"Reporting to the host: one of the NPCs is about to arrive at Lingxiao Immortal Palace!"
"But..."
"He's run into a bit of trouble!"
The electronic voice replied.
Hearing this, Ye Yu grew curious.
"What kind of trouble?"
Could NPCs run into trouble too?
"Reporting to the host: he's lost!"
A hint of helplessness crept into the electronic voice.
At these words, Ye Yu froze.
"What did you say?"
"The NPC is lost?"
"System, that joke isn't funny at all!"
Ye Yu was utterly speechless at the system.
Lately, it wasn't just Xiao Gui who had changed. Even the system had started acting up.
"Host, don't be angry!"
"I've already reprimanded him. He realized his mistake and is hurrying over now!"
Several miles from Lingxiao Immortal Palace stood a range of rolling mountains.
The vast mountains were filled with towering ancient trees and lush greenery.
A figure wandered aimlessly through the woods, head hanging in dejection.
"Ah, Master, Master!"
"Where exactly is this Lingxiao Immortal Palace you told me about?"
"Why does the Compass Artifact in my hand clearly point somewhere just ahead?"
"Yet I can't find my way out of this forest!"
"This is driving me crazy!"
The figure wore a white brocade robe. He had a handsome face, fair as jade, but it was now twisted with frustration.
His name was Qian Ye Yu.
At just fifteen, he was a prodigy in artifact refining.
Qian Ye Yu was the NPC the system had cobbled together.
The Master he spoke of was naturally part of the memories the system had fabricated for him.
According to those fabricated memories, Qian Ye Yu had been adopted by his Master as a child and had inherited his Master's art of artifact refining.
That nonexistent Master, according to his backstory,
had once been