Chapter 77

Song Qingshi found himself back in that strange space once more.

This time, he was no longer the clueless soul he had been. Many questions needed answers here.

His Nascent Soul had disintegrated after being extracted, and his cultivation had plummeted to the Foundation Establishment stage. The injury to his abdomen was extremely severe—even the slightest movement could cause further damage. Fortunately, Song Qingshi was the best physician himself. He had made thorough preparations for all possible injuries. Calmly, he retrieved his tools, swiftly cleaned the wound, performed emergency sutures on the fatal injury with needle and thread, tightly bandaged it with an abdominal binder, and then consumed all the remaining medicinal pills.

After methodically handling everything, he finally approached the sphere that called itself the "System," only to find it on the verge of collapse. Chaotic energies surged outward, flashing between red and gold, with wisps of black smoke rising intermittently, accompanied by eerie, glitchy, stuttering noises like a failing hard drive.

Was the System breaking down?

Song Qingshi knocked firmly on the sphere, wondering if he could knock some sense into it.

Under the repeated knocking, the System stuttered for a long moment before the eerie sounds slightly subsided. Struggling, it displayed a message word by word: "Task executor Song Qingshi, mission failed. Penalty: -100 points. Total score: -135,100."

Song Qingshi had mentally prepared himself for failure, but his perfectionism still made him uncomfortable. Couldn’t it just give him a zero?

Suppressing his discomfort, he asked, "Where did I go wrong?"

The System stuttered in reply: "Wrong character saved. Wrong, wrong, wrong… A grave mistake…"

"A true scientist faces mistakes head-on and seeks the correct answer." After a moment of silence, Song Qingshi chuckled. "Since you believe I answered the question wrong, let’s trace the source of the error. Starting from the outcome, we’ll work backward step by step to find where I went astray."

The System’s malfunction worsened, rendering it unable to participate in the discussion.

So Song Qingshi began a self-dialogue:

"Only two beauties left a deep impression on me at the Golden Phoenix Manor. If Yue Wuhuan wasn’t the correct answer, then it must be Bai Zihao. Honestly, Bai Zihao’s beauty isn’t my type, yet my attention was drawn to him, and I felt a strong reaction. It’s like during an exam… when intuition hints at the answer?"

"Intuition comes from overlooked details—like how they praised Bai Zihao’s Pure Yin constitution and Water Single Spiritual Root during the banquet. Or the tragic romance and forced submission in the synopsis… Jin Feiren treasured Bai Zihao like a jewel but discarded Yue Wuhuan like trash… If there was no love between them, where would the tragic romance come from? Besides, Yue Wuhuan had no one to rely on—why would he need to be forcibly taken?"

"Many of Yue Wuhuan’s actions in private… I actually had an inkling."

"Yet I ignored the contradictions, hypnotized myself, and stubbornly insisted that Yue Wuhuan was a kind little angel, the protagonist uke in the mission."

"I chose blindness over facing the truth."

"When news broke of Jin Feiren and Bai Zihao becoming Dao companions, I could no longer deceive myself."

"I failed, I flunked… but I don’t regret it one bit."

"From the very beginning until now, whatever Yue Wuhuan wanted, I gave it all to him. Whether it was rare medicines, expensive cultivation techniques and treasures, pastries on the table or beautiful gemstones, my body or my feelings, my life or my freedom…"

"I willingly abandoned my principles as a physician, abandoned everything for him…"

"Was it just because he was a mission target, a patient?"

"What utter foolishness!"

…

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t treated other patients. Which patient ever received such treatment? How many years had An Long begged for a single vial of Purple Flower Dew, only to get beaten for his mischief every time?

What medical researcher wasn’t a seasoned veteran, learning through trial and error? How could he possibly fear failure or flunking? The reason he kept obsessing over "flunking" was because he couldn’t bear to associate the word "death" with Yue Wuhuan—so he used a softer word.

