Turns Out I'm the Real Monster?!

Jiang Mu lamented the harsh reality of the limited positions for a moment, then pressed, "So what’s the second way to claim a Star Position?"

"The second is to use external objects to forcefully ’claim’ a Star Position for you."

Zhang Daxie explained,

"For example, we at the Demon-slaying Bureau possess a special Divine Artifact capable of mass-producing ’Star Official Seals’."

A Cultivator just has to merge with this seal. It’s like being stamped with an official seal, granting them a recognized Star Official identity and allowing them to cultivate."

"The renowned Major Sects of the martial world also have their own similar legacy Magical Artifacts or Secret Skills."

"That simple? All you need is a stamp?"

Jiang Mu was a little stunned.

’No!’

’There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.’

’The simpler the method sounds, the deeper the trap usually is.’

Seeing the suspicion on Jiang Mu’s face, Zhang Daxie guessed his thoughts and said with a wry smile,

"Sir, your concerns are well-founded. This method has tremendous drawbacks. The first method, ’sensing and resonating,’ is the orthodox path blessed by the Celestial Dao."

"Upon success, you become an ’orthodox Star Official’ acknowledged by the Celestial Dao. You’ll resonate perfectly with your star, absorb Spiritual Qi as naturally as breathing, and even be blessed by the fortune of Heaven and Earth."

"But the second method... while it allows one to cultivate, it’s fraught with hidden dangers. Whether breaking through to new realms or absorbing Spiritual Qi, it’s nowhere near as easy as it is for the orthodox."

’No wonder.’ But Jiang Mu’s brow immediately furrowed even tighter.

"Wait, that’s not right. If you’re saying all the Star Official positions in the heavens have been claimed, how can the Demon-slaying Bureau still hand out so many ’Star Official Seals’ to us?"

"Sir, the ones the Demon-slaying Bureau gives us aren’t actually orthodox Star Positions."

Zhang Daxie explained earnestly,

"They’re merely official positions ’forged’ by Great Powers using Secret Techniques. They do this by imprinting certain characteristics of orthodox Star Positions. We usually call them—pseudo-Star Officials."

’Imprinting?’

’Forged?’

The corner of Jiang Mu’s mouth twitched.

’So they’re pirated!’

’Damn it!’

’So the genuine version is sold out, and now the authorities are leading the charge in making knockoffs?’

Jiang Mu truly hadn’t expected cultivation to have genuine and pirated versions.

By that logic, there were only a little over four hundred orthodox Star Officials with official positions.

In other words, in this vast world, the only Cultivators truly acknowledged by the heavens numbered a mere few hundred.

The rest of the teeming masses... were all cultivating with goddamn pirated accounts!

This was just too absurd.

Zhang Daxie continued,

"Although pseudo-Star Officials are also qualified to absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and can obtain some of the Divine Abilities that come with their Star Position, their overall strength is far inferior to that of an orthodox Star Official."

"At the same realm, the power gap between them is immense."

"Take me, for example. The pseudo-Star Position I claimed is the ’Diwei Star,’ and the accompanying Divine Ability is the ’Earth Escape Skill’."

"But my Earth Escape Skill is little more than burrowing through some dirt. The real ’Diwei Star Official’ has an Earth Escape Skill that’s far more formidable than mine."

"What’s even more terrifying is that if I ever encounter the genuine one, my Divine Abilities and Star Power will be completely suppressed by them."

"Once, twenty pseudo-Star Officials, all holding the ’Earth Evil Star’ position, joined forces to attack a single orthodox Earth Evil Star Official. In the end, the genuine one effortlessly annihilated them all."

Jiang Mu understood.

’To put it simply, it’s a matter of inherent suppression.’

’No matter how hard a pirated Cultivator trains, they’re completely helpless before a genuine master. They don’t even have the right to fight back.’

Jiang Mu asked curiously, "Can all Star Official positions be pirated?"

"Pirated?"

Zhang Daxie paused for a moment, then chuckled. "Sir, that’s a fitting word for it. However, not all of them can be forged."

"The higher the rank of the Star Official position, the more profound the Laws of the Dao it contains, making it much harder to replicate."

"Positions like the Seventy-two Earth Fiends can just about be mass-produced. But when you get to the Thirty-Six Celestial Spirits, the difficulty of forging them skyrockets."

"Anything higher is impossible."

"Therefore, if a Cultivator wishes to reach a profound realm and continue to break through, they have no choice but to fight for it!"

"Fight?"

Jiang Mu frowned. "Didn’t you say that once a Star Position is occupied, no one else can lay a finger on it? How is there anything to fight for?"

Zhang Daxie’s expression grew profound.

"You will understand in time, Sir. In short, on the path of cultivation, the higher you climb, the narrower the road becomes."

"For the sake of that single position, it’s not uncommon in the Major Sects for masters and disciples to turn on each other, or for brothers to commit fratricide."

"The further you walk this path, the lonelier and more brutal it becomes."

Jiang Mu nodded, his heart growing a little heavy.

’I never expected cultivation to be this much of a rat race.’

’How many Cultivators have to risk their lives just to fill that one slot?’

’Difficult, difficult, difficult.’

’It’s harder than ascending to the heavens.’

