''You aren't the system?''

Li Ao voiced his concern. It seemed that this dog of a person was not the system, but another person?

*Good, at least your comprehension isn't dogshit.*

''You dog—''

*I what?*

''Nothing, my most excellent senior. Please enlighten me!''

Li Ao bowed toward the void, still afraid of being teleported to a random place.

*hmph!* The voice snorted, then spoke in a condescending voice. *What you call system is not a construct special to you, but a network created by the Will of the Universe. Everyone part of this network is called an Agent of The Universe.*

''I understand that much...'' Li Ao had instantly recognized the circumstance from the number of first-level agents told by the system. The implication also suggested higher levels agents, though he had no inkling about anything else.

*Don't interrupt!*

Li Ao saluted at the shout ''Yes sir!''

*There are sixteen billion first-level agents at all times. Unless the Universe expands its influence, it will remain roughly the same. Whenever one of them perishes, another one will replace them according to the criteria set by the Will of the Universe.*

''What are the qualificatons?'' Li Ao was curious. He knew many geniuses that, though not as talented as him, had many great qualities as cultivators. The princess, Long Liye, that caused his imprisonment, as an example, was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the age of seventeen. Zhang family's eldest son, Zhang Pu, had already condensed Soul of Spear at twenty-one years of age. In comparison, he was just a junkie high on cultivation novels.

*Potential, character, adaptability. As an Agent of the Universe, your main task is to help the Will of the Universe make right what has been wrong, prevent the corrupting influence of the past, and fight against foreign invaders.*

''Am I a mercenary then?''

*...you can consider yourself one. You will understand what you need to do in time. But all these tasks need these three qualities I mentioned. You passed...on account of your character and adaptability to circumstances? Wipe that smirk off your face, dogshit.*

Li Ao did not oblige. Since he confirmed that Senior Dogshit was not the system, then the man could not do anything to him. Crossing his legs and nodding like a magnanimous grandmaster approving his disciple, he motioned for the man to continue.

*Hehehe, I see, I see.* Senior Dogshit murmured.

''Senior dog—'' Li Ao stopped himself. ''Senior, what else do I need to know?''

*Nothing else, junior dogshit.*

This guy was really insufferable! Li Ao put Senior Dogshit into the category of people who always had to get on top, and made a short bow to show his submission.

*Don't fool around.* Senior Dogshit reminded. *Before you advance to become a second-level Agent, I will be your main consultant. If you wish to take missions, there are nine of them available right now. Read their descriptions carefully, and don't forget that you will personally travel there whatever the circumstance might be. Don't throw your life away for a few benefits.''

He fell silent here, and Li Ao did not make any other comments. He could still smell urine and guts on him.

*When you complete a few and gain enough Universal Coins, just call out Senior Klein and I will hear.*

''Klein? You've got a unique name, senior.'' Nothing answered him back, however.

Senior Dogshit was easier for memory. So Li Ao quickly deleted the name Klein from his mind and turned to his front.

Now, since he was a confirmed Long Aotian with a hidden grandpa(dogshit) helping him, of course he had to find ways to exploit his cheat. Opening up the system interface, he saw three categories.

First one was Missions, the second one was Universal Store, and the third was Agent Ranking. Curious, though not entirely intrigued, Li Ao opened up the Missions tab.

Around him a circle of light appeared, white like silver, and turned into nine large portraits five meters in length. These portraits all depicted places, two of them were large cities with weird architecture, another a castle in the sky, some oft them a forest alike the one he went before.

The last one intrigued him the most. It was a realm cloaked in scarlet and darkness, with a cliff overlooking a vast city full of undead. Even from the portrait, Li Ao could feel the baneful aura attempting to thwart his control over his sanity.

Under each portrait were short descriptions, tiers of the missions, their estimated difficulty, and timeline.

Li Ao quickly noticed that five of the nine missions were 'Real-time Progression' while other four were in the past. The realm of undead was nine-thousand years in the past, and the most ancient of them was a mission called 'Protect the Sect', thirty thousand years past in time.

