"Beep, congratulations to the host 'Xu Que' for killing Pang Bao. The act of showing off was successful, and you have gained 10 'Show-off Points.'"
"Beep, congratulations to the host 'Xu Que' for killing Pang Bao. You have gained 400 experience points."
The system's notification echoed in Xu Que's mind.
Xu Que stood stunned."Damn, I… killed someone?"
Xu Que was taken aback. He had just wanted to test the power of Dragon Roar Nine Changes, but he never expected that with just the first transformation, a single punch would kill Pang Bao, who had god-like strength.
"Dragon... this... this is a dragon!"
Suddenly, a trembling voice full of fear came from behind.
Immediately, the villagers of Beishui Village all fell to their knees, fear written all over their faces as they began to kowtow and beg for mercy.
"Ah! Immortal, please spare us!""We were blind, please spare our worthless lives..."
Huh? What's going on here?Xu Que was momentarily confused.
"Thud!" "Thud!"Before he could make sense of the situation, he heard more muffled sounds behind him.
Xu Que turned around in shock. Several of the villagers from Panshan Village had ignored their injuries and knelt down, their faces filled with fear.
Looking at Xiao Rou, she, too, was frozen in place, her eyes full of terror.What was going on?
Xu Que felt a pang in his heart. He wasn't too bothered by the villagers of Beishui Village kneeling before him, but seeing the simple villagers of Panshan Village do the same was too much for him to bear. Especially when he saw the fear in Xiao Rou's eyes, his heart twisted.
"Folks, what are you doing? Get up! I'm only dealing with the bad guys, I won't hurt you!"He hurriedly released his spiritual energy, and the dragon-like glow around him vanished instantly as he shouted at the villagers of Panshan Village.
But the villagers still had expressions of fear and remained kneeling, not daring to utter a word.
Xu Que panicked. He turned to Xiao Rou. "Xiao Rou, what's going on? Tell them to get up! I mean no harm!"Xiao Rou finally snapped out of her daze and, still filled with fear, looked at Xu Que and said, "You... you're an immortal..."
"What immortal? I'm just like you, a human!"Xu Que was shocked. Could it be that cultivators were so terrifying? Why did they treat him like some kind of deity, with such deep reverence?
"Xiao Rou, don't be afraid. I won't hurt anyone in this village. Tell them to stop kneeling and to stop fearing me. I won't harm them.""Really?" Xiao Rou hesitantly asked.
"Of course, really!" Xu Que nodded seriously.Xiao Rou finally regained a bit of color in her face and calmed down somewhat.
She then explained the situation to Xu Que.
It turned out that to the east of Panshan Village and Beishui Village, there was a sect of immortal cultivators—Tianwu Sect.Both Panshan Village and Beishui Village, as well as other villages within a hundred miles, were under the protection of Tianwu Sect.
However, every month, these villages had to offer tribute to Tianwu Sect. If a village hunted wild beasts, they could use the beast cores as a substitute for the food tribute. But if they didn't have beast cores and lacked enough food, the village would be punished.
Tianwu Sect would send people to capture the village's strong men, take them up to the mountains, and after that, they would never be heard from again. No one knew what happened to them—whether they lived or died.
This was why the villagers were so terrified of immortal cultivators.
Xu Que's heart instantly ignited with fury.Tianwu Sect was utterly despicable, using their cultivation to oppress ordinary people, causing these villagers to live in constant fear.
"Why didn't you fight back?"Xu Que couldn't help but ask, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it.The villagers were no match for Tianwu Sect's people, who were at least at the Qi Refining stage with martial arts techniques. How could these villagers possibly resist?
"We... we didn't dare..." Xiao Rou shook her head and answered.
Xu Que fell silent for a moment, leaning closer to Xiao Rou. He whispered, "Xiao Rou, I'll go home first. You should explain to the villagers. Tell them that I'm not like the people from Tianwu Sect. They shouldn't kneel or fear me. I won't hurt anyone in our village."
"Okay, I believe you!" Xiao Rou nodded firmly, finally calming down a bit.
Xu Que let out a sigh of relief, and as he looked toward Beishui Village's people, he added, "By the way, Xiao Rou, let them stay kneeling for now. Tell them not to leave until the sun sets."
After giving his instructions, Xu Que turned and headed toward the village.
On the way, he ran into Big Zhuang and the other villagers, who were just arriving.
When they saw Xu Que, they hurriedly asked, "Little brother, are you okay? What happened to Pang Bao and the others?"
Xu Que waved them off. "Don't worry, I've already taught Pang Bao and his men a lesson. Now, they're kneeling at the village entrance, reflecting on their actions."
"Really?" The villagers were immediately surprised.
"Of course! I can take down wild beasts, so what's a Pang Bao to me?" Xu Que chuckled.
The villagers immediately cheered, shouting, "Little brother, you're amazing!"
"Ah, you're too kind!" Xu Que smiled, thoroughly enjoying the sense of light-hearted arrogance.
Back at Xiao Rou's house, Xu Que lay down on the small wooden bed and sighed deeply.He knew that once Big Zhuang and the others learned about his identity, they would likely be filled with fear. Even if they weren't, things would never be the same again, and they certainly wouldn't chat with him as casually as they had before.
"Sigh, it's fine. I won't be here forever. Once I help them sort out the tribute issue, I'll leave. The world is vast, and I need to see more of it."
Xu Que shook off the melancholy and sat up, his mind racing. He then summoned the system.
Immediately, the personal information screen popped up before his eyes:
"Host: Xu QueCultivation: Foundation Establishment (First Layer, Slight Progress)Experience Points: 600/2000Show-off Points: 15Technique: Ancient Five Elements Formula (Beginner)Skill: Dragon Roar Nine Changes (Progress 0.1%, First Transformation mastered)Occupation: NoneStatus: Prince Consort of Huoyuan Kingdom, Donghuang Continent..."
"Wait, Dragon Roar Nine Changes' progress is 0.1%? Was that from using it just now?"Xu Que raised an eyebrow. It seemed like the technique could be upgraded through usage, but the progress was very slow.
He wasn't satisfied with this speed. After a moment of thought, he opened his storage space and scanned the pile of treasures and techniques he had stolen from the Tianwu Sect's treasure house.
"Perfect. Time to test the recycling function."Xu Que muttered to himself as he began to examine the techniques.
"Lightness Technique... Oh, this one might be useful. I'll keep it."The first technique he looked at was Lightness Technique, a basic technique from Tianwu Sect. Xu Que had been interested in learning a movement-based technique, so this one caught his attention.
He continued scanning through the rest."Fire Cloud Fist, Flame Blade Technique, Dark Fire Sword Formula... None of these are useful!"
He quickly discarded all the other techniques. Since he was in the Huoyuan Kingdom, where almost everyone had a fire-based spiritual root, most of these fire-related techniques didn't appeal to him. They were too ordinary and not the valuable techniques of Tianwu Sect.
He decided to keep only the Lightness Technique and recycle the rest.
"Beep, successfully recycled Fire Cloud Fist, gained 3 points of technique essence.""Beep, successfully recycled Flame Blade Technique, gained 5 points of technique essence.""Beep, successfully recycled Dark Fire Sword Formula, gained 8 points of technique essence.""Beep, recycling completed..."
And so, Xu Que began collecting essence points to improve his skills and techniques.