Location: The Cosmic Control Room
The Sovereign sat on his throne of code, looking bored. He swiped away the screen showing Lin Fan's factory.
"He's optimizing too fast," The Sovereign complained. "If Lin Fan industrializes the whole region, the genre shifts from Xianxia to Cyberpunk. I need to inject some classic 'Shonen Spirit' to balance the scales."
"Unit Alpha," he called out.
Steps echoed on the glass floor. Alpha stepped forward. She was not a drone. She was a tall, stunning woman with silver hair and eyes that resembled camera lenses. She wore a pristine white secretary suit that shimmered with data streams.
"Current status of the Hero, Zhang Wei?" Alpha asked, her voice cool and professional.
"Pathetic," The Sovereign sighed. "He's crying in a ditch. He needs a patch."
The Sovereign stood up and waved his hand. A massive interface appeared: [CREATOR MODE].
"I watched a lot of old Kung Fu movies and Anime last night," The Sovereign grinned. "Let's use that."
He began dragging files into a creation pot.
File 1: Concept_Breathing_Techniques.exe (Source: Slayer Anime).
File 2: Item_Bean_of_Healing.exe (Source: Dragon Anime).
File 3: Character_Archetype_Old_Master.obj (Source: Drunken Master Movies).
"Alpha, synthesize these into a Care Package. For the Master... make him strong enough to slap a Golden Core cultivator, but give him a personality flaw so he doesn't do all the work."
Alpha's eyes flashed. "Generating Entity. Personality: Chaotic Good. Flaw: Alcoholic/Lazy. Name: Li Mu."
"Perfect," The Sovereign snapped his fingers. "Drop them at the coordinates of that Noodle Shop I visited. I left a loose end there anyway."
Location: Blackwater City – The "Golden Coin" Noodle Shop
Blackwater City was usually a place of cutthroat commerce, governed by the ruthless City Lord. But there was one place even the City Lord entered with his head bowed.
The Golden Coin Noodle Shop.
It wasn't a fancy restaurant. It was a wooden shack. But in the center of the room, embedded in the reinforced stone floor, lay a single Gold Coin.
It looked normal. But weeks ago, a "Mysterious Young Master" (The Sovereign) had left it as a tip. When the shop owner tried to pick it up, he couldn't move it. When a thief tried to steal it, he broke his spine. The City Lord eventually came and tried to lift it with his full Foundation Establishment Realm. He couldn't budge it a millimeter.
The conclusion was obvious: This was a supreme artifact left by a God.
Now, the shop owner, Old Man Liu, sat on a rocking chair. He wore fine silk robes (a gift from the City Lord). Guards stood outside his noodle shop 24/7.
"One bowl of beef noodles!" a customer shouted respectfully.
"Coming," Liu grumbled. He was the only mortal in history who could command cultivators to wait for their soup.
The door creaked open. A ragged, desperate figure stumbled in.
It was Zhang Wei. He was filthy, carrying his axe and the Sun Scepter.
"Please," Zhang Wei rasped, falling to his knees. "I need money. My sister is dying. The alchemists won't treat her without Spirit Stones."
Old Man Liu looked at the boy. "We don't give handouts here, kid. This is a place of business."
"I can work!" Zhang Wei begged. "I can chop wood! I can carry water!"
Suddenly, the roof exploded.
CRASH!
Debris flew everywhere. A figure plummeted from the sky, smashing through the ceiling and landing directly on the table next to the Golden Coin.
Dust filled the room. The guards outside drew their swords. "Assassin! Protect the Coin!"
As the dust settled, a man sat up in the crater. He looked like a beggar. He had messy grey hair, a gourd of wine tied to his waist, and wore tattered robes.
This was Li Mu, the being created by the Sovereign five seconds ago.
Li Mu burped, releasing a cloud of alcohol vapor. "Damn. The spawn point was too high."
He looked around, blinking. He saw the terrified customers, the guards, and the weeping Zhang Wei. Then, he saw the Golden Coin.
"Ooh, shiny," Li Mu slurred.
He reached out and pinched the coin between two fingers.
The City Lord (who had just arrived outside) screamed, "Stop! That coin weighs ten thousand—"
Clink.
