Chapter 486: Frustrated by His Lack of Ambition
The Idle One Jiang Li gasped for breath after being thrown aside, his heart still pounding with fear.
For just an instant—a single moment—he had thought he was going to die.
“Look at what you’ve become. Lazy, incompetent, mediocre, with nothing but empty strength.”
“What do you have besides the system?”
“If the system were given to anyone else, even to Jiang Yixing, Jiang Yixing could stage a comeback and become the Human Sovereign. So what exactly do you have to be proud of?”
“Everything you have was given by the system.”
“And what about your identity as a transmigrator? What use is that? Have you used any knowledge from before your transmigration to change the Nine Provinces even one bit?”
“You’re a human being, a living person with independent will, not the system’s puppet!”
“If the system had malicious intentions toward you, how would you resist?”
Jiang Li was frustrated by his lack of ambition.
The Idle One Jiang Li retorted defiantly, “Why would the system have bad intentions toward me? When I first transmigrated, I was only at mid-stage Qi Refining—what value did I have worth exploiting?”
Jiang Li said coldly, “Now you do.”
The Idle One Jiang Li felt as if struck by lightning.
Jiang Li wanted to say more, but seeing the Idle One’s bewildered expression, he knew the other still hadn’t realized the core issue.
No amount of talking would help.
“When you first transmigrated and were useless, trusting the system was understandable. But what about after you reached the Mahayana Stage? After you stopped doing system tasks? Look at all this nonsense you’ve been doing.”
“You think you’ve broken free from the system’s control, but in reality, your character has already been ruined by the system.”
“Further words are useless. You’d better take care of yourself.”
Jiang Li no longer wanted to speak with the Idle One Jiang Li—it was purely a waste of breath.
He looked at Holy Maiden Jingxin and the others who held affection for the Idle One Jiang Li and sighed quietly to himself.
From their earlier conversation, he had learned that Holy Maiden Jingxin was captured by demonic cultivators shortly after descending the mountain for the first time, and the Idle One Jiang Li had saved her.
This was similar to his own experience, but the follow-up differed—he had only treated Holy Maiden Jingxin as an ordinary friend, while the Idle One had treated her as a girlfriend.
Then there was Yu Yin. During a secret realm exploration, Yu Yin was poisoned with a aphrodisiac toxin, and the Idle One Jiang Li had used his own body to neutralize the poison, creating an ambiguous relationship between them.
Yu Yin had originally wanted to distance herself from the Idle One Jiang Li, but in subsequent system tasks, especially the special mission “Path of the Human Sovereign,” the system always arranged for them to meet.
As meetings accumulated, and since the Idle One was the man who took Yu Yin’s first time, Yu Yin gradually developed feelings for him.
The processes through which other female cultivators established relationships with the Idle One Jiang Li were largely similar. How much of this was orchestrated by the system, and how much was due to the Idle One’s promiscuous nature—Jiang Li, as an outsider, couldn’t say for certain, and he felt the Idle One himself probably didn’t know either.
The thought that some romantic relationships might have been calculated by the system gave Jiang Li an uncomfortable feeling.
Jiang Li broke through the dream realm and returned to the Nine Provinces.
…
After Jiang Li left, Yu Yin and the others hurried forward to check on the Idle One Jiang Li’s injuries.
Jiang Li had moved too quickly—they hadn’t even reacted before he had finished beating the Idle One and left the dream realm.
“Jiang Li, how are you?” Holy Maiden Jingxin asked with heartache.
The other women felt similarly, but Yu Yin slightly frowned and asked, “Why did he choke you? What did you talk about?”
The Idle One Jiang Li looked at the women’s worried, pained expressions and Yu Yin’s calm yet slightly concerned face, wanting to tell them about the system’s existence.
But just as he was about to speak, what came to mind wasn’t the system’s punishment, but rather worry about how the women would view him.
If all their meetings had been arranged by the system—the very foundation of their relationships—would the women feel deceived? Would they leave him because of this?
The Idle One Jiang Li didn’t dare to continue this line of thought. He was finally beginning to understand what Jiang Li had said.
Everything he had was given by the system. He seemed to have stopped doing system tasks and broken free from the system’s control, but in reality, he could never escape the system’s shackles.
“It’s nothing, we just had a minor disagreement. You should all go back. I want to be alone for a while.”
The women could see the Idle One Jiang Li was deeply troubled. Instead of saying things like “tell us your difficulties so we can help together,” they obediently left one after another, returning to reality.
The Idle One Jiang Li began pondering how he could break free from the system’s constraints.
“What’s this?” The Idle One Jiang Li suddenly discovered two massive arrays appearing in his mind.
“Could this be… the Nine Provinces World Protection Array? And what’s that other array constructed from spiritual plants?”
The Idle One Jiang Li knew this was something the other had left for him.
To leave two arrays in his mind without him noticing—the Idle One couldn’t imagine how vast the gap was between their power levels.
Just as the Idle One Jiang Li continued contemplating his life, the dream realm shook violently, and a figure similar to the previous one appeared.
Unlike Jiang Li, this figure wore dark robes and had an expression full of arrogance and defiance.
“Where is Human Sovereign Jiang Li? This emperor challenges you.”
The First Emperor had entered the dream realm again. He believed becoming stronger wasn’t just about accumulating cultivation, but more importantly about gaining combat experience.
And what better way to accumulate combat experience than fighting another version of himself?
Since they were in the dream realm, even the most severe injuries wouldn’t be fatal.
The First Emperor had already decided—he would fight a hundred battles, lose a hundred times, continuously grow, and ultimately surpass Human Sovereign Jiang Li!
He didn’t just want to become the strongest in his world—he wanted to become the strongest across all parallel worlds!
“You’re also Jiang Li?” The First Emperor saw the Idle One Jiang Li’s lethargic appearance and didn’t think he looked like a strong fighter.
No, he shouldn’t think that way—when he first met Human Sovereign Jiang Li, he also thought the other looked easy to bully, only to end up being the one beaten.
Perhaps this Jiang Li was the same.
“Whatever. Let’s fight.” Without another word, the First Emperor attacked first and asked questions later.
“Why are you so weak?”
…
The Idle One Jiang Li’s eyes snapped open as if a drowning person had been pulled ashore, his expression that of someone who had narrowly escaped death.
His body was covered in wounds—this was the dream realm’s feedback on reality.
In the dream, he had been brutally beaten by a Jiang Li with similar power but far superior combat awareness, leaving him feeling deeply unjust.
If being beaten by Jiang Li could be explained by their difference in cultivation level, then being beaten by the First Emperor…
“How many areas do I really need to improve?”
The Idle One Jiang Li flew toward Sumeru Mountain, wanting to consult Venerable Sumeru Buddha.
Although Venerable Sumeru Buddha was the High Priest of the Shenzang Cult and responsible for the deaths of nine million people in Tianyuan Imperial City, the Idle One Jiang Li remembered how the venerable had helped him numerous times during his growth, acting as half a teacher. Additionally, since the venerable had repeatedly fought against Outer Realm Demons with illustrious military achievements, the Idle One couldn’t bring himself to deliver the killing blow. Feeling that merits and faults offset each other, he had spared the venerable’s life, allowing him to remain as master of Sumeru Mountain, on the condition that he never speak of the Shenzang Cult affairs.
The other members of the Shenzang Cult, however, had been completely eradicated by the Idle One Jiang Li—not a single one remained.
“Venerable One, what exactly are parallel worlds?”