The Luanyang Palace’s spirit ship gleamed under brilliant sunlight as it approached the Chongshan secret realm. Without a care in the world, it landed directly on a mountain peak, where the scattered cultivators who’d hitched a ride thanked us again before disembarking. They didn’t go far though—just hid nearby like vultures waiting for scraps.

The realm was surrounded by countless mountains and vast forests, hiding who knows how many cultivators, all waiting for the entrance to open.

Bai Fenghui, clearly still nursing his wounded pride from Seraphine’s earlier verbal beatdown, finally showed his face after we landed. “The Chongshan realm opened at sunset last time,” he announced to the group. “Should be the same this time. Let’s wait.”

Among the scarlet-robed disciples, a woman spoke up with zero diplomacy: “We were all here for the last opening. Funny how not a single White Water Sect disciple showed up, yet you seem to know so much about it.”

Bai Fenghui’s face went black. As a sect leader, if he hadn’t been forced to grovel to Luanyang Palace, not even Seraphine herself would mock him so openly with such barbed words. And he was a Golden Core cultivator—the highest cultivation on this ship besides Seraphine herself.

“Gu Yuqing.” Siyi’s usually gentle, smiling face turned cold as she called out the disciple’s name. “Apologize to Sect Leader Bai.”

Standing at the back of the group, Xue Mengtao bit her lip, recognizing the woman as the same one who’d been impatient when bowing to Siyi in the corridor last night.

Siyi’s voice turned icy: “Either you apologize now, or I ask the Palace Lord to come out and request your apology.”

The other disciples frantically made eye contact with Gu Yuqing, who kept her face rigid and gave Bai Fenghui a perfunctory bow. “Sect Leader Bai, I apologize. Our last expedition to the Chongshan yielded nothing, and I’m… frustrated. I spoke out of turn. Please don’t take offense.”

Bai Fenghui waved his hand with fake joviality. “No harm done, no harm done.”

But internally, he was thinking: So Luanyang Palace isn’t as unified as it appears. Siyi is Seraphine’s right hand, yet this disciple treats her like this—clearly has issues with Seraphine herself. Makes sense. After the Nine Heavens Sect war, Seraphine’s mother had her, but died before Seraphine could take power. Seraphine’s only held the palace for three years—before that, it seems other peak lords were acting as temporary palace lord.

From her elevated position, Seraphine watched the scene unfold, a shadow of melancholy crossing her eyes.

“Idiot. Making a scene like that,” she muttered.

I’d originally been nestled on Seraphine’s shoulder, but when she started insulting people, I floated up to get a better view of the crowd below. “Should I go monitor her?”

The picture of eager system waiting for assignment.

Seraphine’s anger-touched features were like a painting—cold and beautiful as fire when she glanced down. She stared at me, her chest rising and falling once before she exhaled. “Forget it. I won’t bother with her for now. But you—why are you so eager?”

I quickly floated over to the finger wearing her storage ring as a reminder.

You said I had to work hard to please you.

Pleasing = completing tasks.

Working hard to please = working hard to complete tasks.

Perfect logic. No flaws detected.

Seraphine: “…”

She looked equal parts exasperated and amused, her last trace of anger dissolving in my flickering light. When Siyi came up to report, she found Seraphine lounging lazily in her chair.

“Twenty-nine jade tokens from White Water Sect, twelve collected from various palace sources. Total of forty-one tokens distributed—seven each to Virtue, Righteousness, Propriety, and Trust peaks. Ten to Benevolent Central peak, three to Phoenix Roost peak,” Siyi reported. “We’re ready for the realm to open.”

“Mm.” Seraphine rested her cheek on her hand and sent a telepathic message to all disciples.

“The Chongshan realm is different from others. Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core cultivators can all enter. Once inside, you’ll compete not just against the realm, but against each other. You’re all elite disciples raised by Luanyang Palace. Losing any of you would be a loss to the palace. All of you—come back alive.”

The disciples listening below shouted in unison: “Yes!”

Gu Yuqing, who’d been pulled to the back by her fellow disciples, muttered under her breath: “Like she’d care if any of us died.”

