. I'm about to become their villain. But if I don't, I'm a snake's dinner. Is it better to be a live monster or a dead saint? Oh gods, this is a real ethical dilemma and I have thirty seconds to solve it before the System gives me full-body boils or something equally horrifying.
Holding the warm, pulsating Phoenix Egg in one arm, I turned to face the crowd. Their faces were upturned, shining with hope and reverence. They were looking at me as if I held the answers to the universe. I was about to tell them the answer was that they didn't matter.
My face settled into its default mask of profound, cold arrogance. I swept my gaze over them, a shepherd looking at a particularly disappointing flock of sheep.
"You," my voice stated, the single word cutting through the reverent silence. It was not addressed to anyone in particular, but to all of them.
They straightened up, their eyes wide, eagerly awaiting the pearls of wisdom that were about to drop from my lips.
"You look to me for guidance," I continued, my voice flat and merciless. "You offer me your admiration. You believe your faith has value."
I paused, letting the implication hang in the air. A few disciples exchanged confused glances. This sermon was not starting on a positive note.
"It does not."
The words landed like stones in a silent pool. The smiles on their faces faltered.
"Your faith is a fickle thing," I declared, the System's script flowing from my tongue like venom. "It is a leaf in the wind, shifting with every new spectacle. It is a burden to the one who receives it, and a hollow comfort to the one who gives it."
A murmur of disbelief rippled through the crowd. This wasn't guidance. This was a verbal slap in the face.
I am so, so, so sorry. You are all wonderful people with a bright future ahead of you. Please, please don't take this personally. A giant snake is going to try to kill me! I'm desperate!
I looked down at the Spirit Fox, which was sitting attentively by my side. I reached down with my free hand and stroked its head. The fox leaned into my touch, its silvery fur soft against my fingers.
Then I looked back at the crowd, my expression one of utter disdain.
"Your potential is a shallow puddle, destined to evaporate in the sun," I said, my voice dripping with contempt. "You spend your days in fruitless labor, chasing a power you will never grasp. Your presence here... is an annoyance."
Gasps of pure shock and hurt echoed through the valley. Faces fell. Eyes that had been shining with admiration now filled with confusion and pain. A young female disciple in the front row looked like she was about to cry.
[Emotional State of Crowd: Shock -> Hurt -> Disillusionment.]
[Chaos conversion initiated. A low-grade but widespread emotional resonance is being harvested.]
It wasn't enough. The System needed more. It needed me to twist the knife.
I gave the fox one last pat. "This beast," I announced, my voice ringing with authority, "possesses a loyalty more pure than any of you. It does not ask for wisdom. It does not project its hopes onto another. It simply... is."
I turned my back on the disciples, a gesture of ultimate dismissal. I faced the fox.
"Your task here is done," I told the creature. "The egg is safe with me. Go."
[Activating Title: Friend to the Innocent]
A soft, golden light enveloped me for a fraction of a second. The fox understood. It looked at the egg in my arm, then at me. It gave a single, sharp bark—a salute—then turned and disappeared into the forest in a blur of silver fur. It had obeyed me without question.
The message to the crowd was brutal and clear: I had dismissed them like flies, but I had treated the beast as an equal.
The hurt in the crowd curdled into something else. Resentment. Anger.
"How can he say that?"
"After everything we've seen... he thinks we're worthless?"
"He called us an annoyance!"
"Maybe… maybe he's not a master at all. Maybe he's just an arrogant tyrant!"
YES! YES, THAT'S IT! DOUBT ME! HATE ME! BURN MY EFFIGY! PLEASE!
The quality of the Chaos energy shifted. It became sharper, more potent.
[Emotional State of Crowd: Resentment -> Righteous Anger.]
[Chaos conversion efficiency: 150%.]
[A mid-tier reward is being formulated.]
This was good. Very good. But the Black-Hearted Serpent was a Continental Threat. Mid-tier wasn't going to cut it. I needed to push them over the edge.
I needed an antagonist.
My eyes scanned the crowd and landed on the young female disciple who had looked ready to cry. She was now staring at me, her chin trembling, but her eyes were filled with a defiant spark.
Perfect.
[Opportunity Detected: A Spark of Defiance.]
[Grandstanding Mandate: The Crushing of Hope.]
[Action: Single out the defiant disciple. Utterly demolish her martial spirit.]
My soul withered. This was beyond monstrous.
My body turned back to face the crowd. I raised my hand and pointed a single, accusatory finger at the girl.
"You," I said, my voice as cold as a winter tomb. "You disagree."
The girl flinched, but she held my gaze. "Master Li… with respect… faith is not a burden. It is what gives us strength. It is what gives our struggle meaning."
She was brave. Terribly, foolishly brave.
"Meaning?" I scoffed, the sound dripping with scorn. "Show me. Attack me with all your strength. Show me the 'meaning' of your struggle."
The crowd gasped. He was challenging a junior disciple to a duel. After everything he had just said, this was not a lesson. It was bullying.
The girl, whose name I learned later was Mei, hesitated. She was only at the third stage of Qi Refining. I was… well, I was a fake, but in their eyes, I was an untouchable god.
"I… I cannot," she stammered.
"Then your faith is as worthless as I said," I concluded, turning to leave.
"Wait!" she cried, desperation in her voice. "I will!"
Driven by a need to defend her own beliefs—and the beliefs of everyone around her—she drew a simple iron sword. With a determined scream, she charged.
She was putting everything she had into this one, hopeless attack.
I stood my ground, the Phoenix Egg held safely in one arm. I didn't move. I didn't even breathe.
Just as her sword was about to strike my chest, I spoke one final, soul-destroying word.
"Insignificant."
And as I said it, a notification chimed in my mind, the reward finally condensing from the crowd's potent, furious resentment.
[Reward: Aura of Utter Despair (Radius: 3 feet. Duration: 5 seconds)]
A wave of absolute, soul-crushing hopelessness washed out from me. It didn't harm the body. It attacked the spirit.
Mei's charge faltered. The defiant fire in her eyes died, replaced by a grey, empty void. Her sword, which had been aimed with such purpose, slipped from her numb fingers and clattered to the ground. The "meaning" she was fighting for had evaporated. She stumbled to a halt, staring at nothing, her entire world turned to ash by a single word and a targeted wave of despair.
I had not just defeated her. I had broken her.
The fury of the crowd exploded.
"HE'S A MONSTER!"
"That was a heart-devil technique! He's a demonic cultivator!"
"He didn't just beat her, he broke her spirit!"
[EMOTIONAL STATE SUPERNOVA DETECTED. CONVERTING...]
The Chaos energy was a tidal wave. This was it. This was the reward I needed.
I looked at the devastated girl, the furious crowd, and the warm egg in my arms. I had paid a terrible price in what little was left of my self-respect.
But I might just live to regret it.