The Hard-Luck Transmigrator and the Artificially Stupid System

Having just transmigrated and realized he possessed a system, Shen Yuan had been overjoyed.

He'd had no attachments in his previous life, so there was nothing to regret after transmigrating. On the contrary, this world's surface seemed peaceful, but its history was chaotic and its myths and legends were countless.

If he could embark on the path of cultivation in this life and someday attain immortality, wouldn't that be far more interesting than his ordinary previous life?

Besides, Shen Yuan had the aid of a system at his side. That was standard equipment for a protagonist. Shen Yuan didn't think he was some chosen one, but with the system's help, he was confident he could carve out a place for himself in this world.

Yet before the beginner's guide had even ended, what happened before his eyes dealt Shen Yuan a crushing blow.

He'd followed the beginner's guide to join a reclusive sect, only to discover that the sect had been gone for ten thousand years. What should've been an idiot-proof beginner's guide had become a catastrophic opening.

Of course, if he merely couldn't join the sect, that would've been fine. Shen Yuan's greatest reliance was the Ascension System. With the sect gone, he'd only lost a backer. As long as the system remained, everything was still negotiable.

But the key problem now was—

Beginner's Guide: Hold the Ascension Token and travel to the Cloudmist Mountains to join the Falling Cloud Sect. You will receive the Violet Cloud Qi Refining Method.

On the system interface, the beginner's guide was still marked in glaring red as incomplete.

"System, what's going on with this beginner's guide? Their sect was destroyed ten thousand years ago. Where am I supposed to complete it?"

The system interface blurred as though it had frozen. Only after a long while did a string of text pop up.

System: Host may hold the Ascension Token and join the Falling Cloud Sect to complete the beginner's guide mission.

Shen Yuan's eyelids twitched, and a sense of helplessness welled up inside him.

He'd been in contact with the Ascension System for half a year already. Their exchanges during that time had made Shen Yuan realize that the Ascension System possessed no intelligence whatsoever. It answered entirely according to some fixed logic.

Compared to it, even Xiao Ai could be considered a high-IQ genius.

The benefits of the reclusive sect were gone now, but as long as he could obtain the subsequent Violet Cloud Qi Refining Method, Shen Yuan could still cultivate on his own. At worst, his progress would be a little slower.

After organizing his words, Shen Yuan tried another approach.

"If I can't complete the beginner's guide mission, where else can I obtain subsequent cultivation methods?"

System: Host may first complete main quests and side quests.

Shen Yuan's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "How do I complete the main and side quests?"

System: Please complete the beginner's guide. Main and side quests will unlock after joining a sect.

"I really shouldn't have expected anything from an Artificially Stupid System."

Shen Yuan's face darkened, and he couldn't help muttering a curse under his breath.

The beginner's guide had gotten stuck in such an unexpected way. Left with no choice, Shen Yuan could only pin his hopes on the Falling Cloud Sect's Grotto-Heaven Paradise before him.

A sect that had produced an Earth Immortal mighty enough to ascend with the entire sect should have some foundation left behind. If he searched through it, perhaps he could find a cultivation method for Essence Refinement into Qi.

Then he wouldn't need to rely on the Artificially Stupid System. Shen Yuan could continue cultivating on his own.

With that thought in mind, Shen Yuan slung his backpack over his shoulders and strode across the barrier of the Grotto-Heaven Paradise.

Though his feet stood on solid ground, the spatial shift of crossing the Grotto-Heaven barrier still made Shen Yuan dizzy, as though the world before him had turned upside down. If he hadn't already embarked on the path of cultivation and possessed a body several times stronger than an ordinary person's, he likely wouldn't even have been able to stand steady.

After standing still for a moment to adjust, Shen Yuan finally began properly examining the Grotto-Heaven Paradise before him.

The Grotto-Heaven was a world unto itself, yet it had no sun. Only white radiance from the shattered sky illuminated it.

The heart of the Grotto-Heaven was a majestic mountain rising from the earth. The enormous peak that pierced the clouds appeared to have been forcibly snapped in two by supreme power, smashing a vast abyss into the ground.

Shen Yuan walked through the ruins of pavilions and towers. Rotting decay filled the air, while all he saw was hollow, lifeless silence—not even a corpse or a single article of clothing.

