The weather was fine, with not a cloud in the sky.
The thin mist slowly dispersed, revealing the deeper hues of the distant mountains.
Someone nearby glanced over.
It should be summer now, judging by the smooth, lightweight fabric of the clothes—a pale yellow dress and embroidered shoes peeking out from beneath the hem.
This was the starter outfit provided by the game, available in several colors. Su Tangxing had chosen this one, which seemed to suit the face she had designed.
She looked down at her collar.
The sleeves were fitted, and although it was a dress, it didn’t hinder movement in daily activities.
The fabric was soft and thin, allowing the warmth of her skin to be felt even through the layers.
She pinched herself—it hurt.
It didn’t feel fake.
…What’s going on? How can a lousy otome game pull this off?
【Your Account Level: LV99】
【Equipped Titles: Transcendent Wanderer of Mist and Glow, Azure Bird Descending with Auspicious Blessings】
【Reputation: Righteous Individual】
【Architecture Skill: Mastery】
【Cooking Skill: Mastery】
【Gathering Skill: Mastery】
【Alchemy Skill: Mastery】
【Forging Skill: Mastery】
【Mining Skill: Mastery】
【Spirit Beast Affinity: Charismatic】
【Spirit Beast Codex Collection Progress: 20% Complete】
【Full Codex Completion Progress: 0.1%】
【Dear, aside from your level, would you like to see these stats returned to you? Skills will arrive in 3 seconds, and your dog has already set off, expected to arrive in 7 days】
Su Tangxing: What do you mean “set off”? No mail delivery? And why isn’t my level being returned?
【Dear, you’re still a beginner here, so your level is temporarily locked.】
【Current Level: LV0】
【Due to the level lock, your backpack cannot be opened. Your Cultivation Cave is sealed.】
【You may also convert all items into 1,000,000 experience points.】
Convert into experience points?
This game was notoriously stingy with experience.
After weighing her options, Su Tangxing decided to convert.
【Alrighty, your experience points have been credited. Where would you like to allocate them?】
She stepped forward and stood before the Spirit Measuring Jade, her lips moving slightly as she responded mentally: Add them all to my affinity.
The system persisted, 【Add all of them there? That would be wasteful, dear. How about adding them to your completion progress instead?】
All of them, just to affinity!
Other skills could improve gradually with practice, but affinity was notoriously difficult to raise.
The higher her affinity, the stronger the Gate of Ten Thousand Beasts she could summon, and the higher the level of Spirit Beasts that could emerge.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—not taking it would be the real waste.
【Alrighty then.】
Affinity was divided into only a few tiers, with the highest level displayed in shimmering golden characters accompanied by flashy game effects, designed to be extravagant and eye-catching.
【Your Spirit Beast Affinity has reached the maximum level】
【Spirit Beast Affinity: May the Years Pass Together, and May We Be Friends Forever.】
Once it was done, this lousy game system still had to put on a show and sigh:
【What a shame, dear. If you had actively pursued the male characters and completed the main storyline while playing the game, none of this would have happened.】
A series of skills settled onto Su Tangxing, and she let out a sigh of relief. At least these were still intact. As for the system’s subsequent remarks, she ignored them entirely.
【Compensation has been issued. Wishing you a pleasant life and a speedy return home. Goodbye! Additionally, a friendly reminder: the panel can be viewed normally, title effects can be used normally, and all other game functions are disabled.】
【This world might not be fake, you know!】
It paused for a moment after speaking, as if waiting for Su Tangxing’s reaction.
Su Tangxing thought for a moment: Hmm.
Too bland—the system didn’t get the satisfaction it wanted.
After that, it fell silent.
Su Tangxing tried calling out in her mind but received no response.
The Spirit Measuring Jade above her head shone brightly, with eight colors intertwining and swirling.
The game featured eight types of Spirit Roots: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, and ice.
Each one was highly useful.
So, Su Tangxing had maxed out the purity of all eight Spirit Roots.
Ensuring that no one in the current Cultivation World was purer than her!
But in reality, the Cultivation World had never seen an Omni-Spiritual Root, with each root so pure and dense.