Her senior sister immediately grabbed her arm and scolded: “Haven’t you drawn enough attention to yourself?”

“Master is in secluded cultivation, so the palace is the Palace Lord’s personal kingdom,” her senior brother added. “You want to cause trouble, fine, but don’t drag down Benevolent Central peak!”

Gu Yuqing protested: “Master was forced into seclusion because of the Palace Lord! Ever since she took power, she’s made things difficult for Benevolent Central peak. We disciples are the strongest among all five peaks, bringing back countless spiritual treasures each year. Why should we put up with this treatment?”

“She lives comfortably as Palace Lord, getting whatever she wants, never caring about our lives. And now I can’t even complain?”

“Enough!” her senior sister snapped. “She’s Palace Lord because she’s the blood relative of Luanyang Palace’s founder! Keep these complaints between us, but never let them spread. Be more respectful to Elder Siyi in the future, or if you implicate Master, you’ll face punishment!”

“I won’t spread rumors. I’m just venting to you two,” Gu Yuqing said with a sweet smile, hugging her senior sister’s arm. “Just wait until Master emerges from seclusion with advanced cultivation to stand up for us! There’s more than one sect in the world. If she can’t tolerate us, Master can just take us and establish our own mountain!”

Her senior brother and sister exchanged glances, both showing helplessness but also a hint of agreement.

Even if they didn’t start their own sect, things had been most comfortable when their master was managing Luanyang Palace. Now they felt restricted at every turn.

Sigh.

An hour later, the sun slowly descended, painting the sky in gorgeous sunset hues.

Throughout the mountain ranges, countless people waited with bated breath, eyes fixed on the sky.

Inside the spirit ship, Seraphine opened her eyes from her rest. “It’s time.”

The moment she spoke, wind and clouds surged between heaven and earth. Heavy clouds rolled in like a tide, transforming the sunset-drenched sky into the prelude to a storm.

Purple lightning brewed within the clouds, as if some powerful cultivator was undergoing tribulation beneath the thunder.

The Fire Rock Dragon coiled around the mast, resting its head on top. I nestled on the dragon’s head.

Lightning seemed to flash directly above me. I’d seen this kind of earth-shattering, magnificent yet dangerous scene many times before, and I always watched with intense focus.

I began reciting poetry like a human, my frost-cold voice flatly intoning: “Mountain rain approaches, wind fills the tower.”

The wind carried my voice to Seraphine’s ears. She’d been about to call for me, but: “…”

Fine. Let it fill towers for now.

Seraphine turned to Bai Fenghui: “When your life’s in danger, don’t forget what I gave you.”

Bai Fenghui nodded, completely reassured.

The sky turned black in an instant. Purple lightning struck down, thunder roaring like the heavens themselves were screaming in fury. The majestic display terrified some of the weaker cultivators who’d managed to obtain jade tokens.

“This is what an ascended realm looks like… a Golden Core realm,” someone whispered, backing away with fear twisting their features.

But more cultivators grew excited, sensing the increasingly dense spiritual energy after each lightning strike, as if countless treasures were beckoning from within the realm!

Finally, after one last thunderclap, a purple-red bolt charged with world-splitting power crashed down with a “BOOM,” tearing open a crack in the air itself. The Chongshan realm opened, and ascended spiritual energy poured out like a waterfall.

“Take your communication talismans! Try to regroup and work together!” Siyi shouted, pointing toward the realm entrance. “Go!”

Except for Xue Mengtao, all the Luanyang Palace disciples were Foundation Establishment stage or above. They either flew on swords or rode flying artifacts toward the realm. Siyi let Xue Mengtao step onto her flying device and brought her along.

“We’ll go first!” After Bai Fenghui left, only Seraphine remained on the spirit ship, along with the disciples staying to guard it.

Well, and one dragon, and one system.

Other cultivators hidden in the mountains and forests also flew toward the realm. Disciples wearing various sect robes entered smoothly, but some independent cultivators—especially Qi Condensation stage ones—were attacked by masked cultivators mid-flight, killed for their jade tokens.

This was the cruel reality of the cultivation world.

