Chapter 101: A Life Already Arranged
“You actually found it?” Su Wei and his pill furnace were both surprised. There were no pureblood Baize in the Nine Provinces—where did he get Baize Blood from?
Since he had obtained Baize Blood, he had to refine the pill immediately. If the blood lost its freshness, he wouldn’t be able to refine a Pureblood Pill.
Jiang Li took out a drop of Baize Blood, letting it float in his palm, wrapped in spiritual energy, before handing it to Su Wei.
Rubbing his hands in excitement, Su Wei had never refined a Pureblood Pill using Baize Blood before—it was a first in his lifetime.
“Step aside, let me do it!”
Just as Su Wei and Chiwu Furnace were about to begin, Jiang Li made the final call—Su Wei would refine the pill, and Chiwu Furnace would obediently act as a furnace.
Chiwu Furnace might have had better alchemy skills than Su Wei, but it was far too reckless. There was no telling what kind of weird pill it would end up producing. Jiang Li had just seen Su Wei’s young attendant kicking a Grand Nourishing Pill around like a ball.
For once, the system had been reliable enough to provide a drop of Baize Blood, and Jiang Li wasn’t about to let Chiwu Furnace ruin it by turning it into some bizarre concoction.
Jiang Li gave the order, and Chiwu Furnace dared not disobey. It resigned itself to fulfilling its role as a proper pill furnace.
A pureblood Baize had a unique ability—it could know anything that had ever happened within the Nine Provinces.
However, this ability had limited uses. Before reaching the Tribulation Stage, a Baize could only use it once. After the Tribulation Stage, it could be used three times.
Jiang Li wanted Baize Sovereign to become a pureblood Baize so she could locate the Celestial Immortal-level Outer World Demon.
There were many things Jiang Li wanted to know, but nothing mattered more than the Outer World Demon. Having a Celestial Immortal-level demon hidden within the Nine Provinces was like having a dagger pressed against his throat. Until it was dealt with, he could not rest easy.
The matter of the demon aside, just the existence of the Divine Repository Sect alone was enough to drag the Nine Provinces into demonic ruin and shatter its order.
And at the Celestial Immortal level, only Jiang Li and possibly Red Dust Fairy could be its match.
Refining a Pureblood Pill took seven days. Jiang Li simply had to wait.
On the sixth day, the system suddenly issued a task.
【New Mission: Night falls. You decide to bathe in the lake, but unexpectedly, a mysterious white-haired woman is also bathing there. The two of you see each other in full, scream in shock, and she, possessing unfathomable strength, intends to teach you a painful lesson. Avoid her punishment.】
【Task is not recommended for abandonment.】
【No rewards.】
【You may spend 500 Source Points for a system hint.】
【You may spend 50,000 Source Points for information on the mysterious white-haired woman.】
“Spend 500 Source Points.”
【System Hint: You can show her that you possess Baize Blood.】
“…Spend 50,000 Source Points.”
【White Xueling: Current Baize Sovereign, Soul Formation Stage. Her father was the previous Baize Sovereign, and her mother was a pureblood Qilin. Both were killed by Outer World Demons. Expressing your hatred for demons can increase her favorability.】
【Being a mixed-blood Baize, she is not acknowledged by demonic beasts. The Eight Vassal Kings refuse to obey her and have intentions of usurping the throne. Weakening the forces of the Eight Vassal Kings can increase her favorability.】
【She has been secretly poisoned by the vassal kings. The poison has seeped into her bones, rendering her strength nearly useless. The antidote is extremely rare. Providing her with a cure will increase her favorability. (System Hint: You can purchase it from the store.)】
【Refining a Pureblood Pill requires Baize Blood. Giving her Baize Blood will generate immense favorability. Providing her with a Pureblood Pill will make her like you.】
“……”
Jiang Li felt like 50,000 wild horses were stampeding through his mind.
No wonder the system had strongly suggested completing the previous task—it had all been leading up to this!
Was the system trying to turn his life into a dating sim?!
Jiang Li frowned. If he hadn’t known that giving White Xueling a Pureblood Pill would make her like him, then he would have had no qualms about doing so.
But now that he did know…
It felt wrong.
It made him feel as if White Xueling’s emotions were being manipulated—as if she were merely a tool within the system’s script.
For the first time, Jiang Li felt a trace of disgust toward the system.
There were two aspects to the system. One was the set of functions that provided immense convenience, saving him time and effort.
The other was the system’s pre-scripted missions—essentially an arranged timeline. If Jiang Li had followed the system’s guidance from the start, his life path would have been dictated by its plans.
He could already predict what would have happened if he had been weaker. At the Foundation Establishment Stage, he wouldn’t have been able to afford the 50,000 Source Points. But he could have afforded the 500, meaning he would have shown White Xueling the Baize Blood, earned her favor, and possibly developed a romantic entanglement with her.
And if things had played out that way, he wouldn’t have minded—after all, he wouldn’t have known about the deeper manipulation at work.
Jiang Li didn’t understand the true nature of the system, and he wasn’t particularly interested in finding out. It didn’t matter. He was already at the Mahayana Stage—the strongest in the Nine Provinces. The system no longer controlled his path. If worst came to worst, he could just ignore its tasks.
But what did bother him was the realization that the system wasn’t just trying to control him—it was also controlling others.
Even a person’s favorability toward him had been reduced to a numerical calculation.
He had pondered the nature of the system before and found no answers.
Even now, no answer came to him.
…
“Baize Sovereign, I have a question for you.”
Seven days later, Jiang Li arrived at the Baize Empire and sought out White Xueling.
Her snow-white hair cascaded behind her. She wore a short-sleeved top and a short skirt, her tall, elegant figure utterly captivating. Seated within a pavilion, she rested her hands atop her smooth, snowy thighs, gazing at the approaching Human Sovereign. The morning light filtered through her hair, giving her an almost ethereal, translucent glow, as if she had stepped out of a painting.
Unlike the conservative dress of humans, demonic beasts had a much more open culture. The Confucian Sect often criticized them for being “uncivilized,” but plenty of cultivators appreciated this untamed aspect of theirs.
“Speak, Human Sovereign,” White Xueling said, slightly surprised. She had interacted with Jiang Li many times, but it was rare to see him this serious.
“If I were to give you a Pureblood Pill and turn you into a pureblood Baize, would you fall in love with me?” Jiang Li asked directly, holding nothing back.
White Xueling blinked. When she realized what he was saying, her face flushed red. She huffed in mild anger, “Human Sovereign, that joke isn’t funny.”
“I’m not joking.” Jiang Li shook his head earnestly. He opened a small wooden box, releasing a rich medicinal fragrance that spread through the air.
Inside was none other than the Pureblood Pill—refined from Baize Blood!
This was the pill White Xueling had dreamed of obtaining. Yet instead of joy, she felt only anger at Jiang Li’s words.
“Are you saying you’ll only give me the Pureblood Pill if I like you?! You’re holding it hostage!”
“You misunderstand,” Jiang Li explained. “I heard that five hundred years ago, you were poisoned by the vassal kings and gravely injured. If, at that time, a little Foundation Establishment cultivator had seen your body and then presented you with a Pureblood Pill, would you have fallen for him?”
Jiang Li spoke as if he had witnessed it firsthand. White Xueling, seeing how serious he was, thought about it for a moment.
Finally, she sighed and nodded.
“I don’t know who told you that… But if it had truly happened that way, then yes—I probably would have fallen for him.”