Chapter 107: The System

Bai QiRui took a sip of tea that had been sitting out for who knew how long, then glanced at Bai ShengYun with curiosity. "You're not yet a hundred years old, so you can't enter the Forbidden Pavilion. How did you know that the Records of Ten Thousand in the Forbidden Pavilion contained a solution for the Celestial Fox Primordial?"

Bai ShengYun looked at the copied text before him and answered with perfect naturalness, "I once heard Elder QiSi let it slip by accident."

Bai QiRui said nothing more to that, though a flicker of suspicion remained in his mind. But then he thought better of it—everyone had their own secrets—and chose not to press further.

It was only then that Bai ShengYun finished reading. He slowly set the papers down, and as a gentle breeze stirred, he caught a few lines within: "The Celestial Fox Primordial, of supreme yang... Beyond the Peach Blossom Paradise of the Immortal Sect... The rebirth of all things..."

Meanwhile, Xie YingYing had been brought to Huo TianQing's palace.

It was her first time inside his residence, and the moment she laid eyes on it, she felt an inexplicable dread. Unlike the quarters of most elders, there were no disciples standing guard, and the life force within the halls seemed withered and dead, giving the place an eerie, almost unnatural quality.

She followed Huo TianQing into his study and was genuinely surprised.

Red candles on the stands, books piled before the desk, the four treasures of the study, a calming incense burner... None of it matched the ominous gloom outside. Instead, everything was remarkably simple and plain.

At that thought, a sudden headache struck her, her temples throbbing without pause.

Xie YingYing furrowed her brows slightly, as if something she had forgotten was hovering just out of reach, refusing to be recalled.

Huo TianQing replaced the incense burning in the burner, speaking to her as he did, "Have a seat. Let me see how your injuries are."

Xie YingYing sat down on the nearest chair, lightly closing her eyes as she massaged her temples.

Soon enough, the incense had been swapped for a different blend.

The moment she smelled it, Xie YingYing felt her mind settling, her restless thoughts calming considerably.

Huo TianQing then took a seat beside her. Lifting one of her hands, he rested two fingers gently against her wrist.

During the battle with Bai ShengYun earlier, he had had no time to examine Xie YingYing's condition. Now that he did, he discovered that her body was in a truly dire state—one misstep, and she would have been sent straight to the underworld.

His expression changed, brows knitting tightly. "What did Bai ShengYun do to you?" he demanded.

"Nothing." Xie YingYing answered earnestly. Seeing his grim expression, worry crept into her heart. "Master, what's wrong with me?"

Huo TianQing heard her question but did not answer right away. Instead, he pressed urgently, as if in disbelief, "Are you certain Bai ShengYun did nothing to you? YingYing, you must tell me truthfully. If something has gone wrong and I have no way to fix it—do you understand?"

His words only made Xie YingYing more panicked. Thinking back over how Bai ShengYun had treated her these past days, she answered hastily, "When I was awake, he never did anything improper. It's just that I often fell unconscious, and after that... I wouldn't know."

At this, Huo TianQing grew even angrier, and also somewhat guilty—had he taken Xie YingYing away sooner instead of being restrained by the Purple-Gold Bell, she wouldn't have been left in Bai ShengYun's care.

Looking at her pale face and anxious expression, he decided that she ought to know the truth about her own body. After a moment's deliberation, he said bluntly, "Your body was eroded by yin energy, tormented by the Celestial Fox Primordial, and then gravely wounded by that man. You came within a hair's breadth of losing your life."

Xie YingYing's voice turned hoarse as she recalled Bai ShengYun's earlier words.

"So... Bai ShengYun really did save me multiple times?"

Huo TianQing paused at that, suddenly feeling that perhaps Bai ShengYun's words had been true after all. He leaned back against the chair, lost in thought, then gave a slight nod. "As things stand now, it would seem so."

She found herself at a loss for words. Remembering the faintly self-deprecating look on Bai ShengYun's face, she lowered her eyes.

Huo TianQing produced several pills from his Qiankun Pouch and handed them to Xie YingYing, saying flatly, "Take them."

Xie YingYing looked at the perfectly round pills. Picking one up, she caught a rich, fragrant aroma of herbs, and more than that—the spiritual energy within was so dense it seemed to spill over, curling around her fingertips.

Her eyes brightened. Pinching the pill, she asked with a hint of joy, "Can this save my life?"

"No." Huo TianQing took a sip of tea, answering curtly. "But in an emergency, it can suppress the Celestial Fox Primordial in your body and ease your suffering. Ah, right—the one on the far right is for healing your wounds. It works quite well."

Then, recalling the sword wound on her chest, he glanced at her again. "Have you run a fever recently?"

"Hm?" She nodded, surprised that he could tell at a glance. "Yes, I have. Why?"

"The wound has become inflamed. Don't take that pill—grind it into powder and apply it to the injury instead. It'll heal before long."

No sooner had he finished speaking than his hand, holding the teacup, paused. He turned his gaze to Xie YingYing. "I have something to attend to. I'll be right back."

Xie YingYing blinked, then nodded.

Huo TianQing rose and left the room.

Seeing him go, she decided to crush the pill as instructed. Undoing her collar, she prepared to apply medicine to the wound on her chest, which burned as if scorched by fire.

"Ding-dong!"

"What the—!" Xie YingYing startled, yanking her collar shut in an instant. She glanced around, on high alert.

"Congratulations, Host, on completing the trial mission. Today is the 102nd day since you cleared the trial. The System has now been officially activated!"

System?

Xie YingYing was baffled.

Then, sifting through her memories from a few months ago when she had first transmigrated into this world, she found the recollection of this system.

After that day, she had never heard the system's voice again. Combined with the turbulent events she had endured since, Xie YingYing had long since cast the matter of some system to the winds!

For it to suddenly reappear now—well, it gave her quite a fright.

"System activation: 100%. Free-chat function unlocked. Quest-hint function unlocked..."

Xie YingYing listened blankly as the voice rattled off a long string of functions and features, until her head began to spin.

Finally, after what felt like an age, the cold, mechanical voice came to a stop, replaced by a lively, sweet girl's voice.

"Hello, Host! We meet again!"

Xie YingYing's expression was complicated. She was curious as to why the system had vanished for so long only to reappear now, and since she remembered something about a "free-chat function" being unlocked, she decided to test it out. "Why did you only show up now? Where were you all this time?"

"I wasn't fully activated before! The real activation only began once you passed the trial mission, and it took until now for me to fully boot up!" the system giggled, and the sound was curiously like the chiming of silver bells.