Chapter 1: What goes around, comes around

Xianling Continent, a world of cultivation where strength reigns supreme.
In the northern part of the continent, several dazzling white lights suddenly streaked across the silent night sky.

“Demon Lord, you cannot escape. Surrender now!”
Under the bright, clear moonlight, nine fairies in fluttering white robes stood with their hands behind their backs.

“Hahaha—”

Lin Fan burst into laughter, his eyes filled with disdain.                                      “Surrender?”
“Just you lot?”
“You’re not worthy!”

“Sister Ling’er, why waste words on him?”
“Let’s just attack together and kill him!” a fairy holding a longsword said resentfully.

“Interesting~”

Lin Fan sat down cross-legged directly in the air.
“This Seat would like to see just how nine tiny Quasi-Saint Realm ants can possibly kill me, the Demon Lord.”

“Demon Lord Realm?!”
“How could this be…”
Hearing this, one of the fairies couldn’t help but cry out in alarm.

“What, scared?”
Lin Fan sneered.
“If you’re scared, then obediently get out of my way.”
“This Seat is a very reasonable person and won’t stoop to bickering with juniors like you.”

“Get out of your way?”
“In your dreams…”
The leading fairy gritted her teeth in hatred.
“You poisoned the Immortal Venerate and slaughtered the Immortal Emperor.”
“If we let you go, the lower realm will surely face a great catastrophe!”

“Just a bunch of stubborn ants…”
Lin Fan’s gaze was indifferent.
“They all say the Heavenly Realm is full of masters as numerous as clouds.”
“From what This Seat can see… they are nothing special.”

“Insolent!”

A fairy with a mole near the corner of her eye shouted loudly.
“How dare you provoke the authority of the Heavenly Realm!”
“Die!”

“Bing’er, don’t be rash!”

The leading fairy tried to stop her, but it was too late.
With a slight raise of his hand, Lin Fan sent a terrifying palm wind rushing toward the fairy.

“Pfft—”

Caught completely off guard, the fairy named Bing’er was instantly struck, spitting out blood and stumbling back several hundred steps before regaining her footing.

“Bing’er!”

Seeing this, the leading fairy hurriedly circulated her spiritual energy and flew over to check Bing’er’s injuries.

“I’m fine…”
Bing’er waved her hand at Sister Ling’er and wiped the trace of blood from the corner of her mouth.

“Overestimating your own strength.”
Lin Fan scoffed.
“This Lord has already given you a chance.”
“Since you’re all so eager to die… then This Lord shall grant your wish!”

In an instant, the sky was densely covered with dark clouds.
A thick black fog spread across the entire continent’s sky.
Even the last bit of moonlight was completely obscured by this black fog.
The atmosphere became exceptionally oppressive, making it somewhat difficult to breathe.

“Sister Ling’er, are we really going to…”
Feeling the immense disparity in strength, the eyes of several fairies filled with unwillingness.

“Sister Xian’er will definitely succeed.”
“Just wait a little longer…” the leading fairy comforted them, her head lowered as she glanced down below.

“Die!”

Lin Fan channeled his demonic energy, gathering a massive spherical ball of black fog and smashing it violently toward the nine fairies.
Watching the rapidly approaching black fog, the fairies knew they couldn’t dodge and could only close their eyes in despair.

“Hm?!”

More than ten seconds passed, but the imagined devastating blow never came.
The leading fairy slowly opened her eyes and saw that Lin Fan was now surrounded by golden runes.

“The Myriad Phenomena Demon-Slaying Formation…”
“Sister Xian’er… she… she succeeded?!”

As the formation manifested, a beautiful figure clad in red appeared before the nine white-robed fairies.

“Sister Xian’er!”

Upon seeing the newcomer clearly, the nine white-robed fairies were instantly overjoyed.

“It’s you?”
Looking at the familiar face before him, Lin Fan’s expression gradually turned grim.

“Demon Lord, the Myriad Phenomena Demon-Slaying Formation is complete.”
“This Immortal advises you—stop your pointless struggles.”

“Is that so?”
Lin Fan sneered.
“The formation is well-laid, but unfortunately… you’ve overlooked a serious problem.”

