Chapter 40: Chapter 40: All Is Mortal Dust
Song Jiulai was beyond excited.
Ever since she’d arrived, her days were spent either grinding through tedious Cultivation or killing time by reading books about the Yunzhou Continent.
But what kind of entertainment could the Yunzhou Continent possibly offer that compared to the instant gratification of the modern world?
Before she transmigrated, she still had several shows she was in the middle of binge-watching.
Song Jiulai was thrilled. "Hurry up, hurry up! I want to see what the internet over there looks like right now."
After all, if she could multitask by hunting demon beasts for materials while chatting with the System in her head, why couldn’t she watch some TV?
The System opened a connection for Song Jiulai.
Although she could only see the internet from her original world, Song Jiulai recognized the familiar interface instantly.
The first thing she did was check the Weibo hot search rankings.
Holy crap.
It was popping!
"System, did you see? I’m trending!"
System: "...I don’t need to look."
Song Jiulai took a closer look and realized Han Tian was the one who’d gotten her trending.
"Damn, that’s awesome. A million yuan to get the number one trending spot... worth it! Is this how I’m getting my energy?"
Song Jiulai saw that several topics about the game had blown up on the Weibo hot search.
’And with the System’s prompt about ’Extra energy detected’... could it be from the attention?’
Song Jiulai mused, ’Could getting on the Weibo hot search, and thereby increasing attention, be good for the game?’
System: "Probably."
Song Jiulai: "Aren’t you the System? How can you not know this?"
System: "All my mission prompts are from the factory default settings. To you, I’m basically an AI customer service bot. I can’t explain anything that isn’t explained internally."
Song Jiulai: "You don’t seem like an AI."
System: "Then what do I seem like?"
Song Jiulai: "Like an artificial idiot."
System: "..."
’Since I’m stuck with this host for life anyway,’ the System decided to pretend it hadn’t heard anything.
After scrolling through Weibo for a while, Song Jiulai mused, "Looks like I’ll have to find ways to generate hype from now on. With more hype, I’ll get more energy to roll for more slots."
Of course, for the Longevity Sect, the more people the better. The System could control every player anyway.
If any problems arose, it could just ban them on the spot, so it wasn’t a huge issue.
Unfortunately, the slots were like Spirit Roots—you couldn’t pick and choose. Otherwise, she would’ve handpicked a bunch of max-talent players to carry her.
She saw her own name again and was suddenly reminded of her past life.
"Ah, come to think of it, I actually had a couple of friends back in the modern world..."
’They weren’t super close, but if I ever wanted to grab a meal, I could always find someone to go with.’
Song Jiulai was an orphan. Her life had always been quite lonely.
Having friends or not was a secondary concern; she was already trying her hardest just to get by.
The System must have picked up on her thoughts, because it suddenly said, "It’s okay. You have me now. You won’t be lonely anymore."
Song Jiulai: "Oh really? You’re so sweet."
System: "I will love you like a mother and father."
"...Are you trying to take advantage of me?"
"If you want to think so, then go ahead."
Song Jiulai cursed the System a couple of times, then said, "No time like the present. Let’s ride this wave of hype and release the 20 slots!"
System: "I’m not against you letting more people in, but you’ve already cleared more than half the land on the Longevity Sect’s mountainside. What will you do when you let more people in and run out of space? The Feique Sect is bound to find out sooner or later."
Song Jiulai frowned. "That’s true... Actually, I have an idea. Do you think the Feique Sect would agree if I were to merge with them in the future?"
System: "Does the Feique Sect know about these venomous ambitions of yours?"
’They gave you territory, and you’re plotting to absorb them behind their backs. Are you even human?!’
System: "The main issue is that you’re not strong enough right now. Let’s not reveal our intentions too quickly."
"..."
Song Jiulai put her hands on her hips. "Then what’s your brilliant idea? The first fifty people all got land. If I don’t give land to the new arrivals, what if they accuse me of being unfair and discriminatory? And more people will be coming later."
A single mountain is hardly enough for the players to wreak havoc on.
System: "Actually, there is another way. It’s something you can accept, and something the Yunzhou Continent won’t care about."
Song Jiulai: "What way?"
System: "As the number of players grows, just occupying a mountain won’t be enough. You know how much trouble players can stir up. Why not just have them live among the mortals? Ever heard of encircling the cities from the countryside? Start by claiming land around Wang’an County. As you gradually expand, won’t Wang’an County naturally become yours?"
"..."
Song Jiulai’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat. "But isn’t Wang’an County under the Feique Sect’s jurisdiction right now?"
The System said, "It’s not that the Sects rule the mortals, but that the mortals need the Sects’ rule. Now that you’ve started Cultivation, just look at the size of this First Mountain. An ordinary Cultivator might not be able to cross it in a lifetime. And mortals? They have even less of a chance. They don’t even dare to take a single step outside Wang’an County."
"As long as they are born here, they require the protection of Cultivators, because demon beasts are everywhere outside. The Feique Sect only handles major demon beast invasions. They never interfere with how mortals live, because they believe that excessive meddling in the mortal world by Cultivators goes against cause and effect. But what do you think the mortal world even is? What is the fundamental difference between a Cultivator and a mortal? I am just a System. To me, you mortals and Cultivators are simply the same kind of life form."
It was as if Song Jiulai had a sudden epiphany.
In essence, whether someone was a Cultivator or a mortal didn’t really matter to the System.
It possessed the means to forcibly create a Spirit Root, which meant the established conventions of the Yunzhou Continent didn’t apply to it.
Although Song Jiulai couldn’t fully grasp the true meaning of what it was saying right now.
Still, Cultivation had its benefits. Her mind felt much sharper, and she thought the System had a point.
"So you’re saying that if I send players to set up camp in the surrounding area, the Feique Sect won’t interfere even if they see it?"
The System didn’t beat around the bush. "Correct. They believe that living among mortals and being tainted by the mortal world’s aura is bad for Cultivation. But unless you’re at the Ascension stage, don’t waste your time worrying about that. As long as you’re on the Yunzhou Continent, it’s impossible for a Cultivator not to be touched by the mortal world’s aura. Every blade of grass, every tree, every mountain and river on this Yunzhou Continent—it’s all part of the mortal world."
Light dawned on Song Jiulai. She scratched her head. "I take back what I said about you being an artificial idiot. You really are like an AI."
"..."
’That doesn’t really sound like a compliment either,’ the System thought.
Song Jiulai muttered, "You’re like... an intelligent life form created by a higher civilization."
’It can even understand and think for itself.’
This was a given, of course. The System’s very existence was already ridiculously awesome. But as for just *how* awesome that civilization was, Song Jiulai couldn’t even begin to imagine.
The System remained silent.
This touched upon core secrets that it could not possibly answer.
Song Jiulai was now confident. "Alright, let’s open the slots. I’ll have Han Tian take them to scout out some land around Wang’an County. He really helped me out this time. I’ll have to see how I can reward him."
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