Survival of the fittest. You fight, I grab. The survivors reign supreme.

Both person and system remained calm about this.

I didn’t forget to scan and generate maps, casually adding the bystanders to my database. I spotted a familiar hunched old man flying shakily through the air, somehow managing to dodge multiple attacks and safely enter the realm.

Seraphine made a “tsk” sound and said to me, who was also watching Xue Bufan’s retreating figure: “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

I floated over.

The Fire Rock Dragon let out a long roar and carried Seraphine and the system toward the realm.

The moment we entered the realm, the wind sounds vanished. Everything around us was white fog—impossible to tell sky from ground. Seraphine frowned and sent out a stream of flame.

Golden-red fire shot into the white mist, tearing open a long gash, but more fog rolled in to fill the gap. The flame disappeared like a stone dropped in the ocean, not even making a sound.

“Strange. What’s the meaning of this?” Seraphine said. She’d never seen this kind of realm before.

I activated my scan: “There’s nothing around us.”

Just void filled with mist.

The silver-white system glowed faintly in the fog, continuously scanning.

“Oh?” I said. “Now there’s something.”

As soon as I spoke, the surrounding mist gradually cleared, revealing vast mountains and forests. Bright sunlight shone down—the realm was experiencing bright midday.

Error flew high in the sky, surveying the land. The earth stretched in overlapping mountain ranges, seemingly endless.

In the distance, higher up in the mountain seas, what looked like a palace sat among the peaks—unclear whether it was nestled in the mountains or floating in the sky, obscured by clouds and mist.

Seraphine patted the Fire Rock Dragon and pointed toward that celestial palace: “Go.”

Error flicked its tail and flew forward without descending, its long shadow falling across the forest below.

I habitually scanned while creating maps and quickly noticed something wrong—the data for one mountain peak didn’t match up. I immediately alerted Seraphine.

Seraphine’s trust in me made her instantly guide the Fire Rock Dragon to fly around the mountain. Almost the moment the dragon turned its head, an angry roar erupted from the mountains like thunder on flat ground.

That peaceful mountain peak suddenly flew up, shedding countless boulders that crashed to the ground with thunderous impacts.

“A Devouring Mountain Beast?” Seraphine exclaimed, drawing her natal weapon and lashing toward the monster’s gaping maw.

The golden-red flame whip struck the creature’s stone-like shell with a “BANG,” producing a dull metallic clang that left the Fire Rock Dragon dizzy and disoriented. If Seraphine hadn’t grabbed its horn and flown in another direction, Error would have fallen right into the Devouring Mountain Beast’s mouth.

I worked frantically to scan the beast into my spiritual creature database, letting out a shocked sound: “Giant turtle!”

The Devouring Mountain Beast was even larger than Luanyang Palace’s spirit ship, rock-colored all over with a shell, sharp claws beneath, a fierce head, and a snake-like tail. Its open mouth was as long as the Fire Rock Dragon’s entire body, and Seraphine’s attack had barely made it react.

Seraphine’s expression changed. She made the Fire Rock Dragon shrink and coil around her wrist, then rapidly descended into the forest and erected a barrier.

In the Devouring Mountain Beast’s eyes, the bird-sized human who’d attacked it vanished. It roared in fury, using its shell to ram nearby mountains. The earth shook as it literally broke a towering peak in half, sending countless boulders cascading down like a river, burying the forest below.

“Demolition,” I commented.

Seraphine shot me an irritated look for still making commentary, then quickly moved through the forest, dodging falling rocks.

“I was careless,” she said quietly. “This thing actually has mid-stage Golden Core cultivation!”

Right after entering the realm, we’d encountered such a powerful creature.

“As expected of a newly ascended realm,” Seraphine sighed, gripping her flame whip tighter and looking up through the branches at the giant beast circling in the sky.

Unable to find its prey, the Devouring Mountain Beast roared in frustration, relying on its hard shell to fly recklessly through the mountains. Its relatively thin tail occasionally swept across the forest canopy, instantly toppling trees like cutting wheat.

I looked at the eager Seraphine and asked: “Are you going to fight it?”

Without hesitation, Seraphine replied: “Of course!”