“The Myriad Phenomena Demon-Slaying Formation, when rotating forward, slays demons and devils.”
“When reversed, it annihilates all life.”
“Tell me—what interesting things do you think will happen… if This Seat were to activate the formation in reverse?”

As soon as Lin Fan’s voice fell, the great golden formation, which had been rotating clockwise, slowly decelerated to a stop.
At the same time, the golden runes floating around the formation gradually turned a horrifying blood-red.

“Not good!” the red-robed fairy exclaimed in shock.
“Stop him, quickly!”

“Hahaha—”
Lin Fan threw his head back and laughed.
“Today, This Seat will show you what a true hell on earth looks like!”

“There’s no other way…”
The red-robed fairy turned her head, her eyes filled with sorrow.
“Fellow fairies, are you willing… to follow Xian’er and take a big gamble?”

“We are willing to serve Sister Xian’er!” the nine white-robed fairies shouted in unison.

“Good!”
The red-robed fairy nodded in satisfaction.
“Follow Xian’er!”

Hm?

Watching the fairies streak up toward the top of the formation one by one, Lin Fan couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled.

‘What are they trying to do?’

In the next second, however, Lin Fan’s face instantly turned ashen.
“What? They actually intend to repair the formation through Soul Sacrifice?!”

As everyone knew, although using Soul Sacrifice to repair a formation was remarkably effective, it came with extremely high risks.
If the sacrificer made even the slightest mistake during the process, it was highly likely their soul would be scattered and dispersed.

“Madwomen, a bunch of madwomen!”

Lin Fan shouted in anger, yet he was helpless.
Facing the immense resistance from the Soul Sacrifice repair, Lin Fan could only give up his struggle, watching helplessly as the formation was restored to its complete form.

“Hum!”

Along with a piercing buzz, thousands of golden holy swords gradually materialized above the great golden formation.
The holy swords circled in the air for a moment before raining down like a torrential storm.

“No—”

One thousand years later, in the northern region of the Xianling Continent.

On a patch of lush green grass, a handsome man was sound asleep in a thicket.
As he slept, he muttered to himself in his dreams.

This person was the reincarnated Lin Fan.

“No… I won’t accept this… I won’t accept it…”

“Splat~”

A small bird flew overhead, leaving a memento from the cycle of grains on Lin Fan’s face.

“Mm… What… is this smell…”
The pungent odor shot straight to his head, and Lin Fan slowly opened his eyes.
Looking at the familiar yet strange surroundings, Lin Fan shot up in an instant.

“This is?!”
Lin Fan’s eyes widened as he scanned his surroundings, then he pinched his thigh hard.

“It’s real… This is real… This Seat is not dead… This Seat is not dead!”

[Ding! Host’s consciousness has been detected as restored. The system is now binding, please wait…]

[Binding successful. Time taken for this binding: two seconds, defeating ninety-nine percent of systems worldwide.]

The voice of a cute girl suddenly sounded in Lin Fan’s mind.

“Who?”
“Who’s speaking?!”
Lin Fan stared at the empty surroundings, his scalp tingling.
“Show yourself!”
“Hiding and skulking, what kind of respectable man does that!”

[Yikes… Is this Host an idiot? What’s this about a respectable man… Can’t he tell if I’m male or female?]

The system spoke with a hint of disdain.

“I don’t care who you are!”
“If you have the guts, show yourself openly!”
“Otherwise…”

Lin Fan tried to channel his demonic energy, wanting to force the system out.
But in the next second, his face suddenly turned pale.
He discovered with horror that there wasn’t a single trace of demonic energy fluctuation in his body.

“My demonic energy… Where’s my demonic energy?!” Lin Fan roared hysterically.

[Of course, it’s been sealed away by this system. You don’t expect me to just watch as you destroy this continent, do you?]

“How could this be…”
Hearing the system’s words, Lin Fan felt his vision go dark, and he slumped weakly to the ground.

He had thought that after reincarnating, he could advance even further from his original cultivation base.
But he never expected that he would lose all of his cultivation, that tens of thousands of years of effort would be reduced to ashes.

“So what if I’ve been reborn?”
“The me right now, what’s the difference between me and a cripple…”
The light in Lin Fan’s eyes gradually dimmed.