"Summarizing the above, the conclusion is…" Song Qingshi mocked himself. "I was blind to my own feelings, too slow to realize I had fallen for someone. From our first meeting by the river, that phoenix captured my heart, making me overlook everything else, willing to save only him…"

"One thousand three hundred fifty-one failures, -135,100 points—that’s the proof. No matter how many times I attempt the mission, I’ll always choose the wrong answer, save the wrong person." Brushing away his tears, Song Qingshi declared stubbornly.

"Because he is the error I willingly made!"

…

The System’s condition worsened, emitting more black smoke and strange, grating sounds.

When Song Qingshi first realized Yue Wuhuan wasn’t the protagonist uke, he had prepared himself to accept the System’s punishment at any moment. But after discovering the scroll and glimpsing the secrets of fate, he began to question whether the mission itself was flawed.

The System claimed this was a danmei novel?

Judging by the events at Golden Phoenix Manor, wasn’t this more like a vulgar adult novel?

Yet, every element of this world felt real. He had conducted so much medical research at Medicine King Valley—every experiment, every detail had to adhere to scientific logic.

He refused to believe that a novel fixated on salacious encounters would bother constructing such an expansive world framework. Nor did he think two people busy indulging in carnal pleasures could influence the world’s trajectory.

In reality, after Jin Feiren and Bai Zihao became Dao companions… nothing happened.

Was audience dissatisfaction really that cheap?

Applying methodical analysis, the more Song Qingshi analyzed, the more something felt off. Yue Wuhuan was such a beautiful, powerful phoenix—why was he targeted by the Heavenly Dao? In his repeated memories of death, he saw that no matter the world, the Heavenly Dao prioritized Yue Wuhuan far above any protagonist or mission, even abandoning missions just to drag him into the abyss.

He was clearly a key figure—how could he be reduced to a bullied or tragically killed expendable character or side character?

"I challenge this," Song Qingshi began examining the suspicious spherical System, trying to find an opening to peer inside and diagnose the malfunction. "I suspect you’re lying. This world is real. You’re not some novel transmigration system—you’ve merely glimpsed fate, foreseen fragments of the future, then fabricated a so-called story to select suitable souls and manipulate them under the guise of missions to fulfill your hidden agenda."

Yet, many things still eluded him…

Why had the System kindly helped restore his body after An Long killed him and returned his scattered soul fragments from another world? Why were his soul fragments split into two, becoming different task executors? Why didn’t the System provide more mission details, like the name of the protagonist uke? Why was the System malfunctioning…?

Driven by curiosity, Song Qingshi attempted to burn the sphere with Netherfire and Mystic Fire, causing minor explosions. But force couldn’t breach the shell. After several failures, inspiration struck—he treated the System like a patient, extending his Divine Sense into the sphere to see if anything alive resided within…

What he saw was beyond belief.

Beneath the System’s shiny surface wasn’t the mechanical structure he had imagined, but countless dark red, writhing tendrils, pulsating like some foul entity from the sewers.

Billions of strands of Golden Light of Merit gathered within, their pure, benevolent power forming golden chains that tightly bound the horrific form, sealing it layer upon layer, relentlessly battling to suppress its movements and block all information.

Golden and red forces battled ceaselessly.

Was this… the reason for the System’s malfunction?

As Song Qingshi observed the chains formed from Golden Light of Merit, a sense of familiarity washed over him. He reached out, releasing his Divine Sense. The golden chains seemed to recognize their master, drawing close affectionately before merging back with him, flooding his mind with an explosive deluge of information.

Pained tears streamed down.

Yet Song Qingshi couldn’t help but chuckle at his own foolishness.

So… all of this had been his own doing…

…

Every mission failure, the System would erase his memories.

One thousand three hundred forty-nine times—repeated failures, repeated erasures.

He had long forgotten who he was, why he undertook these missions, or his connection to the phoenix.

Yet every time he saw the phoenix, he couldn’t help but save him…

The System was the Heavenly Dao’s tool to control the world. Once the Heavenly Dao uncovered his purpose, it relentlessly increased mission difficulty. Exploiting his memory loss, it used the System to mislead and interfere, even eliminating him directly—turning his salvation of the phoenix into a hopeless task.

The phoenix's condition was worsening...

Intelligent, sensitive, fragile...

Anyone who approached with ulterior motives would never gain the phoenix's trust.

