Chapter Sixty-Six: Brothers
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Night.
Inside a small apartment building within a residential area, the lights in one bedroom had already gone out.
Lin Zhongshi sat cross-legged on his bed, deep in meditation.
In his mind, a seductive voice echoed.
“Are you still unwilling to accept my power?”
“Get out of my consciousness!”
“You’re such a stubborn child. Even if you have a trump card, I can tell you—you won’t be able to defeat her. She’ll trample you underfoot again, and once more you’ll be ridiculed by everyone.”
“Even so, I’m willing to accept it. After all, she’s proven her talent yet again...”
“Foolish. Do you really think your proud sister relies solely on her own talent? That she hasn’t accepted a higher form of power?”
“You’re wrong! She’s had two masters, one after another. She’s much smarter than you. She understood early on that, relying on human talent alone, one quickly hits a ceiling—mentally and physically.”
“This isn’t some fantasy realm from your imagination. Without our power, humans can’t outrun cheetahs—their limits are set. No matter how much you train, flesh and blood will never be steel. The only thing you people can truly cultivate is the mind.”
“The limit, is it?” The moment Lin Zhongshi heard this word, it seemed to press upon a forbidden place in his heart. He clenched his jaw, his eyes darkened, and in the dim room, his once-handsome face twisted with a hint of ferocity.
“I, Lin Zhongshi, would rather die, would rather be laughed at as a failure for all eternity, than accept your filthy power and become one of your mindless puppets!”
In the bedroom, a mist of grayish-white hovered in the air, materializing into a menacing giant claw. It looked ready to seize him, as if enraged by Lin Zhongshi’s defiance, but soon another swirl of grayish-white vapor appeared, forming a misty shield before the claw.
Reluctantly, the claw vanished, and the fog shortly after, restoring the bedroom to tranquility, as though nothing had happened.
Lin Zhongshi opened his eyes, drenched in sweat, and stared blankly out the window.
Is it really impossible to survive in this world on human strength alone? Must one seek out a master and live like a servant, barely scraping by?
Impossible. I will be the one to break through the limits!
My talent is poor, but if I can prove that I can do it, then so can others...
Just like the Mr. Fan I met today—I’m sure he can do it. He’s a good man, with a spiritual talent far beyond mine, perhaps even exceeding my sister’s.
It’s infuriating. Just because of those people’s selfishness and short-sightedness, hoarding all the knowledge of cultivation and forbidding its spread.
Such talented individuals waste the best years of their training in vain. He’s a few years older than me, yet only at the Bronze rank.
His gaze grew resolute again. Finally, he closed his eyes and resumed his meditation.
……
At the same time, Fan Bei was in his own bedroom. After leaving the task of hosting Lin Zhongshi and the others to Chef He and the rest, he returned to study how to activate the “System Achievements Module.”
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The sooner he could secure Xiao Bai, the sooner he could be at ease.
He opened the “System Manufacturing Page,” searching through the inactive system options, and soon found the “System Achievements” option.
“To activate this option…”
A thought flashed through his mind.
“Activating this option requires consuming 100,000 units of spirit energy or disabling other system functions.”
A hundred thousand? He eyed the 100,000 units of spirit energy in reserve and hesitated.
But this hesitation lasted only two minutes before he decided to activate it.
Because he had suddenly noticed his spirit energy reserve was skyrocketing.
There could only be one reason.
He flipped to the “Steward” system page, and sure enough, a flood of logs was scrolling frantically.
“Lin Zhongqing completed the ‘Guardian’ mission and submitted 100 Spirit Cores…”
Clearly, he was used to this—after confirming there was no danger, he’d begun consuming them en masse.
After five minutes, the logs finally stopped, and Fan Bei stared in shock as the spirit energy reserve soared past 300,000 in one go!
Truly extravagant beyond belief!
He made up his mind—he absolutely had to protect this host. No matter what, he couldn’t let anything happen to him.
Thinking of this, he regretted being stingy at the beginning. He should have given him the full suite instead of scrimping on petty resources…
If only he had directly enabled features like “System Shop” and “Level Up & Attribute Points.” There was no need to force the host to activate them again—just the spirit energy contributed in these five minutes was enough to activate the modules a dozen times over.
But because the system’s maintenance was restricted by the combined strength of both parties, even if he regretted it now, he couldn’t make the changes immediately. He could only wait for the distant future.
After some thought, he jotted down in his diary:
“In the future, when assigning hosts, I must choose wisely. For those far stronger than myself, I should open up most or even all modules directly. For those weaker but with great potential, I’ll activate them step by step.”
After recording this, Fan Bei quickly regained his composure. The exploration and use of new things were bound to be a winding journey—this was only natural.
He then returned to the system’s manufacturing page and decisively chose to activate the “System Achievements” module.
In the next instant, the option turned from gray to selectable green.
Now, he possessed five system options: “Task Guidance,” “Level Up & Attribute Points,” “Newbie Gift Pack,” “System Shop,” and “System Achievements.”
He then opened the “Heavenly Dog” page in the system.
At that moment, two blue notifications flashed on the page.
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“Achievement ‘Together With Master’ officially activated.”
“Da Bai and Tian Bai, bonded by mutual affection, have become sworn brothers, calling themselves ‘The Two Whites Among Dogs,’ announcing it to the world. Achievement ‘Sworn Brotherhood’ activated…”
Fan Bei was speechless, instantly reminded of Xiao Bai’s earlier news that the “Doggy Paradise” would be completed today.
Da Bai was such a simple-minded brother—definitely not made of plastic, but out of straw.
He immediately realized a problem, one he hadn’t considered before due to lack of resources, but now he did.
A thought flashed: “How to prevent foolish hosts from leaking the existence of the system…”
“Paying 100,000 units of spirit energy can add a ‘Soul Gag’ function to the system. If the host attempts to disclose the system to those unaware, he will suffer a soul strike. Forced leakage will trigger a soul coma. If this occurs three times, the host’s soul will be attacked to the point of dissolution.”
“Add it.”
……
In the southern part of the main corridor, within the integrated zone.
A small amusement park had been hastily cleaned and refurbished, with a green sign at the entrance reading “Doggy Paradise.”
Slides, swimming pools, beaches, ball courts—all sorts of playthings had been set up, with everything one could wish for.
Under the bright lights, a large white dog was joyfully swimming in the water.
After paddling around, it climbed out, dashed to the high slide beside the pool, and slid down into the water again, sending up great splashes.
Nearby, a lonely iron ball sat abandoned on the sand, looking utterly neglected.
How pitiful. If I’d known it would be this easy, I’d have asked someone to build it long ago.
Xiao Bai watched Da Bai’s gleeful antics, listened to the occasional chime in his mind, feeling both regret and relief.
Good thing I held out until now—otherwise, I really would have missed this. That big liar truly had the skill to fool me.
“You have become sworn brothers with Da Bai. Achievement ‘Sworn Brotherhood’ activated. You will now share part of Da Bai’s abilities.”
“Level Up & Attribute Points function activated.”
“Current attributes: Strength 1, Agility 2, Intelligence 3, Charisma 1.”
Impossible. The rest I can accept—after all, I don’t even have a face—but how can my Intelligence be only three points? It should be at least a hundred—this shared feature really is unreliable.
Xiao Bai grumbled to himself for a while, watching Da Bai frolic. Suddenly, a warning flashed through his mind: Da Bai is so easy to fool—I’d better find a way to keep a close eye on him. If he ends up with a bunch of sworn brothers, won’t that just spell trouble for me?