Chapter 576 – Tick Tock, Motherfucker
Day 91
Initiates, elders, deacons, local men, and rogue cultivators gathered in front of Miaomiao's stable, waiting to purchase the adult centipedes.
The previous batch of centipedes was popular among the locals. Some rode them as mounts while the rest raised them as combat pets.
Because of the popularity and the word of mouth, more cultivators flocked to this place. Nobody wanted to miss this opportunity to get immortal pets.
None of them thought highly of their lifespans. They believed that losing ten or a hundred years was acceptable.
However, as more people gathered, chaos ensued. Many elders from prestigious families began suppressing the rogue cultivators.
"Know your place! This city is our Mu Clan's territory! All centipedes belong to the Mu Clan!"
"Fool. This place belongs to Eden Garden Sect. You greedy Mu Clan can get lost!"
"Eden Garden Sect has no right to claim the ownership of this place. The street is protected by us, the Yi Family!"
"Fuck off!"
"No, you!"
The argument got heated to the point that some of them began fighting. As most of these cultivators were immortals, they activated soul domains and used fancy skills to kill each other.
Because of the chaos, other cultivators got hit by stray bullets. As everybody was durable and strong, they counterattacked against the troublemakers.
More people jumped into the chaotic fight. Yet, no official or security guards from the Cherry Boy City came in to stop it.
Deacons and elders of the sect stood by the sideline, watching how their initiates and candidates fought against outsiders and rogue cultivators.
Miaomiao was also one of the heartless spectators. He purposely delayed the shop opening time to let these cultivators kill each other. Then, he would reap a lot of profit by collecting their corpses.
After an hour of combat, the battlefield size escalated. One of the fighters missed his skill shot and a massive meteorite landed on top of several houses.
Bystanders got implicated, and these men had short fuse. They also jumped into the fray.
Now, the entire city was on fire.
Miaomiao laughed as he liked what he saw. Unfortunately, his dream of collecting dead cultivators was cut short.
"ENOUGH!"
Suddenly, a figure descended and suppressed everyone. The meteors turned into dust, and everybody's weapons were broken.
An elf, donned in silver robes, slowly landed on the rooftop of the stable. He looked around and glared at the troublemakers in the city and the lone stable, which was unharmed.
"This world is under the jurisdiction of Eden Garden Sect. No one can claim this city as their turf!"
Sect members of Eden Garden Sect rejoiced. They cupped their fists and bowed to the elf. Although they didn't know the person's name, orders from this deity took priority.
The elf established his authority. He revealed his name, "I'm Xie Lian, the vice patriarch of the Xie Clan! By the order of Xie Qingtian, the grand elder of Eden Garden Sect, I shall act as an overseer of this city until today's event is over! Is that clear?!"
The rogue cultivators, gangsters, and selfish clansmen bitterly bowed their heads, "We understand, Exalted One!"
…
Miaomiao was disappointed that the chaos ended abruptly. He had expected a chaotic massacre or a bloodbath.
Miaomiao had also seen Xie Lian in Xie Tian's memory. This right-handed man of Xie Xuanyuan excelled in skill disruptions, and his absolute defense was impenetrable.
Xie Tian in the previous timeline fought against Xie Lian several times, but the latter always negated Xie Tian's Time Power. All fights ended up as a draw. Only after Xie Qingtian and Devil killed Xie Xuanyuan, Xie Lian submitted to Xie Qingtian, and he stopped getting in Xie Tian's way.
Miaomiao sighed. He looked at Xie Fan, who had been cheering for her elder brother.
"Big bro, you're so cool!"
Again, this little tomboy didn't know how to hide her secrets. She revealed her status easily.
Because of Xie Lian's interference, Miaomiao was forced to come out and proceed with his business. He opened the door and walked toward the centipede pit.
Tugu, Ta Dun, and Shamoke had been hovering over the pit for a while now. Upon seeing their boss, they let out a sigh of relief.
Miaomiao gazed at the people and Xie Lian for a moment. Then, he started organizing the crowd.
"Dear customers, please make a queue first, so I can sell my pets to you. If you crowd like this, my store can't operate."
Everyone glanced at each other. Although they didn't want to yield against their rivals, they heeded Miaomiao's request.
