Seraphine knew what she was about to face, but when she actually opened the storage ring and saw everything packed inside, she still couldn’t help but gasp.

As the Palace Lord of Luanyang, Seraphine only used the finest things. Her storage ring was no exception—large enough to hold an entire Luanyang Palace. This ring had passed back and forth between her and Echo, and now it was back on her hand.

Seraphine silently removed the ring and tossed it to Echo, saying calmly, “It looks heavy. I don’t want to wear it.”

Those mountains and veins of treasure were putting enormous pressure on her.

I slipped the ring back on and patted her hand reassuringly. “I’ll hold onto it for you. I know you won’t like what’s inside anyway.”

Then I turned to Qiu Shuangshuang with helpful clarification: “Seraphine prefers pretty things.”

Seraphine: “……”

Qiu Shuangshuang stared at Echo with wide, curious eyes, practically vibrating with the need to know what “unpretty” treasures could possibly be in there. Dustless Gold wasn’t pretty? It was gorgeous! So beautifully black and shiny!

Before Echo could elaborate on her treasure-sorting philosophy, Seraphine cupped Echo’s face in her hands, forcing Echo to look at her directly. “Don’t spread rumors,” she said firmly. “I don’t dislike anything you give me. I love all your gifts. I just want you to keep them safe for me.”

I nodded and started dragging the shell full of Dustless Gold toward the storage ring. That’s when Seraphine made a curious sound and grabbed Echo’s wrist.

“Wait.” She released a pulse of spiritual energy, levitating the massive shell so she could examine it properly.

The shell’s surface was mottled and ancient-looking, covered in strange protrusions that sparkled with silver, white, gold, and purple spots. Even in shadow, it gleamed with shifting depths of light.

“……Is that a Glazed Dragon Shell?” Seraphine breathed.

Qiu Shuangshuang perked up instantly.

In this world, anything with “Dragon” or “Phoenix” in the name was either complete trash or absolutely priceless. Glazed Dragon Shells fell firmly in the latter category—ancient spirit beasts that lived in the deepest ocean trenches, practically impossible to find. Their shells alone were worth fortunes and perfect for crafting high-grade magical artifacts.

“Oh yes!” I said cheerfully. “Error and I got stranded on this island, and we found it in a cave. Glazed Dragon Shells are supposed to produce pearls, so I pried it open expecting treasure, but there was nothing inside. Very disappointing. So we just roasted the meat and shared it for dinner.”

Both Error and Echo tilted their heads back with blissful expressions, remembering that meal.

Seraphine: “……”

Qiu Shuangshuang: “……”

“What kind of life does Master live?” Qiu Shuangshuang muttered. “How does she find treasures everywhere she goes?”

Big treasures, at that!

“Was it good?” Seraphine asked with raised eyebrows.

I shot her an enthusiastic thumbs up. “Seafood is best when it’s fresh! Seraphine, if we ever get to the coast, I’ll find you a nice dragon shell and cook it on the spot!”

Echo’s eyes lit up more than usual when talking about food. Seraphine smiled softly at Echo’s enthusiasm. “Alright, I’ll look forward to it.”

As Echo tucked the Glazed Dragon Shell and Dustless Gold into the storage ring, Seraphine teased, “I’m impressed you managed to kill all these spirit beasts and organize them so neatly by size and type.”

I waved dismissively. “That’s nothing. Should we continue?”

Seraphine’s smile froze. Continue?

Oh, we were just getting started.

Flower after flower of brilliant colors. Gem after gem that sparkled like captured starlight. Plump, perfect fruits that ranged from legendary heavenly treasures worth kingdoms to humble specimens that simply smelled amazing.

A rainbow of gifts spread across the grass in an increasingly ridiculous display.

Qiu Shuangshuang drooled openly as she helped stack a rolling fruit back onto its pile.

“Wow!” She stared at Seraphine, who was practically buried in flowers and jewels. “Mas—I mean, Palace Lord! You’re absolutely radiant! Glowing with treasure-light!”

I clapped enthusiastically. “She’s glowing at me!”

Seraphine let out a soft laugh and picked up a flowering branch, sweeping her long hair up and tucking the flowers behind her ear. She snuck a glance at Echo, and when she saw Echo was watching intently, her cheeks flushed with a mix of shyness and satisfaction.

“How do I look?” she asked with a small hum of pleasure.

I began reciting dramatically: “In the realm of twin dragons, there lives a beauty beyond compare, standing alone in the world.”

Seraphine’s lips curved upward, but before she could respond, they heard a strangled sob from nearby.

Qiu Shuangshuang was tearing up, wiping her eyes pathetically. “Please don’t mind me,” she sniffled. “I’m just moved by Master’s poetic soul!”

……

Oh no. Seraphine’s expression went carefully blank.

Getting called “Master’s wife” twice had been fun while it lasted, but she’d forgotten that Qiu Shuangshuang’s brain wasn’t fully developed yet.

