Free Web NovelChapter 88: Chapter 88: The Missing Servant
The first rays of sunlight seeped through the cracked wooden window.
Morning had arrived.
Shen Yuan slowly opened his eyes. A long stream of turbid air escaped his mouth.
His gaze instinctively swept across the room.
"..."
One bed was empty.
The blanket had already been folded.
The few belongings that had occupied the corner the previous night had completely disappeared.
The tallest servant...
Had already left.
Shen Yuan inwardly let out a breath of relief.
’Good.’
Fortunately, he had waited until everyone in the room had fallen into a deep sleep before claiming the reward from the system.
If he had accepted it while they were awake...
There would have been no way to explain what happened next.
...
The previous night...
Once every servant’s breathing had settled into a steady rhythm, Shen Yuan quietly opened the system.
Without hesitation...
He selected the reward.
[Accept First Portion of the Legacy of the Deceitful One?]
[Yes / No]
’Yes.’
The moment the command was given...
An endless stream of information exploded into his mind.
[Ding!]
[First Portion of the Legacy has been accepted.]
[Foundation of Deceit has been inherited.]
Boom!
A strange warmth spread throughout every corner of his body.
It wasn’t painful.
Instead...
It felt as though countless invisible hands were carefully reshaping him from the inside.
His muscles trembled.
His tendons stretched.
Even the bones beneath his flesh began producing faint cracking sounds.
Crack...
Crack!
Muffled groans that were not from pain threatened to escape his lips, but Shen Yaun held on tightly.
Every bone seemed to shift by an almost imperceptible amount.
Every joint became smoother, and the muscle fibres grew more flexible.
When the transformation finally ended...
Shen Yuan quietly stood before the cracked mirror hanging inside the room.
"..."
He looked exactly the same.
Tall black hair, handsome face with sharp silver eyes with hints of purple. The same height of 6 feet 3 inches.
Nothing appeared different. Yet...
Everything felt different.
His movements had become lighter, and even his normal footsteps were too quiet unless he made sounds on purpose.
Even the way he breathed seemed to blend naturally into his surroundings.
Shen Yuan curled his fingers and summoned the status screen.
[First Portion of the Legacy — Foundation of Deceit]
Reward Acquired: Deceiver’s Physique A physique created for those who walk between truth and lies.
[Abilities:
• Hide cultivation and reveal only the desired realm.
• Aura is naturally suppressed.
• Increased flexibility.
• Increased agility. ]
One after another, the windows popped up in Shen Yuan’s face.
He slowly read through all of them, getting a gist of his newfound abilities.
[Technique Acquired: Thousand Faces of Deceit. A Perfect Disguise Does Not Exist— ]
It was a powerful technique that showed no grade but Shen Yuan, since it was now an innate technique.
[ Abilities:
Allows the user to alter facial features, their body structure and other physical traits like voice.
One can even change their aura with this technique, making it almost impossible to see through.
It can even perfectly imitate another person’s aura after sufficient observation.]
[Divine Eyes Acquired: Eyes of Deceit. Only you may deceive.]
[Abilities:
• Detect lies.
• Perceive inconsistencies in speech and intent.
• Immune to ordinary deception.]
Then...
The final notification appeared.
[Soul Trait Acquired: Sublime Soul]
[Abilities:
• Your soul has transcended ordinary manipulation.
• Memory searching techniques are ineffective.
• Soul-controlling arts are greatly resisted.
• Direct spiritual tampering becomes vastly more difficult.]
"This is some badass legacy." Shen Yuan sighed as he returned to bed. The techniques in the notifications were like a dream come true for someone like him.
Shen Yuan lived in deception and made it his way of life, but everything had a limit, and he knew one day he was bound to be exposed.
But these techniques only made it harder for something like that to happen.
While he was examining the changes in his body, Shen Yuan noticed something else.
[Name: Shen Yuan
Body Cultivation: Early Iron Fiber Realm
Qi Cultivation: Fourth Stage Qi Gathering Realm
Qi Strands: 299 / 5000]
"...Fourth Stage?" A hint of surprise flashed across his eyes.
He had completely immersed himself in comprehending the legacy. Without realising it, his cultivation had advanced three small realms overnight.
The pure qi inside his dantian quietly revolved like countless small clusters of pure untainted clouds.
Its quality had become even denser than before.
"...Interesting."
Then another thought crossed his mind.
’Let’s test it.’ He activated the Deceiver’s Physique.
Almost instantly, the qi fluctuations around him began shrinking.
Fourth Stage...
Third Stage...
Second Stage...
Finally...
They settled at theFirst Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm.
Perfectly stable.
Without the slightest flaw.
Even Shen Yuan himself couldn’t sense any difference unless he deliberately examined his dantian.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"So this is the Deceiver’s Physique..." Shen Yuan whispered in wonder.
Even he could not notice his real cultivation with the special eyes he had.
It was only recently that Shen Yuan had confirmed that no one else but him could see the qi in the air.
He could even tell someone’s cultivation base based on the qi inside their body, but now his qi signature told him that he was only at the first stage of the Qi Gathering realm. Not on the fourth stage.
If not for the system still showing his real cultivation stage, Shen Yuan would have doubted anything he had witnessed was even true.
Just as Shen Yaun was about to go back to grinding, he felt someone shifting in the room.
It was the same fourth servant who had decided against fighting him.
The faint rustling of blankets broke the silence inside the dormitory.
One of the remaining servants slowly sat upright.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before glancing around the room.
His gaze eventually landed on Shen Yuan, who was already awake.
The servant hesitated for a moment.
"...Did I disturb your cultivation?"
His voice was much quieter than before.
Almost cautious.
Shen Yuan slowly shook his head.
"No."
"I was about to continue anyway."
The servant nodded awkwardly.
"...I see."
Silence settled between them once again.
The other two servants were still asleep, their faint snores echoing throughout the room.
Shen Yuan suddenly remembered something.
He looked towards the young man.
"I don’t think we’ve introduced ourselves."
The servant blinked.
"...No."
"What is your name?"
The young man scratched his cheek.
"...Gu Ren."
Unlike the others, he didn’t seem particularly eager to flatter Shen Yuan or distance himself from him.
He simply answered honestly.
"Gu Ren..."
Shen Yuan repeated the name once before nodding.
"I’ll remember it."
Gu Ren smiled faintly.
He seemed somewhat relieved that Shen Yuan wasn’t as difficult to speak to as he had imagined.
After a brief pause...
Shen Yuan asked another question. "The servant who left this morning. What was the mission he got?"
