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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 Shi, Wang 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! DAMN 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 arsenal, 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."
~ding~>
~your soulmate="" contract="" has="" been="" annulled=""~>
~because it="" was="" annulled="" by="" the="" administrator, ="" you="" won't="" receive="" a="" punishment=""~>
[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 assassins 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.
...
...
...
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 Pass: 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 Shield] 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.
*******************************
...
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."
~ding~>
~you have="" been="" assigned="" a="" mission="" as="" you="" possessed="" a="" skill=""~>
...
*********************************************
**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 participate 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 Hell 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 massive 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."~/you~~/ding~~/because~~/your~~/ding~
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