Healing System

A/N: Changing italics for system speech to [this.] Let me know if you like it more, or if I should change it back instead.

*

"Seize him!" The Cloudflower sect's elder's angered voice rang out, but no one stepped in to do anything.

After all, Michael was innocent.

Lian Hua attacked them first and even injured the sect leader, so naturally, her life was forfeit at that very moment.

"Come down and try something, then," Michael taunted.

If he could get the elder to personally do something stupid, then his rewards would be that much greater.

However, unlike Chu Dong, this one was not so foolish.

"I will not forget this," the Cloudflower sect's elder stated, making Michael's brow rise.

"Oh, believe me, neither will I," Michael let out a chuckle. "I will be paying a visit to each of your sects after all these tournaments are over."

"The first tournament is over!" Sect leader Li intervened, cleaning the dust off his daoist robes. "The next tournament is at the Plum Blossom sect grounds."

With those words, the spectators stood up and swiftly made their way out of the Golden Dragon sect grounds.

Some were jogging—perhaps to get a better viewing angle for the next tournament.

But no one knew what its contents were, except for the elders, who likely already rigged it for their own disciples.

Nonetheless, Michael flashed a glance at Sect leader Li before asking, "Any information you can tell me beforehand?"

"It's a maze. That is all I know. But from what I heard in the stories, the Plum Blossom sect has some underground tunnels that span across the entire city."

"That sounds... very unfair." Michael tilted his head, receiving a nod from Sect leader Li in response.

"It is unfair, Mujin. However, you must try your best to win, and I will do the same on my part. I need to scour the treasury for a few important materials. In the meantime, you will have no elders accompanying you since the others are drunk."

'Some things run in the sect, huh.' Michael thought with a frown.

"I see... I'll get going now."

With those words, Michael turned toward his companions—Kai, Mimi, and, surprisingly, Hu Rong—who were idly sitting by.

'I thought he would be training?' Michael mused. 'Guess his big talk was meant for later.'

After he met their gazes, they soon began following after him, with Hu Rong stepping right beside him and saying, "Master Mujin, the Cloudflower sect are very treacherous. Even if you are strong, please be careful."

"You don't need to worry, my disciple," Michael assured. "I am very hard to kill."

Hu Rong flashed a strange look but soon regrouped with both Kai and Mimi behind Michael.

[I guess this maze might be an interesting challenge,] the system suddenly said.

'Why? It sounds like one unfair hassle to me. They likely already taught the correct routes to their disciples.'
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[That just means you know who to track. Though at the same time, you can cause some chaos and ruin their underground tunnels.]

Michael was slightly shocked to hear such words. 'You are encouraging me to commit my stupid mischief? And here I thought you were going to continue acting like a parent.'

[Yeah, well, keep in mind, some of those tunnels might still be unexplored to this day, so finding something interesting is also possible,] the system added, ignoring his rude remark.

'I'll see what I can do,' Michael answered with a smile as he soon found himself in front of the Plum Blossom sect's entrance gate.

And to say it was a bit more lively than the Golden Dragon sect was an understatement.

There were people all around, practically stepping on each other to see properly.

Thousands, minimum.

However, perhaps because of malice or something else, no one escorted Michael and his group inside.

Therefore, he decided to do it his way.

Raising his hand, he sent out a short burst of mana that acted as some sort of wind bullet, pushing people aside.

A lot were warriors, and upon recognizing Michael's move, they calmed down, letting him pass peacefully.

Yet the normal citizens were not so forgiving, as soon they began running up to him and violently kicking his legs.

But since he couldn't even feel what they were doing, Michael ignored them.

That was until he had finally reached the actual gate and soon went through it.

Immediately, the much bigger sect grounds entered his sight, and his group behind him was equally in awe.

When he had tried joining this sect earlier, they did not seem this fancy, but now, they must have used a yearly budget or something to prepare such luxuries.

