Chapter 5: The True Fragrance Revitalizes the Cultivation World (5% progress)
“Random items are drawn completely blindly; the system has no cheating privileges.” Jun Huilian’s expression was complicated, and he sighed somewhat. “This is just how fate plays tricks on people.”
Jun Feibai was used to the cruel competition in the cultivation world, and as a beast, he had little empathy for anyone other than Jun Huilian.
He turned his head and looked at Jun Huilian with shining eyes: "A-Lian, how did you see through the inside story of the Jiang family's massacre?"
He and Jun Huilian watched from the sidelines, confirming that she had not released her divine sense to investigate, nor had she directly interfered with the fate of others, but she was still able to promptly update the Jiang family's data panel for System 444's backend.
“I didn’t see through it.” Jun Huilian slowly shook his head. “I just deduced from the details that things weren’t simple.”
She immediately recognized Jiang Yun's unusual state of being cursed, and combined this with the inconsistencies in the Jiang family's massacre, she naturally drew her conclusion.
“998 points is too much for Jiang Yun right now; he won’t realize for the time being that the system is all show and no substance,” she said.
Jun Feibai said nonchalantly, "There's nothing in this world that can be kept secret from someone at the peak of the Tribulation Transcending stage. You can just let the Heavenly Dao see for itself; it can't just wash its hands of the matter."
“No rush. It’s no fun if everything is laid bare. It’s more interesting to uncover things step by step,” Jun Huilian said without hesitation. “Besides, Jiang Yun may not necessarily choose to buy the truth.”
“But he really wants revenge,” Jun Feibai said, puzzled.
“But when you’re still weak, it feels so powerless to be confronted with the truth.” Jun Huilian raised his chin slightly. “In any case, whatever decision he ultimately makes, he will definitely work hard to cultivate.”
"That's great." Jun Feibai was most concerned about whether the mission takers would do their jobs well.
The illusory mirror was still playing footage of the hundred mission participants.
Similar scenes played out in many places. Upon hearing the rigid, mechanical voice of the system, some people were overjoyed and immediately bound themselves without saying a word; some couldn't suppress their curiosity and agreed after hesitating; and some resisted the unknown object but were forcibly bound.
Whether they choose to believe or remain skeptical, it does not prevent them from achieving a delicate peace with the system through either gentle or forceful means.
"Those who are unwilling will eventually find it appealing." Jun Feibai arrogantly raised his chin and said, using a word he had learned from Fang Tieyan's memories.
Jun Huilian scanned the area and spotted someone he had met not long ago.
“Xiao Tingyuan has a good attitude and a cheerful personality. He doesn’t seem to have anything special about him, but his luck fluctuates in a very unusual way,” she said. “I have never seen anyone’s luck suddenly surge while they are talking.”
Jun Feibai didn't know much about what had happened on Lin Ming's side, so he kept pestering her to explain what exactly was going on.
Jun Huilian briefly described the encounter and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "It might just be a coincidence, who knows? Let's see."
Jun Feibai sized up the person in the illusion mirror. He had a decent appearance but wasn't particularly outstanding. Although his single spiritual root was good, it wasn't top-tier either.
"He comes from the Xiao family, which is gradually declining in Dongyu City. The family originally hoped that he would be successful, but he suffered an accident that severed his meridians, ending his path of cultivation. Just yesterday, his fiancée's family demanded that the engagement be called off. He went to their door in anger to demand an explanation and is now being blocked outside the Shen family's gate." He read aloud the information sent back by the system. "His appearance is okay, his aptitude is average, and his background is unremarkable. He looks quite ordinary."
The system that selected Xiao Tingyuan did not rush to bind to him, but first explored his surroundings and collected information. As a result, they were able to see Xiao Tingyuan's rough information in the background.
"This little system is very comprehensive." Jun Huilian glanced at it.
The memories she implanted into the smaller systems were that they graduated from the System Academy in the Main God Space, each bound to a host, and had a certain degree of competition with each other. The memories related to the System Academy were fabricated and generated by the sacred artifact, the Myriad Manifestations Mirror, without her intervention.
In this way, each system has a different personality, its own thoughts and ideas, and it possesses creativity and learning ability, which helps to upgrade and improve the entire program.
"444 may seem irritable, but it is actually very thoughtful. This system knows to make full preparations before acting even without being reminded. No wonder you said the system has the ability to grow," Jun Feibai praised.