“Let’s pack everything up,” Seraphine said with forced calm. “We can admire it all properly once we’re outside.”

“Right!” I obediently began storing everything, adding helpful notes to my inventory system.

—(Seraphine was very satisfied)

With their heartwarming and poetic reunion complete, Seraphine stood and gazed toward the city that still hadn’t disappeared.

This place was real. Thinking about the few words the soul remnant had left behind before fading away, Seraphine unconsciously touched her cheek, her expression thoughtful.

“Follow me into the city.” she decided.

“Okay!”

I beamed at her, then remembered something important. “But first, I need to find Nine Heavens’s scabbard. I kind of…… threw it somewhere when I drew the sword earlier.”

In the heat of battle, I’d carelessly tossed the scabbard aside and completely lost track of where it landed.

Seraphine sighed, clearly used to this by now. “You’re so careless with these things. Speaking of which, haven’t you formed a soul-bond with Nine Heavens yet?”

“Oh!” I had a moment of realization. Cultivation novels always had this step, didn’t they? If I bonded with the sword, maybe next time I lost the scabbard I could just summon it back!

What an amazing cultivation world!

One system was deeply impressed with the magical possibilities.

“Master, leave this to your disciple!” Qiu Shuangshuang puffed out her chest. “You’ve been traveling non-stop since the Golden Jade Tower without any rest. Why don’t you take a break here?”

“I’m not tired.” I said automatically.

When I was a system, rest wasn’t even a concept. Now that I was human-shaped, I still didn’t need sleep. Data life forms didn’t require downtime!

But Seraphine’s eyebrows lifted with interest. “I’m rather tired, though. I’d like to rest for a bit. Will you stay with me?”

Absolutely!

I was worried about Seraphine getting randomly teleported away by another jade token. If I had any points left, I’d buy a tracking device to stick on her immediately.

Not knowing Echo’s paranoid thoughts, Seraphine didn’t pull out her jade house. Instead, she produced a hammock and strung it between two peach trees, settling onto it gracefully.

She looked down at the hammock’s woven pattern and said softly, “Come up.”

I examined the hammock with interest before carefully squeezing in beside her. Our bodies pressed together in the narrow space—hands touching, legs intertwined. I tilted my head back to look up through the leaves.

The peach trees had been growing in this secret realm for who knows how long, thick and lush and vibrant. Dense foliage rustled in the breeze, and scattered sunlight filtered down through the gaps, creating a shifting pattern of bright spots dancing in the green canopy.

I should pick extra peaches before we leave, I thought contentedly, breathing in the sweet fragrance and remembering the juicy fruit I’d eaten earlier. A little flower emoji practically bloomed in my head.

I felt Seraphine shift beside me and glanced down.

Her eyes were closed, her cheeks faintly flushed—whether from sunlight or something else, I couldn’t tell.

She pressed her forehead against my shoulder and curled up slightly, most of her body weight resting against me.

The hammock swayed gently from side to side. I stroked her hair soothingly and closed my eyes too.

Systems don’t sleep.

By noon, Qiu Shuangshuang had returned with the recovered Nine Heavens scabbard in one hand and the Water Dragon’s Hymn slung over her shoulder. She tiptoed up to the peach trees and peered at the hammock.

Both figures had their eyes closed.

As Qiu Shuangshuang blinked up at them with that “my master and master’s wife are so happy together” expression, the red-robed, black-haired woman quietly opened one eye, smiled, and pressed a finger to her lips.

Shh.

What was happening?

A silver orb-system floated through the colorful cosmos, deep in thought.

I remembered that before going to the System Realm with the Main System, we didn’t drift around like this. We used to just stay quietly in one place.

The universe blazed with brilliant light, but it couldn’t penetrate our bodies. We were higher-dimensional beings born from cosmic energy—as long as the universe existed, systems could absorb its ambient energy to survive.

I opened my mouth and took a couple of experimental sips of the drifting energy. Golden streams flowed into my round mouth, but I couldn’t taste anything.

Bored, I closed my mouth and let my four matchstick limbs flutter in space.

Where was Seraphine?

Where was the System Realm?

The moment I thought this, a long crack split open beneath me. I fell through the sensation of weightlessness and landed on a street.

Sleek silver starships flew overhead through a high-tech cityscape. A pretty little girl came bouncing past and waved at me excitedly.

“Who are you?” I asked curiously.

The little girl opened her mouth and spoke in perfect three-and-a-half-year-old speech: “I’m System 019! Echo, did you lose your memory?”

“Oh my god! Everyone in the System Realm is working super hard on missions now. Everyone’s been upgraded except you—you’re the only system that hasn’t leveled up! You need to work harder or you’ll only get the lowest-tier assignments!” System 019 said worriedly, pulling out two enormous glow sticks and waving them rhythmically to cheer Echo on.

