Chapter One Hundred Nineteen: The Precious Sword

One person’s plan is short-sighted; three people’s plans are far-reaching.

Fan Bei couldn’t rely on himself alone. He decided to combine the feedback from the earlier system and then launch the next version.

“Unified, what do you think about the release of version 2.0?”

Lying on a blanket, he sank into the realm of consciousness to communicate with the still incomplete upgraded “Father of Systems.”

After half a year, he had become quite adept at using this medium, allowing him to interact with the three systems he had deployed.

“My view is, when selecting a host, choose a fool—someone easy to manage, who does whatever you want,” replied the Heavenly Dog system.

“Unified Two, what about you?”

“You have to be ruthless with the host and squeeze every bit of potential out of them. Without pressure, you’ll never know how much they’re truly capable of. Actually, even the host themselves don’t realize their full potential,” the Good Man system said with deep conviction.

“And Unified Three?”

“The host must be treated with sincerity, exchanging true hearts. Only when the host wholeheartedly and fully trusts us can they unleash their greatest initiative, rather than being exhausted and losing creativity and flexibility under oppressive control.”

Three systems, three answers.

Fan Bei pondered, finding each perspective reasonable.

He continued, “To prevent system conflicts if too many exist, what kind of appearance should you take on?”

The Butler system quickly answered, “That’s simple. We can transform into weapons, tools, equipment, even pets... But of course, we can’t fully display all our capabilities. Every advantage comes with a disadvantage.”

Fan Bei responded, “No problem. I’ve figured it out. In the future, we’ll definitely expand into the multiverse. Only one system can appear in one world; others will manifest in different forms. This way, it's safer and won’t make the host suspicious or rebellious.”

“That’s a great idea. I have to constantly worry about hiding Lang Sheng’s existence every day,” the Good Man system agreed.

The Butler system chimed in, “I think the same. Over three months, Lin Zhongqing has suspected Lang Sheng a few times. It was tough to cover it up—after all, these people aren’t NPCs.”

“I don’t have that problem. Da Bai never questions my origin or whether other systems exist,” the Heavenly Dog system said with relief.

“Alright, the next version will convert Unified and Unified Two into other types, but we’ll retain and enhance your intelligence,” Fan Bei decided.

Intelligence was essential—without it, how could they properly exploit the host?

It’s like turning into a storage ring. A host with strong initiative can build a commercial empire with it, while a lazy host might only manage a small farm.

Maximizing his own benefit, Fan Bei would never choose those rigid, inflexible cheats.

Reaching this point in the discussion, Fan Bei had a clear vision for the release of system 2.0.

He immediately began upgrading his “Father of Systems.”

Previously, he had wondered if it would take a year or two to upgrade; now it had only taken half a year.

---

Of course, without the support of the wealthy Lin Zhongqing, it might really have taken a year or two.

The thought of upgrading flashed across his mind.

A prompt appeared on the cover: “System Creator has reached the Gold tier, upgrade permitted.”

The upgrade process was smooth and uneventful; the entire illusory white book changed from white to green—this was the only significant change.

He paid little attention to this and quickly opened the system creation page.

“Current maximum number of systems manufacturable: 6.”

Sure enough, it had increased. Apart from that, no other changes were found so far.

He opened the system creation page and began crafting carefully.

---

Ten days later, he had returned to a normal life, stepping out of his tent for some fresh air.

In the distance stood a tall, thick wooden fence, surrounded by other tents.

Over the past three months, the Star Commerce Guild had not made many changes. They hadn’t carried out large-scale construction but had built a fence around the mining pit, added some commercial buildings and essential sanitation facilities, and dug a few wells.

Three shops selling food, clean water, medicine, and other necessities had opened, all of which only accepted Spiritual Cores as payment. Beyond this, no further development had been made.

From Fan Bei’s perspective, all the expenses were less than a tenth of what Lin Zhongshi had initially invested in the Tenacity Stone Guild.

He had asked Lin Zhongqing about this and learned why: this wasn’t an officially recognized human settlement, so heavy investment was avoided.

If a monster appeared that even Lin Zhongqing couldn’t handle, better infrastructure would only mean greater losses.

Currently, the Star Commerce Guild relied solely on Lin Zhongqing’s reputation to control the area.

Thus, they did not forbid others from mining or charge protection fees, only prohibiting others from opening shops to compete with them.

The fourth system had been completed. This time, it was no longer a conventional system interface but a brand-new form.

It took the shape of a simple, ancient sword.

How to send it out—especially to a wealthy, handsome master—was no longer a challenge for him.

Having secured benefits from binding Lin Zhongqing, he naturally did not want to give it to an insignificant person, as that would require years to yield returns.

After surveying the surroundings, he returned to his tent.

Soon after, a Sword of Nothingness flew out from his tent.

No one could see it—it was still in a state of nothingness. Only when it met its master and was bound would it take form.

---

It possessed a high degree of intelligence, at least not inferior to Fan Bei’s own.

Fan Bei gave it instructions.

“Little Sword, your master can be ugly, can be short, but must be wealthy, have a good family background, and preferably be a fool.”

Compared to remotely distributing systems via radio waves before, this was far more elegant.

Of course, you get what you pay for. To create this sword system, he had spent a full three million points of spiritual energy, integrating many system modules suited to the artifact’s abilities, so that it wouldn’t be associated with a system itself.

---

Southern Ridge region.

It was January, just before the Lunar New Year. Few still had the means to celebrate, but the Hou Commerce Guild in Southern Ridge was definitely not among them.

The Hou Commerce Guild’s jurisdiction covered thousands of miles, nearly uniting the entire southern part of Divine Continent, backed by three powerful overlords. Its foundation was far deeper than that of Silver City.

Yet the guild leader, Hou Jinhua, had no heart for the New Year.

“Mom, give me another 200,000. I want to play cards,” a fat, heavyset man walked into her office, stretching out his hand for money.

Her son was already in his twenties but remained as foolish as ever. Sometimes she wished she could just shove him back.

But at the moment, she could only smile and say, “Oh, the money’s in the safe on the wall. Help yourself.”

“Oh, got it,” the fat man replied, turning to take two silver notes from the wall safe before pushing the door and leaving.

“Damn it, if I could still bear children, I’d have crippled you long ago,” Hou Jinhua said harshly.

But she could only say that—she couldn’t actually do it.

Because this son was the tool the three overlords used to control her.

Their bloodlines were linked. If she dared to act against them, they would kill her son, and she would die from the shock.

She could no longer have children.

In this regard, it showed she had already grown beyond the three overlords’ full control, forcing them to resort to such crude coercion.

She also understood that she would eventually be replaced. If she hadn’t secured some other backing, she wouldn’t still be the guild’s leader now.

At the pinnacle.