Still, arrogant cultivators fought to get in front of the queue. The previous elder from the Mu Clan strode toward Miaomiao.
"I've been waiting here since yesterday. I'll buy them first!"
"Hey! You can't cut the line!"
"SCRAM! THIS FATHER IS FIRST!"
BOOM
Again, this Mu Clan's elder attacked the others to get ahead.
Xie Lian glared at the Mu Clan's elder. Then, he looked at Miaomiao's reaction.
Miaomiao grinned and shrugged. Since this Mu Elder was so eager, he didn't mind selling some centipedes to him and getting him out of the way.
But before Miaomiao could summon his system screen, the Mu Elder declared, "The Mu Clan shall this stable, the garbage pit, and all centipedes here! No one has the right to own them other than my clan! Also, brat, you shall be working for my clan from now on. Consider this an honor!"
Miaomiao frowned. He had thought that local cultivators in this universe were smart and one-dimensional idiots were rare. Yet, he met one right here.
Furthermore, the Mu Elder only tossed a sag of soul stones at Miaomiao. He didn't follow the rules.
The elder got on Miaomiao's nerve.
'My protagonist fate might be at work. Haiz, how annoying.'
Miaomiao pondered for a moment. Then, he came up with new rules.
"Customers may only purchase up to ten centipedes per person. Also, I have no intention of working for any clan nor selling my stable."
Many elders from strong clans widened their eyes as if the message was directed at them. On the other hand, the local cultivators burst into laughter.
"Yeah. Take that, stupid bastard."
"Who asked you to be so arrogant? Serve you right."
"The Mu Clan is so stupid. How can they keep using this idiot as an elder?"
The Mu Elder's face reddened in anger. He glared at Miaomiao. Then, he unsheathed his sword, planning to behead him on the spot.
Unfortunately for him, Xie Lian had been looking at the elder. The aura of a deity made the Mu Elder dizzy.
Unable to withstand Xie Lian's power, Mu Elder conceded.
"Tsk! Fine. I'll buy ten!"
Miaomiao smiled and summoned the shop window. As usual, an adult centipede's price tag was only 10 years of lifespan.
Mu Elder finished the transaction. Yet, he didn't leave after he collected the pets.
"You said it yourself, brat. Each customer can buy 10 centipedes, right?"
"Yes, indeed."
"Then, don't mind me if I invite my clansmen."
Mu Elder snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a thousand cultivators from the Mu Clan flew toward the elder. They landed in front of the stable, cutting the queues.
In the sky, a thousand immortals from the Mu Clan also surrounded the stable.
"Everyone, buy ten centipedes from this man!"
Miaomiao frowned, "I can overlook your previous action since you are an elder, but I won't tolerate if you cheat the others. Please tell them to queue up properly, or you will meet an unfortunate end."
"Pfft. I want to see you try. What are you going to do about it? Cry to your protectors? My Mu Clan aren't afraid of your sect's deities! We are the vessels of a grand elder as well!
"…"
Now, this got interesting. Miaomiao glanced at Xie Lian, who was the elder brother of Xie Qingtian, another grand elder of the sect. He wondered whether the Xie Family would react to this taunt.
Xie Lian's expression changed when the Mu Elder announced that he was a henchman of a grand elder. If that was the case, he could not harm them according to the Sect's Law.
Noticing that Xie Lian ignored this arrogant elder's taunt, Miaomiao changed his plan. He looked at Xie Fan, who had been spectating the event behind Miaomiao.
"Xie Fan."
"Yes, boss?"
Miaomiao whispered, "Go tell your big brother to suppress the Mu Clan's people for me. If he cooperates with me, I'll show you one of my secret techniques."
"REALLY?!"
Xie Fan was surprised. Xie Lian also overheard the conversation and was curious as well.
Xie Xuanyuan had sent him to spy on Miaomiao and pick up Xie Fan. Now that Miaomiao agreed to show them his skill, this should be the right opportunity to evaluate Miaomiao's worth.
Moreover, suppressing these people without harming them was within the rules. There was no reason to decline.
Xie Fan rushed to her brother, who seemed to be old enough to be her great-grandfather. She relayed Miaomiao's word even though Xie Lian had already heard them.
However, everybody could hear her loud voice.
