Not a god

Chapter 186 Harvest
While in Jiangcheng, occasionally one or two Tier 3 Skeleton Lords would appear, but these Tier 3 Lords were elusive. Chen Xi would log in and try his luck there, killing any he encountered.

The creation of evil remains requires both human malice and the spiritual power of the Goddess of Great Love. The Goddess of Great Love possesses infinite power, and the nourishment is naturally inexhaustible. However, there is a limit to the number of evil remains that can be created. There is a limit to the number of evil remains that can exist in each area, such as how many can be, how many can be, how many can be... Even if there is sufficient malice and spiritual power, this limit cannot be exceeded. Generally, they will be regenerated after they perish.

When there is sufficient evil intent, the regeneration rate of the evil remains is fast. Killing the evil remains can clear away these evil intents. In other words, the more and faster you kill, the slower the regeneration rate of the evil remains will become.

Chen Xi had touched almost all the Tier 3 skeletons in Jiangcheng, but their regeneration speed was very slow, and it was also very difficult to find them after they regenerated. They were far less capable than the thirteen skeletons in Shanghai, who had even planned their territories and were so sensible.

He simply went to each of them and that was it.

However, what Chen Xi didn't know was that while he was checking the water meter, the internet in Shanghai was in an uproar.

Yun He Jiuxiao: "What's going on? Why have all the rickshaw pullers in the city gone on strike?"

Dayun Motorcycle: "Holy crap, I heard that Granny Jiangxi is dead?"

Invincible King Sangqi: "The black-haired songstress was also killed, the entire Paramount Ballroom collapsed, and there was also the bone-washing woman on the Suzhou River, and the master of the longevity shrine in the cemetery..."

Some players reported seeing a man's figure in the air above the ruins of the Paramount Ballroom, where he ripped off the head of a black-haired songstress.

Some players also said they saw a man on the Suzhou River who twisted a woman washing clothes into a Tianjin-style twisted dough stick.

Some people also said that they saw the man in the cemetery fighting back and forth with the shrine master, and finally he pulled out a knife and stabbed the shrine master.

But if you ask these players what the man looks like, not one of them can say.

At first, some netizens said he looked quite handsome, but later they gradually said he was a young man. As they talked, it became unclear whether he was male or female, old or young. All the witnesses knew was that there was a person who acted like a god descending to earth, and after the attack, he disappeared in a flash.

Of the thirteen skeletons in Shanghai, five or six died at once, all on the same day, within a little over an hour. And judging by the trend, the remaining skeletons are unlikely to escape death either.

In Shanghai, players of "The Chosen One" were in an uproar. Some players logged in and found that they really didn't have to pay rent anymore... The rain stopped, the sky cleared, and standing on the familiar streets, they felt a little strange. The news spread like wildfire, and in just two hours, the news that six of the Thirteen Skeleton Lords had been eliminated in Shanghai was already causing a huge uproar online.

Players were overjoyed, with some speculating that the official authorities had finally taken action to clean up the environment in Shanghai, but the Shanghai Shepherd's Office quickly came out to clarify.

The question of where this expert came from immediately aroused the curiosity of all players. It was as if a god descended from heaven to rescue the vast number of Shanghai players from their dire straits.

But soon, different voices emerged online.

Black Coffee: No, who is this person? Who ordered him to kill the rickshaw driver?
Black Coffee: So how will I take a rickshaw when I play games in the future?

Black Coffee: Who needs this person to save them? And who is in deep trouble?

Such comments seem outrageous at first glance, but for some reason they resonate with some people.

Blindly Eating Fish: Yeah, the black-haired songstress is dead. We can't even go to the Paramount to listen to music anymore.
The poet murmurs: Rickshaws aren't expensive, but every ride brings a vengeful spirit.

Occasionally, one or two people will come out to argue that the rent is too high, that it's impossible to pay, and that in bad times, they might even lose money...

Kaiyunluo: If you can't afford to play, don't play. What are you doing in Shanghai if you don't have money?
Becoming an outlaw: Yeah, nobody's forcing you to play.

Kou Kewang: Where did this busybody come from? He thinks he's so great. Who asked him to come to Shanghai to deal with these scoundrels?
Such comments weren't just one or two, but appeared in droves. These people criticized this unknown, mysterious expert, believing that he was damaging their interests in Shanghai and that he was meddling in other people's business.
However, as the condemnation intensified, Chen Xi returned to reality from the game.

Because all thirteen skeletons have already been killed.

To break through from the third tier to the fourth tier, the most talented individuals need a million All-Life Evil Souls. One Sovereign-level Evil Soul is equivalent to 100-200 All-Life Evil Souls, and one Common-Life Evil Soul is equivalent to 100-200 Sovereign-level Evil Souls.

In other words, absorbing one public evil spirit is equivalent to absorbing 10,000 to 40,000 public evil spirits.