Since it was the first spiritual beast we’d encountered, of course we had to test ourselves against it.

“Devouring Mountain Beasts live near spiritual veins and eat spirit stones. After filling their bellies, they sleep on mountains to cultivate. A beast with this level of cultivation must have consumed countless spirit stones—there might be an unfinished spiritual vein nearby!” Seraphine’s eyes lit up with determination as she stared at the beast. “Besides the spiritual vein, its shell and bones are incredibly hard—perfect materials for crafting artifacts. Not to mention its Golden Core stage beast core.”

At the mention of beast cores, the Fire Rock Dragon poked its head out from Seraphine’s sleeve, looking at her excitedly.

Seraphine smiled: “Your mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation is naturally no match for it. Watch me take its beast core for you to consume—it’ll help you achieve Golden Core!”

Seeing Seraphine determined to take down the Devouring Mountain Beast, I naturally said nothing more.

Seraphine had Error find a hiding spot nearby—the Fire Rock Dragon’s cultivation gap was too large; approaching would be suicide. After Error hid, the cloud-like Devouring Mountain Beast overhead, unable to find the intruder in its territory, roared and flew back toward its previous resting place.

When it flew over the forest where they were hiding, Seraphine chose her moment and unhesitatingly flew toward the beast’s retreating form. For creatures this large with hard bodies, there were only two weak points: the eyes, and where the tail bone connected to the shell.

And Seraphine wasn’t even as large as the beast’s claws. She was a hundred times more agile than the massive, clumsy creature. Almost the moment she caught up, the Devouring Mountain Beast sensed her spiritual power and turned around.

Its tail thrashed wildly, but seemed incredibly slow to Seraphine. She nimbly dodged the incoming tail and landed on the rear of the beast’s shell, her flame-wreathed whip striking the weak point with a thunderous crack.

“ROAAAAAR!!”

The territorial overlord, used to roaming unchallenged, bellowed in pain, shaking the very mountains. Its fury spiked rapidly as it turned its head, but Seraphine had already moved from the shell’s rear to the front, this time sending golden-red flames toward its eyes.

The Devouring Mountain Beast’s mid-stage Golden Core cultivation wasn’t for show—it quickly closed its eyelids, and the flame whip only struck the lids like scratching an itch. Seraphine cursed internally as the beast opened its mouth and released sound waves in layers. She was forced to retreat, hovering in the air.

I circled around Seraphine, anxiety sweat beading in my status bubble.

In previous battles, I’d been parasitically linked to my host, sharing her senses. The scanned data and scenes couldn’t compare to witnessing this directly.

The sky-blocking giant beast was like a towering mountain, while Seraphine faced it with artifact in hand, her hair slightly disheveled but lips curved in a smile, eyes bright as she stared at the Devouring Mountain Beast like it was already dead.

Mountains shattered, devastation spread below like the aftermath of an earthquake.

Only the azure sky remained vast and distant, unfurling like a long scroll behind Seraphine.

A fire-wreathed phoenix phantom appeared, and as it spread its wings, Seraphine sneered and leaped forward with the phoenix.

Golden-red fire collided with ash-gray stone. Golden Core stage pressure rippled outward for miles, scattering wind and clouds in the aftermath, leaving not a single bird in the sky.

Fire and stone continued their relentless battle.

I watched, gradually forgetting to follow Seraphine. I hovered in the distance, completely absorbed in watching that flaming phoenix—so proud and beautiful, refusing to yield even when at a disadvantage, fighting the Devouring Mountain Beast with life-or-death determination.

Such an intense scene felt like being immersed in a movie, seemingly unrelated to me.

The silver-white system floating in the battlefield suddenly froze.

I extended my matchstick arm and placed it in the center of my round body, a question mark appearing in my status bubble.

A strange, unfamiliar feeling suddenly arose within me—unknown in origin but overwhelming, flooding through all my code.

“…”

This feeling was more shocking than my first taste of food, yet I hadn’t eaten anything. My inventory only contained a single-bite ice pop, and I hadn’t received any data packets from the main system.

“Why?” I asked myself. After checking all my code and finding no problems, I became even more confused, because the feeling hadn’t disappeared.

