Ch 1: This Damned System’s Blocking My Cultivation!
“Senior Martial Brother Xia, please give me your guidance!”
Xia Jiuyuan rubbed his groggy eyes and picked up the Peak Master’s decree, which was making noise beside his pillow.
His finger lightly touched the token, and the scene outside the peak appeared before his eyes.
He saw a stranger with an arrogant expression standing outside the peak, shouting, “Outer disciple of Sword Peak, Li Er, requests Senior Martial Brother Xia for guidance!”
Behind him were two sycophants, echoing his cries and saying some unpleasant words.
“Sigh, why is a mere outer disciple barking like a dog so early in the morning?”
Xia Jiuyuan stretched and complained.
Could this be a task sent by the system for showing off and slapping faces?
Xia Jiuyuan opened the system panel. There was only one newly refreshed White Task:
『 Mo Mo’s Confusion 』
Mo Mo has been very confused lately, please help Mo Mo resolve her confusion.
Fine, it seems not.
He shook his head. Since the person causing trouble outside didn’t trigger a system task, he would act as if nothing happened.
After all, it would be beneath him to act personally.
Someone would handle it for him.
Xia Jiuyuan waved his hand, and the images and shouts that appeared before him all dissipated. He then put the Peak Master’s decree in his pocket, walked out of the room,
Clunk, clunk,
His feet stepped on spirit stones, and the spirit stones made a pleasant sound against each other.
If outsiders saw this scene, they would surely exclaim,
Extravagant, too extravagant!
These were not ordinary spirit stones, but incomparably pure High-Grade Spirit Stones, and these rare High-Grade Spirit Stones paved the entire Immortal’s Cave.
This was like bathing in an ocean of spiritual energy!
“He He, what are you doing?”
Xia Jiuyuan walked downstairs and saw Jun Liuhe, the number two female he had mentally designated for his harem.
She was sitting on a stone stool, with her eyes closed, motionless.
Her skin was fair and tender, her figure was voluptuous, her white hair was streaked with emerald green, and she had a pair of pointed ears and jade green pupils.
This was Jun Liuhe, a fairy who made everything around her dim in comparison, yet could blend in without being out of place.
“Meditating.”
“Meditating again, haven’t you been meditating here all day, He He.”
Jun Liuhe’s status was very special. When he picked her up and brought her to Lucky Peak, her Master was already gone. Therefore, she was not his Master’s disciple.
She was the only one on this mountain peak who was not his Master’s disciple.
“It would be strange for a cultivator not to meditate.”
“Indeed. You meditate first, I have something to talk to Mo Mo about. She’s gone out, right?”
“Yes.”
For Xia Jiuyuan, completing system tasks was the most crucial thing, as the tasks directly related to his cultivation.
The Sect he belonged to was called Ask Dao Sect, one of the three top Human Race powers.
In this world, those above Fourth Rank were called Non-Humans, those above Seventh Rank were called Heavenly Disasters, and Tenth Rank was called World-Ending.
As far as he knew, the Sect Master, Li Canghuang, was an existence at the pinnacle of this world.
Tenth Rank, World-Ending!
There were only three Tenth-Rank Experts in the entire Human Race! And this Li Canghuang was a good friend of his Master, and his Uncle Master.
The day his Master found him and brought him here, he thought he was finally going to reach the pinnacle of life, open a harem in another world, and not have to deal with that useless Shark Arm System.
But he never expected it to be a Trash Cultivation Novel!
No matter what he did, he couldn’t break through to First Rank!
His Master threw all sorts of Strange Flowers and Fruits, Heaven-Earth Treasures at him as if they were free, but they were useless.
But this seemed to further convince his Master that this child was terrifyingly talented and would surely achieve great things in the future.
Because even a pig, fed like this, would at least reach Third Rank, but he, Xia Jiuyuan,
Zero Rank, not even a beginner!
From then on, Xia Jiuyuan could only accept his fate and coast along, occasionally picking up a few people according to tasks and bringing them to this Lucky Peak, where only Master and disciple lived.
Until a year ago, when his Master passed away, he received a terribly red Red Task:
『
『 Genesis, Apocalypse 』
Travel to Wuzhu Forest, bring Jun Liuhe back, and take care of her until her recovery.
』
It was his first time encountering a Red Task, and he was startled. After thinking for a long time, he chose to contact his Uncle Master for secret protection and headed to Wuzhu Forest.
Upon seeing the beautiful, unconscious Jun Liuhe, Xia Jiuyuan suddenly realized that the system wasn’t so bad after all.
But strangely, he encountered no danger and carried Jun Liuhe back to Lucky Peak.
Considering that the task itself contained the word “recovery,” he thoughtfully and carefully examined Jun Liuhe’s delicate body while she was unconscious.
The entire process gave Xia Jiuyuan a sense of guilt.
Finally, he concluded that there were no problems with her body; it was perfect and flawless!
