Chapter 221: 221
Chapter 221 – A Cultivator"s Dream
November 30th .
At the city of Ganling, Sun Jian had sent his decree that they would dispatch their troops and attack Julu in spring . Even though they heard about the Imperial Army"s defeat at Liyang City, Sun Jian still insisted that they had to help the Emperor in this crusade .
As the army was in the preparation phrase, Sun Fang and Li Jing were sitting face to face in their courtyard . Their faces were as pale as a white sheet .
Li Jing returned to Ganling as Sun Fang had summoned her . They had many pressing matters which required her wisdom .
In these past months, Julu Army and Tong had caught them off guard by force marching and occupying Ye City under their noses . Furthermore, Tong even captured Liyang City and repelled back the Imperial troops before they could even react .
Their intelligence agents also sent back a piece of rough news about the movements in Shangdang and Jinyang . It appeared that there was another battle in the areas, but their eyes and ears could not reach that far as it was beyond their influence .
Then, last month, they managed to grasp the result of the war as they received a notification from the system .
Their soulmate quest had been completed!
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**Soulmate Mission**
Clear Condition: Dethrone Liu Ping or kill Zhang Jiao .
Failure Condition: Time limit exceeded .
Clearing Reward:
- 10 Shopping Tickets for completing the primary objective .
- 1,000,000 Lifespans for killing Zhang Tong, Hua s.h.i.+, w.a.n.g Li, or Liu Ping .
- 100,000 Lifespans for killing Zhang Jiao .
- 20,000 Lifespans for killing an enemy general .
- 20 Lifespan for killing each enemy soldier .
Time Limit: Midnight, December 31st, 190 A . D .
Mission Failure: Soulmate Contract will be nullified and one of you will die .
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It meant two possibilities from the completion of the quest . Either Liu Ping or Zhang Jiao had died from the battle .
Li Jing had confirmed the news with Sun Jian"s spies . It was not hard to figure that Liu Ping had died as Zhang Jiao was still alive in Julu .
Instead of being happy about the completed mission, they were angered by it as they could only get the useless shopping tickets as their rewards . Because they had not killed a single soldier after the quest had started, so there was no lifespan reward for both of them .
Today, another disaster struck them as the system suddenly wiped their skills .
The announcement from the system also followed after that, which was the reason for Li Jing"s pale faces .
She did not have enough lifespans to buy back her skills!
In addition, she had too many skills before the wipe . The feeling of her losses destroyed Li Jing"s morale and psych to the point that she could not regain their senses for hours .
"I should have known … I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! d.a.m.n IT, SYSTEM!!" Screamed Sun Fang .
Li Jing, on the other hand, was holding her head as if she had a headache . She had precisely a dozen skills in her a.r.s.enal, which was enough to destroy an army of a thousand men by herself even after the major nerf . Li Jing felt like she had lost everything .
She stared at the number of survivors . The number in the system menu, which used to be [10] after Liu Ping"s death, was now [3:7] . It was changed to [0:10] after the announcement, but the number flipped after a few minutes .
Li Jing did not like what she saw as she thought that it had a hidden meaning behind the number .
It did not take long that the number changed again . It was now [5:5] .
She lost her patience and questioned the system, "What is the number in the remaining survivor box? Why is it displaying like this?"
[It indicated the number of sinners with one or more skills and the sinners without a cheat skill . ]
Li Jing clenched her fists . She understood now that she and Sun Fang had fallen behind the other reincarnators . In terms of faction, they lost to Tong and his Yellow Turban . In terms of personal combat prowess and lifespans, she was not the top of the food chain .
The sense of crisis loomed over her, yet Li Jing did not give up .
"What can I do to increase my lifespans? Can I accept a mission or a soulmate mission without a skill?"
[No . ]
A simple answer from Lilim shattered Li Jing"s hope .
[But I see that you are desperate . I can give you a mission if you want to . In exchange, I will cancel your soulmate contract permanently, and you won"t be able to reform it . Will you accept it?]
"I accept!" Unhesitating girl as she was, Li Jing answered without waiting for Sun Fang"s approval .
Meanwhile, the other party watched his wife reneged their contract with a shocked expression .
"Wifey?"
He was busy checking his status when Li Jing decided to cancel their soulmate contract .
"Sorry, Fang . It"s for our future . "
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[Here is your mission . Thread carefully from now on . ]
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**Main Mission No . 20**
Clear Condition: Kill one otherworlder .
Failure Condition: Time Limit exceeded .
Clearing Reward: Regain one of your lost skills randomly .
Mission Failure: You will die .
Time Limit: End of December 31st, 190 A . D .
Tips: You can either use a.s.sa.s.sins or subordinates to kill an otherworlder for you .
