The night was deep and still. Clutching the Wave-Breaker Blade and the meteoric iron cutting board, I quietly climbed up to the rooftop. In the moonlight, a stone trough about three feet square sat in the center of the roof, filled with black viscous liquid. A few fish bones floated in it, giving off a faint, fishy stench.

The System Elder's voice came to me: "This is the core of the Spirit-Gathering Formation — the 'Fetid Scale Trough.' Those fish bones are evil things fed on the life essence of ordinary people. Destroy the trough, and the formation breaks."

I tightened my grip on the blade and was just about to charge forward when a gurgling sound rose from the stone trough. The liquid began to churn, and a scale-covered hand reached up from inside.

Ding! Evil entity detected — 'Scale-Claw Demon,' Fourth Layer Qi Refinement. Host, be careful!

The demon was coated head to toe in black scales, its claws sharp as razor blades. It opened its mouth, baring two rows of jagged fangs. "It's you again, you meddlesome mortal. You ruined my plans last time — this time I'll render you down into fish-scale paste!"

"Have we met before? I honestly don't remember you at all." I stared at it, completely baffled.

The old man's voice exploded inside my head: "He's the delivery guy from last time."

"What? He was a person — how did he end up like this?"

"Idiot!" The old man sounded utterly disgusted. "Did you really think those lackeys from Hundred-Treasure Tower could go toe-to-toe with you in ordinary human bodies? The delivery guy got corroded by the evil miasma from that Fetid Scale Trough long ago! Didn't you see the fish-scale tattoos on his sleeves? That's the mark of demonic assimilation. He's completely turned now — just a Scale-Claw Demon wearing a human skin!"

He paused, his holographic projection spinning frantically on the ring with agitation. "Those bastards at Hundred-Treasure Tower feed these demons with the life essence they siphon from the Spirit-Gathering Formation. Ordinary people who've been soaked in demonic energy long enough either transform into monsters or get rendered down into ingredients for 'Fetid Scale Powder.' You smashed his jar of Fetid Scale Powder concentrate last time, which cut off his cultivation fuel. Did you really think he wasn't going to come after you for revenge?"

My heart sank. Fourth Layer Qi Refinement — one layer above me. This wasn't going to be easy.

The demon lunged at me with a sudden burst of speed, its claws trailing a gust of reeking wind. I scrambled to block with the cutting board. A sharp clang rang out, leaving a white gouge across its surface.

"Interesting," the demon sneered, "but that broken slab of yours won't save you."

It swept its claws in a wide arc, sending several streaks of black energy hurtling toward me. I twisted aside and the black energy slammed into the wall, blasting chunks of concrete loose. Seizing the opening, I channeled my spiritual energy and the Wave-Breaker Blade shot out a beam of blue light, slashing down at the demon's claws.

The demon hadn't expected me to fight back. It stumbled away in alarm. A gash opened across its claws, and black blood dripped onto the ground, eating tiny craters into the concrete wherever it landed.

"You dare wound me?!" The demon roared with fury, its scales bristling upright all over its body as it hurled itself at me like a living porcupine.

I kept backing away, step by step, until I was nearly at the edge of the roof. The old man screamed in my head: "Rookie, use a talisman! Stick a defensive talisman on it!"

It finally hit me — I had talismans in my pocket. These were the ones drawn on notebook paper in blue ballpoint pen, covered in wobbly, lopsided circles. I yanked one out, and the moment the demon lunged, I slapped it hard against its chest.

BOOM. The talisman erupted in a blinding flash. The demon let out a shriek and was blasted backward, crashing into the stone trough. The viscous liquid inside splattered all over it — which only seemed to drive it into a greater frenzy.

"That's bad — you stuck it on backwards! That was an Enrage Talisman!" the Elder bellowed.

I nearly swore out loud. These talismans the broken system hands out are absolute garbage. The demon screamed and charged straight at my face, claws aimed dead center. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for death — when suddenly the bronze ring on my finger turned scorching hot. The 築基快樂 inscription on its surface blazed to life, and a beam of gentle yet unyielding golden light poured out of the ring, spreading around me like a luminous shield.

The demon's claws slammed into the light shield with an ear-splitting screech of metal on metal, but the shield didn't budge a single inch. The demon recoiled in pain and stumbled back half a step, staring in shock. "This… this is the aura of a Dao artifact?!"

Before it could react, the light shield suddenly pulsed outward with a sharp shockwave. The demon was flung clean off its feet, crashing straight into the Spirit-Gathering Formation's stone trough. Its body dissolved instantly into black smoke and scattered on the wind, leaving nothing behind but a carpet of scales. I stood there, heart hammering like a war drum, unable to tear my eyes away from the still-smoldering ring.

The System Elder's voice carried a flicker of surprise that he quickly tried to smother: "Lucky little punk. Turns out that junky ring is good for something after all. The spiritual energy you channeled into it earlier probably triggered its basic defense mechanism. Stop calling it ugly from now on!"

I was still gulping air, wiping cold sweat from my forehead, and thinking to myself: This ring is a hundred times more reliable than you, you useless motor-mouthed excuse for a system. When it counts, this thing actually saves my life.

End of Chapter 16: The Rooftop Showdown