After a long while, William Lynn finally began to adapt to the changes in his body, feeling relieved: “At least now I have some ability to protect myself.” But when he thought about the system’s ultimate goal—to establish the greatest sect in history, and for himself to become the greatest founder ever—William Lynn immediately felt immense pressure and hurried to check the other items in the novice gift pack.

“Lottery chance?” William Lynn took a look. In addition to the exchange system, the auxiliary cultivation system also had a lottery system, but it was grayed out and not yet activated, so there was no point thinking about it for now.

For now, he could only hope that the purchasing power of those 300 exchange points would be a bit higher.

Thinking this, William Lynn entered the exchange system. Previously, when he had nothing at all, he hadn’t even dared to look at the prices.

After carefully checking the price tags, William Lynn cursed the system for being so greedy. The lowest-level bottle of Qi-nourishing pills cost ten exchange points, and a slightly spiritual iron-forged sword cost thirty points.

He even considered getting a basic outfit—a set of feathered robes and a star crown—which would cost fifty points.

The most basic magical abilities, like “Fireball” or “Palm Thunder,” the kind you’d find at a street stall, cost a hundred points.

As for the high-end items with a string of zeros after them, William Lynn didn’t even dare to look, afraid he’d get dizzy.

Looking at the pitiful 300 in his “current exchange points” column, William Lynn shook his head: “The starting capital is way too little.”

Luckily, the novice gift pack included a Daoist manual and a magical ability, or else William Lynn would have been at a total loss.

Daoist methods are the foundation of cultivation, mainly used to raise one’s level, while magical abilities are practical martial or magical techniques with many uses.

To his surprise, the Nine Heavens Heavenly Thunder True Method in the gift pack was of very high grade—so high that the current exchange system couldn’t even offer it; it would only be available after the system was upgraded.

As for upgrading the system, William Lynn would have to complete a certain number of system tasks before it would unlock, so that was still a long way off.

The Nine Heavens Heavenly Thunder True Method was one of the top thunder-based Daoist arts in this great world of Tianyuan, but it had been lost for many years. In the past, those who mastered this art were all legendary figures who could walk anywhere with impunity.

According to the instructions, the novice gift pack would randomly grant a Daoist method. To get the Nine Heavens Heavenly Thunder True Method, William Lynn was truly blessed by his ancestors. Although 300 exchange points didn’t buy much, William Lynn’s frustration was instantly swept away.

With such a top-tier Daoist method, if it weren’t for that damned main quest, William Lynn would definitely have found a secluded place to master his skills before coming out to dominate the world.

But now, since he had to recruit disciples, it was a different story.

Though he was dissatisfied, William Lynn quickly adjusted his mindset and sprang into action.

Without drawing attention, after asking for directions to Stone Village, he quietly left Wolf Village without alerting anyone.

The two villages were currently hostile to each other. Now that he was a cultivator, William Lynn wasn’t afraid of the people from Wolf Village causing trouble, but he was worried they might expose his identity in front of the people from Stone Village.

Fortunately, everyone from Wolf Village was gathered at the village entrance, discussing the incident of Wolf Wind being injured. William Lynn slipped out from the back of the village, and no one noticed his movements.

On the road, William Lynn didn’t hesitate and immediately invested fifty exchange points to outfit himself.

Coming from Earth, William Lynn certainly understood the saying, “A Buddha needs gold, and a man needs clothes.” If you want to sell something, promotion and packaging come first.

Looking down at his feathered robe and star crown, white robe with wide sleeves, exuding the image of an immortal sage, William Lynn nodded in satisfaction. The system’s items were expensive, but their quality and appearance were truly impeccable.

When William Lynn arrived at the entrance of Stone Village, the first thing that caught his eye was a massive, half-dead tree trunk, with a diameter of over ten meters, completely charred black.

William Lynn glanced at it and guessed it was a lightning-struck tree, hit by lightning many years ago. The huge crown and vigorous life force of the old tree had been destroyed, and now only a stump eight or nine meters tall remained above ground.

Just by looking at the size of the remaining trunk, one could imagine how enormous the tree must have been when it was alive.

The dead tree was completely charred, showing no signs of life.

At this moment, an old man walked over, coughing as he spoke: “This tree has been dead for ten years.” He walked up to William Lynn, his eyes sizing him up and down: “This old man is the village chief of Stone Village. May I ask if there’s anything I can help you with, Daoist?”

William Lynn smiled slightly, naturally exuding an aura of transcendence and pride. Coupled with his outfit—white robe, wide sleeves, feathered robe, and star crown—his appearance was flawless, the very image of a reclusive master.

“Target detected, suitable to become the host’s personal disciple.”

Just as William Lynn was about to speak, he heard the sudden system prompt and almost choked on his own saliva.

The old village chief of Stone Village looked at William Lynn in confusion, but was startled.

He saw William Lynn’s eyes glowing green, staring at the village entrance like a starving wolf.

At the entrance, a chubby-cheeked, snow-white, adorable little child was energetically tugging at the tail of a big yellow dog, their childish voice ringing out: “Yiya yiya, don’t run!”

The system voice in William Lynn’s mind kept sounding: “Talent system analysis complete. Target number one’s stats are as follows.”

“Root bone—10; Comprehension—8; Willpower—8; Fortune—8.”