Stifling heat and stuffiness suffocated her the moment she regained consciousness. A thick smell of sandalwood all around made it even harder to breathe. It did not help that the breaths she took were already shallow and weak.
Luna tried to open her eyes, but found that it took significant effort before her eyelids finally lifted. Ugly dark yellow draperies and a wooden bed frame was all that she could see. It took awhile for her to register that it resembled the top of a traditional Chinese bed frame.
/What in the world… What happened? What's happening? Am I dying again? Where am I?/
As if in response to her questions, she experienced a migraine attack that was so painful it made her nauseous. At the same time, memories and knowledge that were not hers flashed before her eyes.
Everything she saw was from the eyes of a girl named Chen Xinyi.
Xinyi was the only child of the second concubine to a high-ranking court official. As early as she could remember, her father had three concubines in addition to the main wife.
It seems that her father had the habit of finding someone new to add into his harem when the first child turns one. However, this stopped after he met the third concubine whom he still claims to be his true love.
As recompense, he impregnated his main wife with another child for her to love and who would love her back. As for the other two concubines, he did not bother paying attention to them if they did not come asking for it.
This knowledge was, of course, gathered over the years. After all, with her weak and sickly constitution that disallowed her to do much and earned her the reputation of being a waste, she could only study, drink tea, and listen to the gossips in the wind.
She moved into her own courtyard the moment she turned 12 years old. Not only was this meant to give growing children some due privacy, it was a form of practice for managing their own living space before they would get married, which could happen as young as they were 16 years old.
Unfortunately, her health deteriorated not too long after she moved into her courtyard, causing her to become almost bedridden. As such, the responsibility of managing her courtyard and health fell onto her mother.
She heard from the gossips how her mother had accepted the burden graciously and lovingly. Being left alone with her thoughts so often, she could not help but wonder why her mother never treated her as kindly whenever they were alone. Each time she did so, she berated herself for being an ingrate. Her mother was her only companion. She comforted herself with the fact that her mother never stopped inviting different physicians over in a bid to improve her health. It was her own fault for being so weak despite the help of all the herbs and tonics.
At present, she was already 15 years old. She had been wholly reliant on her mother for three years. No maid or servant was assigned to look after a girl who spent most of her days and nights sleeping.
The memories stopped flashing before her eyes as if it reached the end of a playback, then she heard the same childish voice speak.
[Your mission in this world is to survive. Because this is our first world, I'm allowed to reveal major developments that you should avoid or change to ensure a successful clearance. The first tip is to keep your immune system from being permanently damaged.]
As her head was still hurting from the migraine that has not subsided, her response was delayed.
Before she could search for the source of the voice or ask any questions, she heard the door to her room open.
She turned her head towards the sound with much effort and felt the cool and refreshing breeze that entered the room together with a pretty woman who looked elaborately dressed. The breeze carried the scent of her strong perfume to Luna's nose.
Luna immediately and easily recognised her as the mother of the girl called Xinyi.
"Oh, you're awake. That's good. It's time for medicine."
/Medicine?/
After taking a while to process her current condition and situation, it eventually clicked in Luna's mind that she was the girl called Xinyi in the memories she just saw.
As if for confirmation's sake, she was then addressed by that very name. "Xinyi, what are you still dilly dallying for? Get up."
The woman's voice sounded quite sweet to listen to but Luna knew better than to let that fool her impression of the woman. Not to mention what she saw in the memories, this woman was currently standing by her bed with the small bowl in her hands without showing a single intention to help her sit up.
Just sitting up felt incredibly laborious yet as soon as she leaned against the bed frame, she found a small porcelain bowl being chucked into her face. "Quick, drink."
Luna pretended to not be able to manage beyond a few sips before weakly pushing the bowl away.
Xinyi's mother looked into the bowl before saying, "At least you drank a bit. That's fine. You can rest now."
Luna watched as she left the room without a single glance back. She waited for the door to close before she spat out the tonic that she was holding in her mouth.
Luna wanted to be careful before she properly found out what she was dealing with in this world. She had watched and read enough Chinese dramas and novels in her world to know the kind of politics and scheming that occurs not only outside of the family but within it too.
/Damn it…/
Luna could no longer hold herself back from cursing any longer. She felt like every part of her, inside and out, mentally and physically, was put through a wringer.
Knowing full well the reason for the mental part of her suffering, she could only suspect the cause for the physical part of it.
/There must be some poison involved. Can a naturally weak constitution really become this bad?/
Luna sighed inwardly.