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Li Jing received her mission with a grim look . She did not have any skill, but she had to kill an otherworlder which was impossible for her .
"Wifey? What did you do?"
After hearing her husband"s voice, a temptation stimulated her decision . An inspiration appeared in her mind as she glanced at her husband-in-name .
"Fang, do you have enough lifespans to buy back a skill?"
"Err, no? Why do you ask?"
"Nothing . Just asking . Say, can I sleep together with you tonight? I feel bad for marrying you, and we haven"t done anything yet . "
"… Okay?"
Receiving Sun Fang"s doubtful confirmation, Li Jing left him alone in the courtyard as she went to prepare herself .
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Sun Fang, however, did not look joyous or happy on this occasion . On the contrary, he frowned as he watched the leaving woman .
In the system menu, he had bought back his skill .
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**Status**
Name: Sun Fang
Age: 17
Lifespan: 1,337,213 Years
Shopping Pa.s.s: 10
*Skill List*
[Cultivator] LV . 5 (2,103,191/16,000,000)
- The host can absorb life essence from environments and the surroundings .
- The host can absorb life essence from materials .
- The host can absorb life essence from living beings .
- All absorbed life essence will be converted into lifespans or EXP of this skill .
- All attributes of the host are multiplied by 30 .
- The active skill [Self-Heal], [Qi Blast], [Flight], [Clone], [Qi s.h.i.+eld] will be applied to the host once the skill is equipped .
Skill Cost: None
Skill Upkeep: 5,000 Lifespans
Skill Restriction:
- The host has to sit cross-legs and meditate to cultivate .
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Sun Fang had more than enough lifespans to share with Li Jing . Although he shouted in frustration, he accepted his fate and bought back his primary skill, which contained other attached skills he needed .
This [Cultivator] skill was his lifeline . It could absorb the life essence of nature to increase either his lifespans or his skill EXP, which he diligently cultivated it in his free times .
A pity that before he could utter a word, Li Jing decided everything by herself without consulting him .
He wanted to protest and reform the soulmate contract with her again, yet he decided not to as he detected something from her .
A killing intent!
For some reason, Li Jing locked her killing intent on him .
In a reflex, when she asked him if he had gotten a skill back, he replied her with a "No . "
Sun Fang had probed her as he did not trust her at this moment .
Then she suddenly said she wanted to bed with him despite the fact that she had never slept with him even once in the past year .
Even a school grader could tell that something smelled fishy! It was so apparent that she planned to betray him at night!
Sun Fang shook his head in disappointment .
"Females are men"s downfall . From today"s onward, I shall concentrate on the cultivation and forget about my worldly desire . I shall pursue the immortality and ignore all worldly matters . This conflict and civil war don"t matter to me anymore . "
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**Main Mission No . 20**
Since you have a skill, living free is no longer an option for you . You will work for me as long as you are using the skills .
Clear Condition: Join Sun Jian in his campaign against the Yellow Turban .
Failure Condition: You did not partic.i.p.ate in this campaign .
Clearing Reward: 10,000 years of lifespans .
Mission Failure: You will die .
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A bitter smile appeared on Sun Fang"s face . Had he chosen not to buy back his skill, Li Jing probably would have killed him tonight . Since he had decided to regain his essential ability, he became a slave to the system .
No matter what choice he picked, the immortality goal with his [Cultivator] skill in this life was impossible .
Sun Fang closed his eyes and muttered, "Should I just commit suicide right now? Everything is as hopeless as it is . My wife somehow wanted to kill me, and the system also wanted to enslave me . What"s the point of living when I knew I"m going back to h.e.l.l after I died?"
"You are be hasty, youngster . "
A voice stopped Sun Fang thought .
Sun Fang stopped his thought and looked at the source of the voice . An old man in a Daoist robe was behind him .
Zuo Ci was doing his job, spreading his blood to the local cities in the northern regions . He accidentally heard Sun Fang"s complained and decided to encourage this young man .
"Who?"
"As your senior cultivator, I suggest you not giving up on yourself and your goal . True that you will be ordered around by the system for a while, but I guarantee you this . In the next 20 years, there will be a ma.s.sive change in this world again . That time will be your chance to break free from the system . Do not give up until then!"
Done with his advice, Zuo Ci flew away to another town, leaving the confused Sun Fang behind .
When Sun Fang came back to his sense, his gloomy thought had dissolved from his mind .
"There"s really a cultivator in this world …"
A new hope grew in his heart . Sun Fang clenched his fists . His dream was still possible as a cultivator existed . If that old man could speak in such a tone, then there might be a way for him to live free in the future .
Sun Fang took a deep breath to focus his mind .
"First, I have to solve a problem one at a time . Wifey, please don"t disappoint me . "