Jun Huilian groped his fingertips: "When 444 appeared, Jiang Yun was in danger. Young people are prone to becoming dependent on 444, the only one who showed kindness. Xiao Tingyuan is different. He has just been betrayed by his fiancée's family, so he probably won't easily trust others."
"Let's see how it handles it," Jun Feibai said with great interest.
Jun Huilian lowered his eyes and pondered in a low voice: "With both thinking and creativity, the System Academy might be able to establish a real one."
Having formed an idea, she didn't immediately put it into action, but instead observed the interaction between the system and the tasker.
After roughly figuring out Xiao Tingyuan's situation, System 1314 began to take action.
It first made a "beep" sound to start the noise, and then spoke when Xiao Tingyuan became alert upon hearing the sound.
[Suitable life form detected. System 1314 requests binding.]
Today you ignore me, tomorrow you'll be begging for my attention! Bind to me, and slapping them in the face is not a dream!
[Does the host agree to the binding?]
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
After looking around and finding no one speaking, Xiao Tingyuan adopted a serious expression.
1314 beeped in his head again, indicating its location.
Xiao Tingyuan finally realized something was wrong, because the Shen family guards who had been preventing him from entering were watching him with amusement, sarcastically saying, "Have you gone mad with anger?"
The person seemed unable to hear the strange sounds.
[Does the host agree to the binding?]
1314 asked again.
Xiao Tingyuan was unwilling to lose his composure in front of the Shen family, so he forced himself to calm down, stepped into the empty alley next to the Shen family's house, and asked sternly, "Who are you? Why don't you show yourself and speak?"
[Dear, 1314 is not human and cannot appear in your consciousness. For the sake of long-term cooperation, I can reveal a little information to you within the rules: the system is a creation of the main god of another high-level small world, capable of assisting the host in cultivation. After the host completes the entrusted tasks, the system will extract a certain amount of energy from them, creating a win-win situation. I cannot say more than that.]
1314 Formulaic answer.
Is there anything else I can do for you?
Xiao Tingyuan frowned: "I refuse to be bound."
He doesn't believe in things of dubious origin.
[Refusal is ineffective, dear]
【bite】
[Binding successful, system 1314 is at your service~]
Xiao Tingyuan clearly felt a subtle connection established between himself and something. He took a deep breath and asked, "What exactly are you?"
【1314 has already answered your questions; I am something that can help you with your cultivation】
Xiao Tingyuan frowned even more deeply: "You inexplicably invaded my sea of consciousness and forced me to sign a contract. What is your purpose?"
1314 was troubled. It had clearly summarized the situation in one sentence, but its host seemed rather dim-witted.
Just as I was pondering how to answer, I saw a message notification from the main god refresh in the background.
It was excited that the Supreme God noticed it among the myriad systems, and also knew how to respond.
【Could you please answer one of 1314's questions?】
Xiao Tingyuan said warily, "Go ahead."
Why do you trust the wandering ghost in the ring but not 1314? The system will never harm the host because of the binding agreement, but a ghost that has been trapped for many years might not be so. These kinds of ghosts love to possess young, delicate cultivators.
Xiao Tingyuan felt a chill run down his spine, his hair standing on end.
How could it know such a secret thing!
"You! Bullshit! How dare you slander me! Do you know who I am! You bastard!"
The loud cursing dispelled Xiao Tingyuan's fear, and he quickly said, "Master Chef, please stop cursing, my divine sense can't take it."
1314 said with a good temper:
【Honey, as you can see, this guy has extremely poor manners. 1314 suggests you break the contract with him immediately.】
Upon hearing this, the God of Cookery was alarmed that they were encouraging the dissolution of the contract, so he roared even more fiercely.
"You're the ghost! I'm just a remnant soul! Do you even understand what a remnant soul is? In my previous life, I entered the Dao through cooking and was a legitimate cultivator in the Mahayana stage! If I hadn't been ambushed by villains two thousand years ago, with my talent, I would definitely have become the last cultivator in the cultivation world to ascend to immortality!"
【Don't worry about the troublesome little devil, dear. The system shop sells unbinding charms, which are convenient, quick, and have no side effects. The shop price is 88,888, but today's special price is 88. Since your points are zero, 1314 can activate the points loan function for you. Would you like to activate and purchase it?】
The God of Cookery sneered: "Heh, how arrogant! Only a sacred item can break the bond without any side effects. Can you produce one?"
1314 only said to Xiao Tingyuan:
【Dear customer, would you like to activate and purchase this service?】
Xiao Tingyuan was all alone, yet he seemed to see two pairs of wolf-like eyes staring at him.