It was just that her mind seemed to have a big problem; she was an idiot…
This idiocy lasted for half a year!
Xia Jiuyuan had to personally attend to her for half a year. Finally, one day, without any warning, her spiritual awareness recovered.
The Red Task was thus completed, and the reward was:
『
First Rank unlocked. Congratulations, Host, you can now break through to First Rank!
』
Actually, he didn’t need to look at the reward. The moment Jun Liuhe’s spiritual awareness recovered, Xia Jiuyuan had already broken through to First Rank.
Damn it, was it you, System, that prevented me from breaking through?!
Xia Jiuyuan was so angry that he cried. The last time he cried was half a year ago.
Although his Master treated him very well and he had his Uncle Master as backup, in this world where strength reigned supreme, he didn’t feel good.
His inferiority complex made him afraid to even interact too deeply with the cute Junior Martial Sister Mo Mo. After all, there was a difference between mortals and immortals. If he couldn’t cultivate, it was bound to be a tragedy.
He wondered why, even though he learned cultivation techniques, alchemy, and so on with ease, he couldn’t break through to First Rank.
So it was the System causing trouble?!
From then on, although he began to dislike the System again, he had no choice but to prioritize System tasks.
However, speaking of which, this mere White Task today was unlikely to yield anything good, at least not a key to Second Rank.
Xia Jiuyuan walked along the small mountain path, pondering the incident that woke him up outside the peak.
An outer disciple he had never seen before dared to come and provoke him. Who in the Inner Sect didn’t know he was the biggest Connections in the entire Ask Dao Sect?
Many people, even if they looked down on him, wouldn’t show it to his face.
This matter was unusual.
“Senior Martial Brother!”
A rough voice interrupted Xia Jiuyuan’s thoughts. He looked towards the source of the voice and saw a well-built young man with his upper body bare, carrying a dead Demonic Beast, and holding many herbs and fruits in his hands.
The strong young man’s eyes were bright, and he looked at Xia Jiuyuan with respect.
“Li Le, you’ve worked hard. Put these in the usual spot. We haven’t finished the last batch yet.”
Xia Jiuyuan smiled slightly and continued, “Be careful when fighting Demonic Beasts. I can’t help much with your cultivation method, I can only say that pills are readily available.”
“It’s already the greatest help that Senior Martial Brother supports me in this recklessness.”
As he spoke, he bowed to Xia Jiuyuan again, then shouldered the heavy load and strode towards the mountain.
“This kid Li Le…” Xia Jiuyuan murmured to himself, “He actually managed to cultivate it.”
Li Le came from an ordinary family, and his entire family was killed by bandits. According to the system task’s prompt, Xia Jiuyuan saved him in his time of crisis and took him to Lucky Peak.
The first Junior Martial Sister he picked up was Mo Mo. At that time, he thought it was some kind of harem system, but it turned out not to be.
Li Le was the fourth disciple of his Master and the one who respected Xia Jiuyuan the most.
His cultivation method was very heaven-defying. He only cultivated his physical body and did not absorb Spiritual Energy. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the talent to absorb it, but he didn’t want to.
In his own words, “I don’t want Spiritual Energy to tarnish my hard-tempered physical body.”
This stumped Xia Jiuyuan. He asked all over the Body Tempering Peak, one of the Nine Peaks of Ask Dao Sect, but found nothing.
Where could one find a method that didn’t absorb Spiritual Energy but only trained the body?
Isn’t this equivalent to reducing a high-level martial art to a low-level one? Even his Master had never heard of such a cultivation method.
For things he didn’t understand, Xia Jiuyuan chose to support and respect them.
As it turned out, Li Le did not disappoint his support and actually found a way to make it work.
The Demonic Beast he carried was at least First Rank, and he had no Spiritual Energy on his body at all; he was completely Zero Rank.
This made Xia Jiuyuan recall the so-called Human Body Secret Treasures from novels he read in his previous life. Could Junior Martial Brother Li Le have pioneered a new cultivation method?
However, he didn’t dwell on it too much. After all, the kid was picked up by him, and the more successful he was, the more face it brought him.
He treated the boys he picked up as sons and the girls as wives. That’s how it was.
Continuing forward, he saw Duan Shahe playing chess alone under a tree.
“Senior Martial Brother, any new games?”
As soon as Duan Shahe spotted Xia Jiuyuan, he quickly darted to his side and patted his shoulder.
Xia Jiuyuan smiled wryly,
“No, you’ve squeezed dry all my novel ideas these past few years.”
“Ah, what a shame. Fancy a game?” He pointed at the chessboard.
“In the afternoon. I need to go find Mo Mo now.”
“Senior Martial Brother really favors Mo Mo. If only I were a woman too…”
Xia Jiuyuan was already used to Duan Shahe’s teasing. He kicked Duan Shahe’s butt.
