Chapter 40: All Are Mortal Dust
Song Jiulai was incredibly excited.
Ever since she arrived, her days were filled with arduous cultivation and reading books from Yunzhou Continent to pass the time.
But how could the entertainment life of Yunzhou Continent compare to the thrill of modern times?
Before she transmigrated, she had several TV series she was following that were left unfinished.
Song Jiulai was very excited: “Hurry up, hurry up, I want to see what the internet is like over there now.”
Anyway, she could multitask now, finding Demonic Beasts to harvest Materials from while chatting with the System in her mind, so why couldn’t she watch TV series?
The System opened a Passage for Song Jiulai.
Although she could only see the internet here, Song Jiulai had already spotted a familiar interface.
She first checked the Weibo hot search list.
Holy cow.
Lively!
“System, did you see? I’m on the hot search!”
System: “…I don’t need to look.”
Song Jiulai took a closer look and realized it was Han Tian who had caused the hot search.
“Amazing, a million for the number one hot search, worth it! Is this how I get my Energy?”
Song Jiulai checked and saw that there were several trending topics about this Game on the Weibo hot search now.
Coupled with the System’s prompt ‘Detected extra Energy’, was it the attention?
Song Jiulai pondered: “Does getting on the Weibo hot search and increasing attention benefit the Game?”
System: “Probably.”
Song Jiulai: “Aren’t you a System? You don’t even know this?”
System: “All my Task prompts are factory-installed. To you, I’m probably equivalent to an AI customer service. If there’s no explanation internally, I naturally can’t explain it either.”
Song Jiulai: “You don’t seem like an AI.”
System: “Then what do I seem like?”
Song Jiulai: “Like an artificial idiot.”
System: “…”
Since she was bound to this Host for life, the System decided to pretend it hadn’t heard anything.
Song Jiulai looked at Weibo for a long time and mused, “Then it seems I’ll have to think of ways to generate buzz in the future. With buzz comes more Energy to get Quotas.”
The Longevity Sect certainly benefits from more people; the System can control every Player anyway.
As long as there’s a problem, they can be instantly banned on the spot, so it’s not a big issue.
It’s a shame that Quotas, like Spiritual Roots, can’t be chosen specifically. Otherwise, she could pick a group of Players with max Talent in minutes to help her fly.
She saw her name again and suddenly remembered her past.
“Ah, speaking of which, I actually had two Friends in the Modern era…”
Although they weren’t extremely close, she could still find someone to go out for a meal with occasionally.
Song Jiulai was an orphan; her life had been quite lonely.
Whether she had friends or not was secondary; she was already trying hard just to live well.
Perhaps her thoughts were captured by the System, as it suddenly said, “It’s okay, you won’t be lonely with me from now on.”
Song Jiulai: “Really? You’re so kind.”
System: “I will love you like a father and mother.”
“…Are you taking advantage of me?”
“If you feel that way, then so be it.”
Song Jiulai cursed the System a few times, then said, “Why wait for a better day? Let’s seize this momentum and release the 20 Quotas!”
System: “I don’t recommend you let people in, but you’ve already occupied a large portion of the Halfway up the mountain of the Longevity Sect. What will you do if there isn’t enough land when you let more people in? The Flying Sparrow Sect will find out sooner or later.”
Song Jiulai frowned: “That’s true. Actually, I have an idea. What if I merge the Flying Sparrow Sect in the future, do you think they’ll agree?”
System: “Does the Flying Sparrow Sect know about your wicked ambition?”
They gave you land, and you’re plotting to annex them behind their backs. Are you even human!
System: “Mainly, your Strength isn’t enough yet. Let’s not expose our goals too quickly.”
“…”
Song Jiulai put her hands on her hips: “Then what good Method do you suggest? The first fifty people all got land. If I don’t give land to those who come later, won’t they say I’m unfair and discriminating? And more people will come later.”
One mountain alone wouldn’t be enough for the Players to wreak havoc.
System: “There is another Method. You can accept it, and Yunzhou Continent won’t care.”
Song Jiulai: “What Method?”
System: “As Players increase, just occupying mountain tops won’t be enough. You know how much trouble Players can cause. Why not let them live with Mortals directly? Have you heard of ‘surrounding the cities from the countryside’? Start by encircling land around Wang’an County. As you grow step by step, Wang’an County will naturally be yours?”
“…”
Song Jiulai couldn’t help but be tempted: “But isn’t Wang’an County managed by the Flying Sparrow Sect now?”
The System said: “It’s not the Sects that manage Mortals, but Mortals who need Sects to manage them. You’re starting Cultivation now. Just seeing the size of the First Mountain, ordinary Cultivators might not be able to leave it in their lifetime. But what about Mortals? They can’t leave even more, and they don’t even dare to step out of Wang’an County.
As long as they are born here, they need the protection of Cultivators because there are Demonic Beasts everywhere outside. The Flying Sparrow Sect only handles major issues like Demonic Beast invasions, but they never interfere with how Mortals live because they believe excessive interference from Cultivators in the mortal world violates Karma. But what do you think constitutes the mortal world? What’s the fundamental difference between Cultivators and Mortals? I am just a System; to me, you Mortals and Cultivators are just the same type of life form.”
Song Jiulai seemed to suddenly understand something.
In essence, whether Cultivators or Mortals, it wasn’t that important to the System.
It had things that could forcibly open Spiritual Roots, which meant that the model of Yunzhou Continent wouldn’t work for the System.
Although Song Jiulai couldn’t fully grasp the true meaning of what it was saying now.
Cultivation still had benefits, and her mind became clearer. She felt the System’s words made sense.
“You mean if I send Players to Garrison around now, the Flying Sparrow Sect won’t interfere even if they see it?”
The System spoke directly: “Yes. They believe that living with Mortals and being tainted by mortal aura is not beneficial for Cultivation. But don’t worry about such trivial matters until you reach Ascension. As long as you are in Yunzhou Continent, Cultivators cannot avoid being tainted by mortal aura. Every blade of grass, every tree, every mountain, and every body of water in Yunzhou Continent is part of the mortal world.”
Song Jiulai suddenly realized and scratched her head: “I take back what I said about you being an artificial idiot. You really are like an AI.”
“…”
She always felt it wasn’t a compliment.
Song Jiulai muttered, “You’re like a… intelligent life form created by a higher civilization.”
You can even understand and think independently.
Although this was a positive affirmation, and the System’s existence was already amazing, Song Jiulai still couldn’t imagine how advanced that civilization was.
The System remained silent.
This involved core secrets, so it couldn’t answer.
Song Jiulai felt confident: “Then let’s open the Quotas. I’ll have Han Tian take them to scout the land around Wang’an County. He helped me a lot this time, I’ll see how to reward him.”