Finally, Song Qingshi summarized his mistakes and took a desperate gamble, deciding to abandon all rationality and attempt the butterfly effect theory—using irregular actions to influence a deterministic system. Within the tightly woven net of the system, he ripped open a breach, creating deviations that led fate into the unknown.

The system couldn’t erase his soul because he possessed vast reserves of Merit’s Golden Light.

Merit stemmed from karma—pure and virtuous, one of the few forces beyond the Heavenly Dao’s control.

Song Qingshi chose the realm of cultivation, where the phoenix’s power was strongest, and planted countless clues. Then, he severed a portion of his soul and heart, sending it into a simple small world for training. The other part of his soul and body remained in the realm of cultivation, focusing on cultivation to become the ideal vessel.

Once preparations were complete, the massive reserves of Merit’s Golden Light he left behind acted according to his instructions, infiltrating the system and causing errors. This successfully allowed his soul fragment to become a new agent, accepting the simple mission of saving the protagonist uke. Then, he suppressed all mission data, turning himself into a clueless rookie.

No task prompts, no system guidance, no interference, not a single distracting thought...

He would use his unwavering devotion to earn the phoenix’s complete trust.

The system noticed something amiss and resisted continuously, even using An Long to kill him. Fortunately, An Long didn’t strike hard enough to destroy his body, and the Merit’s Golden Light automatically repaired his wounds, placing his ignorant soul back inside.

He believed that on Langgan Platform, no matter who the protagonist uke was, he would always choose Yue Wuhuan and strive with all his heart to save him.

The butterfly effect meant anything could happen—perhaps a ripple, perhaps a tidal wave.

True fate should not be falsified, nor should it be dictated by an unjust Heavenly Dao.

Under the butterfly’s persistent fluttering, Yue Wuhuan’s fate finally underwent a subtle change. He went to a place he would never have gone, obtained the Crimson Vine he would never have acquired, and reclaimed a portion of his lost power... This was a fortunate twist that had never occurred before.

Song Qingshi wasn’t sure if he had succeeded...

But this was the closest he had ever come.

...

An Long possessed innate battle bones—he was a key pawn for the Heavenly Dao. To preserve this piece for the Heavenly Dao, the system overloaded itself, breaking through the Merit’s Golden Light’s blockade and defying cosmic laws to save him. As a result, it grew weaker, and glitches proliferated.

He had to capitalize on this chance to return to that world, find Yue Wuhuan again, and complete the final steps of salvation.

Song Qingshi attempted to manipulate the Merit’s Golden Light, infiltrating the system once more to actively choose a new task.

The corruption within the system detected his actions. Countless black threads swiftly oozed through the cracks in the golden chains—immune to touch, formless, unyielding—swarming over Song Qingshi in an overwhelming tide while emitting a terrifying hum: "Penalty for mission failure: activated. Erasing all memories of agent Song Qingshi."

The black threads invaded his soul’s consciousness, scrambling his memories.

Song Qingshi felt Yue Wuhuan’s figure fading, his face growing indistinct...

He desperately tried to control the Merit’s Golden Light but couldn’t stop the black threads’ invasion. Gritting his teeth, he abandoned direct resistance and instead attempted to cut off the corruption’s roots.

The two forces reached a stalemate, but the memories in his mind grew increasingly chaotic. Just as he was teetering on collapse, the system malfunctioned severely once more.

"Agent No. 081 failed. Agent Zhao Ye missing. Agent Zhao Ye missing."

"Agent No. 081 failed. Agent Zhao Ye missing. Agent Zhao Ye missing."

"Agent No. 081..."

Song Qingshi didn’t know who Zhao Ye was, but he noticed the system’s control had weakened significantly again. At the moment his memories were about to be destroyed, he channeled every shred of Merit’s Golden Light into the foul corruption, using the world’s purest light to shred all darkness—mutual annihilation.

The system exploded...

Space exploded...

Song Qingshi was plunged into darkness.

Important memories vanished, important people disappeared...

A myriad of missions materialized before him, each leading to a different world.

Instinctively, he reached out and tightly clutched the path to salvation...