Volume One, Chapter 2: Is There Something Fishy About These Two?

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A Ten-Thousandfold Return System for Bootlicking Expenses?

Sure enough, a system was the standard equipment of every transmigrator.

Ye Feng had originally regarded the Liu Ruyan before him as worthless, something to be discarded without a second thought.

But the sudden appearance of the system instantly made him realize that Liu Ruyan had acquired a new purpose.

Although Liu Ruyan’s Submission Value was only at the lowest level—one point—the tenfold basic return on bootlicking expenses was already enough to tempt Ye Feng.

Good heavens.

He had originally planned to lie low and run away.

So why was his blood suddenly beginning to boil?

He would not lie low anymore.

Only those useless in the cultivation world chose to give up and drift along.

He was still young, and now he had a system.

So what if he was living in a cultivation world ruled by the survival of the fittest?

On the surface, he could play the bootlicker, giving gifts to female cultivators stronger than himself. Through the Ten-Thousandfold Return System for Bootlicking Expenses, he would receive multiplied returns on every gift.

If he worked hard, would he not be able to possess countless resources that would make others green with envy?

That was far better than the financial freedom of living on welfare before he transmigrated.

As for becoming a bootlicker mocked by everyone…

Who was going to stop him? Was there any career with a brighter future than this?

Besides, how could giving gifts to beautiful female cultivators be called bootlicking?

Someone who revolved around a single person without asking for anything in return was a bootlicker. But the system’s appearance clearly meant that he should cast a wide net and show concern for every beautiful female cultivator in need of care.

As the saying went:

Bootlicking one person makes you a dog; bootlicking ten thousand makes you a wolf.

Bootlick with enough variety, and once you become a wolf, you may even become king!

With this return system, what did he have to fear about becoming a mighty figure in the cultivation world?

The legacy of the Ancient Martial Emperor? He would have it!

High and unattainable female cultivators? He would bring them to heel!

They would all become nourishment for Ye Feng’s ascension to immortality and attainment of godhood.

“Wonderful!”

“Absolutely wonderful!”

Silently reciting the sixteen-word maxim—“Give of yourself, ask for nothing, act proactively, and seek no reward”—Ye Feng looked at Liu Ruyan with sparkling eyes.

“Surely not, Senior Sister? You aren’t angry, are you?”

“My treasured Drunken Flower Brew has been waiting all this time to be given to you, Senior Sister Ruyan.”

Liu Ruyan’s bottom, which had been jutting up as she prepared to rise, froze in place.

Ye Feng laughed inwardly.

As expected, this woman had approached him solely for resources and gifts.

A single bottle of Drunken Flower Brew had been enough to expose her true nature.

The corners of her mouth were practically twitching upward uncontrollably.

Still, it was hardly surprising. Though Drunken Flower Brew was merely a low-grade spirit wine, it was genuinely worth thirty low-grade spirit stones.

For an ordinary wandering cultivator in the early or middle stages of Energy Condensation, thirty low-grade spirit stones might take an entire year to gather.

No wonder Liu Ruyan was tempted by his gift.

Actually, he had planned to make a grand gesture just now—to give Liu Ruyan the entire Drunken Immortal Residence tavern.

But after thinking it over, he abandoned the idea.

Anyone could figure out that the odds of Liu Ruyan accepting the Drunken Immortal Residence tavern were 99.999 percent against him.

No one would accept such an outrageous gift appearing out of nowhere.

Moreover, such an action would put Liu Ruyan on guard.

So he settled for the next best thing and searched through the memories in his mind.

In the end, he found the low-grade spirit wine Drunken Flower Brew, which Liu Ruyan had been longing for.

Seeing Liu Ruyan freeze exactly as he had expected, Ye Feng secretly mocked her for being both shameless and self-righteous.

But he was also eager to get the gift into her hands.

The two of them were mutually willing participants.

Thus, he smiled and rescued Liu Ruyan from her awkwardness.

“Senior Sister, I was in the wrong earlier.”

“Your junior brother absolutely had no improper intentions.”

“To demonstrate my sincerity, I’ll give you this spirit wine right away! I only ask that you believe in my feelings.”

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Liu Ruyan’s rigid body immediately relaxed as she considered how she ought to respond.

It was the same recipe, and it tasted just as familiar.

She had thought Ye Feng had changed.

Who would have guessed that this fellow had merely become even more shameless in his bootlicking?

Even now, Ye Feng was capable of such lavish gifts!

It seemed he was nowhere near bankruptcy after all.

Hmph!

Stinking man. He was not honest in the slightest.

Fortunately, squeezing him a little could produce even greater surprises.

Liu Ruyan deliberately kept a cold expression on her face.

“Junior Brother Ye, what do you mean by this?”

“Do you think you can buy me off with a single bottle of spirit wine?”

“Am I, Liu Ruyan, really worth so little? You’re insulting me!”

Ye Feng nearly cursed her out. Had he not been a fellow cultivator just moments ago? Why had he suddenly become “Junior Brother” again?

But for the sake of the return, he forced himself to explain.

“How could you say that, Senior Sister?”

“With your peerless beauty, how could a single bottle of spirit wine possibly be worthy of you?”

“I’m merely adding a little embellishment to something already perfect!”

Seeing that Ye Feng had backed down and that his tongue had grown considerably sweeter, Liu Ruyan finally accepted the gift with satisfaction.

Yet she continued to wear a cold expression.

“Junior Brother Ye, we still cherish one another’s company, don’t we?”

Ye Feng nodded.

“Then, in a few days, my dearest friend will be emerging from seclusion.”