Based on an average of 2.5, even those with exceptional talent would need over forty Evil Souls of Public Destiny to break through to the fourth tier.

As for using a large number of evil souls to cultivate, this involves the issues of utilization rate and loss.

For a third-tier cultivator to advance by relying on the evil spirits of many lives is so ineffective that it's tantamount to standing still and wasting time.

Just like how people need to eat more than they burn to gain weight and build muscle, and need to eat to fill their stomachs, whether it's meat or rice, you can never see anyone getting full by eating sunflower seeds.

Someone online even did an experiment: they ate ten pounds of sunflower seeds in nine hours and were still hungry in the end. The same principle applies to a third-tier cultivator using a first-tier evil spirit for cultivation.

Thirteen public-level evil souls should be enough for him for several months.

As for skills, I did get a few, and because they were from monsters at the third-tier level, the skills they dropped were quite advanced. The most useful one should be the rickshaw driver. He is also a public-level evil skeleton, but the rickshaw driver didn't have as many ups and downs as Xiangzi, and he didn't live in old Shanghai, but in a period closer to modern times.

When he was a child, his father was a rickshaw puller. Back then, as long as you were willing to work hard, you could earn money. He dreamed of becoming a rickshaw puller from a young age.

However, he lived in a time of change, and by the time he came of age, trams had gradually appeared on the streets, people rode bicycles, and even four-wheeled buses, while private cars rolled over smooth cobblestone roads.

Of course, even in Shanghai, not everyone is rich, and not everyone can afford to ride in a private car. However, the clientele of rickshaw pullers is primarily wealthy.

The rickshaw driver's business became harder and harder every day, but he refused to give up and firmly believed that he could make a future with his own two legs. He worked harder and harder every day, pulling his rickshaw through the streets and alleys, desperately trying to attract customers. The number of rickshaw drivers on the street decreased day by day, and his brothers who ran alongside him disappeared one after another. In the end, he was the only rickshaw driver left running on the street.

He thought he could run faster, and as long as he ran fast enough, he could continue to make a living this way. But human strength is always limited. He could only watch as cars on the road overtook him one after another, and as the number of cars on the street increased and went faster and faster. In the end, he was hit and killed by a bus because he couldn't avoid it in time.

This rickshaw driver lived in a changing era, a time of industrialization crushing the lives of the lower classes. Faced with the tides of the times, he was powerless to resist and was ultimately eliminated.

When Chen Xi heard about the 'Human Cart Driver Technique,' he learned that it was an ability to increase speed and stamina. Moreover, the stamina-increasing effect was terrifying. Once activated, the stamina bar was locked, and the more one pedaled, the more powerful one became, with inexhaustible strength.

This will be a blessing for Wanwan.

Another skill comes from Jin Yin Hai Gong, an old man who runs a money exchange. We don't need to worry about the exact period. At that time, Shanghai was in the midst of a war between two armies, with the East Wind sometimes prevailing over the West Wind and the West Wind sometimes overpowering the East Wind.

However, wars cost money. When the East Wind passes by, the money lender has to provide the East Wind army with rations. When the East Wind runs away and the West Wind comes, the money lender has to pay the West Wind protection fee.

As the fight raged on, the two sides fought fiercely, but there were almost no casualties. Instead, they emptied the bank's coffers, and the owner died of anger.

I heard about a "borrowing and returning technique," which means that if you borrow and return, it's easy to borrow again. After using this ability, you can lend your spiritual power to others, but there is a time limit, and you must return it in the end.

This ability was useless, but the Golden and Silver Skeleton King did drop a cursed item.

This fallen evil creature is quite interesting; it's called the "Gold-Eating Beast." It looks like a lucky cat, and it's actually alive, just a bit silly.

He followed Chen Xi wherever she went. If Chen Xi didn't leave, he would sit down in the same spot, either licking his paws and washing his face, or he would put his two hind legs in the air and start licking his buttocks, looking adorably ugly.

This thing's ability is very simple. In short, it's the game's pay-to-win entry point. Consuming evil spirits can temporarily boost this thing's strength, up to a maximum of Tier 3, the level of a public life.

However, for this lucky cat to unleash its third-tier, life-level power, it needs approximately ten thousand evil souls, and it can only maintain that power for about five minutes.

With Chen Xi's current strength, this cat wouldn't last five seconds in his hands, so it's actually quite useless. But it's funny to just stare at it blankly; he'll use it to tease Xue Ji when he gets back.

The remaining skills are even more lackluster. It's not that they're useless, but compared to his current Tier 3 strength, they seem rather unremarkable.

But the lives of these thirteen skeletons were all more exciting than the last, and with this in mind, he felt that he had taken another big step forward in the way of being obedient.

Time to leave work.

"Director Chen has left?"