/I really pity Xinyi. She was too isolated and broken to dare doubt her own mother and only caregiver./
Luna has pegged Xinyi's mother as the most suspicious person. It would be very easy for her to poison Xinyi and Luna could come up with a motive that would drive Xinyi's mother to do something so horrible to her child. Her suspicions only increased upon noticing the little bulge at Xinyi's mother's lower abdomen earlier.
/Speaking of which, what can I do about it? The mission is to survive? To do so I have to change or prevent certain events from happening? Those are the very things I failed to do when I was still alive. Why else am I here? How smart…/
Before she could continue her rambling, the childish voice spoke up.
[Of course!]
Luna's eyes widened in surprise. She scanned the entire room for the source of the voice but found that no one else was here. All she saw was an empty room that was decorated sparsely with Chinese paintings and pretty white and blue porcelain vases.
Meanwhile, the voice in her head continued to speak.
[I didn't choose my soul willy nilly, mind you. I've gone through your memories and seen the way you look at the world around you. I believe that the skill you have should prove to be useful in your journey through the different worlds. See? You probably already identified the cause for your long standing condition.]
/… You can hear me?/
[Yes. The moment I bound with your soul, I can hear your each and every thought.]
/All the time?/
[Each and every thought.]
/... I see. Well, what use is this skill you speak of when I can't do anything to change what is bound to happen?/
[That's for you to figure out.]
/And I'm saying-! Ah, nevermind. ... ... By the way, you do realise that my comment about you being smart was me being sarcastic, right?/
[Sarcastic?] After a short pause, the system mumbled. [So that's sarcasm…]
Hearing the system sound a little down made Luna feel bad. She had not meant for her pessimistic rumination to hurt anyone. She definitiely had not expected that someone would be privy to her thoughts. It did not help that she had momentarily lost control due to her current circumstances.
/Sorry./
[What? Why?]
/I wasn't being very nice and I guess you were just… Doing your job? ... I hurt you, didn't I?/
[Hurt? I don't think so? I can't get hurt.]
/... So... You aren't the least bit unhappy?/
[Unhappy? Me? Impossible. Systems don't have emotions.]
/… Is that so? You did sound a little down earlier./
[That can't be. That's not good. Emotions are bad. Feeling is bad.]
/Who told you that?/
However, she no longer got a reply from the system. /Hello? ... ... Forget it./
There was still so much that Luna wanted to find out about her situation and the entity that pulled her into this. Everything that was happening to her now felt even more unreal than how her original life had felt.
Now that her mind was no longer occupied with interacting with the system, the stuffiness of the room and smell got to her once again. The dryness of her throat also became apparent to her.
Although her entire body felt so weak and numb that every move she made felt like pins and needles were poking her, she very slowly but surely made her way to the wooden table that was not too far away from the bed.
She heaved a small sigh of relief upon reaching the table only to be disappointed to find the water jug empty and cup dusty.
She then got up once more to walk to the nearest window and pushed it wide open. Feeling completely drained, she slumped over the window sill and laid there like that with half of her body hanging out. She almost looked liek a rag being hung out to dry.
She was not afraid that she would be spotted by her mother. Based on the memories she received, that visit was the last visit for the day that her mother would pay her.
She kept her eyes closed and focused on the soothing feeling of the cold breeze against her skin.
After she felt a little better, she opened her eyes slightly to peek at the sky. The sun was only beginning to set yet it was already so cold. It was not surprising given that winter just ended a few days ago.
She lazed on the window sill, adjusting herself a little whenever she started hurting, until the full moon hung high up in the sky. Finally feeling well enough to move, she left her room in search of food.
Luna only got as far as the small white stone table in the middle of her courtyard before she needed a rest. After resting for around a minute, she got back up and went to the entrance of her courtyard.
Just as she extended her head beyond the wall to check for people, the system spoke.
[The coast is clear. You can go.]
Luna's heart jumped in fright and her weak legs gave way, causing her to slide down against the wall. She was definitely still not used to having a system yet. /How did you know?/
When the system still refused to respond to her, she simply let it be then got up and left her courtyard to go on a prowl for food.
She very quickly realised that the system did have the intention of assisting her. During the entire trip to the kitchen, it provided her with information such as the positions of guards and people patrolling the grounds. Everyone else were already in their rooms preparing to retire for the night.
Thanks to the coupling of the system's surveillance and the weak presence of Luna's character that could practically pass off as some invisibility ability, everything progressed smoothly.