“I hope to welcome her here and celebrate her return as sisters would, but I still don’t have a magical artifact or spirit robe I truly like. Can you help me?”

“She has seen plenty of the world, and I, her senior sister, don’t want to embarrass myself!”

“Junior Brother, do you think I’m worthy of owning a spirit robe?”

Ye Feng’s molars ached. If she wanted something for free, she could just say so.

“You’re more than worthy!”

But so long as giving gifts earned him returns, no matter how outrageous Liu Ruyan’s demands became, he would have to keep bootlicking.

If Liu Ruyan did not accept, how could Ye Feng receive anything?

If he did not give, how could the system give him a return?

If Liu Ruyan did not ask, he would be reluctant to give.

Then how could Ye Feng improve?

This was wonderful!

He had been worried that he would have no excuse to keep giving her gifts.

And now, the excuse had arrived on its own.

Was this bootlicking?

No. This was the ladder to advancement, the great path leading straight to the heavens!

And if this so-called best friend could also be recognized by the system, that would be even better.

When Liu Ruyan saw that Ye Feng had finally agreed without hesitation, her face blossomed into a radiant smile.

As the saying went, those who eat another’s food become tongue-tied, and those who accept another’s gifts become weak-kneed.

As for someone who ate, accepted gifts, and even intended to carry them away in a bundle, there was even less to say.

Having received his answer, Liu Ruyan no longer wore the righteous expression of someone determined to pursue the Great Dao alone.

…

After seeing Liu Ruyan off, Ye Feng stood outside the tavern with a face full of smiles.

At last, he had given the gift away!

Even though the waiter kept sneaking glances at him with strange looks, he remained extraordinarily excited and could not be bothered to explain.

In the eyes of outsiders, he was a first-rate, utterly shameless bootlicker.

In reality, however, he had already made an enormous profit.

A tenfold return on bootlicking expenses—this was going to be explosively satisfying!

A clear, mechanical voice rang out right on schedule.

Ding!

The host has successfully given Liu Ruyan a low-grade spirit wine.

Reward obtained: ten bottles of Drunken Flower Brew.

Ding!

The host has successfully given a gift for the first time. Additional reward obtained: one bottle of mid-grade spirit wine, Scarlet Flame Brew.

Liu Ruyan has been detected to be completely satisfied, with intense emotional fluctuations.

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A sixty-six-fold critical reward has been triggered.

Reward for the host: one high-grade directional eavesdropping talisman.

All of the above items have been placed in the host’s system space.

Please claim them promptly.

At this, Ye Feng’s smile spread from ear to ear.

Wonderful! The return could even trigger critical rewards. This was incredible!

Being a bootlicker and giving gifts was great. Giving gifts was the way to learn!

The mid-grade spirit wine, Scarlet Flame Brew, far exceeded his expectations.

After all, spirit wine was precious not merely because it satisfied the appetite, but because it contained extremely rare spiritual energy that the body could absorb with ease.

The finest spirit wines were even more valuable than certain rare pills.

In other words, spirit wine could genuinely increase one’s cultivation without leaving behind any side effects.

As for mid-grade Scarlet Flame Brew, even cultivators in the upper stages of Energy Condensation would covet it.

Ye Feng was currently at a low level of cultivation.

The Scarlet Flame Brew had arrived at exactly the right time.

As for the high-grade talisman produced by the critical reward, it had surprised Ye Feng even more.

The moment a spirit talisman was associated with the words “high-grade,” it ceased to be cheap.

It could be said that although this was merely Ye Feng’s first small step in attempting to become a bootlicker, it was a great leap forward in the growth of a battle wolf within the cultivation world.

…

“Those two senior cultivators look familiar. Are you here to dine?”

The waiter’s greeting drew Ye Feng’s attention.

A scar-faced male cultivator and an exceptionally beautiful female cultivator stood in the main hall, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.

Aside from being slightly older than Liu Ruyan, the woman surpassed her in every other respect.

Her mature, alluring figure exuded the temptation of a ripe peach with every casual movement.

The sway of each step made one’s heart tremble.

It was difficult to imagine that a female cultivator’s curves could reach such astonishing proportions.

“Little fellow, your manager has run into trouble, yet you’re still open for business?”

Wu Changfu spoke up, asking the question directly.

The waiter looked puzzled.

“Senior, what are you talking about?”

“The manager isn’t right there?”

The two of them raised their heads together and instantly saw Ye Feng standing outside the private room.

“Ah?”

Li Yueyao covered her mouth and cried out in shock, her expression changing drastically.

As though she had seen a ghost, she stumbled half a step backward, her entire body trembling.

The scar-faced man furrowed his brow. Without saying a word, he swiftly seized the woman and disappeared.

Ye Feng watched their hurriedly retreating figures.

Yet the mechanical voice in his mind appeared once more.

Ding!

A female cultivator meeting the system’s conditions has been detected nearby.

Return recipient: Li Yueyao.

Return multiplier: fifteenfold.

Submission Value: 1.

Ding!

It has been detected that this female cultivator is experiencing intense emotional fluctuations due to the extreme malice emanating from someone beside her.

A contemplative look appeared in Ye Feng’s eyes. He knew both of them.

Wu Changfu and Li Yueyao.

Both had been friends of Ye Feng’s parents while they were alive.

They had always referred to themselves as his uncle and aunt.

Both possessed a cultivation level of the tenth layer of Energy Condensation.

They had not appeared again since something had happened to Ye Feng’s parents.

A memory surfaced in Ye Feng’s mind: a scene from several days earlier, when the two had come to the tavern to acknowledge their kinship with him.

But the moment they saw him, they had left—and now there was such intense malice between them?

“Could there be something suspicious about these two?”

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