Volume 1, Chapter 5 – The System Descends Again

Xu Yuanbai had definitely noticed that Shi Lan was interested in him, but he chose not to point it out. Instead, he kept her hanging—neither close nor distant—using her and leveraging a bit of the Shi family’s influence to make a spectacular rise in Tenglong City.

The original Shi Lan had been naïve to the extreme and ended up played right into his hands.

Shi Lan stood where she was, brows slightly furrowed. She’d seen this exact routine far too many times back on Earth, and had even watched it play out with her own eyes more than once. She’d always looked down on people like Xu Yuanbai, but as long as they didn’t provoke her directly, she usually chose not to get involved.

Looking at Shi Lan’s stiff back, Su Lanyue sighed softly. “A few days ago, I ran into Xu Yuanbai’s mother by chance. She asked me to pass something on—she hopes you can keep some distance from Xu Yuanbai.”

Shi Lan didn’t reply and hurried off.

Watching her somewhat flustered retreating figure, a rare trace of guilt surfaced in Su Lanyue’s heart. If she hadn’t coveted the position of matriarch back then, maybe Shi Lan wouldn’t have spent all these years living in such constant fear.

……

By the time Shi Lan returned to her room, the sky was already dark.

One transmigration, and she was already tangled up in this many messy problems. Shi Lan was exhausted in both body and mind. The moment she entered her room, she collapsed onto the bed. Her eyes had barely shut when drowsiness washed over her.

A wisp of black smoke, almost invisible to the naked eye, descended from the Nine Heavens above, slowly drifting into the room. Sensing Shi Lan’s presence, it slipped into her body.

The shadowy figure in Shi Lan’s mind was busy in front of the light screen and didn’t notice that wisp of black mist at all.

Once inside her body, the black mist shot straight toward the spiritual platform between her brows.

Just as Shi Lan was about to fall into a dazed sleep, a mechanical female voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

【System scan initializing…】

The shadowy figure working before the light screen suddenly snapped his head up, shock filling his heart. Had he run into a colleague?

He hurriedly set aside what he was doing and ran a full scan over Shi Lan’s entire body, but found nothing unusual. That feeling of something slipping beyond his control left him faintly uneasy.

【System scan complete… Target data loading…】

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【Data load complete… Conditions met… Beginning binding…】

The moment she heard the words “beginning binding,” Shi Lan’s drowsiness flew clear beyond the Ninth Heaven, and she shot upright in bed.

“Another system?!”

What, did cheat abilities come with a buy-one-get-one-free bundle now? Two at once??

【System binding complete. Empress-Nurturing System at your service.】

“Empress… nurturing?”

Shi Lan muttered to herself, then suddenly reacted. Crap, the newbie quest…

She hurriedly called up the previous system panel in her mind. Sure enough, the newbie quest had dimmed out, the words “Quest Failed” written across it in bold characters.

The shadow slowly withdrew his hand from the light screen before him. That quest had been designed to fool people from the start. Even if Shi Lan had managed to keep from speaking, he would have found a way to make her open her mouth.

Every wisp of his energy was precious beyond measure now—how could he afford to waste it on this little brat?

“I actually can’t sense its presence at all. Is its level higher than mine? Impossible. There are only a few above me, and I know them all…”

Thoughts churned through the shadow’s mind. He felt the situation was getting troublesome. This was the first time he’d encountered such a difficult scenario.

【Newbie gift pack has been issued. Please check.】

Hearing the voice in her head, Shi Lan was briefly stunned, then instinctively thought the word “open.” At the same time, she nodded inwardly. Now this was a proper system—of course it should start with a newbie gift pack.

【Congratulations, Host has received: Body Tempering Pill x1, one Basic Lottery chance】

Shi Lan pondered for a moment, then tried to summon the Empress-Nurturing System’s panel in her heart.

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A pale cyan light screen slowly appeared before her.