The Spirit Measuring Jade glowed intensely, then cracked with a snap.
It shattered even more completely than before.
The old man was dumbfounded.
The surrounding crowd fell into stunned silence.
His role was purely to guide the plot, which only lasted this brief opening scene.
After escorting her brother, Mu Liuyun, to one of the top three sects in the Inner Sea Continent, he would retire from the story, remaining nameless from start to finish.
Now, his wide-eyed, astonished expression was a vivid departure from the game’s constraints.
“This… this… this!”
Mu Liuyun also looked over in surprise.
The Spirit Measuring Jade originated from Tongqi Mountain, which trained a group of specialized Artifact Refining talents.
However, Su Tangxing felt that the quality of this Spirit Measuring Jade wasn’t very good.
Two of them had shattered in a row—they were just too fragile.
But others didn’t see it that way. They only thought that this pair of siblings was incredibly powerful!
How could one be stronger than the other!
The commotion finally caught the attention of other high-level figures.
The old man tilted his head slightly as if listening to something, then, without further ado, led Mu Liuyun and Su Tangxing to a grand hall.
The hall was solemn and magnificent, with over a dozen people seated in separate sections.
This was where players chose their professions.
The game offered many sect professions, and players could freely choose.
However, once chosen, it couldn’t be changed, or they would be labeled as “betraying their sect,” which greatly affected their reputation.
A poor reputation would restrict their actions, so Su Tangxing had always been careful to maintain hers.
Other basic settings were largely similar to traditional immortal cultivation.
The Taiyi Sword Sect for Sword Cultivators;
The Endless Dharma Temple for Buddhist Cultivators;
Tongqi Mountain for Artifact Refiners;
Witch Mountain for Secret Cultivators…
From these, an all-male character collection emerged:
The cold yet Pure Yang Physique Sword Cultivator senior brother;
The Buddha’s Son in the temple, devoid of any romantic feelings but with a face as beautiful as a woman’s;
The seemingly obedient but actually twisted and perverse yandere—though nowadays, everyone just called him a creepy, wet male ghost.
There were simply too many, making it impossible to pursue them all.
It was laughable—there was no way to pursue them all.
Among the mere few dozen, Witch Mountain was the most chosen by players.
After all, their character models were all stunning beauties. Within the sect, they wore uniformly unrestrained, revealing, and semi-transparent clothing.
This perfectly aligned with the rule that only those 18+ could choose it.
Moreover, Witch Mountain had a top-tier succubus, the legendary number one beauty, the pinnacle of the all-male character collection and the poster child for anti-vice campaigns.
Many players flocked there just for him.
A character that had been written to death years ago was mashed together by this game, ultimately forming that all-male character collection, which was then heavily promoted.
Su Tangxing: No interest, truly no interest.
When she first downloaded the game, she had flipped through it. The unlit character profiles were gray, showing only vague outlines.
She didn’t see how those exaggerated silhouettes were alluring. Instead, she thought one of them had a chin that was too pointy, and those pursuing him might just be looking for a free soil-turning machine.
Among these major sects, the Leisurely Immortal Abode was rather inconspicuous.
Other sects had dazzling male characters to lure players, but this sect only had one sickly beauty senior brother.
A refined gentleman emerging like a lotus from water may be captivating, but it ultimately cannot compare to a garden in full bloom.
Aside from players like Su Tangxing, who sought to relax their minds, few others chose the Leisurely Immortal Abode as their first option.
The game had once subtly hinted, in an effort to increase the sect’s numbers, that there were surprises to be found here.
Players speculated endlessly, each searching for clues. After finding nothing, they seized opportunities to encounter the sickly senior brother, repeatedly clicking his dialogue box, yet still failing to uncover any trace of the promised surprise.
Only the senior brother was left wondering why so many people had been seeking him out lately, expressing that he was tired and did not wish to see anyone.
The Leisurely Immortal Abode experienced a brief period of liveliness before gradually cooling down again.
Until Su Tangxing was sent here, that legendary surprise had never appeared.
Su Tangxing suspected it was all just a scam.