Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 700 - 684: The More Ordinary, the Less Ordinary
"Really? I was that amazing!" Chuci was very surprised. Previously, fortune-tellers did say he had great wealth in his destiny, but they never spoke so directly.
Whether it’s true or not, just hearing someone describe it like that put him in a particularly good mood.
In contrast, he felt a bit of sympathy for Li Tiezhu. Just think about it, living in such a rich era and yet not being able to eat decent meals — isn’t that just pitiful?
Jiang Yuan was immediately curious when he heard this, "Third Lord, what about me?"
"Little fellow already has some cultivation on him, I can’t see through it." Huang San took off his glasses, wiped them, then put them back on, shaking his head, "Maybe my cultivation isn’t deep enough. To be honest, at first, I didn’t even realize you were eating from the Underworld."
How should I put it, at first glance you seem just like an ordinary person, nothing special. But the problem is — truly ordinary people in my eyes generally show some signs of fortune or misfortune. On you, there’s nothing at all, too excessively clean.
So, the more ordinary something appears, the less ordinary it actually is.
I suspect it might be that your master’s legacy is very ancient, either able to block others from seeing or you’ve already achieved deep cultivation without realizing it, perhaps even above mine."
Jiang Yuan: ...
I have no cultivation to speak of. I’ve made it this far entirely relying on the System!
But on the other hand, being selected and bound by the system from among the masses and benefiting from it, could be considered a unique fortune, right?
The previous person who was bound by the System, Mr. Li, probably didn’t have enough fortune or character. He got carried away with the system, forgot his roots, and behaved badly without accumulating good deeds in the Wilderness World, ultimately losing his life.
It seems the System is both an opportunity and a test.
No wonder it disguises itself as a game, explicitly and implicitly hinting that "players" are in a virtual world. This way, facing temptations makes it easier to reveal one’s true nature.
The more Jiang Yuan thought about it, the more it made sense.
Back in college, a roommate played a city-based game where you could drive cars into people, rob banks, molest beautiful neighbors, and so on to vent emotions freely.
He got so excited killing in the game, screaming and shouting, dragging his roommates to play a round and experience it.
And Jiang Yuan, knowing it was a game, a virtual world revolving around him, with everything based on the player’s wishes, still couldn’t bring himself to attack passersby without reason, even driving, he would stop at red lights, to avoid hurting innocents.
Because of this, he was often mocked by his roommates as rigid and cowardly.
But he just couldn’t understand the excitement in randomly picking NPCs in the game to hit, watching the blood splatter, and hearing the wails and screams?
Why be mocked for not proactively harming NPCs in the game?
Now that he thinks about it, after graduation, they went their separate ways and rarely stayed in contact, maybe because, at their core, they were just not the same kind of people.
Perhaps because he never had that player’s mindset of feeling superior, treating "NPCs" as people, not harming them even without contact, he was able to pass the system’s initial test and get to where he was.
Otherwise, like Mr. Li, who resorted to all means to become stronger and killed countless without reservation, he probably wouldn’t have lived long.
"I booked a quiet private room. We can look over the dishes later. Shall we head out?" Chuci made a call and arranged everything directly. Huang San didn’t say much, he skillfully made himself invisible and leaped onto Li Tiezhu’s shoulder.
As he locked the door, the group of three and a Yellow Immortal passed through the noisy corridors, taking the elevator downstairs.
The sky was completely dark, the buildings glowing with scattered lights; many people, just back from work, hurriedly rode their electric bikes past.
A few young people looked back repeatedly with envious eyes at Chuci’s luxury car, whispering about how much it would cost to buy one.
Jiang Yuan felt the intense atmosphere of the Mortal World, then looked at Huang San perched on Li Tiezhu’s shoulder, thinking that perhaps the other side of the world was right beside them, but most people had no chance to see it.
The old lady passing by holding vegetables probably never met a talking, magic-using weasel, maybe Jiang Yuan himself had crossed paths many times without knowing, before gaining abilities from the system binding.
Chuci drove straight to the restaurant.
It was indeed not far from where Li Tiezhu lived, it took just over ten minutes driving to turn into an old residential area of last century style.
"This used to be a precision machinery factory — decades ago, it was a top state-owned enterprise, with many employees from around the country who were top students. These buildings were the employee dormitories back then, just look at the scale!"
As he drove through the not so spacious streets, he introduced, "It was called the Machinery Factory Dormitory, after renovations and reinforcements, the neighborhood got a new name. The place we’re eating is converted from the activity center of the factory, later you’ll see the characteristics of that era."
Li Tiezhu checked the map on his phone. The old buildings covered a large area divided into four neighborhoods. The car moved between two areas, heading towards a vague building shape with no name.
From the outside, a row of old sloped roof houses looked like old factory buildings, even the entrance gate was simple. They swiped a card to enter the yard, turned two corners and parked under a makeshift "parking lot."
After Jiang Yuan got out of the car, he looked around but couldn’t see any connection to a restaurant.
"Enter from here." Chuci led the way and pushed the door to a room that appeared ordinary from the outside. Inside, the decor was simple and tidy. A receptionist in a suit greeted them with a full smile, "Gentlemen, do you have a reservation?"
He handed over the membership card. After the receptionist operated it, they gestured with a hand, "Reserved for four at the Ruyi Garden, please go straight ahead downstairs and turn right."