I spun twice in the air, watching Seraphine battle the Devouring Mountain Beast, long ellipses appearing in my status bubble.

The strange feeling… had started when I realized I was forced to remain on the sidelines during my host’s battle.

No side quests generated, no rewards I could offer Seraphine, no way for her to accumulate points in my shop. Even now, as she fought the beast, I could only watch from afar like this.

If I tried to communicate with her, it would break her concentration.

I was supposedly the most outstanding of all task-executing systems, the first to upgrade to advanced status. So why was I suddenly having these useless thoughts?

Why did advanced system task worlds have such rules? Was my task execution method wrong? If this was the setup, what was the point?

Data flowed through the silver-white system’s body as my glow gradually dimmed.

Unable to provide help to my host… how was I supposed to complete this task?

My round body sprouted a circle of question marks as I stared blankly ahead. The aftershocks of Seraphine’s battle with the Devouring Mountain Beast—falling rocks, flying flames—passed right through my body and struck the ground.

The movie’s spectator stared at the flames burning in the earth, my clear voice quietly stating: “Echo feels no temperature.”

In the distance.

The Devouring Mountain Beast had somehow been blinded in one eye by Seraphine, panting heavily but still full of fighting spirit. Seraphine looked slightly tired but her eyes were even brighter.

Human and beast locked gazes, their stares filled with life-or-death determination.

This battle raged from day to night, from night to dawn.

The surrounding area was completely devastated, no longer resembling the peaceful landscape of before. When golden-red flames pierced through the darkness, following the light of dawn to stab into the Devouring Mountain Beast’s eye and shatter its skull, the massive creature let out one final mournful cry before plummeting from the sky and crashing to earth, raising a dust cloud like fog.

I quickly flew to Seraphine’s side, managing to say: “Congratulations on your first victory, host!”

At least I could still do that much.

Seraphine’s weapon-holding arm trembled, her spiritual power completely drained. She gave me a confident smile and landed, preparing to store the beast’s corpse in her storage ring.

Just then, I froze and shouted: “Host, look out!”

The Devouring Mountain Beast, despite its shattered skull, wasn’t completely dead! Its long snake-like tail struck like lightning, whipping Seraphine hard. Her robes flared with protective light, but she was sent flying, only stopping when she hit a boulder.

“Host!” I flew to her side in a panic, anxiety filling my status bubble. “Are you okay?”

Seraphine had taken the unexpected blow completely off-guard, her black hair spilling down to cover half her face.

I saw a trickle of bright red blood flowing from the corner of her mouth, redder than her lip color.

I flew frantically left and right around her.

“Stop flying. You’re making me dizzy,” Seraphine said irritably, using the boulder to slowly stand up.

Even injured, she remained the proud and untamed Palace Lord of Luanyang Palace. Seraphine frowned, took out a handkerchief and impatiently wiped the blood from her mouth, then let her fingers relax. The blood-stained cloth fluttered down softly, consumed by flames before it could hit the ground, turning to ash that scattered in the wind.

Seraphine stood and tucked her fallen hair behind her ear.

I quickly floated up to stare at her face, seeing her complexion was pale but the blood at her mouth corner was even redder. I activated my scan halfheartedly, disappointment filling my status bubble.

“Echo cannot scan host’s physical condition. Cannot determine host’s status.”

The sole advanced system under the main system felt very frustrated at this moment.

Seraphine continued fixing her hair and makeup, glancing at me with my frantically bubbling expressions and saying mercilessly: “What can you do? I never counted on you to begin with.”

I fell silent, wanting to argue that I was “very useful and all my hosts gave good reviews,” but since entering this world, I really hadn’t done much.

But I really was useful.

In previous task worlds, I was practically my host’s guardian angel.

After recovering, Seraphine sat cross-legged, took medicine from her storage ring, and opened her eyes again after regulating her condition. Seeing me floating there all dim and gloomy, she smirked and said: “I don’t know what that beast ate, but it was truly formidable. If it hadn’t been for me, it probably would have broken through to late-stage Golden Core soon.”

