Several hours after Sunny had awakened into this world...
Disciple Zhao's heart nearly stopped at the sight. His precious Ash Scorpions were being tossed like common refuse into a cracked bronze incense burner.
"Are you brewing a stew?!" he gasped, his voice trembling with horror. "You're throwing them in while they're still alive!"
Zhao had rushed into the grand bedchamber after hearing the terrifying shrieks of the Young Master's cousin, expecting to find a fresh corpse. Instead, he found Sunny Shen, the widely feared Evil Sect Young Master, casually standing over a smoldering brazier.
Zhao rushed forward, instinctively reaching out to stop the madness, only to have Sunny slowly turn his head.
Sunny asked, "Would you like a taste of scorpion soup?"
"What?"
"It was just a joke." Sunny said, his deep, villainous voice making the 'joke' sound like a promise of slow torture. After a few minutes of exploring his own room, Sunny was beginning to recover from the initial shock of transmigration and was trying to get a handle on his new life.
Zhao froze, his hands trembling wildly as he knelt on the cold stone floor. He felt like crying, but the sheer terror radiating from the Young Master kept the tears locked firmly in his tear ducts.
"You're really not going to boil them alive and force-feed them to me to test their toxicity?"
"Relax," Sunny said, waving a pale, elegant hand. He grabbed a pair of long iron tongs from the fireplace and casually stirred the two struggling, black-carapaced scorpions inside the bronze burner.
The two Tier 1 Ash Scorpions were snapping their pincers, their barbed tails whipping around furiously as they clicked and hissed at each other.
"Relax, I am just making sure their innate essences are mixed evenly, so that the fusion can be perfectly balanced."
Zhao stared fixedly at Sunny, struggling to suppress his urge to flee the mountain entirely. 'I must stay calm, I must stay calm... If I run, he'll definitely feed me to the Shadow Wolves!'
Sunny wasn't actually worried about Zhao secretly observing his so-called "dark arts." Having two completely ordinary, low-level Ash Scorpions undergo a spontaneous bloodline mutation was an impossible occurrence in this world. Under normal circumstances, throwing two territorial beasts into a tight space would just result in them tearing each other to pieces until only one heavily injured victor remained.
Furthermore, every beast had entirely different spiritual frequencies. Forcing them to combine through orthodox means would require a grand ritual circle, a dozen high-tier spirit stones, and a master array master to guide the conflicting energies.
But Sunny had the Supreme Merge System.
[Target 1: Ash Scorpion (Tier 1)]
[Target 2: Ash Scorpion (Tier 1)]
[Compatibility: 100%]
[Commencing Fusion...]
A dark, swirling vortex of purple light suddenly erupted from the bottom of the incense burner. It completely engulfed the two scorpions, emitting a low, eerie humming sound that made the hairs on the back of Zhao's neck stand up.
After half an hour of agonizing silence, Zhao asked shakily, "Y-Young Master... is the dark ritual complete yet?" He was staring hard at the swirling vortex of purple light in the brazier. It had been glowing for so long, the scorpions inside had to have been reduced to mere ashes by now.
Tears of pure stress were finally beginning to well up in Zhao's eyes.
Sunny maintained a calm, cold expression on his aristocratic face, but in actual fact, heavy doubts were creeping into his own mind. This stupid System won't actually just spit out a bowl of glowing scorpion soup, will it? If this fails, I'm going to look like a complete idiot.
"It's alright. Heaven is about to confer a great office onto these bugs, they must be tempered a little further," Sunny said calmly, stepping forward to pat Zhao heavily on the shoulder.
Zhao flinched as if he had been struck by lightning.
The swirling purple light inside the burner suddenly flared blindingly bright. A high-pitched, metallic screech echoed through the bedchamber. The dark energy imploded, sucking into a single, dense point before exploding outward in a shockwave of cold, shadowy wind.
With a display of strength that no one thought a tiny, trash-tier insect could possess, a blur of jagged black armor lashed out, sending the heavy bronze lid of the incense burner flying across the room. It smashed into a wooden pillar, embedding itself deep into the wood.
A shadowy streak darted out of the smoke, leaping around the dark corners of the grand bedchamber like a ghost.
"You will be responsible for sweeping up the ashes in my room," Sunny told Zhao in a deadly serious tone, mostly because Sunny didn't want to step on any sharp pieces of debris barefoot.
Zhao's attention was completely fixated on the terrifying, shadowy entity that was currently full of manic vigor. "Yes, Young Master! No problem at all!" he gasped out, pressing his forehead to the floor.
Looking at the darting shadow, the heavy worries in Sunny's heart were finally eased. The System actually worked.
