Chapter 602: Real Distance

While Fang Ning was busy entertaining his fans and making friends, the System protested secretly. “Rich guy, you’re rejecting good things again. I’ll take notes of those for you so that I can deduct them from your little treasure chest in the future.”

“You’re unscrupulous at the sight of these minor gains. How can I accept these gifts? Repaying debts and favors is the hardest to do. Who knows if they will turn against me tomorrow? Once I accept their gifts, won’t they affect my sense of justice then?” Fang Ning justified himself.

“Um, I still think you’re just embarrassed. I’ll just keep on imprisoning you. I won’t mind. Like you said before, I’ve lost my dignity a long time ago,” said the System, taking Fang Ning’s words with a hint of salt.

Hearing that, Fang Ning panicked. How could he still keep up with his appearance if he accepted the gifts in public right now?

He quickly bluffed, “Look at you, always so short-sighted. Accepting their gifts only gives you a small profit. Meanwhile, you’ll lose Vigilante A’s hard-earned reputation. I’ve told you before, a good reputation earns you more money.”

“Really now? But they seem to have known that Vigilante A is very avaricious. Didn’t see me lose a finger. Those who wanted to give me gifts are still rushing to present them to me…” The System was not easily bluffed anymore.

It was dumb alright, but it had a good memory. Once it accumulated enough experience, it would never forget.

“Anyway, we shouldn’t accept gifts easily, understand?” said Fang Ning through gritted teeth.

“I don’t understand. Anyway, I see the pattern here. As long as I’m strong enough, then I’ll accept whatever I want. If they do anything bad, I’ll cut them down in the name of justice. Then those gifts will be considered wasted then. That’s even better because then I don’t have to trouble myself with their problems,” said the System frankly.

Fang Ning finally realized the biggest difference between him and the System–Fang Ning still cared about his reputation.

After all, he was a human. He had mental needs.

However, the System was different– It followed the dictum, “safety first, strength foremost”.

All the talk of dignity, satisfaction, recognition, or pride were meaningless to the System.

As Fang Ning had mentioned earlier, with its temperament, if the System was not restricted by rules of justice, it would transform into an evil God at any moment.

Fang Ning could not dissuade the System, so he gave in and said, “I’m the one who attended the meeting today, so I’m the one in charge. After this, I won’t be restricting you anymore. If you want to accept their gifts, go ahead. I won’t accept their gifts when I’m in charge.”

“Works for me.” The System was rather satisfied that part of its wish came true.

Fang Ning felt depressed. He could no longer bluff his way out with the System.

After all, the System was almost two years old. It saw through the workings and rules of a functional human society.

How insignificant was dignity compared to the unpredictability of the world? As long as you were powerful, you had the final say. Other people could only tolerate you and compromise.

As long as they did not aggressively trigger others, the weaknesses of the powerful were often glamorized.

He could only console himself with the knowledge that under the restriction of the rules, the System would not be corrupted and remain a pure and near-flawless Hero no matter how much it struggled against it.

After all, no one was perfect in the world.

Fang Ning gave up on the debate with the System and continued to bask in the compliments from the crowd.

“Venerable One, you finally came.” Soon, a friendly voice sounded.

The crowd shifted their gaze toward the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged man strutting to their direction with a smile on his face.

His followers behind him. Most of them were strong, above Pond-level.

Judging from that, he must be an ostentatious person, as the expenses of hiring a Pond-level master was tremendous.

It was none other than Yun Hui, the Duke of Cloud Fog City. Rumors had it that excessive temporal affairs obstructed the man from cultivation, therefore he remained a Pond-level beginner.

Many of his followers had long surpassed him, yet no one dared to go against him or even talk back to him because they coveted his massive inheritance.

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The situation was different for others. It was the host who had to take precaution to serve some of the powerful experts once they were accepted as aides. The hosts were often ordered around and they had to pretend that they enjoyed it.

Instead of a relationship between an employer and worker, it was more like a relationship between a creditor and debtor.