“Its final attack was blocked by my robes, and I actually benefited from the misfortune. During battle, I pushed myself to the limit and my spiritual power circulation was disrupted—I almost had a cultivation deviation. That blow made me cough up the blood that was stuck in my chest.”

She described the dangerous battle casually, walking forward without looking back, her voice reaching my ears.

“But I am the Palace Lord of Luanyang Palace. From childhood, I’ve used the best artifacts, eaten the best pills, worn the best robes, and my storage ring contains countless treasures. If I couldn’t win even with all that, I’d be too sorry for my spiritual roots that let me cultivate to Great Perfection Golden Core stage!”

I paused for a moment, then gradually brightened as I floated back to Seraphine’s side. “Host, are you comforting me?”

Seraphine had just pulled out a long sword from her storage ring and froze at my question, giving me an indifferent glance.

What do you think?

I had a sudden realization: “You really are comforting me.”

“Thank you, host.” A bowing, grateful expression appeared in my status bubble as I said sincerely: “It would be better if you could be less subtle about it. It’s hard to figure out.”

Seraphine: “…”

“That’s because you’re stupid,” she said coldly, raising her sword and unhesitatingly striking at the Devouring Mountain Beast’s tail.

Even in death, the beast’s tail remained hard as iron. Seraphine remembered the grudge from that final tail-whip and, even though she didn’t have an artifact capable of cutting through it, she still struck it many times before finally driving the sword into the weak point where tail met shell. Only then did she feel satisfied enough to store the beast’s corpse.

Once the giant creature vanished, the area immediately brightened.

With destruction everywhere and battle scars throughout, Seraphine took flight, refusing to step on the debris for even a moment.

“Come on, let’s go to its lair and see what treasures it has!” Seraphine’s voice was rarely this excited.

I nodded. After the brutal battle, it was finally time for the treasure chest opening segment!

“Opening treasure chests… that’s an interesting way to put it.” We chatted as we flew.

The mountain cliff where the Devouring Mountain Beast had slept had a huge crack, previously hidden by its dangling tail like a scar across the mountain face.

Seraphine led the system down through the mountain entrance, flying underground. Before we even landed, rich spiritual energy hit us full force, and spirit stones that hadn’t been completely devoured were visible everywhere on the cavern walls.

The deeper we flew, the denser the spiritual energy became. The energy had even condensed into pearls hanging from the walls.

Seraphine’s eyes sparkled as she said: “By the looks of it, this spiritual vein still has more than half left unconsumed. No wonder it was willing to fight me to the death!”

“With spiritual energy this dense, this vein must be incredibly rich. It might have even generated a spirit heart!”

A spirit heart was the condensed essence of a spiritual vein—rare beyond measure. One spirit heart contained enough spiritual power to last Seraphine until late-stage Golden Core. If left underground, it would eventually generate an entirely new spiritual vein after many years.

Bubble-version me raised my matchstick in excited celebration, while real-world me used my cool, gentle voice to say flatly: “Opening treasure chests.”

Opening treasure chests!

Seraphine rushed forward, practically flying toward the depths of the spiritual vein. She could indeed sense extraordinary spiritual power fluctuations, but just as she rounded a cavern wall, she came face to face with a dark figure.

The person was still clutching a freshly chipped spirit stone, their hideously ugly face producing a panicked voice.

“Seraphine?”

The smile slowly faded from Seraphine’s face. Light flashed in her hand as her golden-red whip fell to the ground, flames flickering along its length.

She said coldly: “Xue Bufan.”

Nestled on Seraphine’s shoulder, I watched this standoff scene and felt completely unsurprised.

I pressed closer to Seraphine’s cheek, my tone extremely serious.

“Echo.”

[Author Notes]

💫 Just a friendly reminder: starting this Friday (July 18), the new update schedule begins!

We’ll be shifting to 4 chapters a week, updated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 10 AM Eastern.

I can’t wait to keep deepening Seraphine and Echo’s story with more room to breathe, build, and bloom. 🌸

💎 If you’d like to be up to 20 chapters ahead, you’re warmly welcome to join me on Patreon — there’s exclusive content waiting too!