Chapter 3

In his room Xu Liu considered his plans for the future. He wouldn't build up an organization as he has no experience in leading and preferred to stay alone. Plus, he knew he would be traveling pretty soon as the withered continent did not have much to offer in terms of resources for someone at his level.

Scrolling through the skills shop, he noted down a few things he would need for his adventures. First was the Ultimate Disguise Skill, which allowed him to adjust his displayable cultivation and body to his wishes. This worked for clones too, which was an added boon that he noted.

For now he might be alright, as everyone in the city had lower cultivation than him and therefore couldn't sense his, but he would definitely need this when moving to areas with experts that had higher cultivation. This would also serve as a good concealment and spying tool.

Second was the Replacement skill, allowing him to switch places with his clone at any given moment. This was a crucial factor for safety and convenience, as anywhere he plants a clone he can teleport to and escape danger.

Last was the Fly skill, which would allow him more convenience and flexibility in the way he fought, as well as a second safety measure.

Although, he could already fly, technically it was just floating by using Qi to support the feet so it was less versatile and much slower than this skill. Also anyone at foundation building or above could 'fly', so people wouldn't be able to determine his actual cultivation just from this display.

All these skills combined cost quite a bit of system points, meaning he would need a lot of spirit stones. Since he was feeling a bit lazy today, he summoned a shadow clone to go buy clothing that had a hood as well as a mask to cover his face.

After about 15 minutes, the clone came back with the items he needed. They were commonly used, grey, inconspicuous, and could blend well with the crowd. For now he planned to primarily use the hood to conceal the face of his clones and the mask as a second line of defense if the hood somehow comes off. People would question if they saw a person with the same face multiple places at the same time and he didn't want or like to attract too much attention, as it would be annoying for him. (Plus he has no social skills and doesn't want to talk to people).

Finished with that, he puts on the clothing and summons all 69 of his clones, who all somehow appeared with the same clothes as him. He thought about using shadow clones to duplicate the items they carry, but was kind of disappointed to find that they disappear with the clone, even if the items are kept away.

He commanded them to split into 3 groups one to ask around about common knowledge of the city. A second group to go hunt for beasts and sell them after receiving information from the first group. The third group would be listening in for rumors on criminals, thieves, rapists and see if they can be found and killed for exp and possibly be turned in for any bounties they had.

They were told to stay low key and not draw attention, giving all the 'high leveled' beast and criminal corpses to a singular clone with a different robe and mask to turn in, as it could be seen like an expert was just passing by.

The clones he had couldn't use any of the system functions, however they could communicate telepathically to him and to each other which is really useful for information gathering. He planned to use them as an exp and spirit stone gathering machine while he would just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Not even a minute passed when he started receiving notifications that he was gaining exp. He turned these off, as it would be quite annoying to listen to these *ding* sounds all day.

—-

After receiving the first batch of 1000 spirit stones, he converted 900 to system points while keeping the last 100 on him to use as normal currency. He would do the same for the foreseeable future, converting 90% to points and keeping 10% in his inventory.

He used the newly gained points to buy some basic hand to hand combat and movement skills, as all he'd been doing so far was use basic elemental techniques, but he knew he had to cover all aspects as to prevent any weaknesses.

He felt some extra information in his mind, sharing with his clones and telling them to practice with the beasts and criminals they were killing.

Deciding to move to a more high end place to stay, Xu Liu checked out of the place he was staying and started strolling towards the center of the city.

As he walked, he admired the continually increasing quality of the buildings and noticed a few that stood out. First was the auction house. It was owned by some major clan and was the place where he planned to sell a majority of his items to.

Next was the Golden Sword Sect at the heart of the city. It had multiple buildings that could be noticed from very far away both from their height and extravagance that was unmatched in the city. Even from far away, he noticed the two guards at the peak of Qi refinement, their intimidating auras repelling the masses from coming closer to the entrance.

Finally there were the clan buildings, although not as extravagant, were still prominent in their own right with the Tang and Bai clan establishments standing out the most. They were two most powerful clans in the city so they needed to show their prestige in any way possible.

While listening to the random conversations, Xu Liu is surprised to feel a warm sensation in his dantian. Checking the system, he found that he leveled up to 31 and has reached the second stage of the Golden Core realm.

'Damn that was quick. It's only been a few hours and I've already leveled up. It probably won't take too long to reach Nacient Soul. Maybe a week or two at most.'

Using the extra Qi, he could now summon a few additional clones. He put that on his to-do list when he got a new hotel room.

Continuing his walk, he passively noticed a girl running directly towards him at a fast pace. If he was your usual cliche MC, he would've probably somehow not notice and collide with her, but being who he is, Xu Liu immediately deduced that if he actually ran into her, it would probably be the start of some stupid problem that he didn't want to get involved with.

So he sidestepped, letting the girl crash into the young man behind him. Watching his flustered reactions, he couldn't help but feel a little pity for the man when he noticed the relatively high level cultivators chasing after the girl. After checking information showing how she was just a brat from who ran away from her clan, he patted himself on the back for avoiding a potential annoyance to himself.

Deciding to move on, he strolled into one of the higher end mortal hotels. From what he heard, they had hot spring baths in each room, massage services, and good quality food. He chose to not stay in a place where cultivators lived for now, as he couldn't freely change his cultivation level. Without the disguise skill, Xu Liu would only be drawing attention to himself by trying to get in 'without cultivation'. Also he didn't want to stay near any stupid young masters who could potentially be annoying as well.

Anyways getting in his room, he unclothed himself and relaxed inside the spring, using a bit of fire Qi to heat it to a temperature where he could actually feel something. He got in a comfortable position and started some inner reflection.

By nature, Xu Liu did not like fighting at all. Nor did he like troublesome situations. All he wanted to do in this life was relax and enjoy himself. But to do that he needed absolute strength, above anyone else. Then he could be unbothered by the masses, seeking out entertainment by watching these brainless idiots interact with other and maybe troll a few people here and there.

He knew that this system was the key his success, granting him both unique powers and fast growth. So he'll stick to what he knows. Keep using the system and grind. Keep leveling, moving on to new region. Rinse and repeat. No hard trials. No heroic deeds. No old grandpas or rare treasures. He will just enjoy what life has to offer while letting his clones do all the work.

Maybe to brighten up this boring cycle, he would bash a few young masters, cause a bit of chaos, have sex with a few women. Who knows? Maybe he'll even get in a relationship. Xu Liu continued to spend the next hours thinking before deciding to sleep to rest his mind. Although his body didn't need it, he always appreciated being in top mental condition.