I turned into a shocked, vacant orb watching 019 dance away. When I spun around in panic, the street suddenly transformed into white jade flooring and the city became a magnificent golden palace.

Elegantly dressed palace attendants stood along both sides. The scene was very familiar—I quickly looked up, but instead of Seraphine on the high throne, there sat a large golden orb-system.

“Echo, you’ve disappointed me terribly,” the Main System said in a stern voice. “Your mission has failed again!”

Again!

Red exclamation marks popped up over my head like alarm bells. The palace attendants all raised their heads in unison, speaking with familiar voices.

“Oh Data God, how did Echo fail another mission?”

“Shut up! If it wants to fail, let it fail! Why should systems always have to succeed at missions?”

“But Echo has no points left from failing missions! There are no other bare-bones little systems like this left in the System Realm!”

“Sigh.”

“Let’s try to help it out, for the sake of our batch-mate friendship.”

I turned gray with despair as the Main System shook its head and declared: “I have a plan to save you!”

Hope flared in my core as I stared up at the Main System.

The big golden system rose like it was ascending a throne, spreading its matchstick arms wide: “Ten thousand outfits, descend!”

Instantly, countless tiny clothes rained down from the ceiling—all perfectly sized for orb-systems. I curiously picked up a little dress as the Main System announced: “Main System brand clothing, blessed by the Data God! Wear these and you’ll be safe no matter what!”

I stared in disbelief. “Main System, I don’t have any points.”

The Main System produced a small flyer with a cheerful smile: “No points? No problem! Have you heard of System Loans?”

This definitely wasn’t the real Main System!

Danger! System self-preservation protocols activated!

I bolted, countless flying outfits chasing after me. But I was super agile—with a “heave-ho!” I leaped over the threshold, and the palace immediately transformed into a beautiful garden.

I found myself standing in a covered walkway.

Jade wind chimes tinkled under the eaves. Green bamboo swayed in the corners. A flower trellis nearby drooped with purple wisteria blossoms, and from beneath it emerged a breathtakingly beautiful woman with dark, piercing eyes.

I sighed with relief and flew over quickly. “Seraphine!”

“Who are you?” Seraphine asked with a blank expression. “Do we know each other?”

Panic crashed through my core like tsunami waves. I flew up to her and started doing frantic calisthenics. “I’m Echo! I’m supposed to do missions with you and change your fate!”

“Oh, I think I remember something like that,” Seraphine said slowly. “But that was a very long time ago. I found a way to complete the mission.”

Her face showed no emotion, her eyes vacant and hollow. “I switched to cultivating the Ruthless Path.”

I was shocked. In all the mission plots I’d experienced, no one had ever successfully cultivated the Ruthless Path!

“Seraphine, did you really succeed?” I asked in amazement.

“Of course.” She pointed at herself. “Look at my face.”

Her expression was completely flat. “The Ruthless Path means never smiling.”

“The Ruthless Path also means never remembering you.”

With that, Seraphine walked past Echo with cold indifference. With a poof, she transformed into a small phoenix the same size as a system and flapped away into the endless night without looking back.

I panicked completely. “Seraphine!”

I opened my eyes.

Then immediately squeezed them shut again.

So bright.

Sweet peach fragrance filled the air. The breeze still swayed the branches, and bright sunlight continued filtering down through the gaps between leaves.

Warmth from another person soaked through thin fabric and into my skin without reservation. I looked down to see Seraphine—definitely not transformed into a little phoenix-orb.

The woman with flowing black hair was still leaning against me, completely absorbed in reading a novel, her lips occasionally curving upward.

From my angle, I could see her long, thick eyelashes fluttering up and down like dancing butterflies.

Suddenly, I reached out and cupped her chin, making her look up at me.

Caught off guard, Seraphine’s eyes widened with a flash of pure innocence. After meeting Echo’s gaze, she pressed her lips together, then let them curve into a lazy, contented smile.

“Still sleepy?” she asked warmly.

“Didn’t you say systems don’t sleep?”

I completely missed the teasing in her voice, my mind filled with relief: “Thank goodness!”

I reached out with both hands and cupped her face, squeezing gently as I let out a huge sigh of relief. “Seraphine looks so much better when she smiles!”

Oh my god, I’d actually dreamed! Systems could dream! What a terrifying nightmare that had been.

As I thought about it, I kept squeezing her face, as if trying to push out all my lingering fear. But I was squeezing Seraphine’s face, and another thought occurred to me: Wow, Seraphine’s face is really soft!

The soft-faced Seraphine endured this for exactly five seconds before her expression darkened and she raised the novel in her hand.

Bonk.

“Ow!” I clutched my head.

Seraphine’s cheeks were flushed red as spring flowers, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she looked down at Echo haughtily.

“Idiot!”

[Author’s Note]:

Work Log …

System had its first time sleeping—and even dreamed! It was kind of scary… Hopefully the Main System can be a good system.

Main System’s reply: ?