The System Teaches You How to Be Human

Si Yisi ultimately fell at the trial symbolizing “friendship.”

However, deep down, while he harbored a faint attachment to it, it wasn’t enough to completely halt his progress. Just as this part of the illusion was about to shatter, an invisible force pressed heavily upon him, restricting his movements.

As the illusion trembled and prepared to collapse, all of Si Yisi’s memories came flooding back.

The force restraining him wasn’t from the Lanting Secret Realm but from the Qingmo realm. This path was meant for the Heaven’s Chosen protagonist, not an outsider system like himself.

Si Yisi’s deep, black eyes stared directly at the space of the illusion, which broke apart only to mend itself again.

His lips curved upward in a faint smile. The Jian Bing Jue Technique quickly activated, condensing into an invisible sword. With a single sweep, he tore a massive rift in the illusionary space!

A piercing screech rang out, almost shattering his eardrums. At the same time, the entire Lanting Secret Realm quaked slightly, causing participating disciples to show expressions of panic.

Si Yisi withdrew his sword intent, watching as the secret realm struggled to repair the tear at a snail’s pace. Satisfied, he let it be.

Though he had no intention of taking away the protagonist’s golden opportunity, the illusion presented by the Lanting Secret Realm crossed one of his boundaries.

The Qingmo realm had invited its him to assist, yet here was a minor secret realm infused with the will of Heaven that dared to suppress him instead?

Of course, Si Yisi wouldn’t admit that his irritation stemmed from seeing a lifeless imitation of Chi Chun.

The fall of a system was exceedingly rare, but not entirely impossible in certain circumstances. One of the markers of such a fall was the complete loss of sentience, reducing them to mere machines.

***

What Si Yisi had done was conveniently brushed away by the Lanting Secret Realm. Thus, all the elders and cultivators observing from the outside only saw him stopping at the trial of “friendship.”

In the end, this secret realm was designed as a test of character. None of the elders had seriously considered anyone truly ascending to the peak.

If Si Yisi had genuinely severed all ties and emotions, it would have proved he was unfit to be a sect master.

Instead, his failure at this stage, despite passing the earlier trials, earned silent praise from the observing elders.

An elder with an outward appearance of being well into his seventies stroked his long white beard and exclaimed, “This young man has an excellent disposition. He’s bound for great achievements!”

Turning his head, he offered congratulations to Mu Weiqing. “Sect Master Mu, having such a disciple is truly a blessing!”

Mu Weiqing: “……”

If this truly were his disciple, the boy would likely have buckled under pressure in the earlier stages. Si Mobai was too gentle, his temperament overly soft. Allowing him to continue developing this way without intervention was Mu Weiqing’s way of letting him experience failure so he would harden his methods in the future.

But now, Si Mobai had been replaced by this remnant soul…

If there ever came a day when Si Mobai returned, Mu Weiqing resolved to train him rigorously.

Meanwhile, Si Yisi had already pulled far ahead of the competition. Behind him, most of the disciples had begun to fail one after another.

After this, the elders unexpectedly noticed a disciple whose presence had been inexplicably concealed within the illusions was continuously climbing higher!

This disciple seemed entirely unaffected by the illusions, moving forward with unstoppable momentum!

“Heavens… is this the momentum of someone ascending to the heavens?”

The elders exchanged glances, uncertain and filled with astonishment. One of them asked, “Does anyone know which sect this disciple belongs to?”

“No idea.”

“Do you know?”

Finally, the question reached the three sect masters. “Sect Masters, do you know which sect this ascending disciple belongs to?”

The sect master of the Lingmiao Sect, Feng Zhijing, shook his head and replied, “This disciple appears to have their identity concealed by the realm spirit of the Lanting Secret Realm. Even I can’t determine which sect they belong to.”

The other two sect masters also shook their heads in unison.

Even using elimination methods, they couldn’t locate the disciple’s identity. The Lanting Secret Realm separated disciples who failed their trials into individual small spatial compartments, only releasing them once all the climbing trials were complete.

This demonstrated the cunning of the realm spirit. It seemed as though it had prepared meticulously in advance for this “heaven-ascending cultivator.”

***

Currently, Si Yisi was sitting in a spacious small compartment. Perhaps due to fear of him after his earlier actions, the secret realm had even manifested the furnishings of his private chambers to accommodate him.

He meditated with closed eyes, though in truth, his mind was preoccupied with certain thoughts.

The one who would ultimately “ascend to the heavens” was undoubtedly the Heaven’s Chosen protagonist, Yu Rongcheng. There was no doubt about it. But if he could completely disregard all of his desires; Could he truly be considered human?

Or perhaps… was he something else entirely—a demon?

This was, in truth, a highly shaky conjecture.

It stemmed only from the words of Junior Sister Qing Lin, who had once spoken about sneaking down the mountain, coupled with the peculiar existence of the Lanting Secret Realm. This gave Si Yisi a theory that might seem utterly “wild and imaginative” to outsiders.

How could the Heaven’s Chosen Child possibly be a demon?

However, Si Yisi had followed his hosts through several instances where beings deceived the will of heaven and became “protagonists.”

So, anything was possible. Si Yisi decided to reserve judgment on this idea.

He waited quietly for a while, when suddenly, the spiritual energy around him underwent a massive transformation. It began converging rapidly toward a single direction.

Other disciples also noticed the phenomenon, and shockingly, even the spiritual energy they had cultivated and stored seemed to be dissipating!

Soon after, the “ground” began to shake violently and unpredictably.