"Brother, Mao Miaomiao orders you to kill those fucking assholes and turn them into centipede food! If you do, he will give us his secret!"
The message was totally wrong here. She changed everything.
Xie Lian and Miaomiao's eyelids twitched, and their expression turned dark.
Mu Elder and others were fumed in rage. They bellowed, "You brat! How dare you look down on our clan!? Our deity is Li Muyi, the first grand elder!"
"Oh, Li Muyi?" Xie Lian smirked. Had the Mu Elder's backer been someone else, he might have declined Miaomiao's request.
But Li Muyi was another story.
Suddenly, Xie Lian clapped his hands.
BOOM
Everyone from the Mu Clan collapsed to the ground as they suddenly couldn't use their Qi. Even if they had the immortal physique, they couldn't resist the natural gravity force of this planet without Qi.
Xie Lian glanced at Miaomiao, "Your turn. I can only restrain them for a minute. Further than this is against the law."
Miaomiao giggled, "I know, senior. Thank you for your cooperation."
"That's my job. I have to maintain order here anyway. These guys are crossing the line."
"Then, could I ask you for another favor?"
"What is it?"
"Could you gather them in one place? They kinda scatter everywhere."
"No. This is the limit. As I said, this is all I can do. Now, go and fulfill your promise."
"…"
Miaomiao clicked his tongue. He couldn't abuse this elder's authority.
Still, a thousand clan members of Mu Elder was enough. Miaomiao summoned his dark domain and covered the collapsed cultivators.
Xie Fan and Xie Lian frowned as they couldn't see anything within the dark domain. They circulated their Providence Qi into their eyes and expanded their Qi sense.
Their eyes shone like a laser beam. Now, they could see a faint silhouette of Miaomiao and the others inside the domain.
Unfortunately for Xie Fan, her Qi sense was blocked. She couldn't sense the movement of Miaomiao.
Meanwhile, Xie Lian could easily see everything in the dark. He smirked and recorded everything that he saw into a jade slip, planning to report this to his father.
However, all Xie Lian could see was that Miaomiao only touched everybody's neck. Other than that, he sensed nothing.
'What is he doing?'
While he was focusing on Miaomiao's action, Xie Fan finally adapted to the domain power. She sensed something, and she rushed toward Miaomiao.
She stopped him from touching another cultivator.
"BOSS, STOP!!"
Xie Lian frowned. He followed Xie Fan and approached Miaomiao. Only then does he sense something amiss.
Everybody that had been touched by Miaomiao looked the same, but their presence and aura were fading. They felt like old mortals, who had a few years left to live.
Miaomiao glanced at Xie Fan and Xie Lian. Although he only touched a dozen men of the Mu Clan and the Mu Elder, he was satisfied. Miaomiao deactivated his dark domain afterward.
"What did you do?" Xie Lian frowned. He couldn't figure out the secret technique of Miaomiao.
Xie Fan was puzzled as well. She noticed several presences of dangerous spiritual beings, but they disappeared as soon as Miaomiao touched someone.
"Boss, what's inside your body?"
"You're sharp, Xie Fan. I must say, as expected you."
Miaomiao leisurely walked back to the stable. Then, he opened his system shop menu.
"Senior, you can release them."
"???"
Xie Lian snapped his fingers, and the clansmen of Mu Elder regained their bearing. They stood up and glared at Miaomiao.
"To express my apologies, everybody from the Mu Clan may buy as many centipedes from me with your lifespan. Please make a queue and complete the transaction here."
Mu Elder glared at Miaomiao. He knew that Miaomiao had done something to him, but he couldn't feel the change in his body.
"Hmm! You should have done this earlier!"
Mu Elder looked at the system menu shop again.
Previously, he had checked his remaining lifespan. As a 10-Star Constellation Immortal, he had over a million years to live.
Mu Elder planned to buy a thousand centipedes. Then, he would let the others get the rest since he didn't have enough lifespan to purchase everything.
But when Mu Elder could see his remaining lifespan again, he was shocked.
Now, he understood what Miaomiao had done to him.
"BRAT! HOW DARE YOU!"
The elder's remaining lifespan was 10 seconds!
Miaomiao smirked, "Tick tock, motherfucker."
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