The numbers sent quakes in Li Ao's minds. How much time was a hundred year to him? What about thousand years to his grandfather? Yet these missions were thousands and tens of thousands years in the past? What would happen if he went to those places? How did time flow?

What would he even need to do in the past, anyway?

''Corrupting influence of the past...''

Li Ao knew, highly experienced from the structure of those novels, that he did not need to know some things before they were needed. He could form ideas about them, but making judgment had to wait. Instead, he turned to face the portraits.

Now, there were three grades of missions he could do. Before doing higher grade missions, he had to complete two of the lower grade. Those he could not access were all grayed out. Turning his attention to the three portraits, Li Ao focused on the familiar forest.

*Mission: In the Village of Shouyo, a Heaven's Child is about to be born. Protect the Heaven's Child from the demonic beasts until her birth!*

*Target world: Six-Fold Immortal Domain*

*Timeline: Real-time progression*

*Time Dilution: 300:1

*Mission Time: Thirty-days*

*Estimated Difficulty: Laborious*

*Source: Will of The Universe*

*Reward: 50 Universal Coins(500 Spirit stone)*

''It is the same mission but a longer one...what is that time dilution?''

Li Ao did not think for long. Since he had a helper, of course he had to exploit it.

''Senior Dogshit!''

His shout made no ripple, nor received any response. Humming, disappointed, he talked again.

''Senior Klein.''

He heard a buzz, then senior dogshit's voice connected through

*Go on*

''I have several questions—What is time dilution, what does mission time exactly mean, and what will happen to me if I fail the mission?''

Senior Dogshit let out a hum, then answered in turn.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

*Time dilution is the time flow's difference between the two realms. Which mission are you looking at right now?*

''Protecting Heaven's Child.''

*I see. Your Four Mountains Realm's star is countless times smaller than Six-Fold Immortal Domain's twin-stars, so time passes slower on the latter. Every hour in your realm is three hundred hours on the other realm*

*Moving on—Mission time means the average length of time you will need to commit yourself. It might conclude earlier or much later depending on the circumstance. This one is fairly simple, you will only need to protect the child's mother for a month.*

''Will I have to stay there all the time? What if people notice me gone?''

*Preferably, you should commit to be around all time to prevent mishaps. You need to find a suitable excuse and a safe spot to conduct your mission for the time being—later on the path you can buy several skills and perks that can help you with hiding your secret.*

''Do I have to hide it...?''

Li Ao had absolute trust in his grandfather, regardless of how violent and reckless they acted against each other. If situation willed, he was sure his grandfather would support him with all his might.

*...if you become a second-level agent, it will be possible to recommend an aide for yourself. I will judge them, however, until then you cannot share this with anyone, dogshit.*

''Here I thought you had conscience—''

*I am busy, trash. If you fail a mission, you will be penalized with coins. Big mistakes can even cost you your agent rank, so don't take risky missions if you are not confident enough.*

*Anything else?*

''Nothing.'' Li Ao shook his hand in the air.

*Ungrateful dog—*

Li Ao laughed behind him and focused on the mission.

''Okay. Since I just got here, no one will probably visit soon...which retard would visit me here anyway?''

''One month...I will be gone for a few hours only, then.''

Taking a deep breath, Li Ao pressed his hand onto the forest portrait. An invisible force bore on him, squeezing his entire being, and he was gone from the cell.

*********

Reappearing in the forest, Li Ao opened his eyes to the wild scenery. The green and red and yellow leaves all gathered together, rustling in the wind, while from afar roars of tigers rose. Casting a look down, Li Ao noticed the remnant blood around him. The corpse of the tiger was long gone.

Without waiting anymore, he picked a tall tree and climbed with quick steps to the top. He cast a look down from its peak and saw smokes rising from a far point down a slope. The roars, too, seemed to come from that position.

''Oh shit, am I late?''

Perhaps his killing had drawn the tiger family out for revenge?

Thinking so, Li Ao rotated his Qi in his meridians. His flesh and blood expanded, a scarlet aura appeared around him, and he flashed away. His each step brought him a dozen meter away. Trees flashed past, and so did the sun, and in a few minutes he was right above a group of hunters fending for their lives.

