Chapter 2#
Golden Finger Evolution +1 (Bug)#
Xi Ling pulled Yue Ku to sit on the bed, then opened the Plane Trading System, tapping the light screen with her finger.
Yue Ku followed Xi Ling’s movements and looked over, but saw nothing.
Just then, a strange, emotionless sound, like the clash of weapons, rang out in Xi Ling’s soul.
【Detected a person with great fortune nearby. Proceed with system update?】
Xi Ling was startled for a moment and subconsciously asked, “What’s the benefit?”
Yue Ku: “?”
Curious, but kept quiet.
The strange sound continued echoing in Xi Ling’s soul.
【After updating and installing the new plugin “Quest System,” you can accept tasks released by the system, earn more points, and use them in the system mall.】
【Experience the specific content of the tasks immediately after the update is complete.】
【After successfully installing the plugin, the host can select an assistant to help complete tasks. The assistant can see the system light screen and, with the host’s permission, briefly operate it.】
Xi Ling raised an eyebrow.
Seems tailor-made for him and Yue Ku?
Whatever.
Xi Ling: “Update.”
【System updating, please wait for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.】
Xi Ling turned her head and met Yue Ku’s curious eyes.
She took Yue Ku’s hand and said softly, “I was possessed by someone last night.”
Yue Ku’s eyes instantly turned ferocious.
A terrifying aura exploded!
“Clatter, bang, crackle, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—”
Every fragile object in the room shattered and fell to the floor, fragments flying everywhere.
Yue Ku: “…”
Xi Ling quickly squeezed Yue Ku’s hand, noticing his fingers were ice-cold, and warmed them.
Yue Ku’s restless energy gradually calmed down.
The air began to flow again.
Only after rubbing Yue Ku’s fingers back to warmth did Xi Ling gently console him, “Don’t be angry, Brother Aku. I just ate something unpleasant; there was no danger.” She curved her lips into a smile. “I’ll tell you the whole story slowly, alright?”
Yue Ku rarely said “no” to her, and this time was no different.
He agreed, leaning his forehead against Xi Ling’s brow, and said, “I caught a White-Horned Spotted Ox.”
Xi Ling’s eyes lit up slightly. “Delicious.”
Seeing her happy, Yue Ku finally forced the surging fury deep into his eyes.
Just then, Xi Ling looked around.
The floor, walls, and ceiling were all embedded with chaotic fragments.
It was truly riddled with holes, a complete mess.
Only the bed and a few boxes in the corner remained intact.
Xi Ling slowly released Yue Ku’s hand.
Yue Ku was very quiet.
Xi Ling’s gaze swept around once more, then back to Yue Ku.
Yue Ku: “…Oh.”
Then, Yue Ku started tidying up the room.
He was strong, so he carried out all the broken furniture, chopped the wood for firewood, and picked up the porcelain shards to toss into the trash basket.
Xi Ling leaned against the headboard, watching Yue Ku work while slowly recounting the vague world information and scant plot details she had obtained.
Yue Ku listened very seriously.
There wasn’t much information, so it didn’t take long to finish.
Yue Ku didn’t care about being a major villain.
He had been chosen as the host by the essence blood of the Extreme Heaven Bone Demon, and since then, that demon had become his life-bound bloodline. This bloodline was extraordinary—the only one that could still choose a mimic bloodline to disguise itself—but it also came with certain restrictions. For example, his cultivation speed followed the mimic bloodline, and he had only three bloodline inheritances…
One of those inheritance techniques was called the Eternal Devouring Demon Art—as the name suggested, it wasn’t something a decent person would practice.
And if Xi Ling really… needed to become stronger as fast as possible, Yue Ku would immediately abandon the mimic bloodline, restoring his cultivation talent from upper-middle grade to super grade, and practice this evil art by any means necessary.
Naturally, that would turn him into what the story described.
The only thing Yue Ku cared about was Xi Ling’s fatal calamity.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Can we find out more about the giant hand’s origin?”
Xi Ling also wanted to find clues.
But…
Xi Ling sighed helplessly. “The possessor doesn’t know.”
·
According to the possessor’s memories, the plot only mentioned that three years later, a giant hand would descend from the sky, directly crushing the entire village.