He forced a smile and asked, "Can you really produce it?"
He had a good plan. If 1314 couldn't produce it, he would be able to tell that this strange thing was deceiving him. If it could produce it, he would use the sacred unbinding talisman to break its bond.
1314 discerned his thoughts and offered a gentle reminder:
[System unbinding service is not included.]
Xiao Tingyuan clearly preferred the God of Cookery, with whom he had spent several days and provided assistance. However, 1314 was not angry. The first lesson of the System Academy was about building trust between the system and its host. It had many hosts who were suspicious, thoughtful, and difficult to deal with. It did not think that Xiao Tingyuan was difficult to communicate with. On the contrary, it thought that his certain level of vigilance was a good thing.
That damn guy is so annoying.
Seeing that the argument had gone on for so long without reaching a conclusion, Xiao Tingyuan pressed his temples in exasperation.
“How can you prove you’re not lying?” he asked.
Items in the system shop can only be purchased voluntarily by the user.
The culinary master urged from the side, "Buy, buy, buy!"
Xiao Tingyuan hesitated: "If we can really buy it, then this contract cannot be broken."
It's obvious that paying back debts is a matter of course, and he wouldn't do something like getting a good deal and then acting innocent.
"I, the God of Cookery, have lived for over two thousand years and have never seen a sacred item that can break the bond. I don't believe it can produce it." The God of Cookery muttered to himself, "Besides, if it could really produce it, only a madman would break the bond."
Xiao Tingyuan thought about it and agreed.
"Buy it," he said.
Okay, dear.
Following the instructions, Xiao Tingyuan clicked the purchase button, and a dazzling white light forced him to close his eyes.
In an instant, dark clouds gathered, thunder rumbled, and purple-gold lightning ripped through the sky, heading straight for the remote Dongyu City in the south of the continent.
Damn it!
Xiao Tingyuan looked up at the thunder in the sky and hurriedly covered the golden talisman that had suddenly appeared in his hand.
He feared that a powerful being might be attracted to it, and that possessing such a treasure would be a crime, as he would not only fail to protect the sacred talisman but also lose his life.
Do you need storage space for us?
"I need it!" He didn't know anything about storage space, but he urgently needed to dispel the strange phenomenon.
The moment the Sacred Unbinding Talisman was stored in the storage space, the dark clouds dissipated and the riot ceased.
[If you want to turn off the special effects when taking things out, you can check the option in the lower right corner of the panel beforehand. The system also has many more detailed functions~]
Before Xiao Tingyuan could answer, the God of Cookery said first, "Okay, okay, we'll definitely pay attention next time."
1314 ignored his change of expression and attempts to please her.
Xiao Tingyuan's heart skipped a beat, and he said in a panic, "The Shen family has a late-stage Nascent Soul ancestor overseeing things, what if he senses it...?"
Don't worry, dear. All items produced by the system have anti-tracking capabilities. Once the area-of-effect effects are turned off, they are no different from ordinary items.
Do you wish to use the Sacred Bound Removal Charm? It removes all bindings except for system-specific ones with a single click, ensuring your peace of mind!
"Of course not!" The God of Cookery paced anxiously inside the ring. "Stop Yuan! Stop Yuan!"
After the initial shock, Xiao Tingyuan was somewhat slow to react: "I won't use it. The God of Cookery is my Xiao family's ancestor. He has no ill intentions towards me. The reason he rejects you is because he's worried you might harm me."
Okay, dear.
1314 is satisfactory.
It didn't actually intend for Xiao Tingyuan to break the contract with the God of Cookery. The existence of the God of Cookery was helpful to Xiao Tingyuan's cultivation, so it naturally hoped that his path would be as smooth as possible. Only when the host was strong could it have face in front of other systems.
Seeing that they no longer resisted the binding, 1314 proceeded to the next binding step.
[Congratulations, host, you have received a newbie gift pack x1. Would you like to use it immediately?]
Xiao Tingyuan clutched his pounding heart, still reeling from the terrifying scene of the world changing color upon the appearance of the sacred talisman. His comprehension faltered for a moment: "What?"
The chef called to him, "Tingyuan, Tingyuan, the beginner's gift pack sounds like a great product."
Xiao Tingyuan belatedly realized what was happening: "Master Chef, weren't you against me making a contract with it?"
The master chef immediately replied, "Not at all! I'm willing to be the concubine."
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