The Idle System Box Set

by Pegaz

  The green parts were small leaves branching out. The white parts were the stalk which was straight, and the roots, which were three times larger than the leaves, they were like a clump of strings interwoven together.

  “This herb is over 400 years old and is one of the biggest of its kind that we’ve seen in the last thousand years. The starting bid is £400 million, and the minimum bid is £10 million.”

  John used his Immortal Eye on the herb.

  Shatavari.

  Life: 12,400,000

  Impurities: 90%

  John was shocked at the results. So this herb collects around 30,000 Life Power per year, but most of it isn’t usable. If I eat it, then only 1.24 million Life Power would be usable for me. That’s still a lot, though…

  “£540 million.”

  “£550 million.”

  Looking at the panel, John pushed the ‘10’ button to increase the bid by £100 million.

  “£650 million from VIP Booth 4!”

  “£660 million from VIP Booth 3!”

  John only had the highest bid for half a second, knitting his brows he hit the ‘25’ button.

  “£910 million from VIP Booth 4!”

  It was complete silence after Joseph announced the last bid.

  “£910 million is the highest bid. Going once... going twice... Sold! Congratulations to VIP Booth 4 for your purchase.” He did a slight bow towards where John was seated.

  The next few items were herbs and plants used for medical purposes. John checked each one. They all had Life Power, but the impurities inside were 99%, one even had 100%.

  So these plants heal us by infusing Life Power inside, but if you can’t remove the impurities that comes with it after you’ve recovered, then it’s much harder to breakthrough. Depending on which rank you’re at, it can save your life, sure, but might make you die of old age later.

  Knock, knock.

  John heard someone at the door. “Come in.”

  The door opened, and a woman holding a bag walked in.

  “Sir, this is your Shatavari. Please pay the amount of £910 million.”

  John took the bag and looked inside. It was the same plant he saw on the stage. So they didn’t swindle me by switching them. That’s good.

  John handed them a Grade 3 Life Stone that’s worth £1 billion. “Keep the change as a tip.”

  The woman bowed at John and walked out of the booth, quietly closing the door behind her.

  John took the plant out and grabbed all seeds he could find. He then ate it after keeping the seeds.

  ‘Ding!’

  1,240,000 Life Pool units has been added.

  The next object auctioned off was another herb. Joseph introduced the herb. It was called Holy Basil. This one was 65 years old and it helps purify Life Power when eaten. John checked it out with Immortal Eye.

  Holy Basil

  Life Power: 650,000

  Impurities: 0%

  Oh, 10,000 units per year. And it’s all usable. I need to buy this… I might get seeds from it too.

  “Starting bid is £1 Billion, and the minimum bid is £100 million.”

  The starting bid surprised John, but he recalled the information about the herb. It was used to remove the impurities in the bodies of those who didn’t remove them when they first started cultivating.

  “£1.1 billion from VIP Booth 3!”

  John pushed the ‘10’ button.

  “£2.1 billion from VIP Booth 4!”

  “£2.2 billion from VIP Booth 3!”

  “£3.2 billion from VIP Booth 4!”

  “£3.3 billion from VIP Booth 3!”

  John pushed the ‘50’ button.

  “£8.3 billion from VIP Booth 4!”

  “£8.3 billion is the highest bid. Going once... going twice... Sold! Congratulations to VIP Booth 4 for your purchase.”

  A few minutes later the same woman came in and delivered the Holy Basil to John. He paid with nine Grade 3 Stones and told her to keep the rest as a tip.

  Taking out the herb and looking at it, he tried finding the seeds. The plant’s stalk was dark red from top to bottom. The leaves were bright green, but where they connected with the stem they became dark red, too. At the top were dark red leaves in a circular pattern and in the middle of each of them was a tiny seed.

  Smiling, John picked each seed and placed them into his Storage Space next to the other seeds, but in a separate pile.

  He ate the Holy Basil.

  ‘Ding!’

  650,000 Life Pool units has been added.

  So far, this auction had earned him just under 2million Life Power. He was looking forward to the rest of the auction.

  Chapter 47

  Auction (2)

  The next few items for auction were herbs with a high amount of impurities. Then, another Holy Basil went up for sale. It was 34 years old.

  Holy Basil

  Life Power: 340,000

  Impurities: 0%

  After another bidding war, John won the holy basil for £8.6 billion.

  There were a few more items John bought after the herb, including a pair of devices which could communicate with each other using the latest technology. They reduced the time lag from minutes to seconds. John had spent £5 billion on these devices. Joseph had introduced them as limited products because of the rare materials needed to create them. The shape was similar to the metal ball that his master, Jamie, had given him when he went on his first long-distance mission. The main difference being the colour. These were dark red instead of silver.

  Throughout the auction, John won bids for books and information about techniques in absorbing Life Power. The more he knew, the better. He was really looking forward to when he reached the 100M mark for the item in the shop.

  He spent £75 billion on three books and sixteen parchments that each had pieces of lost techniques in them. While other people might find these items useless or even dangerous, it was different for John. The system could put even the smallest bits of information to use.