It took a few minutes before the new creature got tired of exploring its surroundings and finally came to a stop on the mahogany table right next to Sunny. Its carapace was no longer a dull ash-grey, but a sleek, translucent obsidian. It had grown to the size of a small dog, and instead of one tail, two phantom-like stingers swayed gently in the air behind it. Its multiple eyes glowed with a chilling, ruby-red light.
[Monster Name]: Phantom Ash Scorpion
[Monster Level]: Tier 3
[Monster Grade]: Perfect
[Monster Attribute]: Poison/Shadow
"Perfect grade, dual attributes. Just a little more training and a few more fusions, and it can easily advance into a Tier 4 Commander beast," Sunny muttered, failing to stifle a yawn. The mental strain of using the System for the first time was catching up to him. In an offhand manner, he pointed to the door.
"Listed in my mind are about a dozen reasons I want to sleep. You can leave now, and see if you can fetch me some normal tea later."
"No need to explain, Young Master! There's no problem at all!" Zhao was no longer concerned about the cousin's earlier screams or his own safety. He was absolutely transfixed by the beast on the table.
Normally, an average Beast Breeder in the central plains would charge a fortune just to formulate a diet plan to help a Tier 1 beast naturally evolve into a Tier 2 over the span of three years. To instantly create a Tier 3 Elite beast out of thin air? That was the realm of grandmasters.
To witness the Young Master—who was rumored to be a complete cripple—perform such a miracle with zero effort, zero chanting, and no ritual circle... it was world-shattering.
With this one casual display today, Sunny had unwittingly cemented himself as a monster in Zhao's eyes. As for the broken incense burner, Sunny didn't care in the slightest. He was the Young Master; he could break whatever he wanted.
"Come again when I call for you..." Sunny said, attempting a polite smile. He liked having obedient guards around.
" I will be back immediately whenever you summon, Young Master! I swear my life to your service!"
"..." Sunny really just wanted to take a nap. "Let's just keep this quiet for now? I still have to figure out my schedule for tomorrow and I will not be available for visitors."
Zhao was stunned. He wondered if his ears were working correctly. "What schedule are you referring to, Young Master? A raid on the orthodox sects?"
"..." Sunny casually waved Zhao away.
With that, under Sunny's genuinely confused gaze, Zhao bowed deeply, pushed open the heavy wooden doors, and practically sprinted out into the courtyard, his face flushed with fanatical loyalty.
Leaving the remaining mess behind, Sunny walked over to his new Phantom Ash Scorpion to inspect it further. He also needed to figure out what materials the System required for a second-stage fusion.
At first, after successfully fusing the two Tier 1 scorpions, Sunny had thought he could just keep mashing things together endlessly. Unfortunately, a greyed-out prompt on the System interface informed him that he could not immediately proceed with another fusion on the same beast. It was as though he had just forged a new sword; the metal was still too hot and unstable. The scorpion needed time to adapt to its new genetics before it could be thrown back into the metaphysical melting pot.
The low-tier beasts he had used were incredibly common, hence they could be fused without any catalyst. But for higher tiers, he would need spirit stones or catalyst herbs.
Because of his status as the Young Master, getting materials wouldn't be hard. He could just order the sect's quartermaster to deliver them.
After returning to his large obsidian bed, Sunny could see that his new Phantom Ash Scorpion was displaying some odd behavior. It was clicking its pincers rhythmically and staring out the window. He opened up the scorpion's attribute table and frowned.
[Monster Name]: Phantom Ash Scorpion
[Status]: Sensing a high-tier aura
There were no high-tier beasts allowed in the inner courtyard of the Sect Master's estate without permission. Furthermore, the sect's defensive arrays would shred any wild beast that tried to wander in from the mountains.
Elder Shen He, the chief disciplinarian of the Heavenly Demon Sect, heaved a heavy sigh as he sat in his dimly lit meditation room. He did not think the Sect Master's useless son would ever amount to anything. The boy was a stain on their ruthless lineage. What a miscalculation on his part to ever hold out hope. He still hadn't found the time to propose a new heir to the sect council.
Suddenly, the heavy doors to his chamber burst open. A young girl, pale and weeping, practically threw herself onto the stone floor. It was Lin'er, the Young Master's assigned caretaker.
Elder Shen He's eyes snapped open. "Speak. What has that useless boy done now?"
"He... he smiled, Elder!" Lin'er sobbed, her entire body trembling. "It was the smile of a true, ancient demon! His aura... it was suffocating! He is not a cripple! He is a monster!"
Elder Shen He squinted, his dark, calculating eyes gleaming in the gloom of the chamber. He stood up slowly, a terrifying, invisible pressure rolling off his shoulders.
"Is that so?" the Elder whispered, a cruel, pleased smirk forming on his aged face. He turned his gaze toward the direction of Sunny's courtyard.
"It seems," the Elder murmured to his hidden beast, "our little Young Master has finally decided to show his true fangs."