[You’re not a cripple, you know. I only sealed the demonic energy you use as a means of attack. Your other abilities can all be used normally.]

“Heh~”
Lin Fan let out a soft laugh.
“There are many ways to insult a person, but you chose the most malicious one…”

“Only able to defend passively, unable to attack actively.”
“A Demon Lord like that, what dignity is there left!”

[It’s possible to lift the seal, you know. As long as you complete the main quest I assign, this system can not only help you return to your peak but also allow your realm to advance another level~]

“What?!”

Hearing this, Lin Fan couldn’t sit still any longer.
“Is that true?”
“Quick, tell me, what’s the mission?!”

[Within one thousand years, cultivate ten orthodox fairies to the Saint Lord Realm.]

“Absolutely not!”

Lin Fan refused decisively.
“Let’s not even mention that as a Demon Lord, I would never betray the demon race.”
“Besides, reaching the Saint Lord Realm within a thousand years is simply a fool’s dream!”

Lin Fan was not exaggerating.

Even though he was a one-in-ten-thousand genius among the demon race, it had taken him nearly ten thousand years to cultivate from the initial Blood Condensation Realm (equivalent to the Qi Refining Realm) to the Demon Lord Realm (equivalent to the Saint Lord Realm).

[You’re so rude, interrupting this system before it even finished speaking. I’ll let you in on a secret: the targets you need to cultivate are the reincarnations of those ten fairies who were hunting you a thousand years ago.]

!!!

The system’s words left Lin Fan standing frozen on the spot as if struck by lightning.
It took him a long while to gradually recover his senses.

“What did you say?!”

[Oh, the Host seems very excited. How about it? Spending a thousand years cultivating the reincarnated fairies, only to be hunted by them again. Just thinking about it is exciting, right?]

The system asked with a mischievous grin.

“You…”
Lin Fan was so angry he nearly fainted.

He had thought that cultivating ten Saint Lords in a thousand years was absurd enough, but he never imagined the truth was…

If the system was lying to him and didn’t help him recover his strength after he completed the mission, wouldn’t he become a fish on the chopping block, to be slaughtered at will?

“Devil… You are simply a devil!”
“I refuse!” Lin Fan shouted in a flustered rage.

[My, my, for a great demon lord who has killed countless people to call me a devil, I’m truly flattered.]

[But, sorry… you don’t have a choice.]

“No choice?”
“What do you mean by that?!”
A faint sense of unease grew in Lin Fan’s heart.

[Once this system is bound, it cannot be unbound for life unless the main quest is completed.]

“Then what if I refuse to do the mission?” Lin Fan asked, his face ashen.

[For the main quest, whether you refuse or fail, the Host’s soul will be scattered and dispersed within fifteen minutes.]

“What?!”
Lin Fan couldn’t help but curse out loud.
“You f*cker, you can’t be this much of a trap!”
“Are you really not giving me any way out?!”

[There is a way out. Just put aside your personal grudges and honestly complete the mission, won’t that work?]

“Work my a**!”

Lin Fan trembled with anger.
“Even if I could put aside my grudges, you tell me—how am I supposed to cultivate ten Saint Lord Realms in a thousand years!”

[I’ll say it again: with this system’s support, nothing is impossible.]

[Either accept the mission, or have your soul scatter and disperse right now.]
“You choose~”

The system said in an icy tone.

“Do I still have a choice…”
Lin Fan forced a bitter smile.
“I… accept.”

[Ding dong! Congratulations, Host, for successfully accepting the main quest. You have received an Exclusive Guiding Stone ×1.]

“Exclusive Guiding Stone… What’s it for?” Lin Fan asked with a blank look.

[It’s a spiritual artifact to help the Host find the reincarnated fairies, of course. As long as a reincarnated fairy appears near the Host, the Guiding Stone will glow~]

[Alright, it’s noon now. This system needs to get its beauty sleep, bye-bye~]

“Hey? Wait a…”

Lin Fan wanted to ask more, but after calling out several times, he received no reply.
Helpless, Lin Fan could only give up.

“Sigh…”

Lin Fan raised his head, looking at the azure sky before him, and couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

“What terrible karma…”