My System, My Wife Feng Aotian [Transmigration] - Chapter 21.3

The Palace Mistress, her voluminous robes sweeping the floor, strode forward with regal dignity, clearly intending to walk back. As she passed the circular table in the outer chamber, Siyi pointed to the tall stack of books and said, “These were delivered today by disciples from Liyang Peak. To prevent you from getting bored on the way back, why not take them with you?”

Feng Jue glanced downward and pursed her lips.

How could stories on paper ever be as entertaining as a live performance? Having found something far more interesting, she felt no boredom at all. But Siyi… Feng Jue reached out, plucked a storybook from the table, and slapped it into Siyi’s hands.

“You should read more of these,” she said. “Your future disciple’s head is full of romance and love. As someone aspiring to be a Master, you need to read more storybooks to pull Xue Mengtao back from the sweet talk of men. That way, she won’t still be stuck at Qi Condensation by the time she’s twenty!”

With that, the peerless Palace Mistress, blessed with peerless talent and having reached the Great Perfection Golden Core Stage, swept out of the room, her fiery skirt billowing behind her.

Twenty-seven years of cultivation, currently in the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment, with a promising breakthrough to the Golden Core Stage. Yet Elder Siyi, like most cultivators in the world, had failed to reach Foundation Establishment by the age of twenty. She now stood, head bowed, staring at the storybook in her hands.

Speechless.

Feng Jue stood at the highest point.

The wind howled, whipping her hair into a frenzy. Golden and jade hairpins swayed, chiming melodiously.

Below the swirling clouds stretched the great river.

The river lay calm, embraced by the night, the moonlight gently caressing its surface. The water shimmered golden, chasing the reflection of the Spirit Ship gliding along the river.

Feng Jue’s gaze settled on the deck.

Among these rogue cultivators, the highest level of cultivation was only mid-stage Foundation Establishment. Feng Jue dismissed their daytime promises to assist Lanyang Palace disciples as mere wind. If a real opportunity arose, they’d likely fight over it until their heads bled.

Promises unsealed by the Heavenly Way were lighter than clouds, unable to bear even a shred of trust.

But Feng Jue didn’t care. She just wanted to silence Bai Fenghui. The White Water Sect could never gain even a fraction of an advantage through her.

The thought of Bai Fenghui’s pained expression, forced to comply, brought a fleeting satisfaction to Feng Jue, quickly dissipating like the wind. Her gaze settled on a corner of the deck where Xue Bufan sat.

But Feng Jue’s gaze remained fixed on the space above and slightly to the right of Xue Bufan.

Only she could see it: a silver-white orb, half the size of a palm, draped in moonlight, utterly motionless.

Even at a distance, Feng Jue could imagine the comical, round eyes of the silver orb fixed on her.

Her lips curled involuntarily, and another thought struck her.

03 isn’t motionless—it’s flying on its own.

“Pfft.” Feng Jue covered her mouth, letting out a soft chuckle. “Foolish thing.”

Her deep, graceful voice carried a hint of tenderness. The sound scattered across dancing strands of hair, carried away by the wind.

The silver-white system on the deck seemed to sense something. Out of habit, it initiated a scan. Compared to the previous scan, a new figure had conspicuously appeared among the visible crowd.

03’s energy surged.

Host.

Alive!

It flew swiftly to Feng Jue.

Feng Jue, a smile still lingering on her face, asked lazily, “What about the mission?”

03’s cool and detached voice perfectly conveyed its composure. “I monitored the entire time. After the protagonist sat down, he meditated without doing anything else.”

After a moment’s hesitation, 03 added, “The protagonist’s disguised face… it’s the most terrifying I’ve ever seen in my existence.”

How could a face be so horrifying that even a System finds it unacceptable? What kind of world is this?

Is this the world where Advanced Systems carry out their missions?

Terrifying.

Feng Jue was the person on the ship with the highest cultivation level. Even she couldn’t detect Xue Bufan’s disguise, proving that this man—or rather, the “Old Master” in his hands—possessed genuine skills. Feng Jue disliked such underhanded behavior and shot an irritated glance at Xue Bufan. But the moment she clearly saw his face, she froze, stiff for three seconds.

She quickly averted her gaze.

RawTranslated

Feng Jue: “……”

“You’ve suffered,” she said slowly, her voice heavy as she reached out to support 03, though the gesture was meaningless.

A bubble appeared above 03’s head, containing a weeping ball—the System Body. Its round eyes had become two lines, leaving behind blue, noodle-like trails. Its slender legs were knelt on the ground, and its matchstick hands clutched a small white handkerchief.

The image was even moving—the blue noodles dripped downward.

Feng Jue’s gaze was astonished. “What is this?”

It was more vivid and lifelike than any of the symbols 03 had shown her before, requiring no further interpretation.

Seeing she liked it, 03 replaced the image in the bubble with: 03 waving small handkerchief.gif.

“The Main System reviewed my work log an hour ago and sent me a set of emoticon data,” 03 said. Though it didn’t understand why reviewing its work log would result in receiving an emoticon pack based on its own image.

Feng Jue knew 03 kept work logs, but she had only ever seen the logs from when 03 was carrying out her tasks. Curious, she asked, “What did you write?”

03 opened a section of its work log for Feng Jue to see.

[Three hours ago]

[Work Log]

When did the System first distinguish between beauty and ugliness? I don’t remember having this capacity when I was first created. The faces of many previous Hosts were mere blank pages in my memory. I don’t know when I developed independent aesthetic judgment.

[Two hours ago]

[Work Log]

[Ugly.]

One hour and fifty-nine minutes ago

[So ugly.]