Host: Shi Lan

Cultivation: Mortal

Aptitude: 7 (one in ten thousand)

Cultivation Techniques: None

Strength Appraisal: Can’t even truss a chicken

The Empress System’s panel was much simpler than the previous one. Aside from the character panel, there were only two tabs: Lottery and Quests.

“One-in-ten-thousand aptitude…”

Shi Lan froze for a moment. Could this body actually be a genius?

Well, it made sense. As for how talented Shi Lan really was, that still had a question mark on it. After all, to avoid exposing her, Su Lanyue had never taught Shi Lan any cultivation methods.

In the lower right corner of the light screen, a small point of light was blinking.

“What’s this glowing dot?”

【System Storage. Items produced by the system can be stored here temporarily. If not retrieved within twenty-four hours, they will be reclaimed by the system.】

Shi Lan opened the System Storage. Inside, it was divided into many small slots. A deep green pill was lying quietly in one of them.

With a thought, the pill appeared in her hand.

It was about the size of a longan. There was none of the medicinal fragrance she’d imagined—not even the faintest hint of a smell.

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After toying with it twice, Shi Lan returned the pill to the storage and pulled up the lottery interface.

The newbie gift pack had even come with a lottery chance for her.

In the lottery interface, there was a wheel of fortune. Beside it were four options: Cultivation Techniques, Items, Pills, and Miscellaneous.

Before Shi Lan could even ask, the system gave a detailed explanation.

【Lotteries are divided into four tiers: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, and Ultimate.】

【In the great myriad worlds, there is nothing that does not exist. Everything has a standard by which its value is measured, generally ranked from one-star to ten-star.】

【Basic Lottery can only draw items of three stars or below. Intermediate Lottery can draw items from two-star to six-star, with a higher chance of four- to six-star items, and allows you to choose the lottery category. Advanced Lottery can draw items from three-star to eight-star. Ultimate Lottery can draw items from seven-star to ten-star.】

【The Cultivation Techniques category includes all techniques spread throughout the three thousand great worlds. The Items category contains external objects such as treasures and divine weapons. The Pills category is all kinds of medicinal pills. Miscellaneous includes everything else that exists in the three thousand great worlds.】

Shi Lan quietly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. This new system seemed… kind of strong.

【The Host currently has one Basic Lottery chance. Draw now?】

“Draw.”

Shi Lan answered without hesitation.

Right now, she had no power to protect herself at all. A lottery that could be quickly turned into strength—of course the sooner she used it, the better.

The wheel on the light screen changed, splitting into nearly a hundred tiny segments, almost a tenth of which were blank.

“Wait, what do those blank spaces mean?”

【No item.】

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So basically, “thanks for playing”?

Shi Lan hesitated. Her luck had never been great—she’d even managed to mess up something like transmigrating. A one-in-ten chance of drawing nothing was already not small.

【Proceed with the draw?】

“Draw.” Shi Lan gritted her teeth.

The pointer on the wheel spun wildly. Shi Lan couldn’t see what was written on the sections at all.

The wheel didn’t slow down gradually—it stopped dead. Before Shi Lan could see what she’d landed on, the system’s notification sounded in her mind.

【Congratulations, Host has drawn a two-star item: White Crane Skirt】

Hearing “two-star item,” Shi Lan’s lips curled slightly. Respectable. Not too unlucky. But then the words “White Crane Skirt” that followed made her nascent smile freeze on her face.

A skirt?!

【System newbie tutorial complete. Newbie quest initializing.】

【Newbie Quest: Step into the first stage of the Body Tempering Realm within three days. Quest Reward: Body Tempering cultivation art “Jade Tempering Art.” Quest failure will result in the Host’s termination. System will enter self-destruct sequence.】

The icy voice in her mind jolted Shi Lan back to herself, and her mood plunged straight back into the abyss. This system was a little too normal for comfort.

Everything that had just happened was taken in completely by the shadow in Shi Lan’s mind.

“Interesting. A symbiotic-type system…”