He pushed open a wooden door. On the desk inside a ruined pavilion still sat a wine flask and jade cups coated in dust. Over these ten thousand years, the Grotto-Heaven had preserved their original state, allowing Shen Yuan to glimpse how, in the instant before disaster struck, people had still been drinking merrily at that table.

But when the calamity descended, everyone seemed to have been forcibly erased by an invisible hand.

Shen Yuan felt an inexplicable chill. He didn't dare touch those gold and silver vessels rashly, instead quickening his pace as he searched for truly useful books.

Yet as his search went deeper, an even greater mystery appeared before Shen Yuan.

Throughout the entire Grotto-Heaven, every book related to cultivation had had its writing erased, leaving behind nothing but blank volumes.

Whether they were pages of gold and silver, inscriptions carved on stone tablets, or even the legendary jade slips of divine consciousness, everything had been completely wiped clean.

Shen Yuan spent a full day searching the entire Grotto-Heaven. In the end, he found only several books resembling diaries and a golden scroll enshrined within a great hall.

Wary of the empty, deathly silent Grotto-Heaven, Shen Yuan didn't linger after finishing his search. Instead, he left the Grotto-Heaven and set up a tent outside for the time being.

Shen Yuan sat beside the campfire. Night insects and small animals were drawn by the firelight, and a few wild cats and squirrels occasionally perched on nearby trees, watching Shen Yuan curiously.

After flipping through the diaries, Shen Yuan was extremely glad that during the past few months of dealing with the Artificially Stupid System, he'd thoroughly studied this world's ancient writing. He could barely understand the contents of these diaries.

The diaries had basically all been written by former Falling Cloud Sect disciples, and they had belonged to the lowest-ranking group of disciples.

Most of their contents concerned some senior brother whose cultivation had greatly advanced and who had entered the True Transmission, or fondness for some senior sister poured out within the diary, or an unfortunate defeat after encountering a powerful opponent in the sect tournament.

The only useful things were perhaps some tricks for minor spells, but there was still no substantive cultivation content.

With his final shred of hope, Shen Yuan opened the exquisite golden scroll.

But upon seeing what it contained, the expectation in Shen Yuan's heart turned into disappointment. The scroll held no cultivation method at all, only one name after another.

Relying on what he'd accumulated lately, Shen Yuan guessed his way through and barely managed to read the characters at the top of the scroll.

"Sect Master Register?"

When Shen Yuan's gaze shifted to the bottom, he suddenly discovered that where a name should have been written, there was only blank space—exactly like the cultivation content that had been erased.

Shen Yuan let out a long sigh, his face filled with disappointment.

He hadn't found any cultivation content amid the ruins of the Falling Cloud Sect. This journey to the Cloudmist Mountains had ended in complete failure.

"Looks like I'll have to go back first and see whether I can find subsequent cultivation methods through other channels. At least I can't count on this Artificially Stupid System."

Thinking this, Shen Yuan had intended to toss the diaries and scroll in his hands into the fire, but after considering it carefully, he decided against it.

Things left behind by the Falling Cloud Sect ten thousand years ago ought to count as antiques no matter what. Their origins would be hard to explain, so they definitely couldn't see the light of day, but keeping them as a personal collection was fine.

Looking at the blank spot at the very end of the golden scroll, Shen Yuan suddenly had an idea. He picked up a small piece of charcoal from the campfire and used it as a pen to write his own name.

"Although the Falling Cloud Sect has been destroyed, there's no problem with leaving my name behind to indulge my fantasy of being sect master, right?"

The not-quite-burned charcoal crumbled into several pieces as he wrote. The crooked characters were like scars on a neat examination paper, utterly ruining the golden scroll's ancient, lingering beauty.

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside Shen Yuan's ear.

System: Host has endured hardships and been tempered a thousand times, relying on his own strength to enter the Sect Master Register. Within the sect, not one True Person from the Ancestral Hall, Elders' Palace, or True Transmission Hall objects.

System: Congratulations, Host, on becoming the current Sect Master of the Falling Cloud Sect. Hidden achievement completed: Master of a Sect. Reward: Earthly Fiend Divine Ability—Pot Heaven!

System: Host has successfully joined the Falling Cloud Sect as its sect master, completing the beginner's guide. Reward: Violet Cloud Qi Refining Method.