A Good System (Through Gritted Teeth)

A good system, through gritted teeth, didn't issue any new quests. Afraid that his image in the neighborhood would completely collapse, Lin Li didn't dare linger. He tucked the electric mosquito swatter under his arm and headed home.

After washing the remains of Blood Crow corpses off his hands, Lin Li found another bush, took off his arm sleeves, held out his hands, and stood there for a while.

The title worked.

Although it was a title aimed at the Blood Crow Clan, during those five minutes just now, Lin Li hadn't seen a single mosquito around him. In an environment like this, that was practically unimaginable.

It seemed titles could also function "normally" through bugs.

He went upstairs, washed up, lay down on his bed, and scratched a Cross Exorcism over every mosquito bite on his body with his fingernail before taking stock of today's gains.

One hundred System Currency that he couldn't use for now, one cool title, and, most importantly, a 200% increase in his spiritual qi absorption speed.

"Spiritual qi, come!"

Lin Li took a deep breath, then blinked. Only when he truly couldn't hold his breath any longer did he let it out.

"..."

Though he really didn't want to admit it, he hadn't felt anything either time he received a reward for completing a quest.

Wasn't Physique Improvement supposed to feel good or something? Why had nothing happened to him?

"Is it because I don't even know how to absorb spiritual qi right now? So no matter how many times zero is multiplied, it's still zero?" Lin Li came to that conclusion.

"In a normal cultivation system, shouldn't the first reward be some advanced Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Method...?"

"Then how am I supposed to absorb spiritual qi?"

Lin Li searched online for some occult stuff and tried meditating and regulating his breathing.

There was no effect.

"Wait." Lin Li raised his head. "Did I overlook the most important question?"

"I didn't freaking transmigrate. Is it possible that modern times simply don't have spiritual qi?"

Then he fell silent.

Even if he had become an incredibly sensitive Spiritual Qi Sensitive Skin and later mastered the ultimate Spiritual Energy Absorption Star Technique, if modern times had no so-called spiritual qi, the final result would still be zero.

After all, as the saying went, even the cleverest housewife couldn't cook without rice.

"..."

The more Lin Li thought about it, the more convinced he became that modern times had no spiritual qi. Otherwise, those Rare Treasures from novels would have appeared long ago.

Th-this-this...

Spiritual Qi Sensitive Skin was meaningless, the currency couldn't be used—so when he summed up today's gains, hadn't he only gotten a Mosquito Repelling Aura and become a mobile Liu Shen?

He really wanted to send his regards to the System's family.

Heartbroken, Lin Li lay sprawled on the bed and sighed at the ceiling.

"Bzzzz—"

A mosquito flew over at that moment and landed on the tip of Lin Li's nose.

"?"

Smack!

"Bro, isn't my aura still on? How does a Blood Crow still dare come near me?"

Lin Li carefully examined the mosquito corpse in his hand, then his pupils suddenly shrank! Fuck! It was a Tiger Mosquito! An Aedes Albopictus! The easiest way to distinguish it from ordinary mosquitoes was the white stripes on its body. It carried more viruses, its bites itched worse, and took longer to heal!

Lin Li remembered. The Blood Crow Slayer title's effect had stated that it could only intimidate the weak among the Blood Crow Clan; it was ineffective against the strong! Damn it! Ordinary mosquitoes were Little Demon Sky Blood Crows, so this Tiger Mosquito had to be at least a Great Demon Sky Blood Crow! That was right, it was an absolute powerhouse among the Blood Crow Clan.

The aura had no effect on it!

Lin Li silently got up and plugged the Electric Mosquito Repellent Liquid back in.

Then he dropped heavily onto the bed. The appearance of that Tiger Mosquito gave another hard slap to the day's gains, which were already like a candle flickering in the wind.

He wasn't even as good as Liu Shen.

Originally, Lin Li had thought his future would inevitably be smooth sailing. But now it felt like... it might be a tiny bit more difficult than planned.

Lin Li picked up his phone. Bai Bufan had already sent over tomorrow's breakfast list and the money.

"Lin Li: Bro, I was joking when I said I'd treat you to breakfast. Pretend I never said it. Rice noodle rolls with egg cost six yuan, and not one cent less."

"Bai Bufan: ? Are you even human?"

"Lin Li: That's life. Plans never keep up with changes."

"Bai Bufan: Fine. This grandpa has made money in the stock market recently, so I won't fuss over your six or eight yuan. I'll give you four extra yuan. Consider it a reward, Little Lin."

"Bai Bufan: 'Wishing you prosperity.'"

"Lin Li: ?"

"Lin Li: What fucking stocks are you trading? Are you even old enough to trade stocks?"

Bai Bufan was only sixteen. He couldn't even open an account, so how could he possibly trade stocks? Even if he used a family member's account, market hours were all during class, and Lin Li had never seen him use his phone for that. He couldn't be some high-end long-term investor, could he?

Bai Bufan had never even used the class Woxi Whiteboard to show off by looking at K-line charts.

"Bai Bufan: You just don't get it. Not only do I trade stocks, but I've never lost money doing it."

"Lin Li: Seriously? How do you do that?"

"Bai Bufan: Heh, would I lie to you? Since you're my good brother, your master shall bestow upon you my secret technique!"

"First, join all kinds of investor chat groups, study stock trading knowledge seriously, and obtain all kinds of insider information."

"When someone in the group gets a limit-up, congratulate them enthusiastically and have them send celebration red packets. When someone hits a limit-down, comfort them enthusiastically and have them send red packets to turn their luck around."

"Remember, the most important thing is to never buy stocks."

"Hehe, the stock market seems to be doing really well today. I actually managed to grab dozens of yuan in red packets late at night. Feels great."

"..."

"Lin Li: Bai Bufan, I admit it. You're fucking a stock-trading genius."

"Bai Bufan: Talent and hard work—neither can be lacking."

Putting his phone aside, Lin Li, now in a much better mood, continued searching for a path in life.

It definitely wasn't hopeless. Setting aside the shop that had yet to unlock, there should be plenty of useful things inside.

Even Quest Two, which was currently hanging in his quest log, had a "spirit stone" among its rewards.

A spirit stone definitely contained spiritual qi, which meant he could definitely embark on the path of cultivation through spirit stones.

Once he cultivated to the point where his body could generate spiritual qi on its own, he could run an internal cycle.

But Lin Li's expression was now a little twisted.

For no other reason than that he had discovered four words among the prerequisites for the quest to wipe out the Joyous Union Demon Den—Enter the Game in Person.

After those two quests just now, Lin Li had already gotten a feel for this broken System's temperament.

If it told you to do it personally, then you had to complete it personally.

If it told you to Enter the Game in Person, then you had to Enter the Game in Person.

But... this was a vice raid quest. How the fuck was he supposed to enter the game in person? Fine, actually entering the game in person was pretty easy, but wasn't that really inappropriate?

Once he became part of the people being raided, how was he supposed to explain himself?

If he couldn't explain himself clearly, then even if his path of cultivation became bright from then on, his life would definitely become completely dark.

Having spent the entire night swatting mosquitoes, Lin Li had exercised a little too much. As he thought and thought, drowsiness crept over him, and his eyes gradually closed.

Leaving behind one final sleepy murmur:

"System, I f***ing..."