Sin Becomes a God

Chapter 11: I Am Song Qingshu

“Murder and arson bring a golden sash; building bridges and repairing roads leave no corpses.” With the strength of a second-rate martial artist, Lu Renjia carried on with this risk-free business for several days in a row, and in no time at all, his net worth skyrocketed from the original forty-seven yuan to over fifty thousand yuan. Since graduating, even his longest-held job had paid him less than two thousand yuan in wages. Now, in just a few short days, Lu Renjia had become a “ten-thousand-yuan household.” This stark contrast gradually brought about a subtle change in Lu Renjia, who had been a “man of a hundred lifetimes of virtue.” Now that he had money, Lu Renjia naturally wouldn’t stay crammed in that dog-torn basement cubicle anymore. He spent 4,000 yuan on rent to lease a studio apartment—one that not only came fully equipped with utilities but also featured a private bathroom. Lying on the 1. 8-meter single bed provided by the landlord, Lu Renjia was overcome with emotion. “Three months’ rent in advance, one month’s rent upfront… The money I have on hand is enough to cover at least half a year’s rent! Sigh… That old beggar was absolutely right—in this world, only the wicked get to live the high life… ‘He who takes without asking is a thief.’ I specifically steal money from thieves—does that make me a wicked person?” Lu Renjia mused. At the “Convergence of the Three Talents” realm—the third level of the *Six Harmonies Divine Art*—Lu Renjia’s appetite doubled every day. Fortunately, he still had over 40,000 yuan on hand, so he no longer had to combine three meals into two as he used to. No longer reduced to munching on steamed buns, Lu Renjia bought a huge pile of high-calorie prepared foods. It was only then that Lu Renjia truly understood the meaning behind True Master Xuan Kui’s words: “Even if you master an E-rank martial art to perfection, you may not necessarily possess E-rank strength.” During this time, Lu Renjia also spent money to buy a brand-new laptop from Zhongguancun. Armed with the experience of his first entry into the Lesser Thousand Worlds, Lu Renjia spent this period holed up at home, discussing matters daily with Master Xuan Kui and the other powerful figures who had completed twenty or thirty missions and whose sin levels had already reached four or five stars. Of course, to address the safety concerns arising from his physical body losing sensation when his soul entered the Lesser Thousand Worlds, Lu Renjia had deliberately installed a double-layered security door after renting this small studio apartment. “You’ve really stepped it up… You look in good spirits… I was right, wasn’t I? Nothing makes money faster than this no-strings-attached deal…” the Doomsday Maniac chuckled. “You guys are right. In this day and age, only the most ruthless and wicked can live the high life… We used to have the desire but not the guts; now that we have both, how could we not make it big?” Lu Renjia said with great enthusiasm. “It’s good that you see this clearly. The moment we were chosen by the Demon Envoy as suitable candidates, things like moral integrity were destined to be flushed down the toilet… Because when completing missions issued by the ‘Evil God System,’ even the slightest hint of mercy will ultimately lead to your own death…” Xuan Kui Zhenren, the guild master, cautioned. Lu Renjia nodded. He had mixed feelings toward Xuan Kui Zhenren and the others. They could be called comrades-in-arms, or perhaps mutual exploiters—but in this day and age, being exploited at least proved one still had some value. If others didn’t even bother to exploit you, then you were truly worse than trash. The alluring little vixen looked at Lu Renjia, who was lost in thought, and smiled, “Xiao Jia… have you chosen your Little Thousand World yet?” Lu Renjia looked up and smiled. “I’ve chosen one—I just don’t know whose body I’ll be possessing…” “Sigh… Earth’s eligible candidates really are a glitch. Since the worlds we inhabit are too high-level, we can only complete our missions within our own worlds. Xiao Jia… once your Sin Level reaches three stars, you’ll be able to descend in physical form… and reap even greater rewards then…” the Mechanical Witch sighed. “Don’t worry, everyone. I’ll do my best…” Lu Renjia said with a smile. Meanwhile, just as Lu Renjia logged out of the guild chat in his mind, he heard the icy voice of the “Evil God System” once again. “Beep… Confirming the Microcosm: *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader*. The ‘Evil God System’ has assessed it as a beginner-level world with a six-star danger rating.” “Beep… Soul transfer of eligible candidate Lu Renjia has begun… Target selected: Song Qingshu…” “Countdown… 10… 9… 8… 7… 1” The pitch-black digital watch on his wrist flashed with a blinding white light, and the sensation of his soul being extracted nearly caused Lu Renjia to faint. When Lu Renjia opened his eyes again, he was met with the sight of simple furnishings. Compared to his first soul-travel experience into a Minor Thousand World, Lu Renjia—now returning to another Minor Thousand World—had gained some experience. Lying in bed, he first sorted through the original memories of this body’s owner, Song Qingshu. After all, the film adaptation of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader* differed significantly from Jin Yong’s