But on second thought, even though one could cultivate with a pirated Star Position, the drawbacks were huge, and you’d be inherently suppressed by the genuine article. ’No way I’m doing that!’

’I have a cheat system, so why would I go and cultivate a pirated account? Wouldn’t that be a total waste of my cheat?’

’If I’m going to cultivate, it has to be the genuine version!’

’Looks like I’ll have to find a chance to ask Ran Qingshan. The Demon-slaying Bureau is a massive organization; surely they have some in stock, right?’

’But first, I’ll try and see if I can sense one for myself.’

Following the method Zhang Daxie had taught him, Jiang Mu sat cross-legged on a nearby bench. Holding his breath and focusing his mind, he sank his consciousness inward and began to sense the stars.

A current of True Qi rose from his Dantian, flowing like a gentle stream up through his meridians and into his upper Dantian.

The area known as the Mud Ball Palace.

The Mud Ball Palace, located deep behind the brow, is the aperture where one’s divine sense resides and spiritual essence is stored.

Only by using this aperture as a foundation can one sense the power of the stars in the outer world.

"HMMMM—"

The moment his True Qi entered the aperture, Jiang Mu’s mind cleared.

It was as if a thin veil had been gently lifted away.

What lay before him was not the Government Office building, but a vast, boundless, and blurry void.

Countless stars floated within it.

Some burned as bright as candle flames, others glowed as faintly as dying embers. Amidst the flowing dust of light, they wove together into a sea of stars.

Jiang Mu’s spirit trembled.

’Is this the sea of stars?’

Before he could get a closer look, the flowing sea of stars suddenly froze. Then, an incomparably brilliant, violet-gold light erupted from its very center.

Immediately after, a voice filled with shock and rage echoed through the void:

"Insolent!!"

Before Jiang Mu could even react, his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a THUD.

"Sir!"

Standing guard nearby, Zhang Daxie’s face drained of color in horror as he rushed forward.

Just then—

—the sky suddenly went dark.

It was as if a black cloth had been draped over the entire firmament.

In that instant, daylight was forcibly banished.

The next moment,

a single point of starlight ignited in the center of the darkness.

At first, it was no bigger than a pea.

In the blink of an eye, it expanded and bloomed.

Its radiance was so immense that it outshone the sun and moon, eclipsing the eternal night, blazing with the majesty of a descending emperor!

"What is this?!"

Zhang Daxie looked up at the sky, his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground.

「Hu State, deep within the Underground Palace.」

Shangguan Luoxue was seated cross-legged on the Cold Jade Platform, meditating in seclusion as motes of purple snow drifted around her.

Suddenly, an immense pressure crashed down upon her.

"PFFT!"

She coughed up a mouthful of blood as the Star Power circulating within her spiraled out of control and reversed its flow.

A supreme expert of the mighty Twelfth Realm was forcefully pressed to her knees, her forehead slamming down onto the Cold Jade Platform.

"An Emperor-level Star Position?!"

Shangguan Luoxue’s beautiful eyes filled with horror. "In this world... how could an ownerless Emperor Star possibly appear now?!"

「Demon-slaying Bureau, the study.」

Ran Qingshan was at his desk, reviewing official documents with a brush pen.

"CRACK!"

The brush in his hand snapped in two without warning.

In the next instant, as if an invisible hand had slammed down on his shoulders, he crashed to his knees with a THUD.

The stone tiles beneath his knees fractured, spiderwebbing with cracks.

Even the desk before him was blasted to pieces by the aftershock, sending documents scattering across the floor.

"What the hell was that?!"

Ran Qingshan was completely baffled.

「The small courtyard of the Jiang residence.」

Bai Xiang was humming a little tune as she watered a few bean sprouts.

The sky abruptly turned dark.

She paused, her delicate brows furrowing slightly as she looked up at the lone star in the sky.

"An Emperor-level Star Position has actually appeared?"

Feeling the majestic, hellish pressure, a cold, arrogant smirk touched the corner of Bai Xiang’s lips.

"You want me to submit? You think you’re worthy? My Star Position is—"

"THUD!"

The woman fell squarely to her knees in the vegetable patch.

Bai Xiang: "..."

「Great Qing Imperial Palace, the Imperial Garden.」

The young Emperor stood by the lake, his hands clasped behind his back, gazing dazedly at the portrait of a woman in his hands.

"Your Majesty!"

The surrounding eunuchs and palace maids had barely begun to cry out in alarm.

The young Emperor was already on his knees, the portrait in his hands fluttering down into the lake.

At that moment.

Whether it was an old Daoist master preaching in a remote mountain grotto or a gallant hero drinking heartily in a tavern.

Whether it was a high-ranking court official or a common peddler living in seclusion.

All who bore a Star Position, without a single exception, were forced to their knees.

Unable to straighten their backs, unable to raise their heads.

The Lords of the Three Enclosures, the Twenty-eight Star Constellations, the Thirty-Six Celestial Spirits, the Seventy-two Earth Fiends...

More than four hundred orthodox Star Officials and the countless thousands of pseudo-star Cultivators.

At this moment, all were like subjects before their one true sovereign!

When Ziwei appears,

All stars bow their heads!