The System Teaches You How to Be Human

When the original owner first met the celestial maiden Qing Zhi, she had been injured and transformed into her bird form. He had picked her up and carefully nursed her back to health.

During the time when Qing Zhi couldn’t transform into her human form, she often brought Si Mobai a flower with morning dew each day.

When Si Mobai later realized what was happening, he didn’t develop any romantic feelings about it. In fact, he felt somewhat awkward about the situation.

However, Qing Zhi seemed to have fallen deeply for him, and Si Mobai, aside from offering her friendly smiles, had no idea what else to do.

He wasn’t very good at rejecting others. This was something Si Yisi immediately understood upon receiving his memories.

“Apologies,” Si Yisi shook his head and declined the flower.

The original owner had always accepted the flowers silently out of kindness, but doing so had only made Qing Zhi misunderstand, thinking there was potential for something more between them.

Si Yisi glanced at Qing Zhi, whose appearance was fresh and elegant, his expression devoid of any emotion.

To a system like him, who lacked any appreciation for romance, Qing Zhi was far less important than this secret realm.

In his previous life, Si Mobai’s ascension had been interrupted by Zhao Weijin, which almost caused him to lose control and fall into a demonic path. Left with no choice, he had to retreat to a quiet room to recover slowly, thus missing out on the Lanting Secret Realm.

Si Yisi’s purpose this time wasn’t to plunder things the original timeline’s protagonist was supposed to obtain. His only thought was to become stronger.

Qing Zhi’s face dimmed for a moment. She plucked the flower from her hand and tucked it into her hair, her expression returning to normal.

She descended gracefully from the bird as if she were a drifting cloud, and the bird transformed into a lively young woman who stood by Qing Zhi’s side as her attendant.

***

When the time came, elders from several sects combined their efforts to form a large array, expanding the secret realm’s entrance.

“Let’s go!”

Hearing the call, Si Yisi’s eyes flickered slightly, and he stepped forward into the secret realm.

The sound of disciples’ footsteps echoed behind him. It was like a solemn and majestic army marching, without a trace of discord; only the synchronized rhythm of their steps remained.

In that moment, Si Yisi—or rather, Si Mobai, felt a resurgence of belonging to his sect.

A thought belonging to Si Mobai surfaced in his heart; This world… isn’t entirely bad.

Afterward, Si Mobai’s soul once again sank into slumber.

Si Yisi’s eyes showed no joy or sorrow. Although he was a system, born with emotions far less abundant than those of humans, in some ways, he understood them better than they understood themselves.

Humans are such creatures, always with the presence of despicable traits in their nature, yet their souls still carry faint glimmers of goodness.

More complex than strings of data.

The mechanism of the Lanting Secret Realm was unique. It was precisely this uniqueness that allowed the three major sects to monitor the movements of their disciples, even using the opportunity to assess their character and other qualities.

The moment Si Yisi entered, he found himself in a void.

Wisps of smoke surrounded him, making everything appear hazy and unreal. Only the long staircase in front of him seemed tangible, stretching endlessly toward the heavens.

This setup bore a striking resemblance to the entrance test when first joining the sect. However, unlike that test, where you already knew the solution and could push yourself forward with full effort, this was different.

The Lanting Secret Realm had the power to overturn a cultivator’s memories with an overwhelming force, causing those who entered to believe the illusions were real as they ascended the “Stairway to Heaven.”

At such moments, a person’s true heart couldn’t be hidden.

In a cruel manner, it stripped away all scars and desires, exposing them in their raw, bloody state.

When the cultivator awakened to find not a shred of dignity left, those with weak minds could even fall into ruin.

Thus, while the Lanting Secret Realm seemed to shed no blood, in reality, rivers of blood flowed beneath its surface.

There was, however, a curious rumor about it. Those who climbed all the way to the top of the Stairway to Heaven would receive the favor of the world.

Recalling the rumor, a glint of contemplation flashed in Si Yisi’s eyes, as though he had thought of something.

But soon, part of his memories began to blur, replaced by the ones implanted by the realm’s mechanism.

Since Si Yisi had taken on Si Mobai’s identity, he was treated as a native of the Qingmo realm, and the secret realm’s mechanisms worked on him as well.

However, the one standing there was still Si Yisi, not Si Mobai.

***

Outside the secret realm, the examiners were unaware of this layer of complexity. They were surprised to find that, while everyone else had immediately begun ascending the stairs, Si Mobai, the candidate for sect master of the Jinghua Sect, was the only one who remained completely still.

“Hmm? What is that boy doing?” Elder Sheng slammed the table, his fiery temper flaring up.

The more he despised his nephew, who had been spoiled rotten by Li Yunzhu, the more he appreciated Si Yisi.

In some ways, it was Si Yisi’s straightforward and brutal fighting style that had won him over.

“Silence,” Sect Master Mu Weiqing said lightly, uttering a single word.

Elder Sheng pushed the table aside and spread his hands in a dismissive gesture. Puffing out his cheeks in boredom, he watched to see what surprise this Si Mobai kid might pull off.

Si Yisi furrowed his brows slightly in confusion, “listening” to the secret realm’s voice. He was far from pleased that he had to be subjected to its control.

He was very annoyed.

After hesitating for a moment, he still stepped forward. After all, delving deeper might give him a chance to capture the source of this voice.

And then, what would he do?

Si Yisi’s lips curved upward slightly, a smile forming. He would tear it apart!

The Lanting Secret Realm trembled faintly, seemingly developing a consciousness, and it was visibly displeased with Si Yisi’s audacious intent.

Si Yisi suddenly found himself seated in a room overflowing with gold and jewels. He sat on a throne encrusted with gemstones, surrounded by dazzling riches and opulence, all within his grasp.

Si Yisi: “…”

He was the king of a nation, and this was a newly conquered palace.

So… why on earth had he been foolish enough to conquer this place?

Si Yisi stood up, kicking away the unbearably uncomfortable throne, and ordered his attendants. Throw it out!

Before him, the gold and jewels all shattered into fragments.

Outside, a celestial maiden from Lingmiao Sect covered her mouth with a delicate laugh, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the projection showing Si Yisi. “This gentleman is so rough—it’s amusing!”

Jinghua’s Sect Master, Mu Weiqing, sat quietly, completely unperturbed.

After all, this isn’t Mobai.

So… however he wanted to stir things up is up to him.

Even if his actions were a bit crude, Mu Weiqing couldn’t exactly drag Si Mobai back and interrogate him, asking why he had chosen someone who presented such a poor image of himself to the outside world, right?

***

After countless forced memory alterations….

Si Yisi, after all, wasn’t human. At his core, he was a system formed from a vast stream of data, into which a spark of sentience had been infused.

Because of that, Si Yisi quickly noticed the anomalies, and as a result, he grew increasingly displeased.

After ascending the stairs an unknown number of times, Si Yisi took another step forward. This time, the scenery around him shifted.

A group of laughing beauties, light and graceful as swallows, surrounded him.

The women varied in appearance, from plump to slender, each uniquely captivating. They were like a swarm of butterflies, and it was easy to imagine how blissful it would be to drown in their charms.

A refined, gentlemanly cultivator, observing Si Mobai’s notorious reputation for being a ladies’ man, pondered for a moment. Then, with decisive confidence, he declared…

“This Si Mobai is bound to fall in this nest of beauties.”