original novel. Fortunately, Lu Renjia had spent the past few days watching a slew of old wuxia films and had a vivid impression of this particular movie. Compared to Feng Xifan’s tumultuous life, the memories of the nineteen-year-old Song Qingshu were utterly mundane. To put it nicely, he was the first disciple of three generations at Wudang, but due to the sect’s Daoist philosophy of tranquility and non-action, his life was far from affluent. His daily meals were mostly simple fare. Although he was the senior-most among the third generation of disciples, he was still subordinate to his father and five senior uncles, with Zhang Sanfeng—the undisputed leader of the martial arts world—at the very top. As a result, Song Qingshu could only play the role of a rule-abiding disciple. In his memories, Zhang Wuji—three years his junior—was often teased by him, simply because he envied Zhang Wuji’s ability to spend every day by the side of Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng. “Evil God System activated… Qualified candidate Lu Renjia’s soul has traveled to the world of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader*. Identity: ‘Song Qingshu.’ Mission: Eliminate Cheng Kun and the Two Elders of Xuanming within one year. Mission Reward: Obtain the E+ rank martial arts manual *The Nine Yin Manual*. Mission Failure: Annihilation.” “Evil God System Notice: While in soul-transition status, the Qualified One cannot use martial arts skills obtained from the previous mission.” “Evil God System Notice: The ‘Performer’s Mask’ is bound to the soul and remains usable in the world of *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber: The Leader of the Demon Cult*. Since Song Qingshu comes from a prestigious martial arts lineage and is handsome, he has triggered a new skill for the ‘Performer’s Mask’: ‘Charm.’ ” “Evil God System Notice: Since the Qualified One has mastered the art of disguise, the ‘Performer’s Mask’ has gained the Disguise skill.” “Evil God System Notice: After completing the beginner’s quest, subsequent quests will activate a difficulty-escalation rule. Whenever the Qualified One alters the world’s trajectory by 10 percent, the quest difficulty will increase accordingly, and so on… When the quest difficulty reaches 20 percent, a critical point is triggered, adding a new objective.” “The Chosen One’s soul fusion has begun…” “Host Song Qingshu’s physical attributes: Internal Energy (mid-second-tier), Reflexes 15 (15 times above average), Strength 20 (20 times above average), Speed 20 (20 times above average), Comprehension 2 (2 times above average). Overall rating: F-class martial artist.” When he saw that the reward for this mission was none other than the legendary *Nine Yin Manual*, Lu Renjia had already dismissed the “Evil God System’s” warning about the increased mission difficulty. The Nine Yin and Nine Yang were undoubtedly the stuff of countless otaku’s wildest fantasies, and Lu Renjia was no exception. Of course, there was another reason for his excitement. “Damn… I’m set for life now. The *Nine Yin Manual* is an E+-level martial arts manual—even if I were to redeem it through ‘Lifestyle Services,’ it would cost at least tens of thousands of Sin Coins… And as for this Song Qingshu—I originally thought he wasn’t very strong, but I never expected the ‘Evil God System’ to rate this body as F-.” Soon, Lu Renjia noticed something different about the mission issued by the “Evil God System” this time. “The world’s trajectory has changed, so the difficulty will increase? I can’t use the martial arts skills I acquired from the previous mission while in soul-travel mode? It seems the Mechanical Witch and the others were right—I still have a long way to go before my Sin Level reaches three stars… So does that mean once my Sin Level reaches three stars, I’ll be able to retain my cultivation level when my physical body travels through the Minor Thousand Worlds? I can’t wait…” Lu Renjia thought to himself. Having spent over two months dressed in period attire in the world of *The Deer and the Cauldron*, he was now a pro at getting dressed up again. After picking out a few outfits he liked from the wardrobe and putting them on, Lu Renjia looked at the dashing, handsome young man full of vigor in the bronze mirror and struck a flamboyant pose. “Tsk, tsk, tsk… This face is unbeatable… Compared to Feng Xifan, he’s far superior… Sigh, if only the original owner of this body hadn’t been so cowardly and obsessed with wealth and luxury… I’d bet he’d be the next Grandmaster of the Wudang School without a doubt…” Lu Renjia chuckled. Although he couldn’t use Feng Xifan’s self-created *Six Harmonies Divine Art*, Lu Renjia’s eye for martial arts remained sharp. The cultivation level of this body was likely considerably higher than the “Three Talents Body Refinement” realm of the *Six Harmonies Divine Art*’s third level. In other words, in the world of *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber: The Demon Cult Leader*, the current Song Qingshu ranked as a mid-level second-tier martial artist. Just as Lu Renjia had said, Song Qingshu in the world of *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber: The Leader of the Demon Cult* came from a distinguished family; in modern society, he would undoubtedly be considered a “third-generation heir.” But the consequence of being raised in a sheltered environment