4 Mission rewards and the first purchases

After Shen Yue's rebuttal Nie Li ended up being viewed with contempt by every single student in the Fighter Apprentice Class, while Shen Yue was now admired by everyone. Shen Yue couldn't help but feel very satisfied with the result. Fortunately, he read one of TDG fanfictions and it provided him with a few ideas when rebuking Nie Li.

At the same time a message appeared.

[Mission 1: Rebuke Nie Li. | Status: Mission complete!]

[Reward: Nie Li's knowledge on soul realm attributes and soul shapes. <Receive the reward>]

[Bonus mission: continue rebuking Nie Li | Status: Mission complete! Perfect score!]

[Bonus reward: 20 System Points <Already granted>]

[Note: You used Nie Li's words against him and he ended up being the class clown, mocked by every single student in class. At the same time, you earned the good will and admiration of the commoners and the other students, stealing Nie Li's spotlight. Keep up the good work as the villain! -your god Morgan Freeman.]

Shen Yue let out a sigh. He thought, '*God* Morgan Freeman? He's more like Satan in disguise…'

The message slowly faded from Shen Yue's field of awareness and the only thing that he could see was the number of his Villain Points.

[Current System Points: 20.]

Shen Yue was a little excited. As he mentally clicked <Receive the reward>, all kinds of knowledge on soul realm attributes and soul realm shapes entered his brain. He now knew hundreds of kinds of soul shapes and would be able to recognize them in a soul crystal.

Furthermore, he now had 20 System Points.

Shen Xiu continued her lecture, but Shen Yue ignored it all and concentrated on himself and his System.

Shen Yue just experienced how powerful the Antagonist System is, as it granted him all kinds of knowledge on Soul Attributes and Soul Shapes. He decided to keep relying on the system and keep bashing Nie Li to get stronger and become the new protagonist. This way Shen Yue will naturally become the original protagonist's hated enemy, but by copying Nie Li's memories and stealing any treasures, being a step ahead of him thanks to the novel knowledge, Shen Yue's strength might be superior to Nie Li's and he might be safe, especially since Shen Yue would be constantly suppressing him. Shen Yue only hoped that he could be earning System Points at a fast rate.

Shen Yue understood that he will need to walk on a steel-rope, all while pissing off Nie Li constantly. Making one of the most knowledgeable and skilled experts of this world your enemy is definitely a huge risk, even if Nie Li was currently weak, but although it was risky, the benefits were amazing. No matter what, just the fact of coming to the magical world of Tales of Demons and Gods as a talented and handsome young master was amazing to John. Even if he dies young, he will lead a very interesting life in this world of cultivation.

Shen Yue will definitely do his best to become a powerful existence, and he will do his best to bash Nie Li at every turn he gets!

Ye Ziyun, who was sitting next to him, looked at Shen Yue. Her face was riddled with a little surprise and admiration. At the same time she was a bit confused, as Shen Yue's expression looked a little sinister at this moment.

'I didn't expect Shen Yue to treat commoners so well. I thought that he was always a little arrogant before, but maybe I was wrong. He's prideful, but I don't think he looks down on others inside his heart. He's a little funny too. A typical young master beaten in arrogance…' Ye Ziyun smiled thinking back about Shen Yue's words, holding back her chuckle.

Shen Yue looked at the chuckling Ye Ziyun and their eyes locked for a moment, before Ye Ziyun looked away, feeling a little strange by being stared at. Shen Yue didn't think much of it, he turned back his head and thought of something else, 'According to the system I have attributeless and formless soul realm, I just wonder if it's still Green.'

[Note: To prevent others from thinking that you are soul-possessed, your soul realm grade is still Green.]

When the sudden message appeared in Shen Yue's mind, his heart thumped. 'My soul realm is still Green?'

Shen Yue couldn't help but smile. His soul realm grade was still Green which is three grades higher than Nie Li's Red soul realm. Although in the novel Nie Li said that soul realm grade doesn't matter, based on Shen Yue's knowledge a soul realm grade should still significantly affect cultivation speed with the same technique. Thanks to having a Green soul realm Shen Yue should have a certain level of advantage in cultivation speed if compared to Nie Li!

Another thing was that Nie Li had rich cultivating experience, so this advantage might be slightly smoothed out, but Shen Yue still believed that he would have a significant advantage. At the same time, Shen Yue's starting soul force was at 78 unlike Nie Li's 5, giving him a starting lead. Once Shen Yue practices with a top-tier technique, his foundation and soul force density shouldn't be much worse than of someone who starts with 5 soul force; it should be an unnoticeable difference in the future since Shen Yue didn't reach Bronze rank yet which is most important.

