Chapter 2: Three Jade Spirit Realm

Pan Yun retracted her gaze; the qi in her dantian, already scarce, had dwindled to a mere thread—enough to let her move freely, but not enough to sustain a single technique.

This was her first time stepping outside her home, and in this nearly “naked cultivation” state, Pan Yun felt deeply insecure.

She paused in thought, then finally reached out mentally to that presence: 【Who are you?】

A mechanical voice echoed: 【I am the System. Congratulations—you’ve been chosen by me. As long as you obey and cultivate diligently, I will help you reach the pinnacle of life.】

Pan Yun sneered inwardly, but revealed nothing on her face or in her mind; she asked: 【What can I do for you?】

【You need do nothing. Just cultivate diligently. First, find a blessed land rich in spiritual energy—only then can you achieve twice the results with half the effort.】

Pan Yun lowered her eyes and said: 【My family is in peril. I fear I cannot cultivate in peace. Can you help me rescue them? Once my family’s crisis is resolved, I will go with you to seek a blessed land and cultivate.】

The mechanical voice remained emotionless: 【A Dao cultivator must purify the heart and suppress desires. Your lifelong frailty proves your bond with family is shallow. You’ve already repaid your debt by removing one calamity from them. Now, sever ties and live in mutual peace.】

Seeing it wouldn’t act unless forced, Pan Yun, having suppressed her rage for so long, finally snapped and cursed in her mind: 【Fuck your grandfather’s legs!】

【Why was I weak and sickly? Isn’t it because of you? I was born with memories—I began cultivating the moment I left the womb. All my primordial qi was refined by me—where did it go? Swallowed whole by you, you bastard!】

【Don’t think I didn’t know it was you these past eight years just because you stayed silent. Pretending to be a System, even refusing to give yourself a name—you can’t even fake it right. You think I’m a fool, easy to trick into obediently following your orders? Don’t forget—I was your researcher in my last life!】

The thing in her mind went momentarily stunned; once it realized it had been deceived and insulted, it erupted: 【You knew I was the Spirit Realm all along?】

Pan Yun blinked, frowning: 【What Spirit Realm? Aren’t you the White Jade Lotus Lamp?】

【Don’t call me that disgusting name! I am the Three Jade Spirit Realm! You stupid humans saw three jade pieces connected and called me a lamp—lamp your grandmother’s lamp!】

Pan Yun: 【If a spirit has become sentient, how can it be so crude? Why did you name yourself Spirit Realm?】

【You became human too—weren’t you crude?】 it shot back, sneering: 【You humans studied me for over a decade and still didn’t understand what I’m for.】

Pan Yun: 【Aren’t you just a storage device? The lotus petals store information—I know the National Museum and research institutes uploaded everything: astronomy, geography, encyclopedias—all recorded in you. Aside from storage, what else can you do? Oh, now you’ve added one more: you can store physical objects too.】

In her past life, she lived in the 26th century, after the Fifth World War. Earth lay in ruins, population decimated, countless traditions lost to war and time. Then, a strange energy emerged.

Not only did humans gain power and transform, adapting to survive this harsh world, but plants and animals also absorbed this energy, exhibiting ancestral regression.

This regression wasn’t toward the recent 21st or 23rd centuries—it reverted to the savage world described in ancient texts, gaining strange powers. The world called this phenomenon Spiritual Energy Rebirth.

She was born into the first generation after peace. Her grandparents and parents had fought in the World War and perished battling aberrant entities. She was raised by the state.

Her talent lay in her heart: she could communicate with all things, and her eyes saw the truth beneath illusions—similar to the legendary Seven-Orifice Luminous Heart. But she had only five orifices; her ability was far weaker. Her teacher said that with diligent cultivation, she might one day grow into a Seven-Orifice Heart, capable of piercing all illusions and deceptions—the perfect candidate to study ancient relics like the White Jade Lotus Lamp.

But before she could grow to seven orifices, the research institute exploded with a bang. Her body instantly vaporized; her soul was swept into a spacetime tunnel torn open by the blast and reborn into this parallel world.

She was born with full memories and had no desire to form deep ties with this world’s family. She was a twenty-year-old graduate student—she wasn’t easily moved.

But… her parents and brothers in this world treated her too well… wu wu wu…

Her father, when returning from duty, would carefully lift her onto his neck to ride; her eldest brother saved his pocket money to buy her all kinds of things; her second brother would sneak her onto the rooftop to watch the streets below, then take her punishment when caught…

Not to mention her gentle, thoughtful mother—through both her past and present lives, she had met only one person as kind, tender, and considerate as her.

Fatherly love, motherly love, brotherly love—she had them all in this life. But they were too brief.

Thinking of this, Pan Yun grew angrier, gritting her teeth: 【I don’t care if you’re a Spirit Realm, a lamp, or a storage card—you’ve been stealing my spiritual power all this time, ruining my cultivation. When my father was in trouble, I couldn’t help him at all. You owe me!】

【Even if I didn’t consume your spiritual power and you became strong, what could you do under imperial authority?】 the Three Jade Spirit Realm said. 【Do you think no one knows your father is innocent? The Emperor and Wang Zhen demand his death—can he live? They demand he take the blame—can he refuse?】

The Three Jade Spirit Realm spoke coldly: 【This isn’t the 26th century. This isn’t a rule-of-law society. Your personal power means little here.】

Pan Yun’s chest heaved, then she calmed, speaking coolly: 【I don’t care what others think or do. I’m saving my father and my brother. Just tell me—will you help or not?】

!. Read

The Three Jade Spirit Realm replied coldly: 【I can’t.】

Hearing this, Pan Yun sneered, closed her eyes, and adjusted her breathing. This time, she did not refine essence or spiritual energy—she entered meditation.

Her meditation came swiftly; in moments, her spirit sank into her body and appeared instantly in her dantian, facing a lotus-shaped treasure.

It was pure white, three petal-shaped jade pieces joined together, each the size of a palm, clustered like a lotus blossom.

The Spirit Realm, curled within the jade, stared blankly at Pan Yun’s sudden appearance.

Pan Yun looked at it with a half-smile: 【Surprised?】

【I cultivated diligently for eight years and achieved nothing. Every bit of spiritual energy I refined vanished the moment it passed through my dantian. Even a fool would know something’s wrong with my dantian. Do you think I spent eight years with no preparation?】

The Three Jade Spirit Realm had no reply; its inner emotions were complex. This was the person it had chosen—but her extraordinary talent filled it with both pride and fury.

(End of Chapter)