Duan Shahe, having anticipated this, dodged by arching his waist forward and then kicked back at Xia Jiuyuan’s butt.
Duan Shahe was like this; he didn’t have much respect for Xia Jiuyuan. He was more like a buddy, often joking and teasing each other.
But such a seemingly casual person was even more heaven-defying. He possessed a power, a Rule.
He could pull someone into his Rule and engage in a wager, a “fair” game.
Whether the game was fair or not could depend on the strength difference between the two parties.
Because of this, like Xia Jiuyuan, he had learned knowledge in many areas, such as Alchemy, Formations, Body Tempering, Soul Cultivation, Divination, and so on.
Of course, Xia Jiuyuan learned so much knowledge because he had nothing else to do, so he learned it.
And sometimes the system task rewards would give him cultivation techniques, formations, or pill formulas from unknown sources, and he felt it would be a waste not to learn them.
Continuing forward, the sound of flowing water gradually became audible. After a turn, he saw the cascading waterfall.
Beneath the waterfall, a small Mo Mo sat on a large rock, contemplating a canvas unfurled before the waterfall.
This was the number one harem he had designated in his heart, Mo Mo, who valued painting as her life.
Xia Jiuyuan quietly walked towards her, but Mo Mo seemed to sense something and turned to look at him, a smile appearing on her face. She raised the paintbrush in her hand and gestured towards Xia Jiuyuan,
“Don’t move.”
Her voice was soft, so soft that it was inaudible over the sound of the waterfall.
But Xia Jiuyuan understood what she wanted to do from her gesture, so he remained in place, his eyes fixed on one spot, unmoving.
Half an hour later, Mo Mo nodded at Xia Jiuyuan, finally finishing the painting.
But when Xia Jiuyuan sat next to Mo Mo and saw herผลงาน, he was stunned.
It was messy and Abstract. The Xia Jiuyuan in the painting had been reduced to a few simple lines.
Mo Mo observed his expression, then climbed onto his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered into his ear,
“Is Brother angry?”
“I’m not angry.”
Xia Jiuyuan replied with a smile,
“Why would I be angry? What you painted is no longer just scenery or a person, but the heart, the concept, the art. Congratulations, Mo Mo.”
Congratulations, Host, for completing the task 『 Mo Mo’s Confusion 』 and receiving the reward “Blue Raspberry Rejuvenation Pill Recipe.”
Xia Jiuyuan had long been accustomed to such idiotic rewards and chose to ignore it.
Hearing Xia Jiuyuan’s words, Mo Mo was stunned. Her expression was complex, and then she revealed a charming smile, even a hint of coquetry, saying,
“That’s why I really like you, Brother.”
“Me too. Who did you learn that coquettish tone from?”
Mo Mo really liked Xia Jiuyuan, but due to her personality, she had never acted coquettishly towards him! She had never acted coquettishly towards anyone!
“You don’t like it?”
Mo Mo pushed Xia Jiuyuan onto the rock, lay in his arms, and looking up at the sky, continued,
“That painting, you know, I can paint you very realistically, almost like using a Shadow Stone to record, but recently I’ve felt that this is really boring, meaningless.
If I can paint as realistically as a Shadow Stone, why not just use a Shadow Stone?
So I started painting according to my feelings, but what came out was said to be no different from a child’s scribbles…
You’re the best, Brother.”
“Oh my, who said that about our Mo Mo?”
“The common people at the foot of the mountain.”
“They just don’t appreciate good art.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Mo Mo was the first person Xia Jiuyuan picked up on Lucky Peak. She was only 13 years old at the time and an orphan.
When Xia Jiuyuan found her, she was squatting by a corpse, painting with the blood of the dead…
Xia Jiuyuan had asked her why she did it, and her reason was that red pigment was too expensive!
Actually, Xia Jiuyuan felt that Mo Mo and Jun Liuhe were somewhat similar. Mo Mo appeared friendly to everyone, but it was actually difficult to get close to her.
Jun Liuhe, on the other hand, was consistent in her actions and inactions – she just ignored you, being very cold!
Moreover, they were both too calm regardless of what happened.
At least Xia Jiuyuan couldn’t bring himself to paint with the blood of the dead.
It could only be said that the children chosen by the System were all abnormal.
Mo Mo, in Xia Jiuyuan’s arms, seemed to sense something, suddenly stiffened, then adjusted her lying position, and said,
“Brother, you again…”
Xia Jiuyuan looked at Mo Mo’s dark pupils with slight embarrassment, not speaking.
He wasn’t a saint like Liu Xiahui, who could sit with a hot stove between his legs without being aroused!
“…”
Mo Mo gave up thinking, closed her eyes, and stopped squirming. She enjoyed this moment of peace.
After a long while, a Voice Transmission interrupted Xia Jiuyuan’s rest.
“Junior Martial Brother Xia, something has happened at Lucky Peak, and it’s quite serious. Please come out and resolve it.”
——————————————
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