Everyone was aware of the reason behind the setting–Yun Hui had the Venerable Dragon God’s support. Who would dare to go against him?

Anyone who tried must have wanted a trip to the Draconic Penitentiary.

It was already the third year of Shenyuan. The reputation of the Draconic Penitentiary was long renowned following the banishment of each great evil.

Everyone knew that except the lady from the Azure Mountain, who was bailed out with a large amount of money, no one else could have escaped from it.

With the endorsement from influences like the mysterious Azure Mountain, who would not be afraid of the famed Draconic Penitentiary? Unless of course, one thought he could defeat them.

Sometimes, if given the option to die simply, most criminal desperados would not be afraid.

However, if they had to enter an eternal Hell after death, that would incite horrifying fear and second thoughts in them if they wanted to commit a crime.

This was different than the previous Era of Technology. Criminals from that time did not have to fear retribution for their crimes. As long as they escaped pursue and punishment from the official bureaucratic bodies, they could enjoy their lives blithely.

Observing Yun Hui’s arrival, everyone was filled with envy. Backed with Vigilante A’s fame, Cloud Fog City expanded quickly until there was no longer anyone who dared to mess with them.

Fortunately, they depended on their business models and rules to expand without oppressing those weaker than them or dominating the market.

Many powerhouses wished to gain Vigilante A’s favor too. However, they were not aware that Yun Hui’s relationship existed on a live-or-die basis. He succeeded in gaining support by joining forces with Vigilante A using all of the power from his city.

Each of the powerhouses had their own schemes and plans. With their secretive thoughts, how was it possible for them to join forces?

Even the System with its massive greed would not dare to accept these powerhouses as aides. It was completely different than accepting gifts. They operated in your name. If anything happened, you would have to accept punishment immediately.

“Oh, it’s the Duke of Cloud Fog City who came personally to welcome the Venerable One.”

“Sigh, everyone’s treated differently after all. He chose not to welcome all of us here. Yet with the arrival of the Venerable One, he appeared to welcome him in less than two minutes…” said someone indignantly.

“We have no one else to blame for our low Cultivation Base and insignificant background. If it was Bodhisattva Spirit King or Tianjing Fawang who arrived, he would definitely welcome them personally too.” explained someone.

Standing at the sides, Old Master Ma’s expression soured when he heard those words.

It clearly meant that eventually, he was still not yet a true master. At least, he still could not be at par with those two.

Even though everyone claimed that all of them were the Four Great Masters among the people of China, it was apparent that there was a scale in the people’s hearts.

Old Master Ma had little to no background. He could appear powerful among the local cultivators, yet it was not enough to be on the same pedestal as the True Dragon, Bodhisattva, or Arhat.

Among the people of Earth, Lake-level was considered powerful.

However, in the Upper Realm, even an Overlord from a small place had to start from Pond-level. A carp who worked as the sentry at the True Dragon family head’s house had said Cultivation Base.

It was not hard to guess the extent of their strength in Bodhisattva, True Dragon, and Arhat, who succeeded greatly in cultivation.

Currently, Earth was still under the control of the Heavenly Axiom, gradually placing a limit on the energy that could be released, limiting the strength of the Descended Ones from the Upper Realm.

If their strength was entirely unrestricted in the future, no one would even have the power to appear at their doorstep.

“See that? That’s the difference. If I don’t go out and look at the world from the perspective of a frog under a well, I’m afraid I’ll still have the impression that it’s sufficient for me to achieve a breakthrough of Lake-level. In reality, it’s far from enough. Look at everyone, all of them think about it internally. If the masters are categorized by the first grade, second grade, and third grade, then I’m only a third-grade master. Even though they pay respects to me, it is understood that the True Dragon, Bodhisattva, and Arhat are the true masters,” said Fa Futian to Ma Ping.

Obviously, he was provoking his son. He was no longer young. He knew the extent of his upper limit. Being able to achieve the Lake-level could be considered a gift from the Heavenly Axiom.

The responsibility of strengthening Mount Indigo Monastery and making it a holy immortal land fell on his son’s shoulders.