There were many food stalls, merchandise with pink flowers, as well as miniature wooden swords with the Plum Blossom's logo on them.

'Smart... They are using their reputation to make people buy this useless shit,' Michael concluded.

If they were truly using as much money as he was expecting, then the prices were likely high as well.

And as he walked up to one of the food stalls, the bread—which cost 20 silvers—practically blew him away.

However, the shocking part was, people were eagerly coming along and buying it, leaving with happy expressions on their faces.

Why? Simply because the bread had the Plum Blossom sect's logo on it.

A gimmick that only worked if the sect was famous, and definitely would not have worked had Michael tried to do the same.

But in the end, it did not matter. Money would be pouring in the moment he finished all of these tournaments.

Since even if he did not know what Sect leader Ji was planning, the least Michael could deduce was that he would get an extra sacrifice necessary to open that inheritance chamber.

"This way!" an annoyingly angry voice rang out from the side, and he spotted the Plum Blossom sect's elder glaring daggers at both him and his group.

Michael put on a smile and walked toward him. "What's with the animosity? I have not done anything to wrong you. Not yet, at least."

"You have a foul tongue, child. I wish you the best in the trials, though," the elder snickered, making Michael raise a brow.

'So there will be traps or other unexpected stupid stuff, got it,' he noted it down and went along the path the elder set them on.

It seemed like a simple courtyard, but soon, Michael felt as though he was walking on hollow ground.

That was when the slab he had been standing on turned, sending him falling down to whatever awaited below.

However, after just a few moments of freefalling, Michael felt as though he was traveling down a slope until eventually, it became an actual slide.

'Just how deep does this hole go?' he thought with widened eyes as the seconds passed swiftly.

'Who could have even dug something like this? Definitely not a human.'

[A snake,] the system stated matter-of-factly.

'Snake? The size of a truck?' Michael thought with amusement. Is something like that even possible?

[You know dragons are real, and yet you doubt the existence of a slightly above-average-sized snake. But yes, they are ancient creatures that probably don't exist anymore. The Plum Blossom sect ancestors were lucky to find something like this,] the system explained, earning a whistle from Michael in response.

'Sure would love to see one of those.'

[You wouldn't. I wouldn't either. They are ugly sons of bitches who eat through your clothes and mana.]

'Are you telling me this from experience?' Michael mused, but upon not getting an answer, merely chuckled.

His sliding did not last long, as soon, a massive tunnel appeared before him, much bigger than the hole he had just fallen from.

However, he heard a few plops beside him, and upon turning around, spotted Mimi, Hu Rong, as well as Kai all staring around in wonder.

"I'm glad you are all okay, but now we need to find a way out—probably," Michael said with slight amusement.

These tunnels were completely made of dirt, and nothing stopped his mana from passing through.

Therefore, he could likely find a way out in minutes.

But that would be no fun. Instead, Michael would follow his group and let them find the exit by themselves.

In the meantime, Michael would control his Swords of Light to track the other groups and accidentally eliminate a few of their disciples.

And by eliminate, he had killing in mind.

His perception of death had changed long ago, therefore, he had no qualms killing even if not completely necessary.

The path Michael followed was not just, but of course, he did not want to come off as a total villain either.

That was why he would only kill one member from each team—excluding the Cloudflower sect, who were already missing a disciple due to earlier circumstances.

However, before they could begin their journey to explore the tunnels, a loud shriek resounded in the distance, and with that followed several screams that did not seem to belong to any of the other teams.

Michael narrowed his eyes and soon saw the outline of some kind of worm creature popping out of the ground and opening its mouth.

With that, the shriek and screaming resounded, as if luring people toward it.

All the while, Michael felt disappointed if this was all they could come up with.

'What a stupid trap.'

But before he could ponder further, the worm was suddenly eaten up by an even bigger worm, and for some reason, as it got closer and closer, the size was growing in exponential proportions.

[I guess that's not all they had,] the system chuckled.

'...Seems like it.'