"Hey, Brother Chen, where did this lucky cat come from? And it can even move?"

"It's kind of ugly-cute, tsk tsk tsk."

The branch office has far fewer tasks than the headquarters, relying more on the experience and knowledge of the headquarters to provide customized services related to destiny management to some enterprises.

And some emerging industries related to destiny and human beings that are combined with local development.

I checked my phone and found that the Da Luo Tian chat group had suddenly become very lively.

Chen Yan: Boss, look! You're being cyberbullied!

Chen Yan: [Image]
Chen Yan: [Image]
Chen Yan: [Image]
Chen Xi was a little curious, so he clicked in to take a look and found that it was a few screenshots of the comments section of Douyin. The comments in the screenshots accused him of killing Shisan Hai in Shanghai, saying that he was meddling in other people's business, that he did good deeds but messed things up, and that he thought he was great but that no one thanked him at all.

Many people saw the online condemnation of him and made sarcastic remarks, laughing at him for thinking he was a great hero of Shanghai, when in fact he was seen as a clown by the people of Shanghai.

"..." If someone were truly a passionate young man, seeing these comments would probably be a real blow to his spirit.

However, Chen Xi went to kill these Thirteen Skeleton Lords without any intention of ridding the people of evil; he was simply looking for evil spirits to stock up on.

It's like a group of bandits regularly robbing people in Stockholm, and the residents who are robbed develop a bond with them. Then a chivalrous hero happens to pass by and rescues the group, but the group ends up speaking up for the bandits and denouncing the hero, saying they don't need his help and should mind their own business, blah blah blah.

But in reality, the hero's starting point was not to save people at all; he had accepted the imperial edict and was preparing to exchange the bandit leader for a reward.

Chen Xi never paid attention to anyone other than Jiang Wanwan and anyone associated with her.

These Shanghai netizens are far too self-conscious.

Chen Xi was not angry at all; in fact, she found it a little funny.

Chen Yan: Wow, the boss got rid of these extortionists for them, and instead of being grateful, they turned around and bastard at you!
Chen Yan: Boss, can you tolerate this?

Chen Xi: Don't stir up trouble.

Chen Xi: [Wang Jingze is pointing at a person]
Chen Yan: [Tom grins]
Mr. Guan: It's because of the influence of the atmosphere in Dreamland.
Mr. Guan: After the boss gets rid of those skeletal figures, this kind of trend should dissipate a little.

Chen Yan: @Mr. Guan, why are you always the one chatting in the group?
Chen Yan: Don't you have anything else to do?

When Chen Xi left the branch office building and came down to the street, people around her were still discussing the elimination of Thirteen Skeletons in the novel "The Man of Destiny" in Shanghai.

"Wow, it seems like we really don't have to pay that rent anymore."

"Yeah, yeah, I don't dare go online if I can't pay the rent. If I go out, I'll be watched and killed."

"Want to team up tonight? Let's play together!"

"I... have never felt that teaming up has ever been truly enjoyable."

"What are you suddenly saying that's so nonsensical?"

"Goose, goose, goose, goose—"

Chen Xi went down to the square, where Jiang Yan was feeding the pigeons with a bag of something he didn't recognize. His movements were incredibly stiff; he would grab a handful and throw it away, then grab another handful and throw it away again.

Chen Xi called out to her, "Let's go, let's go back."

"oh oh."

She quickly put her things back into her handbag and followed.

Chen Xi then noticed that she had a small, ugly crossbody bag around her waist, probably bought from a two-dollar store.

Yesterday, when I took them around, she was actually buying things, but they were all very cheap items.

The main problem is that she doesn't have the money for the expensive items.

This guy has recently spent money on a lot of things that have no meaning to her, things that Jiang Wanwan would have liked when she was in elementary school.

Emperor Yan is very easy to raise.

Noticing Chen Xi's gaze on her hand, she asked, "Boss, would you like to feed the pigeons?"

Why would I feed pigeons?

"It's fun. I saw someone feeding them over there, so I went over and asked him, and he gave me a small packet."

"Save it for next time."

"Yes, that person said there's pigeon feed for sale in the park next door, 10 yuan a bag, that's really expensive. Why do you guys spend money to buy special feed for pigeons here, even though it's quite fun..."

On the way back, she started rambling on and on, talking a lot. Chen Xi basically just listened without responding, only occasionally replying when asked a question.

-

PS: The update time will be adjusted from 12 noon to 2 pm, a two-hour delay.

The reason for this adjustment is that the store manager is used to checking the updates again before posting them, but recently he often sleeps until noon during the day when he has nothing to do... so if we postpone it to 2 pm, he should be able to sleep through it.

Also, a shout-out to my book lovers in Shanghai. No regional discrimination intended. I've been to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Actually, Shanghai isn't as mysterious as the internet makes it out to be. I'm just exaggerating here.

(End of this chapter)