She cooked a simple but nourishing meal for herself, washed everything, then snuck into the estate's library without attracting anyone's attention.
/Hey, system? It's alright if you don't like talking but could you at least tell me what you can do? Perhaps I can work it into my plans and increase my chances of successfully clearing this world, as you put it./
She waited patiently in the darkness for it to respond. Just as she thought that it would not respond, it relented.
[I can see a certain area around you.]
/How far?/
[If you stood in the middle of your courtyard, I can see slightly beyond it.]
Luna recalled the look of her small courtyard. /That's not very wide./
[That's not my fault. The range will expand when your astral energy strengthens…] It sounded a little huffy to her now.
/Astral energy? What's that?/
[Astral energy is also known as spiritual energy in this world. The terms are interchangeable.]
/So I can strengthen it in the same way people in this world strengthen their spiritual energy?/
[Yes.]
/I'll work on it then. Is there anything else you can do?/
Suddenly, a small white being that looked human-like and faintly glowed appeared in front of Luna's eyes. She speechlessly looked into the two huge dark purple sparkly eyes that were staring right back at her.
[This physical body of mine can go to places for you within the same range that I'm able to see. Just so you know, although I'm small, my body's very strong and durable.]
Luna stared harder and longer at the being that was only slightly larger than her hand. She now noticed how its body looked like sparkles heavily compressed together.
She tried to speak but her throat still hurt a little, so she continued with speaking telepathically instead. /So you're a boy./
The system cocked his head before looking down at his body. When he did, his eyes rounded as wide as saucers and his cheeks flushed pink.
[Excuse me.]
A silver silk-like robe with very fine colourful lines running through the fabric immediately appeared and covered him appropriately.
[This is my first time creating a physical form for myself outside of my plane so I forgot about the clothes. About my gender, I could appear as a girl or be genderless. I simply chose this form by instinct.]
Although he tried to act calm, Luna noticed how his pitch was a little higher than usual. Deciding to cut him some slack, she changed the subject.
/Anything else?/
[… Anything else is classified.]
/For the sake of communication, do you have a name? Unless you'd like to be referred to as system all the time?/
[I'm called BaoBao.]
/I'm in your care then, BaoBao./
Luna got busy browsing the shelves after lighting up a candle that was on the study table.
BaoBao stayed floating where he was and blankly watched her.
Unbeknownst to Luna, her words made BaoBao feel a little warm and fuzzy on the inside. He did not understand that the sensations he experienced in his little body all the time were the very emotions that he seemed so scared of. He only knew that he felt like approaching this person more than the administrator who took care of him for the week after he was created.
[How about you?]
Luna froze for a second then turned to look back at him. /What about me?/
[Do I call you by Luna? Or would you like to be referred to as host?]
Luna thought for a while. /Call me Xinyi./
She wanted to use that as a reminder that her old life was gone and that she has a new life to lead now.
There were books on plants, poison, martial arts, and spiritual cultivation. The only thing in this world that had piqued her curiosity and interest was the existence of spiritual energy. It was something that could be cultivated and was mixed in with martial arts. Something that her original world did not have. One's spiritual energy was classified into four realms. There was Earth, Sky, Heaven, and God realm. Each realm was then divided further into three levels that signified how well they have assimilated their spiritual energy into their martial arts. It consists of low, mid, and high levels. An average person could practice and cultivate their way to high level sky realm by 15 years old. Whoever progressed beyond that would be considered talents and geniuses. Since normal martial artists without any spiritual energy were basically powerless in this world, people who could not cultivate were considered wastes. Xinyi was one of those wastes in society, du
A fluctuation in the air caused a handful of people to look up from eating or pause their conversations. However, many resumed what they were doing, unbothered by the slight oddity. "What happened?" Hui Shan asked the boys, who had also been disturbed. Wang Wei passed the question to ZhangYong to answer by looking at him. Zhang Yong was the highest level among them, so he could provide the most accurate answer. "Did someone high level appear?" Hui Shan enthusiastically guessed in a hushed voice. Zhang Yong shook his head. "It's just a breakthrough, and only into Sky realm." Hui Shan relaxed, but Wang Wei and Zhang Yong stayed pensive. "Hui Shan, do you know anyone invited who's around 12 years old?" "En, but from what I know, they've all broken through to Sky realm already." As soon as she answered the question, she caught on to their worry and so contemplated along with them. / Was this person a late bloomer or a genius? /