  It was now time for the last three items. The auctioneers saved the best for last.

  In third place was a Rank 8 mythical grade sword with mythical runes for attacking. It could match average Rank 9 rare swords. John wasn’t interested in swords, so he let the item go.

  In second place was a scroll with a breathing technique which could help with removing impurities as they entered the body. The technique interested John because it was complete. After another bidding war, he had the highest bid at £104.5 billion.

  Finally, in first place and judged as the best item, was another Holy Basil that someone found inside a ruin. The herb was estimated to be 500 years old. John checked the herb out as soon as the women removed the red cloth.

  Holy Basil

  Life Power: 8,560,000

  Impurities: 0%

  500 years? That’s wrong if it’s 10,000 units per year, this Holy Basil must be 856 years old. Or, it could have been growing in a place where Life Power was richer than on the surface, so maybe it absorbed more per year. With the number of seeds I’ve gotten from the other Holy Basils, I’ll be able to start a small farm. Maybe, even a large farm if I get this one.

  Joseph smiled and put the microphone near his face. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last item in this year’s auction. By now everyone should know what this is and how rare it is for this herb to age over 100 years. I won’t delay any of you, ladies and gentleman, any further. The starting bid is £100 billion, and the minimum bid is £10 billion. Let’s start the final bidding.”

  John bid £110 billion with lightning fast speed.

  “£120 billion.”

  “£130 billion.”

  “£140 billion.”

  “£240 billion.”

  After a few more seconds, the highest bid was £340 billion.

  John pushed the ‘25’ button.

  “£590 billion from VIP Booth 4!”

  “£600 billion from VIP Booth 3!”

  John knitted
his brows and pushed the ‘50’ button.

  “£1.1 trillion from VIP Booth 4!”

  When Joseph announced John’s latest bid, the crowd began muttering. Among the murmurs, a loud voice overpowered them all.

  “Whoever’s in Booth 4, I’ve tolerated you long enough! If you bid again, I’ll kill you.” The voice came from the Death sect people.

  Hidden in his booth, John changed his appearance to his black and silver Daoist robes, just in case. For added measure, he added the mask of the Rogue sect.

  “Threaten me again,” John called out, “And I’ll mark the Death sect as open season for life. It will become a graveyard not long after.”

  “Oh, and who are you to threaten the Death sect?” A dominant force gathered in Booth 3.

  John smiled under the mask. “Wouldn’t it be funny if I announced the name of my sect when people have been trying to figure it out for thousands of years?”

  BOOM!

  The man in Booth 3 destroyed their room along with John’s. Everyone could see who was inside now. John stood up from his seat so everyone could see his assassin’s mask and robes. Gasps came from the crowd at the sight of John’s attire. The people from the Death sect stopped gathering Life Power and went pale.

  They had just offended someone from the strongest assassin sect in the universe!

  Everyone saw a person from the mysterious assassin’s sect stand his ground with confidence, but in reality, John was almost shaking from fear. He already had the system icon pointed to 5 miles away in the map, ready to teleport at any time.

  He already had a little fight with Jeremy May, a Rank 9. Despite using everything he had, all he could do was burn the skin on Jeremy’s arm. If Jeremy hadn’t been overconfident, John wouldn’t have survived the fight. It was this reason that, even though John’s actions seemed like he was taking it easy, he was always prepared to give everything he had. It was also the reason he still snuck about or used the fastest method possible when killing mortals.

  Those who couldn’t see what was happening moved to a position where they had a good view. Even the people from Sword and Dual Cultivation sects were no exception. They began hovering above the people using their swords.

  As the people were getting ready for a good show, Joseph shouted. “£1.1 trillion from VIP Booth 4... which no longer exists... is the highest bid... going once... going twice... Sold!”

  John looked at the people from the Death sect. “I’ve won the bid.”

  The person in the centre from the Death sect shouted. “That’s not right! Our bidding panel’s broken! I would have outbid him!”

  John laughed. “You could have shouted your bid. Plus, it was you who destroyed the panel. How is this unfair? There’s no rule saying you can’t shout your bid. The panel is only there for convenience.”

  The Death sect grew silent. They knew he was right.

  John teleported onto the stage and picked the herb up, leaving eleven Grade 4 Life Stones worth £100 billion each. Walking up to Joseph, he gave him a Grade 4 Life Stone too.

  “This is a tip for doing a good job with continuing the auction while all that was happening.”

  Joseph took the Life Stone from him and bowed. “Thank you, sir.”

  Because of the speed at which John had moved, the people who were watching the show were frozen in shock. Even the Rank 9 people couldn’t trace his movements. As soon as they had witnessed John, everyone assumed John was also a Rank 9 Immortal, or above.

  The Rank 9 man from the Death sect turned his head, looking intensely at the masked man on the stage. “Since the auction is over now, then there is no rule saying I cannot steal the item from you.”

  John turned around to look at the man who spoke. “You want to steal from me? You can’t even catch me. You’re a Rank 9, so you might have a slim chance, but the two Rank 7 people next to you have no chance.”