Everyone in Qingyang Village died, including Xi Ling, who was at home at the time.
Perhaps aided by the villain’s fortune, Yue Ku happened to be away from the village then and survived unscathed. When he returned, he found the village reduced to scorched earth, and Xi Ling—even her body was gone.
But that was all the information there was.
Yue Ku was naturally devoid of good or evil. The story hadn’t arranged any tragic past for him to force him into darkness; his only reason for resorting to any means was Xi Ling.
At first, it was to avenge Xi Ling. After avenging her, Yue Ku wanted to resurrect her.
The Extreme Heaven Bone Demon’s second inheritance was knowledge-based, relatively brief, containing some common sense, but mostly esoteric or things previous hosts found interesting or necessary—including the fact that after reaching a certain cultivation level, one could pull people back from the river of time.
So Yue Ku continued to act without scruples.
In the story, there were no flashbacks to the past. Even Xi Ling, the “pure moonlight,” only became a hint of background long after Yue Ku had died—
At that time, the protagonist Chu Hao, wanting to resurrect his loved ones, went to a Li Wuhuang skilled in peering into fate to inquire about the legendary river of time, paying a heavy price.
After Chu Hao left, Li Wuhuang sighed. Years ago, Yue Ku had come to ask the same question. The rewards from these two enemies combined were exactly enough to meet Li Wuhuang’s breakthrough needs.
Li Wuhuang knew what Chu Hao was after; it fit his character. But why had Yue Ku, that twisted being, inquired as well?
When Yue Ku came asking, Li Wuhuang was curious but avoided digging deeper to avoid provoking him.
Now, there was no need to worry.
On a whim, Li Wuhuang peered into Yue Ku’s fate and finally understood.
·
From start to finish, the story didn’t even mention Xi Ling’s name.
That was no surprise, considering even the major villain Yue Ku had very few scenes. He seemed to appear only to kill the protagonist’s friends and lovers, bringing immense pressure that forced Chu Hao to desperately improve himself.
The story described it like this—
【The eerie shadow high in the sky never looked at ants.
But every time Chu Hao saw him, everyone important to him was casually destroyed.
In unbearable pain, unable to control his hunched posture, Chu Hao’s heart was filled with hatred yet also a calm unlike any before.
He knew clearly that he too was just one of those ants.
Revenge! He had to get stronger, to kill that man!
Only then would he never lose his loved ones again…】
After analyzing, the possessor concluded that the major villain was too ruthless, so it was better to follow the loyal and affectionate protagonist to gain the most benefit. He planned to curry favor with Chu Hao after possessing Xi Ling’s body. Moreover, he had already set his sights on one of Chu Hao’s deeply devoted future brothers and intended to win him over… of course, before that, he would ensure Yue Ku didn’t turn dark, then slowly part ways with him.
As for killing Yue Ku… the possessor didn’t dare.
He feared the villain’s fortune would be too strong, allowing Yue Ku to escape, turn dark again, and turn the pure moonlight into dead moonlight…
·
Yue Ku’s mood was visibly worse. He sulkily continued working, his movements forceful—wood splintering into finger-thick pieces, porcelain shards crushed into powder.
Xi Ling watched him with tender eyes and softly analyzed, “A casual blow that could destroy Qingyang Village requires at least the Gang Yuan realm. We have no such strong cultivators nearby; at the very least, they’d come from a low-level county—or even a low-level city.”
“Crack.”
Yue Ku snapped the piece of wood in his hands.
Both knew there were too many such counties and cities to trace.
They also tried to find clues among those who later assisted Yue Ku in his cultivation, but the possessor’s memory fragments either related to the protagonist or were too numerous and glossed over… making it equally impossible to determine.
Xi Ling thought, “The possessor wasn’t sure if we had offended someone to cause this, so he decided to leave Qingyang Village early to avoid the calamity at its root. But just in case, he also planned to work hard trading in the mall to buy a defensive treasure that could block that attack.”
Yue Ku carried the trash basket to a corner of the yard, then returned to crouch by the bed, staring at Xi Ling. “It couldn’t have been us.”
Xi Ling nodded, scooted over, and reached out to Yue Ku.