There were three men in fur clothes and black cloaks, with bows on their backs and thick woodcutter axes in their hands. Two tigers circled the group, each around two meters tall. Li Ao cast a short glance at them, then sensed around him for other threats.

From his temple, a pseudo-divine sense, an instrument that allowed the user to see flow of Spiritual Qi spread out. This divine sense was like a shockwave, but silent and invisible, and as it washed out thirty meters around him he found nothing to obstruct him.

''Watch out!''

''Brother Chu!''

In that moment, two tigers had leapt towards the hunters.

The one at the forefront, a rather muscular fellow with dark skin, slashed in front of him without fear. An invisible pressure brought the tiger to a stop, which then retreated a step to circle. The other, however, had clawed at the arm of another man.

Li Ao did not wait any longer.

''Retreat!'' He shouted and leaped down from the crown of the tree.

His shout brought great shock to the three people, and they all took a few steps back. The tigers, now startled, let out a roar and followed the group.

''Damn!''

Circulating his Scarlet Path martial art, a blazing fire shot out of his palm in the form of a lance. It whizzed, then struck true on a tiger's tail.

The beast was too agile to hit accurately.

''Brother Chu!''

The muscular man stepped forward at that moment and wrestled the tiger in front of him. He caught the descending flaws in the air and pushed his head forward.

His skull crashed against the tiger's.

''What a fierce man!'' Li Ao commented and descended on the ground. The entire confrontation had took a mere few seconds. The tigers, one panicking because of the fire, the other dizzy because of the strike to its brain, cowered, grumbled, then turned tail and fled.

Li Ao struggled between chasing them and staying put, but gave up in the end.

''Sir immortal!''

''Sir immortal!''

''Sir immortal!''

The three hunters called out to him, so he looked at their figures.

The one called Brother Chu seemed to be in the best state despite wrestling a tiger. Li Ao sensed no Qi on them, so the feat was even more impressive. Even a second-level Qi Condensation cultivator could not achieve that feat, so this man had a very strong body incomparable to mortals. The other two seemed relatively fine, except one had a gash on his right arm that seemed to bleed profusely.

''Treat him,'' Li Ao pointed at the wounded one. ''What is your full name, fellow Chu?''

Doing as he said, Chu came forward and the other started applying first aid to his fellow.

''Answering to Sir Immortal, I am Chu Shu, head hunter of Shouyo village down south.''

''Shouyo?'' Li Ao pulled the agent interface and read the mission details again.

To Chu Shu, his act made Li Ao seem more mysterious than before. Although he had only used a single strike and did not achieve much, creating elements out of nothing was the method of immortals. Not many passed by their region where Qi was thin and Immortal Resources lacked. Now, hearing him repeat the name, Chu Shu understood that this immortal here had a clear aim.

''Are there any pregnant women in your village about to give birth?''

Chu Shu's eyes widened. He kneeled and kowtowed to Li Ao. ''Answering to sir Immortal, there is only one woman! She is my wife.''

''Your wife?'' Li Ao let out a laugh. ''How lucky I am! Alright, my good fellow! Lead me to your village, your good fortune is here!''

''My good fortune...?''

''Okay, get up. Let's go!''

Li Ao forced the man up with a wave of his hand, causing the hunter to let out a yelp, and had them lead the way. Forty minutes they walked around the forest path, where Li Ao saw many birds he had never seen chirping and singing. He also met a few wolves and a great deer, which they all killed. He told them to keep anything valuable, which made the three hunters more reserved rather than grateful.

'What am I doing wrong? Should they not be thanking me profusely?'

Li Ao did not mind it. Soon they reached where he saw the smokes and went through an opening in the bushes. A large village appeared in front of him, with around two dozen houses and a large manor. To the south-east of the village was a large warehouse, where Li Ao could smell blood of wild animals.

The two men behind them took away the corpses while Chu Shu hailed a few villagers. He then led him to the large manor, where an elderly man received them. Li Ao sensed faint Qi around this man, whom they called the Chief.

''Young sir must be a member of the Two-Fold Sect.'' The chief said and bowed.