At this moment Shen Xiu continued lecturing, not teaching much of anything very useful in life. Shen Yue already knew all of that from home-schooling, so he tuned out her teachings once again. He ignored the lecture.

Feeling a little anxious and excited, Shen Yue concentrated on making plans for the near future while still being stuck in class.

Taking a horn-sheep into his hand, Shen Yue thought of different ideas and plans, and from time to time wrote them down on a piece of parchment to sort his thoughts and illustrate how the next few days would play out.

When making notes Shen Yue would be writing in English to ensure that others nearby couldn't spy on it. And because of writing down these strange letters, he attracted countless curious and puzzled looks from Ye Ziyun at the side, as well as a gaze that seemed to burn a hole at the back of his head.

At the same time Shen Yue also made his first purchase in the system's store.

[<Near-perfect memory of the Tales of Demons and Gods novel (reconstructed from your memories)> acquired. <-1 System Point>]

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Finally the bell went off throughout Glory City and the class ended.

The lesson ended, but it was only the first lecture of the many lectures that the Fighter Apprentice Class would have today until afternoon; it was only a signal for a break. Some students left for the corridor, while some stayed in class, eating breakfast or chatting among themselves.

In particular, Shen Yue noticed that Xiao Ning'er stayed in her seat and immediately began cultivating by herself, with a faint cyan glow around her; seeing that made him like this girl even more.

"Shen Yue, can you tell me what you were writing? What is this language?" Ye Ziyun asked at the side. Curiosity was clearly displayed on her face and in her voice. This question has been puzzling her since the moment Shen Yue started making notes, but she was a good student, so she waited for the class to end to finally ask him.

"It's an ancient language that I'm studying," Shen Yue said vaguely.

"Ancient language, which language is this?" Ye Ziyun asked with interest. She has never seen a language like this.

After thinking for a while, Shen Yue smiled mysteriously. "It's a secret."

"A secret?" Ye Ziyun asked. She wrinkled her brows, pouting innocently and she turned her head away. 'You don't want to tell me, then that's fine!'

Shen Yue laughed at the little beauty's childish expression. And at the same time he felt a hateful stare drilling a hole in his right temple.

'They're chatting and laughing together, while Ziyun still thinks that I'm a good-for-nothing. This is not good. How can I get close to Ziyun and separate her from Shen Yue?' Nie Li thought to himself, watching Ye Ziyun and Shen Yue, before Shen Yue looked back at him coldly. 'You can look at me with this arrogant and disdainful smirk, Shen Yue, but soon you'll realize that you can only look at me from a distance. In this life, I won't let the Sacred Family go unpunished, I will end you all, traitors!'

[You received +1 System Point!]

Ignoring Nie Li's glare, Shen Yue smiled in joy, packed his stuff and stood up from his seat.

Not planning to spend half a day stuck in Shen Xiu's class doing nothing, Shen Yue sent a silent note toward Ye Ziyun, a subtle sneer at Nie Li at the back and then walked out of the classroom. After taking a few steps through the corridor, he knocked on the door to Shen Xiu's office.

Shen Xiu's office was a room that was adjacent to the classroom, the teacher's room. It had two entrances - one from within the Fighter Apprentice Class and another from the corridor. Shen Yue simply used the one from the corridor to attract less attention.

"It's Shen Yue," Shen Yue said in front of the door after knocking.

"Wait a moment," Shen Xiu's voice sounded out from the inside. A while later the sound of a lock getting opened was heard and then the doors opened, revealing Shen Xiu herself, looking tall, sexy and prideful like always.

"What is it, Shen Yue?" Shen Xiu asked.

"I'm here to tell you that I'll skip the rest of the classes today," Shen Yue answered.

Shen Xiu wrinkled her brows. "Skip? Why do you want to skip them?"

The entire point of Shen Yue attending these useless classes was so that he could spend time with Ye Ziyun and get officially engaged to her.

Shen Yue shrugged his shoulders.

"It isn't good to be too available. Ye Ziyun doesn't like insistent guys. I want Ye Ziyun to miss me and wonder where I went," Shen Yue spouted some bullshit that he thought of.

"Huh?" Hearing Shen Yue's words, Shen Xiu thought about it for a moment. She then said, "Well, fine, you can skip the classes today if you think that it's the best thing to do."

