Reborn as Xu Xuan, Plundering Perks & Flooding the Mountain Ling

Chapter 4: Starting Strong! Is This the So-Called Demon King?

“Is he really that formidable?”

“Well, better safe than sorry. If we can avoid a fight, we should.”

A murmur of hushed whispers spread through the crowd as all eyes turned to Xu Xuan. Although Xu Xuan stood over eight feet tall, his loose Daoist robe concealed his muscular build. Instead of appearing powerful, his towering height made him look somewhat lanky.

His calm and composed demeanour was mistaken by the onlookers as the frail weakness of a bookish scholar. With no battle record to speak of, he was incomparable to Fan Rui, a martial artist proficient in spells.

“Senior Brother Xu, just admit your defeat!”

“It’s not that big of a deal!”

“Anything is better than getting beaten up by Fan Rui, right?”

Xu Xuan paid them no mind but was calculating inwardly:

I’m at the Seventh Stage of the Body Refining Realm and about to advance to the Eighth. With my superior cultivation and strength combined with my mastery of martial art defeating Fan Rui should be easy…

But his Phantom Technique might be troublesome. If I can’t pinpoint his real body, no matter how strong I am, I’d still be at a disadvantage! Looks like I’ll have to use that method…

At that moment, Fan Rui, seeing Xu Xuan remain silent for long, became truly enraged. With a sudden movement, his arms—thicker than most men’s thighs—shook violently. The two disciples standing in his way were instantly sent tumbling to the ground.

“Xu Xuan, you bastard! If I don’t teach you a lesson today…People might start thinking I, Fan Rui, am a pushover!”

Fan Rui immediately charged at Xu Xuan. The disciples surrounding them, intimidated by his aggression, scattered in all directions.

“Senior Brother Xu, run!”

“Run? Why should I run?”

Xu Xuan stood motionless, seemingly frozen in fear. The disciples watching from the sidelines clenched their fists in frustration.

“Senior Brother Xu is doomed!”

“Scholars always have stiff necks—why can’t he just back down a little?”

“Hurry, go get the mentor!”

“Fan Rui is ruthless—who knows how badly he’ll beat him up…”

Meanwhile, Fan Rui had already reached Xu Xuan. Without even fully setting his feet down, he wasted no time in attacking. A scholar with no experience in martial arts wasn’t worth any hesitation!

His massive fist, the size of a sandpot, whooshed through the air, aiming straight for Xu Xuan’s chest. Yet, just as the iron fist was about to land, Xu Xuan moved. Not in a panic. Not in desperation.

With unhurried precision, he raised both hands like a dragon emerging from the sea. At the same time, a handful of grey powder was flung out. With the strength of Nine Bulls, Two Tigers and the power of the Seventh Stage cultivation, the powder burst in mid-air, instantly spreading like mist across a radius of several feet.

A strange fragrance rapidly filled the air. Fan Rui, caught off guard, charged directly into the cloud. Before he could react, his face and mouth were covered in the strange powder. The so-called Demon King rolled his eyes back and collapsed to the ground without uttering a single word. Xu Xuan stepped aside to avoid Fan Rui’s falling body and sneered.

“That’s all you’ve got, Demon King?”

No sooner had he spoken than he heard thud, thud, thud—the sound of more bodies hitting the ground.

“What the—? This drug is a little too effective?”

Xu Xuan looked around. Every single onlooker had collapsed, knocked unconscious by the airborne drug.

“…If I had known it was this strong, I would’ve used less! Now I have to wake them up one by one… What a pain.”

Fan Rui, despite being a Sixth Stage fighter skilled in illusions, had fallen victim to Xu Xuan’s mere tricks. To be safe, he had opted for full power from the start. But he never expected his Expert Pharmacist ability to create such a ridiculously potent knockout powder. Not only had it taken down Fan Rui, but also every single disciple in the vicinity!

Xu Xuan sighed and pulled out the antidote. Just then, a disciple arrived with an inner sect mentor. The two newcomers froze in shock at the sight before them.

“Xu Xuan, you—”

Xu Xuan quickly explained, “Senior Brother, don’t worry! They’re just unconscious!”

The mentor sighed in relief.

“Damn it, Xu Xuan, you nearly scared me to death! For a second, I thought you were some kind of—”

He fumbled halfway, his body trembling as if weighed down by a mountain. His head turned slowly. The disciple who had accompanied him—the one who was perfectly fine just moments ago—had slumped against him like a boulder.

It was only then that the overseer realized…They, too, had accidentally inhaled Xu Xuan’s knockout powder.

“D-don’t worry, Senior Brother! I’ll administer the antidote immediately!”

With a thud, the mentor fainted. Xu Xuan let out another sigh, shaking his head.

“Looks like I really overdid it…”

As he began administering the antidote, a system notification suddenly popped up:

[Congratulations! You have defeated Inner Sect Disciple Jing Ming!]

[Reward: Random Attribute – Longhu Slay Evil Sword Technique (Blue)]

[Congratulations! You have defeated Outer Sect Disciple “Demon King” Fan Rui!]

[Reward: Random Attribute – Phantom Technique (Green)]

[Congratulations! You have defeated Outer Sect Disciple Deng Tiezhu!]

[Reward: Random Attribute– Village Gossip (White)]

…

[Congratulations! You have defeated Outer Sect Disciple Liu Dabiao!]

[Reward: Random Attribute– Midnight Widow-Kicker (White)]

Xu Xuan’s face flushed with excitement as the floating traits filled his vision. His hands, which had been treating the unconscious disciples, slowed down.

“I struck gold! I’m rich!”

While Xu Xuan was practically dancing with joy, chaos erupted throughout the Celestial Master’s Temple.

“Where are the disciples supposed to chop firewood? The water tanks are empty—who’s fetching water? Are we even getting dinner tonight? The side gate is so filthy! No one’s cleaned it up? There are bird droppings everywhere! Master Xuan Yan just stepped in a whole pile—his face turned dark as hell!”

“He kept chanting the Clear Heart Mantra at least a dozen times—”

Xu Xuan, meanwhile, was still grinning. After all, he was now a very rich man.

“This is strange. The disciples are usually quite diligent. How did they all suddenly slack off today? And not just one or two, but more than a dozen of them, all at the same time?”

“The disciple in charge of the chores today should be Jing Ming, right? Where is he?”

“Wait, why is Junior Brother Jing Ming also missing? Could something have happened…?”

“That’s impossible. It’s one thing if the chore disciples are missing. But Jing Ming is an inner sect disciple at the first level of the Innate realm, and he wields a fine sword technique.”

“Even a fully armed squad of imperial guards wouldn’t be his match! Besides, this is Mount Longhu, our Celestial Master’s Sect’s territory! Who could possibly pull off something like this right under our noses?”

TL Note: (Village Gossip) is a humorous and unexpected skill name, suggesting a skill that might relate to spreading rumours or information, perhaps even a buff or debuff effect.