Chapter 44: Du Xian Sect 2 Part 3

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

[Host… task… plot…] The System said feebly.

“Alright, alright, got it.” Xun Ji reluctantly put everything away. The Cultivation World was great—no need to sleep or eat, and once he tired of these, he could game all night without worrying about sudden death!

But before that, he had to handle business. Xun Ji pulled up the task panel.

Lu Yun Ting had spent the three days preparing for the secret realm. Aside from morning greetings, he hadn’t disturbed him—very sensible.

“This Lu Yun Ting is upright and rigid, the ‘other people’s child’ parents talk about. His Blackening Value should be zero.”

Xun Ji casually checked the Blackening Value.

—99%.

Xun Ji: “…”

Xun Ji: “System, are you messing with me?” Had Lu Yun Ting hidden it too well? Why was there no sign of blackening at all? And at 99%, did he even need to do tasks?

[No, Host! Look, the Blackening Value progress bar is sealed!]

Xun Ji looked closely. Indeed, the Blackening Value bar was grayed out. Below it was a new red progress bar labeled “Emotion Vein Unsealing Progress” at 5%.

The tasks in this world were unusual. Xun Ji opened the original text and read carefully.

All the answers were in the original.

With cultivation enhancing his senses, he read swiftly. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Xun Ji closed the original and exhaled deeply.

He could now confirm Lu Yun Ting wasn’t faking innocence. Currently, he was just Du Xian Sect’s Great Senior Brother. Crucial memories were sealed—about Lu Yun Ting, Du Xian Sect, the Cultivation World. Once they awakened, the Blackening Value surging to 99% made sense.

To awaken those memories, the key was the “Emotion Vein Unsealing Progress.”

Lu Yun Ting bore Du Xian Sect’s Emotion Vein Restriction, causing emotional deficiency—like a sharp, useful sword that slayed evil and upheld justice but couldn’t feel emotions.

In the original, Lu Yun Ting endured torment from Jiyang Zhenren’s vile methods, triggering the Emotion Vein Restriction and beginning its awakening. Later, on the run, he made friends, found love, faced life and death, saw through hearts. The restriction unsealed as he experienced the seven emotions and six desires. The day it fully unsealed was when he regained his memories.

[So the Host’s task is to awaken the protagonist’s seven emotions and six desires, unseal the Emotion Vein, and restore his memories!]

“Seems simple enough.” Xun Ji rubbed his chin. “That night he was… um, though not exactly like the original, it still tormented him, raising the unsealing progress by 5%. So anything stimulating his emotions can unseal the Emotion Vein?”

[Exactly! Should the Host torment the protagonist some more?] The System suggested eagerly.

“No.” Xun Ji refused decisively. One night of that mistake was enough. Next, he’d follow the plot honestly, do tasks diligently. Unsealing the Emotion Vein could be left to the protagonist’s subordinates and love interest.

“Speaking of which, Lu Yun Ting’s first romantic confidante wasn’t Junior Sister Su Yanran of Du Xian Sect?”

Su Yanran learned of Jiyang Zhenren’s atrocities, grew furious, and helped the Great Senior Brother escape. After fleeing, they stumbled into a secret realm, faced trials together, supported each other, and love blossomed.

Wait, secret realm?

Xun Ji leaped from the bed he’d lain on for three days and quickly searched the original. The secret realm Su Yanran and Lu Yun Ting stumbled into was called…

Fan Tian Secret Realm.

Exactly the one Lu Yun Ting was entering for the Buddha Heart Stone!

“Lu Yun Ting!” Xun Ji burst out the door roaring for his cheap disciple in the simple courtyard.

No response. Clearly, Lu Yun Ting had already left.

He summoned his Chijun Sword, steeled himself, and took to the air. After crashing into several trees, damaging stone sculptures, and falling into waterfalls a few times, he finally wobbled to a landing in a courtyard where disciples trained.

“Where’s Su Yanran?!” Xun Ji grabbed a disciple.

“Ji-Jiyang Uncle Master!” The disciple, rarely seeing a sect ancestor-level figure, flushed with excitement. Nearby disciples turned to look, knelt in a wave upon recognizing Xun Ji, and chorused,

“We disciples pay respects to Jiyang Uncle Master!”

“Enough, all rise.” Xun Ji waved. “Who knows where Su Yanran is?”

“Junior Sister Su?” A disciple peeked out. “She said staying on the mountain was boring, so she took a task at Mingxin Hall this morning and went down.”

Xun Ji: “…”

[Host! It’s over!] The System spun anxiously. [The protagonist entered the secret realm, but the Junior Sister with his key emotional storyline didn’t!]

This time Lu Yun Ting didn’t flee, so Su Yanran wouldn’t save him. The Fan Tian Secret Realm wasn’t a chance encounter but a sect task.

The plotline derailed from the start. Xun Ji gritted his teeth and resolved.

“This plot must proceed!”

[But where to find the Junior Sister now?] The System wailed.

“With a Junior Sister, she goes in. Without one… create a Junior Sister to go in!”

Xun Ji pulled a pill from his Storage Pouch, stared at it grimly like facing death, and swallowed it.