Li Mu picked up the coin effortlessly. He flipped it in the air, caught it, and bit it to check if it was real.
"Solid gold," Li Mu nodded. He looked at Old Man Liu, who was trembling as if he had seen a ghost. "Shopkeep, one jar of your strongest wine. Keep the change."
He slammed the coin back onto the table. BOOM. The table shattered, and the coin embedded itself into the earth again, cracking the foundation of the entire building.
Silence.
Absolute, terrifying silence.
Zhang Wei stared at the beggar. His instincts—honed by the Tower—screamed one thing: Monster.
Li Mu turned his gaze to Zhang Wei. He squinted.
"Hey, kid," Li Mu pointed a dirty finger at him. "You smell like main character energy. It's annoying."
Li Mu reached into his robe and pulled out a crumpled book and a small red pill box.
"Some glowing voice in the sky told me to give these to you. Here." He tossed them at Zhang Wei.
Zhang Wei caught them.
The Pill: Nine-Turn Phoenix Pill. (Description: Cures all mortal ailments and awakens latent potential).
The Book: Thunder Breathing & The Way of the Sunder.
"Who... who are you?" Zhang Wei stammered.
"Me?" Li Mu opened his wine gourd and took a swig. "I'm your Master. Unless you have any better offers? No? Good. Now, pay for my noodles, I spent my coin."
Location: Iron Blood Sect – The Inner Sanctum
While the Hero was meeting his Master, the Villain was facing a mutiny.
Lin Fan stood in the center of the assembly hall. The atmosphere was poisonous.
Opposite him stood Grand Elder Chen (the only Elder Lin Fan hadn't managed to enslave yet because he was in seclusion during the takeover). Behind Chen stood fifty "Loyalist" disciples who refused to touch the guns.
"This is an abomination!" Elder Chen roared, pointing at the smokestacks visible through the window. "You have turned a sacred cultivation ground into a... a sweatshop! You insult the ancestors!"
Lin Fan didn't look worried. He was polishing his Desert Eagle with a silk cloth.
"Grand Elder," Lin Fan said calmly. "The ancestors are dead. We are alive. And we are broke."
"We are broke because you stopped accepting missions from the City Lord!" Chen argued. "You isolated us! Now the Azure Sword Sect is rallying the White Tiger Sect and the Mystic Valley to crush us. We are alone!"
"We are not alone," Lin Fan corrected. "We have the future."
"The future?" Chen drew his sword. "I challenge you, Lin Fan! For the seat of the Patriarch! I will cleanse this sect of your filth!"
[System Alert: Internal Faction War Initiated] [Enemy: Grand Elder Chen (Foundation Establishment - Mid Stage)] [Win Condition: Total Dominance.]
Lin Fan sighed. He holstered his gun.
"Su Mei," he called out.
Su Mei stepped out from the shadows. She looked tired. "Yes, Boss?"
"The Grand Elder wants a duel. But I don't have time for a duel. I have a supply run to plan."
Lin Fan looked at Elder Chen.
"You want to save the Sect? Fine. Prove you can generate value."
Lin Fan snapped his fingers.
From the ceiling, a massive metal cage dropped, trapping Elder Chen and his fifty loyalists. It wasn't a formation. It was reinforced steel bars electrified by a generator Lin Fan had built yesterday.
ZZZRT!
Chen screamed as he touched the bars, his Qi disrupted by the raw voltage.
"Coward!" Chen yelled. "Fight me with honor!"
"Honor doesn't pay for iron ore," Lin Fan said, turning his back. "Su Mei, keep them in the cage. Don't kill them. Starve them until they agree to work in the mines. We need the manpower."
Lin Fan walked to the map on the wall. He stabbed a knife into Blackwater City.
"Fatty Wu sent a message," Lin Fan said to himself. "The City Lord is blocking our trade route because of pressure from the Azure Sword Sect. I need to go there personally."
He looked at the intel report on the table. It mentioned a "Noodle Shop" protected by the City Lord.
"If I can control that shop," Lin Fan calculated, "I control the City Lord. And if I control the City Lord, I break the blockade."
The Villain's eyes glowed with the Sovereign's Blueprint.
"Time to go eat some noodles."