Shen Yue forced a smile. He only wanted to skip these useless classes and do something productive while Nie Li was stuck in class, but what he just said wasn't wrong either, it was basic psychology. In general, Shen Yue was always too needy and desperate when interacting with Ye Ziyun.

"Auntie Shen Xiu, there's one more thing. Ye Ziyun is a kind-hearted person who pities commoners. She doesn't like arrogant nobles who mock and look down on others. You don't need to be so harsh with your words toward commoners or praise nobles the way you do, it isn't helpful," Shen Yue said, looking at Shen Xiu.

If Shen Xiu was thinking that she was helping him in pursuing Ye Ziyun by praising him and his background, then in fact, Shen Yue knew that she was only doing the opposite. Shen Yue didn't want Shen Xiu to make a fool of herself. He also hoped that the change in her behavior would shift Nie Li's attention from Shen Yue and make Nie Li think that he might be in another world where people act a bit differently in general.

Shen Xiu raised her eyebrows hearing Shen Yue's words, but as she thought about what Shen Yue said it indeed seemed to be the case. After all, Shen Yue had some interactions with Ye Ziyun in the past, so he probably had some understanding of her.

"So she's a silly girl who pities commoners! Haha. I'll keep that in mind," Shen Xiu sneered and nodded thoughtfully. She held up her rich chest, crossing her long legs with a prideful disposition.

Gazing at this beautiful and young woman, Shen Yue felt a little sorry for her. He had no problems with Shen Xiu being harsh or evil, but she was a bit pitiful in her blind arrogance and pettiness; with her attitude she was bound to be unhappy.

To Shen Yue, Shen Xiu was an incredibly attractive young woman and from what he remembered she was also very loyal to her family, even if the novel painted her as a villain. If Shen Xiu could change a bit and grow up, then Shen Yue wouldn't mind having her as one of his dear wives in the future, if only possible.

But Shen Yue had no time to worry about Shen Xiu at this moment. He nodded and left Shen Xiu's office.

In the corridor. Shen Yue pulled out a primary soul crystal from his interspatial ring.

This soul crystal that he got was a clear soul crystal that he only used himself. The reason for why Shen Yue got himself some clear soul crystals in the past was because clear soul crystals looked more beautiful and high-class than cloudy ones. As petty as the reason was, it proved very useful right now.

Even though the system informed Shen Yue that his soul realm was attributes and formless, Shen Yue still wanted to check it with his own eyes and at the same time test his soul attribute knowledge.

Taking a clear soul crystal into his hand, Shen Yue injected his soul force into it and checked the result. Among the multitude of dots which numbered 78, Shen Yue didn't see anything of substance.

'Green soul realm, 78 soul force, attributeless and formless, perfect!' Shen Yue was overjoyed.

Unable to hold himself much longer, Shen Yue made a purchase immediately.

[<The Heavenly God Technique> acquired.] [-1 System Point]

Instantly, the whole of Heavenly God Technique's information was ingrained into Shen Yue's brain. Shen Yue now remembered perfectly all of the chapters of this cultivation technique, as well as the body refinement and secret techniques, and how to perform them.

Shen Yue now had his own supreme-tier cultivation technique, so the most important thing was already checked out.

According to the Antagonist System, the Store only held techniques that Nie Li learned and those that were in the Temporal Demon Spirit Book, so Shen Yue wasn't able to pull out a better technique than that. Since the Heavenly God Technique was the most powerful, then he would certainly practice it.

Shen Yue recalled. Heavenly God Technique has the highest potential out of the three techniques suitable for an attributeless soul realm, building a very powerful foundation and soul force from the beginning. With this technique Shen Yue's soul realm will be much more powerful than that of others at the same rank and he will also be able to bind with seven different Demon Spirits; apart from raw power, this way he will have an incredible advantage that all other Demon Spiritualists lack - versatility!

'Versatility alone is a great unappreciated strength. I can imagine that it's much easier to fight an opponent with a single Demon Spirit and a limited number of fighting methods and techniques, especially once all of his tricks are revealed, but with the Heavenly God Technique I will be able to have many different trump cards. At the same time, the most important point is that once I fully master this technique, I will be able to cultivate any other techniques for all attributes, creating my own path and going even further. Not to mention that just binding with multiple Demon Spirits further expands a Demon Spiritualist's soul realm and strength.'

Since Shen Yue was now in this world with an attributeless soul realm, then he would naturally practice the most powerful cultivation technique with the highest potential, even if it was difficult. Shen Yue only needed to think for a while to realize that the Heavenly God Technique's all-inclusive nature for all attributes, versatility and formlessness made it simply a technique with the highest potential.