Xinyi spent the rest of the evening and night reflecting on and reading up about the use of spiritual power, cultivation practices, and martial arts. What she found was that with enough skill, one would be able to cultivate all the time. However, the optimal state for cultivating was still by meditating. There was nothing about spiritual power that she did not already know. It was, however, noteworthy to her that there was a caution to not be restricted in their thinking, because not all spiritual power uses were documented. Family secret arts existed and it was possible for people to create new uses everyday. Suddenly, a memory about a story she had read when she was still alive got refreshed in her mind. That story had spiritual people but also spiritual beasts and spiritual plants. /How did I forget about this?/ Xinyi closed the book and rushed back to her courtyard. She then dug out 6 small pots from the tool shed and plan
In the last week of every month, ZhangYong diligently freed up some time so that he could find Xinyi. Through experience, he quickly learnt that the only way he could meet her was after he met HuiShan. Otherwise, he would only be told that she was too sick to receive any guests. He never really understood why that was the case but decided to roll along with it. Their sparring matches never lasted for more than half an hour. Their matches ended as abruptly as it began and he always left with the same satisfied smirk. His brief disappearance within the estate was long enough for some to notice. Tongues began to wag. Gossip about him contained stories about how he was having dalliances with a maid in Xinyi's courtyard. It was not a secret how abandoned Xinyi's courtyard was, since it was never used by the sickly bedridden owner. While everyone tried to figure out who the favoured maid was, Xinyi was not suspected in the least. Such gossip never bothered anyone though.
Xinyi tasted the soup methodologically like she did for the stir fried dishes. The herbs that were directly nourished had the same effect as the stir fried ones. Doing the same as earlier, she gave the one that was nourished daily to BaoBao to finish, while she finished the rest. The results that surprised her were the herbs that were indirectly nourished. When cooked into soup, the rejuvenating effect was multiplied by many folds. It was effective to the point that her body felt cleansed. /This could actually help to speed up one's cultivation/. She wondered in awe to herself. Her mind started reeling with possibilities once more. She wondered about what she could do with this knowledge in this world, how she could use it, whether it would be practical and safe for others to learn of this, and many more. Finally, she arrived at her next experimental question. /If it can have such wonderful effects for the internal body, I wonder
For the past month, ZhangYong went about his life the way he did before he started to pay attention to Xinyi. There was no longer a need to rush things, so that he could free up an extra day for her. However, overtime, ZhangYong realised that he was constantly reminded of her. No matter what he did, be it training or working, he would think of how it could be useful for her training. Whenever he spent time resting or leisurely with WangWei and HuiShan, he inadvertently thought of what she was likely doing at that moment. Whenever he had to assess or appraise something, he wondered about how much Xinyi would improve in another month. Expanding his energy and draining himself by the end of every single day did not help to calm this strange curiosity he has of her. Seeing HuiShan, whom he has affections for, did not help either. The more he told himself to forget about the girl who did not appreciate his presence, the more she stayed on his mind. As much as it irritated him, it also sa
As soon as the first spoonful of soup went down ZhangYong's throat, his eyes grew wide. He quickly took another scoop. Then another. Finally, he whispered in astonishment, "Is this some cooking secret arts? Who taught you this? I thought you didn't have anyone else tutoring you in cultivation other than me." "How does it feel?" Xinyi asked him back without answering his question. Having secret masters was not uncommon, so ZhangYong let it slide, thinking that it was one of those cases. "It feels... refreshing and my spiritual power feels slightly replenished." Xinyi raised her eyebrows upon hearing his answer. Just slightly? "You don't feel cleansed at all?" Zhang Yong shook his head. Xinyi realised that this was her chance to try changing variables she never thought she could before. ZhangYong who was at mid level Heaven realm was the ideal candidate for comparing the
The scene that greeted Xinyi once she reached her courtyard made her eyelid twitch and look at everyone judgmentally. /I guess it's to be expected when the victim this time is an important character. I doubt that they would make such a big issue out of it if the victim was someone like MeiRuo or me./ Everyone in the family, except for HuiShan, was gathered in her small courtyard. They were even honoured with WangWei's and ZhangYong's presence. The crowd made the place look very cramped, especially with all the comfy looking chairs that Xinyi guessed were ordered to bring over while waiting for her arrival. What made Xinyi wary was the reason for choosing to gather here instead of the main hall. Everything ran through Xinyi's mind in a matter of seconds. She curtseyed and greeted everyone present politely. "Where were you and what