Chapter 70: Cheating Still Lost to a Peer?

"Severe punishment? My foot!"

Feeling the immense power whistling right over his head, Jiang Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and continued on his way.

He was no match for either of those two terrifying entities.

Fortunately, he had escaped successfully. Now that the two most formidable crocodile demons outside had retreated to their lairs, he could perhaps still manage to cope with any remaining ones he might encounter, as long as they weren't swarming in packs.

"Ding!"

"Host, the cultivation levels of your two underlings have surpassed yours. Penalty incurred: Golden Crow bloodline weakened by one point!"

"What did you say? I didn't catch that clearly."

Floating in mid-air, Jiang Xuan walked with his hands clasped behind his back, riding the wind in a most dashing manner.

Yet at this moment, the system's voice almost made him tumble straight out of the sky.

Regaining his balance, Jiang Xuan hurriedly sought confirmation.

"Host, your underlings—the Empress and the Demonic Venerable—have both reached the fourth-tier Great Demon realm. Your penalty is—"

"Stop! Shut up! Shut up!"

"You, you, you! Don't play jokes on me! This is not funny at all!"

"You're telling me they've reached the fourth-tier Great Demon realm? Are you out of your mind?"

"I, me—hey! I am Jiang Xuan! I am their big brother! Since when is it right for the underlings to be stronger than the big brother? Has your system been infected with a Trojan horse? Do you need me to run a full antivirus suite on you?"

Jiang Xuan could not accept this fact—not even half an inch of it!

His very state of Dao-heart was beginning to fracture at this very moment!

He was supposed to be the one with the golden finger, yet he was actually losing to the Empress and the Demonic Venerable! Where was the justice in this world? Where was the heavenly principle?

To cheat and still lose to others—if word got out, wouldn't he be the absolute laughingstock of the world???

"Uh, Host, I am not joking with you."

"The Empress and the Demonic Venerable are the reincarnations of the most powerful beings of this era. They are only a step away from touching the true Heavenly Dao. Their comprehension of cultivation techniques, mental states, and other innate talents are simply unmatched by anyone."

"Since the Host has been rather idle lately—regressing while others progress—losing to them isn't exactly disgraceful!"

What the hell...

It was actually true...

Reluctant as he was to believe it, the stark reality was right before his eyes, and Jiang Xuan could only shed tears of bitter regret.

"Are you kidding me? I did all this for the sake of our household!"

"I admit, coming to the Corpse Weapon Marsh was largely for my own benefit, but my intentions were good after all!"

"Forcing me to accept this fact is one thing, but you're actually punishing me too? Isn't this going a bit too far?!"

Jiang Xuan cursed bitterly in his heart, holding the heartless system in utter contempt.

"Host, nobody forced you. You chose this path yourself, my idol!"

"Besides, cultivation level does not equate to actual combat strength. The Host's combat power is still superior to those two demons, so there is no need to panic excessively."

"As long as you always remember to remain diligent and hardworking in the future, you can—"

"Save it, save it, shut your dog mouth! You bastard!"

"Instead of wasting time preaching, you'd better give me some more rewards!"

"This cheat of yours is truly trash! You've made me weaker than my peers among the underlings, and you aren't even ashamed!"

System: ......

"Oh heavens! Oh earth! Why is my life so miserable?!"

Wailing tearfully, Jiang Xuan sped away toward the southern direction.

Right now, he urgently needed a thorough, satisfying sleep!

During all those days inside the Corpse Weapon Marsh, let alone sleeping, he hadn't even dared to rest for a single moment.

To put it plainly, over the past half-month, Jiang Xuan hadn't slept a wink!

Because of this, the system was essentially nothing more than a useless ornament...

Fortunately, heaven rewards the diligent, and Jiang Xuan had finally acquired the magical artifacts he desired.

"Where on earth could they be hiding? Although the Sea-Crossing Realm is vast, it isn't boundless!"

"So many sects have been searching for them all this time, yet there hasn't been the slightest trace of a battle!"

"Those fellows carry immense destiny—an innocent man treasures a jade ring, but his wealth becomes his crime. The moment we catch them, our cultivation levels will skyrocket by a huge margin!"

Suddenly, Jiang Xuan came to a halt, slipping into the dense foliage nearby and concealing his figure.

With his eavesdropping ability constantly active, he instantly picked up voices conversing from nearly ten miles away.

Five or six miles roughly marked the limit of his perception.

Under normal flight, demonic beasts didn't need to expend much spiritual energy, let alone those who had already reached the Great Demon realm.

Even so, for a demonic beast, a sensory range of four or five miles in radius was entirely normal.

After hiding among the tree branches, Jiang Xuan quickly suppressed his aura, terrified of leaking even a shred of it.

"I've heard that the Hundred Beasts Sect, the Overlord Sect, and the Water-Smoothing Sect have dispatched quite a few people, and their strengths are terrifyingly powerful. We'd better not run into them too early."

"If we attract their attention, we'll just end up as food in someone else's mouth."

"Junior Brother makes a good point, but our Burning Heaven Sect is among the top-tier forces within this Sea-Crossing Realm anyway. As long as we reveal our identities, I presume other demonic beasts wouldn't dare lay a hand on us!"

"Senior Brother is entirely right. Besides, the two of us are at the seventh-tier cultivation level; how could ordinary demonic beasts dare to treat us as enemies?"

"Hahaha! We'd better keep our eyes peeled anyway!"

The Burning Heaven Sect?

Jiang Xuan felt like he had heard of it before, though he had forgotten from which unlucky demonic beast's mouth he'd heard it.

Within this Sea-Crossing Realm, there was no single dominant superpower; top factions like the Burning Heaven Sect and the Earth Demon Sect all possessed roughly comparable strength.

Originally intending to stop and rest for a moment, Jiang Xuan now felt an even greater urge to hurry back home.

With so many sects mobilized simultaneously, the danger coefficient for the Empress and the others had increased exponentially. If he didn't return promptly and they encountered danger again, things would become truly troublesome.

With this thought in mind, Jiang Xuan set off once more.

Only this time, he traveled in the exact opposite direction of the voices, intending to skirt well around their perceptual range first.

When traveling abroad, safety always comes first...

Meanwhile, back in the Corpse Weapon Marsh.

"No! No!"

"My little Xuanxuan! How—how could he deceive me?!"

"He said I was his absolute favorite! He even promised me that as long as I gave him magical artifacts, he would bear children with me!"

"I was going to give him a whole litter—a litter of adorable little crocodile babies! We already agreed on it!"

In front of the Weapon Tomb, Sister Hua shrieked in near-hysteria.

Seemingly losing her mind, she uncontrollably unleashed her spiritual energy, carving out a dry, empty space even at the very bottom of the marsh!

The strength of a ninth-tier Great Demon was truly terrifying beyond measure!

"Dammit! Sister Hua! Things have come to this, and you're still talking about bearing babies? I think you need someone to give you an extra brain!"

Gazing at the open gates of the Weapon Tomb and the drastically depleted store of magical artifacts inside, Lu Qiu felt his heart turn to ash.

"Sister Hua! I told you long ago that fellow was no good! Why—why wouldn't you believe me?!"

"Listen to my orders, all of you! Go out in full force and hunt down that beast! He must be captured alive! I'm going to make him wish he were dead!"

Black Ghost roared toward the heavens, issuing commands to the surrounding crocodile demons.

"Sister Hua!"

Yet just as he finished speaking, Sister Hua abruptly shot straight up into the air, charging right out of the marsh!

Left behind in her wake was nothing but her raging, towering fury that continued to burn fiercely...