Li Ao cupped his hands. Since he had no knowledge, and not wanting to seem like a vagrant cultivator, he neither refused nor accepted the comment. ''Dear Chief, let me ask the same question again. Are there any pregnant women in your village about to give birth? There should be around a month left.''

''Young sir, there is indeed such a woman who happens to be Chu Shu's wife.'' The chief now seemed suspicious and stared at him with worry. ''May I ask what your intention is?''

Li Ao thought for a moment. When he knew nothing, and others also knew nothing, the best way was always to bullshit in a vague way so that any conclusion drawn could only stand as a theory. Later down, if they found mistake with him he could just refute, blaming them instead for their retardation.

Of course, he still had a long way to go to be a true Long Aotian, so there were many things he failed to consider when speaking.

''A Heaven's Child is about to be born in this village, and I was sent here to guard her.''

''Heaven's Child?''

''Her?''

Chief and Chu Shu focused on entirely different things.

''What...am I going to have a daughter?'' A dark look crossed Chu Shu's face.

''What?'' Li Ao glared at him.'' Are you dissatisfied? Do you know what kind of a rare thing is for a Heaven's Child to be born to a family like yours?''

''Young sir, young sir! Chu Shu is not dissatisfied with his child!''

Chief pleaded him, so Li Ao did not say anything else. Looking smug, he found a chair and sat down. 'Is this posture right?' He thought.

Actually, why did he have to act like an arrogant young master?

''Why should I, really? Damn, I got affected by these books too much.''

While muttering to himself, Chu Shu spoke something with the Chief, then came up to Li Ao. ''Sir immortal, would you like to stay with us or Chief?''

Li Ao thought for a moment, then shook his head. ''I won't intrude upon you and your wife, there is no need to make her stressed.'' Here he stopped, then dug into his pocket.

He took out one of the %100 purity pills and stuffed it into Chu Shu's hand. ''Eat this where no one can disturb you. It can give you a lot of power. If something happens, I can sense from this distance so you have no worry.''

''...thank you, sir!'' Chu Shu gave a deep bow to him, then left. Chief closed the door after the man, then came to sit across him.

''Please forgive Chu Shu, young sir. He was definitely not dissatisfied!''

''What was he, then?''

Chief had a blush as he coughed. ''Well, he made a bet with my daughter—I mean his wife. If the first child was a daughter, they would not have another child...''

Li Ao let out a laugh. ''He was just horny, then?''

''Cough, cough...Sir, may I ask something?''

Li Ao scratched his nose as he nodded. He didn't seem like an immortal at all, but a village fool.

''Who seeks to harm my granddaughter?''

''Let me ask something first, then.'' Li Ao responded. ''I can see you cultivated before. Do you honestly not know?''

Chief's face darkened as he pointed it out. ''...will young sir take her away to the sect?''

''Why, do you have any objections?''

''Of course not, of course not...'' Chief shook his head quickly. ''But...would you let her remain for a year? Or until she is four? I beg of you.''

Li Ao raised his brow. ''You know that would mess with her growth, right?''

Though children could not cultivate until they were five or six, the environment they grew in had a large impact on their potential. If they were born and grown in a Qi-dense area, not only would they have wider meridians than their peers, but they also could cultivate much earlier. A heaven's child was no exception to that rule.

After all, there was a reason Demonic Cultivators used babies and children as forging material. They were a good conductive for Qi.

Seeing that the chief did not say anything else, Li Ao let out a laugh. ''My good fellow, do not worry. I have no duty other than protecting her.''

''Really?'' Chief's eyes glowed. ''Thank you, young sir!'' The man stood up and gave a deep bow.

Li Ao had no reason to question the man, except his interest in Chief's character. To people who saw the cultivation world, returning back to mortal ways was a immensely hard task to do. For someone who saw wealth, how hard was being destitute?

''Still, do not let someone else hear about my task. If I hear this news leaked to anyone...''

''Of course, of course. I would never harm my family.''

That being done, Li Ao stretched his shoulders.

''Do you have a spare bath?''

He had forgotten the blood and guts on him.