Plot Foiled, Upgrade
Jiangling Prefecture City, the Gu Household.
Gu Qingchuan had invited the heads of the other three of the prefecture city's four great Lineages-Song Jinghe, He Mingche, and Tang Yichen-to his home.
Once everyone was seated, Gu Qingchuan swept his gaze over the three men and asked:
"Lineage heads, you must all know something about the systems that have appeared. What do you make of them?"
Song Jinghe's eyes flickered, and his voice filled with admiration. "These systems are truly miraculous. They must be the work of an immortal."
"There are countless divine arts and secret manuals in them. If we can learn them, our strength certainly won't fall short of immortal cultivators."
He Mingche quickly chimed in. "Exactly! With the Dao Seed Martial Dao Cultivation System, you can live for five hundred years just by cultivating to the Dao Seed Realm."
"Take Bai Shuyan, the man who defeated your son. The Blazing Sun Star-Shattering Palm he used is a martial technique from the System Store."
At those words, Gu Qingchuan's face darkened instantly. "You must understand that if systems spread far and wide, our prefecture city's four great Lineages could very well be wiped out. Aren't you worried?"
Tang Yichen asked curiously, "You have a point, Lineage Head Gu. What do you plan to do?"
Gu Qingchuan sneered. "First, we'll spread rumors about the systems. We'll say that anyone who binds one will have their body taken over and be controlled, so others will unbind them of their own accord."
"That way, we can keep the systems firmly in our hands. Those ant-like commoners aren't fit to have them."
Song Jinghe fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a probing tone. "Not a bad idea. But Lineage Head Gu, do you really understand the systems? Don't tell me you haven't even managed to bind one yourself?"
Gu Qingchuan's gaze froze, but he quickly shot back, "How could I possibly have failed to bind a system?!"
Tang Yichen, Song Jinghe, and He Mingche exchanged meaningful looks.
Tang Yichen spoke first. "We'll consider your proposal, Lineage Head Gu. For now, we'll take our leave."
With that, he rose and left.
Song Jinghe and He Mingche also rose and took their leave, paying no mind to Gu Qingchuan's sour expression.
Once the three were far away, Gu Qingchuan furiously smashed the teacup in his hand and cursed, "Those whelps aren't worth plotting with!"
After stepping out of the Gu Household's gates, Tang Yichen turned to Song Jinghe and He Mingche beside him. "Let's add each other on Microchat so we can stay in touch."
Both nodded. They quickly added one another as friends and created a new Microchat group.
As soon as they entered the group, Song Jinghe spoke first. "Gu Qingchuan can't bind a system himself, so he wants to drag our three Lineages down with him. What a wild fantasy!"
He Mingche immediately agreed. "Exactly! The Gu Household usually throws its weight around. Maybe a lot of its disciples have done so many bad things that they can't bind systems."
"This is an opportunity for us. The Gu Household controls so many resources; it's time they made room for others."
Tang Yichen: "That's right. Jiangling Prefecture has limited resources. The more the Gu Household takes, the less there is for us. This is the perfect chance to bring them down.
"Although the systems have dealt us a considerable blow, our years of accumulated resources give us an advantage over ordinary people."
"Besides, now that ordinary people have systems, they can help us accumulate Energy Points. We can settle it by spending a little money."
"That makes sense!" Song Jinghe replied. "But we need to expose Gu Qingchuan's plot and let everyone see his true face."
He Mingche then sent a message. "Don't worry! I recorded our conversation just now. I'll edit it and upload it to the forum right away, so everyone can see Gu Qingchuan's ugly face!"
Sunlight streamed down into the World-Saving Medical Hall.
Liu Yi sat cross-legged in the courtyard, a faint halo of Principles drifting around him.
The 129,600 World Seeds within him shone brilliantly, while 100 Great Dao Principles wound across their surfaces like silver serpents.
After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air, a sharp light flickering in his gaze.
As the number of subsystems increases, my ability to deduce grows stronger and stronger.
Those system hosts have sold vast quantities of precious manuals to obtain Energy Points. I've gained quite a bit of inspiration from them.
Sure enough, only by pooling everyone's wisdom can one go farther.
After taking a moment to regulate his breathing, Liu Yi opened the forum, where a trending topic immediately caught his eye: #Gu Qingchuan's Plot Exposed#.
Curious, he clicked on it. The comments section had already erupted.
"Gu Qingchuan is utterly deranged! He can't bind a system himself, so he wants to spread rumors to fool everyone. His heart deserves condemnation!"
"Ant-like commoners? How high and mighty! I'll remember that lofty face of Gu Qingchuan's! The next time I see a Gu Household disciple, I'll make them pay!"
"Don't think the Gu Household can buy any more Energy Points from me! We ordinary people aren't worthy of associating with the likes of you!"
"The Fairness System has given ordinary people a chance to get ahead, yet Gu Qingchuan dares to slander it! Slicing him into a thousand pieces wouldn't be enough to vent my hatred!"
"I've long heard that the Gu Household bullies people by throwing its weight around. From the looks of it, they've probably done every evil imaginable and definitely can't bind systems. That's why they're doing this."
Liu Yi looked at the screen full of furious denunciations and laughed with satisfaction. "Wonderful! It looks like bringing down those with vested interests is already showing results. They can't resist the tide of the systems at all! They can only follow."
The system's current functions still aren't complete enough. I need to add some new ones to make them even more dependent on it, and get them to spend more Energy Points.
I've now comprehended 100 Great Dao Principles. This is the perfect opportunity to give the system a complete upgrade!
"Still, I didn't expect the systems to spread so quickly. They've reached Jiangling Prefecture City in no time at all." Liu Yi chuckled as he read the comments.
This world was vast and sparsely populated, and transportation was inconvenient, making the movement of information and goods extremely slow.
The systems allowed people to communicate across a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers, which was one reason they were so popular.
These system hosts really are going all out for Energy Points. Sure enough, only enough profit can bring out the greatest drive in people.
He opened the system's backend and saw that the number of people who had bound systems had reached 35.16 million. He couldn't help sucking in a breath:
"That's an outrageous increase! Even counting every last hidden household, Jiangling Prefecture has at most seventy million people. Nearly half of them have bound systems already."
Next, he checked the Energy Point total: 130 billion.
Seeing that number, he breathed a sigh of relief.
As the number of subsystems keeps increasing, Energy Points are coming in faster and faster. That's a relief. I won't have to worry about running short of Energy Points anymore.
A flash of excitement passed through Liu Yi's eyes. A faint light shimmered around him, and illusory images of 100 Great Dao Principles flickered in and out of view.
Now I can finally cast off my restraints and deduce the Great Dao, letting the system truly show its power.
Before devoting himself fully to deducing the Great Dao, however, Liu Yi decided to upgrade the Fairness System to version 4.0.
I need to add some new functions that will help everyone raise their cultivation quickly while also reasonably speeding up the consumption of Energy Points. Only then can the system's operation form a virtuous cycle.
With that thought, he instantly connected to all the subsystems and activated their spare computing power.
More than thirty million subsystems ran simultaneously, as though more than thirty million External Brains had been switched on at once.
A vast surge of computing power rushed in. Liu Yi felt as though there were no problems left in the world that he could not deduce and analyze.
He quickly gathered his thoughts and devoted his full attention to deducing system version 4.0.
Countless streams of data flashed and rearranged themselves before his eyes as he deduced the new version of the system with all his might.