  The two people John had just mentioned stepped back out of fear. John looked up at the Death sect’s people and sneered.

  “I might just have to pay the Death sect a little visit,” he laughed. “Somebody needs to teach manners to you.”

  He disappeared from the stage after speaking and appeared inside his hotel room. In a rush, he changed his appearance back to normal and picked the seeds from the herb. When the plant was seed-free, he then ate it.

  As soon as he swallowed the last piece of the herb, John could feel the Life Power being sent to his brain. It was so much all at once that he got a headache.

  ‘Ding!’

  8.560,000 Life Pool units have been added.

  John took deep breaths.

  He had won quite a few items in this auction, including herbs that earned him over 10 million Life Power units. That amount was equivalent to the end result of over seven months of cultivation. For the next few days, John read over the breathing technique on the parchment he won.

  Chapter 48

  Divination

  A month later on a distant planet…

  Sarah was sitting down on her bed, cultivating.

  I can’t concentrate enough to cultivate. My mind keeps thinking of what John said on the balcony.

  The redhead stood up, walked out of the room and continued on with no specific course in mind. She had to clear her head.

  The planet she was on was one that the Anti-Assassin group owned, it’s where their headquarters is located. The temperature was around the same as Earth, but the gravity was five times stronger. Initially, it had taken her a few hours to get used to the gravity. Even now, she couldn’t jump very high or run very fast.

  Waving hello at people passing by, she came to a small lake. Sarah sat down on a bench by the shore, watching the waves. She tried to relax.

  At what point does the killer’s life not outweigh other people’s?

  Who are we to decide that?

  We’re not gods, so do we judge by our morality?

  Then, whose morality do we go by since we’re all different?

  While her brain swam in circles, a young man came and sat down beside her, interrupting her thoughts. She looked over to who it was and knitted her brows.

  “Hello, Sarah, we meet again.” The young man had a rose in his hand, holding it out to her. “This is fate!”

  “Or, you’re stalking me,” was her curt reply. “Every time I leave my house, you’re always there. This is my last warning. Leave me alone or else.”

  The young man tilted his head. “Or else…?”

  Before he could finish his sentence, his movements and even his speech suddenly slowed down. After a few seconds, he was frozen like a statue.

  Sarah had stood up, looked at the rose and touched it. The rose withered and turned black, crumbling into dust after a mere few seconds. Gaze travelling from the rose to the man, the redhead gritted her teeth but walked away.

  If he tries again, I might kill him myself. All life is valuable is the Anti-Assassin motto, but maybe that saying is not right for me anymore.

  When she was walking away from the man, the communication device in her pocket went off. She grabbed it and pushed the button.

  “Sarah, come to my house,” her master’s voice came out of the device, “I’ve got important information to discuss with you.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right there.”

  She put the device away and headed to her master’s house.

  When she arrived, she was led into the living room where her master and another man sat.

  “Master.” Sarah did a small bow, then did the same bow to the other man. “Elder Han.”

  The man called Elder Han smiled. “You’re getting more beautiful every time I see you. It’s no wonder my son has fallen head over heels for you.”

  Sarah gave him a wry smile. “I met him. He’s sitting on the bench near the lake, but it might take awhile for him to get home tonight.”

  Both men laughed at that. They knew she wouldn’t kill Elder Han’s son, but something like this had happened a few times already.


  Elder Han stood up. “Leader, since you have important matters to speak about with your disciple, I’ll be on my way. It seems I must go to recover my son.”

  Sarah’s master nodded and the two men said their goodbyes.

  “Now,” the master finally said, once Elder Han had left, “Sarah, take a seat.” He pointed with an open palm to an empty seat. Sarah sat down and stared up at her master, still waiting.

  “Elder Han came here to try arranging a marriage between you and his son. With the offer they’ve given, I’ve accepted their arrangement.”

  Sarah’s eyes widened, and her mouth gawked in shock.

  “Master, I don’t agree!”

  “It’s too late to decline now,” her master continued. “I’ve already accepted their terms and their gifts. That is not what I called you here for, though.”

  “There’s something more important than an arranged marriage that I don’t agree with?” Sarah was seething, yet her master merely nodded.

  “The master divinator has come up with some shocking news,” he said without batting an eye. “News regarding the man who was the assassin sect head’s disciple. The one who will kill billions of people.”

  With that, Sarah’s anger was set aside. Eyes wide, she paid close attention to her master’s words.

  “A while ago, the divination was able to bypass his master’s protection. We can conclude one of two things. Either the man has had a falling out with his master, or his master is dead. The divination is still the same, but now it has added that the assassin’s sect will get destroyed by him too. However, that will be far into the future, too far to let the man live. We’d be trading the billions of lives for the assassin’s sect fall. Therefore, we have come up with a plan.

  “We will capture that disciple and interrogate him. He knows the location of the sect, and he can get around the blood oath somehow. When we get the answers we need, we’ll kill him. The divinator has seen where he will be soon. At the moment, he’s headed toward the Sword sect. We want you to use your technique to slow him down and capture him. We need to find him before he joins the Sword sect, otherwise, we might not get to him for years.”