My Crazy Upgrade System

At the mention of how Cyan Profound Mansion had chosen not to provide support when Merak Palace was besieged by three major powers, Ge the Patrol Envoy’s expression darkened. He wasn’t embarrassed by the question; on the contrary, he seemed rather contemptuous. They had chosen not to offer aid because the three powers had all promised to become vassals of the Cyan Profound Mansion, so it was only natural to back them instead.

They never expected the result to be the defeat of the three major powers, which forced them to re-evaluate Merak Palace. They hadn’t imagined that a sect composed entirely of female Cultivators could be so powerful.

"There’s nothing to discuss. Your strength was insufficient back then, so you were abandoned by our Cyan Profound Mansion. Now your strength meets the standard, so you may join us," Ge the Patrol Envoy said gravely. "To join us, one cannot be too weak; there is a standard of qualification! Only now that you’ve reached this level are you permitted to join. Don’t tell me you don’t even understand a simple rule like that? If your strength was lacking, do you think we would want you? Don’t be so naive; we’re not three-year-olds anymore!"

He was just that shameless, speaking the truth so bluntly without the slightest attempt at concealment. If you were too weak, you were to be abandoned. Survival of the fittest—that was the principle.

Ge the Patrol Envoy’s words didn’t surprise Yi Tianyun. Such an answer was to be expected; he’d only asked the question for the sake of asking.

"I understand that principle, of course. But there’s a difference between being too weak to qualify and being abandoned. Don’t mix them up, thank you," Yi Tianyun replied. "We want to be self-reliant. We don’t wish to join any faction. We want to rely on our own strength to support all of Merak Palace!"

Many factions have their own rules; not being able to join due to a lack of talent is fundamentally the same as a faction being too weak to join a larger alliance. But to be abandoned and then later be required to join? That was unreasonable.

Yi Tianyun’s words made the elders’ eyes light up; this was exactly what they wanted to hear. They had been abandoned, so there was no way they would ever join. It was better to be self-reliant; there was no need to join the faction that had forsaken them!

Merak Palace and Cyan Profound Mansion had actually been on good terms. Quite a few of their disciples had even married disciples from Cyan Profound Mansion. But in the end, that relationship was completely disregarded as they were abandoned. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a formal abandonment, as the two factions had never been officially allied. Still, they had been on friendly terms, and for Cyan Profound Mansion to not help even then... well, there was nothing more to say. They would never choose to join.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP...

Ge the Patrol Envoy started clapping, looking at them with disdain. "Oh, how noble! ’Self-reliant,’ ’supporting all of Merak Palace on your own!’ So you defeated three paltry second-rank factions, and now you think you’re untouchable? Any casual third-rank faction could annihilate you!"

The elders remained expressionless, watching him with cold eyes. ’Is that supposed to be a threat?’

"A random third-rank faction could indeed destroy us, but as long as we don’t provoke anyone, we should be fine here in our remote little corner," Shi Xueyun said nonchalantly.

"Very good! It seems you’ve chosen to do this the hard way." A menacing Evil Qi flared in Ge the Patrol Envoy’s eyes. "In that case, I’ll stop wasting words. The Cyan Profound Mansion intends to control this entire region, and to do so, we need a proxy faction with absolute authority here. Right now, you are a very suitable candidate! I’ll give you a choice. One: absolute obedience to us. Do that, and not only will you live, but you’ll also gain access to more resources. The second choice is to disappear from this world entirely!"

After all their initial pleasantries, the refusal had been given, and now the dagger was revealed. The auras of the three men instantly erupted—all of them were at the seventh or eighth layer of the Core Formation Stage. And this was merely a fraction of Cyan Profound Mansion’s strength, not its full power.

The elders’ faces paled. Battered by the pressure, they couldn’t help but stumble back a few steps. This pressure was immense, on par with the patriarchs they had faced before. While the envoys’ cultivation realms were lower than those patriarchs, the auras they unleashed felt even more potent.

The reason was simple: these men were younger, possessed better Treasures, and cultivated stronger Martial Arts!

Yi Tianyun watched them calmly, his Eye of Investigation revealing their information.

Ge the Patrol Envoy: Seventh Layer, Core Formation Stage. Wearing peak-grade Spiritual Artifact armor. Comprehensive Combat Power: 160,000! Weakness: Can be countered by Wood Attribute abilities. Potential kill drops: Heaven-Transforming Palm (Low-Grade Earth Level Martial Arts), Netherworld Step (Low-Grade Earth Level Body Technique)...

Fang the Patrol Envoy...

The data on all three men appeared before Yi Tianyun. Without even activating their Martial Arts or drawing their weapons, they already had a Combat Power of 160,000. If they brought out their weapons, that number would surely climb to 180,000 or 190,000, maybe even 200,000.

’As expected. The standard for a third-rank faction is quite a bit higher than those second-rank faction patriarchs.’

"So this was your plan from the very beginning!" Shi Xueyun said coldly.

"That’s right. One way or another, you will submit to us! It’s either that or death; there are no other options. The original plan was for those three major powers to merge into a single faction to help us rule this region, but you unexpectedly wiped them out. We never saw it coming, we really misjudged you. To think Merak Palace possessed such skill is truly astonishing," Ge the Patrol Envoy sneered. "If you refuse, then it’s a shame, but I’ll simply have to choose another faction. However, starting today, Merak Palace will cease to exist!"

"You seem very confident in your ability to annihilate Merak Palace," Shi Xueyun said, her expression placid and devoid of fear. In the time that had passed, her own cultivation had progressed by leaps and bounds, breaking through to the eighth layer of the Core Formation Stage!

Ge the Patrol Envoy squinted at her and smiled. "I know you have a backer. Probably someone at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, right? Or maybe even an expert who just broke through to the Spirit Pill Stage! Our guess is it’s either one of your ancestors or some other helper. Otherwise, how could those three major powers have been crushed so easily? Since that’s the case, why don’t you call him out? Let us see just how powerful he really is!"

The elders exchanged awkward glances. The expert who had annihilated the three major powers was standing right in front of them.

It was clear they didn’t know Yi Tianyun was the expert who had dealt with the three major powers; they had only heard rumors of a grand expert who had helped. They had no idea who it was, but they certainly didn’t think it was Yi Tianyun—he looked far too young.

Shi Xueyun’s talent was already considered heaven-defying; it was impossible for Yi Tianyun to be just as monstrous, right?

After waiting a moment, no one appeared.

"Where is this person? Hiding and too afraid to show his face? Or has he already left?" Ge the Patrol Envoy sneered. "It seems he’s cowering in the shadows like a turtle in its shell. No wonder you’re acting so bold! Now, I will repeat myself one last time: either surrender and obey our every command, or be utterly annihilated! Of course, Palace Master Shi will have to return with us. Our Mansion Master has specifically requested you by name. With your talent, serving as our Mansion Master’s concubine would be an excellent choice. The children you bear would surely be powerful!"

The words had barely left his mouth when a figure erupted forward, appearing in front of him in the blink of an eye. SLAP! With a single backhand, the envoy was sent flying. His face swelled up, teeth scattered across the floor, and his mouth filled with blood.

"Your Mansion Master is nothing but a pig! What right does he have to take my aunt as a concubine? Screw him! Tell him to go mate with some other sow!"

The one who had struck was none other than Yi Tianyun! He had planned to listen a little longer, but the moment the envoy’s words turned to Shi Xueyun, he had snapped. Anyone who dared to make a move on Shi Xueyun would pay with their life!