Given their personalities, if they decided to offend someone, they would first investigate that person’s power. They couldn’t possibly overlook such a strong cultivator. If they still went ahead, they would erase all traces, or if they couldn’t, they’d flee far away early.
If they did offend someone face-to-face and barely escaped, they would immediately run away, never staying in the village or splitting up.
Yue Ku, unresistingly pulled onto the bed by Xi Ling’s effortless strength, said firmly, “We’ll buy defensive treasures too.”
Xi Ling turned to Yue Ku and smiled slightly. “Alright. Don’t be afraid, Brother Aku.”
Yue Ku looked at Xi Ling’s smile and suddenly felt a bit wronged. “I would never mistake you for someone else.”
Xi Ling said, “Of course.”
Both were absolutely certain.
·
Just then, a voice broke the silence in the room.
【System update complete. Plugin installed successfully.】
It was the system’s prompt again.
Xi Ling blinked. “I forgot about this.”
Yue Ku had forgotten too.
Xi Ling recalled her earlier conversation with the system and said with a smile, “Set Yue Ku as the assistant.”
【Assistant permissions are divided into three levels.】
【Permission 100%: With the host’s allowance, can fully operate the system light screen and use all of the host’s points.】
【Permission 60%: With the host’s permission, can use points allocated by the host.】
【Permission 20%: Can only see the system light screen, cannot perform any operations.】
【Please make your selection.】
Xi Ling didn’t hesitate. “One hundred percent.”
【Selection complete. Welcome, host and assistant, to the Plane Trading System. We wish you a pleasant experience.】
Xi Ling summoned the system light screen and teased, “Quite polite.”
Yue Ku looked at the light screen.
It was a very simple page, evenly divided into three sections: left to right were [Plane Mall], [Plane Trade], and [Quest System].
Yue Ku reached out and poked [Plane Mall].
Instantly, the screen refreshed, showing a dense grid of 100 images.
[Defense Array Disk-1 Level-55 Points] [White Spirit Bird Egg-1 Level-160 Points] [Violent Bear Meat-2 Level-0.5 Points/Jin]…
[Red Training Grass-1 Level-0.5 Points] [Low-Grade Fire Jade Pill-2 Level-45 Points] [Bright Moon Body Forging Art-4 Level-2600 Points]…
[Attack Puppet-1 Level-30 Points] [Green Stem Spirit Rice-1 Level-0.2 Points/Jin] [Space Bag-1 Level-40 Points]…
Each image represented one product.
On the right side of the page were four buttons: [Shelf] [Shopping Cart] [Refresh] [Back]
Xi Ling’s gaze settled on “Space Bag,” and she clicked to enter the product details.
【Contains 10 cubic meters of space. Internal time is static. Cannot hold living creatures.】
Great stuff!
Unfortunately…
Xi Ling casually added the Space Bag to the shopping cart, then clicked into [Plane Trade], where the upper left clearly displayed a few lines.
Merchant Name: Xi Ling
Assistant Name: Yue Ku-[100% Permission]
Current World: Ten Thousand Stars Great World-[Level 12]
Current Points: 0
Products on Shelf: 0
Products in Shopping Cart: 1
Unfortunately, both of them currently had zero points.
·
“Let’s earn some points first to buy the Space Bag. It’ll be convenient for carrying things. Then we can refresh a few more times and buy more similar items.” Xi Ling stated her plan, clicked [Back], and opened [Quest System]. “For now, let’s see how the quests work.”
Yue Ku: “Okay.”
The quest system page quickly unfurled.
[Gold Evaluation Quest] [Quest Search] [Quest Search Display Refresh]
[Silver Evaluation Quest] [Quest Search Display Box] [Nearby Quest Refresh]
[Bronze Evaluation Quest] [Nearby Quests] [Return to Main Page]
[Quest Failed]
Xi Ling tapped [Nearby Quest Refresh].
In the next instant, several lines appeared in the [Nearby Quests] display box—
【Qingshui Village, Quest Dungeon 1 found.
Dungeon Optional Quests:
① Rescue Sun Su and Ruan Jun, reward 800 points + 800 points, 2 Level 1 resources;
② Kill the possessor Chen Wuyang, reward 3000 points, 1 Level 2 resource;
③ Ignore and let the possessor act, reward 800 points + 800 points, 2 Level 1 resources.】