Chapter Thirty: Sacred Words

Zhou Zui shook his head desperately, crouching in the corner, refusing to move an inch.

The Emperor Qin smiled gently and said,
“Since you’re awake, we’ll take our leave now.”

Zhou Zhan nodded in agreement at the side,
“Yes, if anything happens, let us know right away.”

“The young man from the Xiaoyao family, we’re leaving...” The Emperor Qin turned to Zhou Zui and said,
“Alright, alright...”
Zhou Zui nodded vigorously, eager to get out of there as soon as possible.

“Then get some rest,” Zhou Yi said to Zhou Tian.

“Alright, alright,” Zhou Tian nodded just as eagerly. Having died twice in quick succession and seemingly leveled up, he was impatient to see what new abilities he had gained.

The group exited Zhou Tian’s room. The Emperor Qin turned to Zhou Zui,
“You can go home as well. Don’t breathe a word about what happened tonight.”

“Alright, alright...”
All Zhou Zui wanted now was to run home to his mother—outside was far too dangerous.

The Emperor Qin paused, then waved his hand. A golden rune shot into Zhou Zui's forehead.
“Erasing your memory would harm your soul, so I’ve placed a silencing rune on you. You simply won’t be able to speak of tonight’s events...”

“Alright, alright...”
Zhou Zui only knew how to nod by now. The silencing rune was nothing—people in high positions always had things they couldn’t talk about. His mind was full of these runes; one more made no difference.

The Emperor Qin waved his hand again, signaling Zhou Zui could leave. Zhou Zui bowed quickly and dashed off.

“Zhou Zui is much more polite than Zhou Tian,” Zhou Yi remarked, watching Zhou Zui’s retreating figure.
“Second Brother, I’ll inform the people from the Outlands to return. The Holy Demon doesn’t have much time left!”

The Emperor Qin said to Zhou Yi,
“Yes.”
Zhou Yi nodded and suggested,
“Should we let the Ancestors know? Zhou Tian, he...”

Before Zhou Yi could finish, Zhou Zhan interrupted,
“Children have their own fortune! Since Zhou Tian has already passed the Soul Lamp’s test, whatever opportunities he encounters are his own. Meddling too much will only backfire!”

“So it should be... Second Brother, don’t worry too much...” the Emperor Qin agreed.

“Alright,” Zhou Yi nodded, falling silent. As Zhou Tian’s father, he was only concerned for his son’s safety and had no thoughts about the opportunities themselves.

...

In the now-empty room, Zhou Tian eagerly opened the Immortality System as soon as the others left. He was puzzled why no one questioned his resurrection abilities, but it was just as well—not having to explain made things much easier.

“Good people, truly!” he exclaimed while browsing the system log. All three of his deaths had been caused by attacks on his soul, clearly by the same group. Such considerate enemies! Knowing he was under heavy protection and had no chance of actually dying, they’d helped him rack up the death count. Without them, who knows when he would have activated the Immortality System...

In truth, Zhou Tian’s situation was tragic. He was constantly surrounded by protectors, leaving strangers no chance to get close, let alone kill him. Even if he tried to court death, he’d fail. Although his room was warded to block spiritual sense, if the guards outside heard no breathing from within, they’d storm in immediately... A painful kind of happiness.

His character panel now showed he’d reached Level 2, and the experience bar—now at 0/4—required twice as many deaths to level up again.

He opened the skills menu. Beneath “Teleportation,” three new shimmering abilities had unlocked. Fighting to contain his excitement, he clicked on the first:

[Intimidation: Ignores level and inflicts a confusion state of 0–∞ duration on the target, based on how much they fear you. Requires direct eye contact. Usable three times per day; uses increase with death count.]

This skill was intriguing. Its effect depended on the target’s fear—if a Great Sage was terrified of Zhou Tian, a mere glance could drive them mad. But if an ordinary mortal didn’t recognize him, he could glare all day to no effect. A skill with sky-high potential and just as low a floor.

He opened the second skill:

[Time Echo: Once per day, summon your future self to assist you for one hour. The summoned self possesses no system-related abilities. Cooldown: 300 years, scales with death count.]

It looked very powerful. If Zhou Tian could cultivate, he’d choose this regardless of his innate talent. Unfortunately, he couldn’t cultivate at all, and the summoned self wouldn’t have system skills. Even after ten thousand years, he’d still be an ordinary man!

These new skills seemed rather underwhelming. With high hopes, he opened the third:

[Divine Word: Your command is law. Select a non-self target and issue a command. Success rate is random; the more complex the command, the lower the success. Usable three times per day, scales with death count.]

“What? Another luck-based skill?” Zhou Tian was in despair. Where was he supposed to get the luck for this? He had worse odds than a pauper in a far-off land.

Just as he was about to close the skill menu, he noticed a faintly glowing question mark at the bottom.

“Explanation!” Zhou Tian perked up and opened it.

[Note: You may expend a resurrection to issue a guaranteed command. The command must be three characters or fewer and cannot affect the target’s physical existence. After use, Divine Word enters a seven-day cooldown!]

“So that’s how it works?” Zhou Tian’s eyes widened as he read the part about trading death counts for guaranteed effects. A skill based on probability could be made certain? Though there were many restrictions—no commands like “commit suicide”—it was still incredibly powerful.

No contest—compared to the other two skills, this was the obvious choice. Death counts were there to be used.

He selected “Divine Word.” As before, the other skills dropped to the secondary bar, while “Divine Word” became active.

A sudden sense of understanding flooded his mind. Looking at the table beside him, Zhou Tian spoke,
“Fall!”

Nothing happened. One use of “Divine Word” was spent.

“Divine Word” could be used not just on living beings, but on objects as well.

“Fall!”

Still no response. Zhou Tian’s face twitched: just how was this probability calculated? He’d kept the command to a single word to maximize his chances, yet still failed.

He was about to use a resurrection to guarantee the effect, but then remembered he’d already spent all his revivals for the day.

He used up his last attempt on the table:
“Fall!”

He wasn’t expecting anything, but to his astonishment, the table’s four legs retracted like a turtle, and the whole thing flipped upside-down onto the floor.

“Incredible...”
Propping the table upright, Zhou Tian felt exhausted after all that fuss. Lying in bed, he thought fondly of the “good people” who’d gifted him three deaths.

“Don’t stop now, brothers, keep going! My death count depends on you...”

With that, he drifted off to sleep.

In the cultivation chamber of King Qin’s manor, Tian Ling closed her eyes, her body emitting a radiant glow. Runes swirled around her as spiritual energy flooded in. For some reason, the anxiety in her heart faded away...