Going straight downstairs led to an underground hall, with old-fashioned floral wall lamps installed on the walls. Above was a mirrored ceiling, and a huge retro chandelier hung down, gleaming brightly on the mirrors embellished on the walls. Combined with the retro colors, there was suddenly a feeling of traveling through time.
"This is where the top students of the mechanical factory held their dances back then. The top students of that era were the most advanced and trendy people. The restaurant completely preserved the original style during its renovation. Doesn’t it feel like an old movie?" Chuci evidently liked this style a lot, which matched the mountain villa’s aesthetic.
The underground hall had soft music flowing and echoing, along with the lighting and decor full of vintage colors, allowing one to imagine the scene from decades ago when those youthful people danced gracefully here.
"These mirrors..." Huang San’s voice floated over eerily, "There’s some lore, maybe something happened here before."
Jiang Yuan’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, thinking to himself, couldn’t it be such a coincidence? Coming out to eat and encountering a supernatural event?
Turning right through a door, the view suddenly widened — on the left were private rooms with tightly closed doors, and on the right were floor-to-ceiling windows, outside of which was a sunken courtyard. Under the lights, the scene was picturesque, hinting at the restaurant’s advanced taste.
"Little Daoist friend, did you see that peach tree in the courtyard? It’s a century-old peach tree transplanted here specifically to ward off evil." Huang San pointed with a little paw. "That large piece is genuine Tai Mountain rock. This courtyard must have been designed by an expert."
If it hadn’t mentioned it, Jiang Yuan would at most praise the blooming peach blossoms for being beautifully odd.
Without a system popping up detailed analysis anytime, he wouldn’t even recognize a rock.
"But I didn’t feel anything. Surely this place isn’t suppressing something?" He examined closely, noting everything was clean without any abnormalities.
Huang San laughed, "Something definitely happened before. They perhaps wanted a good omen and had someone design a feng shui courtyard to ward off evil. Now it’s so clean here that not even a ghost stirs. There aren’t that many demons and spirits; if they were encountered everywhere, the world would have long been in chaos."
The private room wasn’t large, but it had a full carved window to view the scenery of the sunken courtyard in the back;
The soundproofing was excellent; next door was a small kitchen. You couldn’t hear a peep from the busy chefs and waiters inside, who would ring a bell before serving.
Such a private room is quite suitable for discussing topics not meant for others to hear.
"Third Master, when we talk about accumulating virtue and doing good, or cultivating ourselves, what exactly are we cultivating?" Jiang Yuan looked at Li Tiezhu, who could only guard a platter of northeastern-style dipping vegetables called a bountiful harvest, feeling utterly confused.
Offering to the Immortal Family counts as cultivation too, but after so much cultivation, one can’t even eat a good meal—what’s it all for?
Huang San sat cross-legged at his seat, smoothing his whiskers and squinting, "In theory, with some attainment, one should make a grand vow to achieve true fruition and attain a position as an Immortal."
With that, it itself chuckled, "Out of thousands, hardly one succeeds. The saying goes a Buddha for every ten demons; how many tribulations must one endure and how much merit accumulate to achieve that position? For those like us, born with no great foundation, it’s tough to achieve."
Let me tell you, Third Master, we should set realistic goals, cultivate for good health, longevity, peace, and joy, and a good end should suffice.
Take Tiezhu for instance—without this path, he wouldn’t know his own luck. Without accumulating virtue and doing good, he’d be like those mortals, eating and drinking wildly, causing trouble everywhere. He wouldn’t make it past thirty, exhausting his luck, entering the cycle of rebirth to wait for the next life.
The Third Master overseeing the situation everywhere is likewise defying destiny to change his fate!"
It remained in an invisible state, but these words were evidently heard by everyone present.
Li Tiezhu’s previously slumped face twitched, sighing heavily, "I wonder what sins I committed in a past life, as if I’m here to repay debts in this one."
"You’re still fortunate. This chance to be a Top Immortal in this life is meant for you to quickly accumulate fortune and cultivation, live frugally, and amass Yin Virtue. We can’t control the rest, but at least ensure you have a good end."
Huang San twirled its whiskers and said leisurely, "Some are born with fortune as vast as a mountain, squandering it still leaves excess; you were born with fortune as a pit, filling it is already good fortune."
Hearing this, Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but open the system interface to take a look. Current lifespan balance: 9422 years, 10 months, 21 days.
According to what Mr. Li said, binding the system grants a year and a half in the Wilderness World; the host’s lifespan is thus thoroughly bound to the system, calculated according to Wilderness time.
From now on, if he no longer enters the Wilderness World, a year in reality would directly skip a day on the other side, calculated like this...
For the moment, he couldn’t figure out how many days 9,000-plus years equated to or how many tens of thousands of years that meant in the real world, but the goal of "longevity" was evidently achieved.
With such a long time to squander and the aid of a system, why not yearn for more? For example, Ascension!
At least visit the Upper Realm and see!
Even if the system’s side quests didn’t include this task, by diligently cultivating the trusted members of the courtyard to cross their tribulations and ascend, surely he would catch some reflection to see above what it’s like.
Above this real world, what could it be? Do those Immortals and Yin Messengers have exchanges with the Wilderness World?
Might our world merely be one among countless small worlds within the void on the Wilderness side?