One hour and fifty-eight minutes and thirty seconds ago

Following human convention, I should now: Ugh.

One hour and fifty-seven minutes ago

So ugly

This mission is so difficult.

[Ugly… difficult… ugly difficult… ugly ugly ugly difficult difficult difficult…]

******

One hour ago.

[Habits are truly terrifying. I’ve accepted it. Here’s a System-shockingly ugly scan image of the protagonist in disguise, included with the work log.]

[A night to remember.]

03 pointed at the message with its matchstick-like finger. “I received new data after this log entry.”

A new emoticon created by the Main System, requiring no Points.

“Huh?” The silver-white System lit up, and two matchstick-like fingers clapped together.

03 exclaimed in surprise, “Has even the Main System been shocked by this ugliness?”

It turned to look down at Xue Bufan in the corner of the deck, a flicker of astonishment in its gaze.

To shock even the Main System with his ugliness—this protagonist was truly formidable!

Could it be that this protagonist possessed such power precisely because he was the protagonist of an Advanced System Mission World?

03 pondered the implications.

Feng Jue could no longer contain her laughter and chuckled, carrying 03 back to their quarters.

“You’re not monitoring the protagonist anymore?” 03 asked.

“No need,” Feng Jue replied.

“What about Xue Mengtao?”

“No need for her either.”

“All you need to do is come back with me and act out today’s scene—the encounter and what happened afterward—as usual,” Feng Jue said.

This was something it knew all too well.

And after today’s events, it had even developed new capabilities!

Just as it had enlarged Feng Jue’s portrait and overlaid it onto Xue Bufan’s face to refresh its memory, when 03 was summarizing Feng Jue’s story, it directly projected the protagonist’s face onto a sphere. Feng Jue watched in amazement, clapping and exclaiming in delight. She even produced a box of Spirit Pearls from her Storage Ring and placed it before 03.

One hundred middle-grade spirit stones exchange for one upper-grade spirit stone, and one hundred upper-grade spirit stones exchange for one spirit pearl. This single box contained hundreds of them.

“Take it. It’s a reward,” Palace Mistress Feng declared grandly.

03 reappeared with dark circles under its eyes, both the System Body and the thought bubbles above its head clasping their hands together.

Bye, bye! Thank you for the tip, boss.

If it were 019, it would have loved this method of making money. But the rational 03 nestled deeper into the Spirit Pearls, silently acknowledging the Host’s generosity.

Feng Jue chuckled softly, producing a brand-new Storage Ring. Embedded in the ring was a dazzling gemstone, resembling yet not quite like a diamond, its facets shimmering with iridescent light. She transferred the box of Spirit Pearls into the new Storage Ring, then slipped it onto her left ring finger.

“From now on, this Storage Ring will only hold your things,” Feng Jue said, raising her hand adorned with the new ring and tapping 03 with her index finger.

The pale fingertip sank into the silvery light, enveloped by flowing data, flickering in and out of view within the silver glow.

“Work hard to please me, and I’ll give you anything you desire,” Feng Jue said softly, her voice carrying a smile. “Even filling it with Spirit Pearls would be acceptable.”

Moonlight streamed through the window onto the wooden floor. Outside, sparse stars raced across the sky, but the moon remained fixed in its serene radiance. The moonlight outside was pure and luminous, while the quiet lamplight inside illuminated Feng Jue’s face, softening her usual arrogant demeanor into a gentle smile.

03 stared at Feng Jue’s face, and a bubble appeared above its head. Feng Jue watched intently. After a long moment, 03’s image materialized within the bubble.

The System Body, with its two matchstick-like legs, remained motionless. But within the bubble, the miniature System began to ponder.

“I don’t need these things,” 03 said. “And I can’t even touch them.”

As it spoke, it settled onto Feng Jue’s palm, its slender arm reaching out to touch her fingers.

The matchstick-like legs passed through the shimmering Storage Ring, piercing through her knuckles.

“The Host doesn’t need to promise me anything, nor does the Host need to give me anything. I want to change the Host’s fate, but this is a mandatory task that requires the Host’s cooperation, and I will always serve the Host.”

03 said.

Therefore, this is a meaningless act.

Feng Jue blinked, her long lashes hiding her eyes from the moonlight. Only the faint glow of the System illuminated her pupils. She pondered for a moment before saying, “Although this shouldn’t be said by this Palace Mistress, everything in the world must have some meaning.”

“If something inherently has meaning, then every word and action must have a cause, an effect, a principle, and evidence. This is the Heavenly Dao.”

The bubble above 03 continued to ponder.

Feng Jue glanced at it and clicked her tongue impatiently. “Why are we discussing such grand principles? Putting that aside, this Palace Mistress simply wants to give you this. I want to give it to you, so just accept it.”

The Silver-White System’s gaze settled on Feng Jue’s left ring finger.

Nothing’s coming through.

Feng Jue asked, “Didn’t you say you had many hosts before, and none of them ever gave you anything?”

03 shook its head.

It only needed the host’s cooperation to complete tasks, and all previous hosts had fulfilled their duties.

Feng Jue curled her lips, tilted her chin, and drawled lazily, “Today, this Palace Mistress will be the first to give you something!”

She raised her hand, aligning the ring on her ring finger with the bubble-topped little system. Her eyes gleamed, her tone leaving no room for argument.

“03, this Palace Mistress is entrusting this ring to your care for now. Keep this gesture in mind, no matter what happens in the future. Remember that this was given to you by this Palace Mistress, and to you alone.”

“I swear this upon the Heavenly Dao. Just remember me, alright?”

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