was, naturally, a personality marked by bullying the weak, fearing the strong, and failing when it mattered most. Compared to Zhang Wuji, who grew up enduring hardships from a young age, the difference is more than just a little. As the only son of Song Yuanqiao, Song Qingshu was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He had a father who was the leader of the Seven Heroes of Wudang, and Zhang Sanfeng—the undisputed patriarch of the martial arts world—as his grandmaster. Song Qingshu’s life had been smooth sailing from childhood onward; after all, whenever he encountered any trouble, all he had to do was mention his father’s name—Song Yuanqiao—and whether it was the underworld, outlaws, or other martial arts sects, everyone would give him some leeway. In the world of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader*, the classification of martial artists’ strength is similar to that of the previous world,However, in the world of *The Deer and the Cauldron*, the strongest figure was merely Ao Bai—a top-tier martial artist at the peak of his realm who had opened six of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Yet in the world of *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber: The Leader of the Demon Cult*, due to the higher level of danger and the presence of innate martial artists who have opened all eight extraordinary meridians, the landscape is vastly different. In Song Qingshu’s memories, Zhang Sanfeng, the towering figure of Wudang, was a先天 martial artist who had opened the Ren and Du meridians. As for his father and Yu Lianzhou, they had each opened five of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, reaching the late stage of the first-class realm—a level on par with Aobai from the film adaptation of *The Deer and the Cauldron*. The leaders of the other five major orthodox sects were merely mid- to late-stage First-Class martial artists. As for Abbess Mie Jue, although she had also opened five of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and reached the late stage of the First Class, she relied on the advantage of the divine weapon, the Yitian Sword; within the same realm, most people were truly no match for her. Furthermore, in the world of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader*, martial artists are not only classified by strength levels—such as Innate, First-Rate, and Second-Rate—but are also measured by combat power. “It seems Song Qingyu is a wealthy second-generation youth with ambition—he’s already become a second-tier martial artist in his teens… and his combat power has reached 3,500… while a first-tier martial artist’s combat power doubles to around 6,000 or 7,000. Does that mean Zhang Sanfeng’s combat power must be over 10,000? I wonder how high the combat power of the Xuanming Elders and Cheng Kun is…” After inheriting Song Qingshu’s memories, Lu Renjia realized that the original owner of this body had often teased Zhang Wuji. However, Song Qingshu—who always pretended to be a well-behaved child in front of his senior masters—would never have taken action himself. As the leader of the Seven Heroes of Wudang,Song Yuanqiao’s only son and acting head of the sect, Song Qingyu was undoubtedly treated like a “crown prince” in the eyes of the Wudang disciples. Naturally, he was surrounded by a crowd of sycophants, and the task of teasing Zhang Wuji was usually left to them. However, most of these pranks amounted to little more than slipping a cockroach into Zhang Wuji’s dish or adding some sand to his rice—they never dared to take it too far. “Thankfully, Song Qingshu is careful to preserve his reputation; he never personally teases Zhang Wuji…Come to think of it, in Zhang Wuji’s eyes, I’m still a decent senior brother… But taking down Chen Kun and the Two Elders of Xuanming won’t be easy… No matter how hard I train, a year isn’t enough to reach the level of Chen Kun and the Two Elders of Xuanming… Looks like I’ll just have to borrow a bit of Zhang Wuji’s protagonist aura…” Lu Renjia thought to himself. With that thought, Lu Renjia, now fully dressed, set off toward the dining hall as he remembered it. Zhang Sanfeng, the undisputed leader of the martial arts world, had entrusted all matters—big and small—of the Wudang School to his eldest disciple, Song Yuanqiao, over the years, while he himself lived in seclusion in a thatched cottage on the back mountain of Wudang. Aside from infusing Zhang Wuji with true qi every night to suppress the cold poison of the Xuanming Divine Palm, he was practically as elusive as a dragon—seen only in glimpses. As for the remaining members of the Wudang Six Heroes, they were naturally attended to by dedicated disciples; those coming to eat in this dining hall were all third- and fourth-generation disciples of the Wudang School. Song Qingshu, the chief disciple of the third generation, rarely appeared in the dining hall either. When the disciples who were serving themselves saw Song Qingshu approach, they hurriedly stood up to greet him. “Senior Brother Song…” Faced with these eager, smiling faces, Lu Renjia—who was putting on airs—merely nodded indifferently. Glancing at Zhang Wuji sitting in the corner, Lu Renjia deliberately walked over. At a glance, he noticed the food on the table: a cockroach was floating in the tofu and cabbage soup, and the faint black specks visible in the white rice—what else could they be but sand?