Even if Heavenly God Technique was slow to practice, Shen Yue was still not interested in quick strength gain by practicing a different technique. With proper planning and execution, he believed that he should be able to surpass Nie Li even if they practice the same technique.

Closing his eyes, Shen Yue recited the chant of the first chapter of the Heavenly God Technique.

Naturally, the effect of this cultivation technique was incredible when compared to the techniques of the Sacred Family, even if the Heavenly God Technique was supposed to be one of the slowest among the top-tier techniques. Shen Yue's soul realm surged and his soul force strengthened at a rate tens of times faster than in the past.

After testing out the Heavenly God Technique for a while, Shen Yue made another purchase in the store that he already planned.

[<The Daoyin Technique> acquired.] [-1 System Point]

Shen Yue planned to heal Xiao Ning Er's Arctic Disease before Nie Li, so he naturally couldn't miss learning the Redirection Technique.

At this moment Shen Yue had 18 System Points left. It was unknown on how quickly he will be able to earn System Points in the future, but given how much points are needed for some of the options, Shen Yue already made a decision to make one more purchase.

[<Nie Li's knowledge on alchemy, Primary Master level (includes appropriate elixir formulas) (Tier 1/5)> acquired.] [-10 System Points]

Years of alchemy knowledge and expertise ingrained itself in Shen Yue's brain, instantly making him a Primary Alchemy Master.

As Shen Yue dived deep into his memories and knowledge he found out that he now also knew multiple variations of elixir formulas for the Soul Nurturing Pill, Soul Concentrating Pill, Soul Tempering Pill and the Scarlet Body Enhancing Pill! And he also knew tens of different uses of Purple Haze Grass.

Shen Yue did not know the formula for the Nine Transformation Pill, but he remembered that in the novel it was said that only a Senior Alchemy Master could refine this pill. Although Shen Yue knew that the Alchemist levels in Glory City are kind of stupid, his Primary Alchemy Master level should be the reason why Shen Yue didn't learn this formula in the end. However, the most important formulas were still in his head.

Shen Yue felt quite satisfied with this purchase. It was a great buy!

As long as Shen Yue was faster than Nie Li, he could gain the Alchemist Association's cooperation and support, earning a lot of demon spirit coins and receiving an unlimited number of top-tier cultivating elixirs, all the while preventing Nie Li from doing the same.

No matter what, nothing can compare to the money earned from cultivation pills in Glory City. Fanfictions are way too unrealistic with various money making ideas and the ridiculous amount of money earned from them. No matter what Nie Li himself does with his abilities, even if it's forging Black Gold rank equipment, creating inscription pattern scrolls or inscribing weapons, he could never come close to the level of income that one could get from Alchemy; at the very least it would waste a lot of Nie Li's time and require high cultivation and starting capital, while the money coming from the Association is all passive.

But at this moment Shen Yue had two worries - if he approaches the Association right now and the Association starts purchasing herbs in bulk, then he will warn Nie Li and make the story derail from the flow of the novel too much. On the other hand, if Shen Yue doesn't approach the Association right now, then it's possible that instead of hunting horned sheep, Nie Li might suddenly get enlightened and go to the Association today.

The first scenario was not advisable, as it's best that Nie Li wastes as many days hunting horned sheep as possible, while the second scenario was catastrophic.

Shen Yue felt a little anxious. After all, Nie Li is the main character, he has plot armor and amazing luck, so it wouldn't be strange if he suddenly had an idea just because he was pissed off by Shen Yue and because he's angry at the Sacred Family, being wary of them.

Furthermore, there was another aspect. Nie Li could still visit the Association after Shen Yue, claiming that he also has a mysterious master as well and showing off his alchemy skills that are much higher than Shen Yue's. This way Shen Yue would have problems explaining Nie Li's sudden appearance when questioned by the Association, and it would make things quite messy.

Shen Yue felt a headache when he thought of Nie Li messing up his plans - he really wished he had better cheats and could simply put Nie Li into a coma for some time, turn him into his slave or straight out kill him on the first day.

On the other hand, Shen Yue thought of something - Nie Li might be wary of visiting the Alchemist Association after someone mysterious had already started cooperating with it - if Nie Li showed off, he might become a target of a mysterious expert with knowledge outside of the bounds of Glory City.

Considering this point, Shen Yue went to start working with the Alchemist Association as soon as possible while Nie Li was still stuck in class. He didn't want Nie Li to steal this opportunity from HIM, even if he alarmed Nie Li.