Chapter Seventy: Indomitable Spirit

As expected, this time, the notification on the Butler System page changed to:
“The system host’s current strength is lower than that of the system’s creator; maintenance can be performed.”

He added all the activated modules—“Upgrade and Enhance,” “System Shop,” “System Achievements,” and the newly unlocked “Soul Mute”—to the Butler System at once.

After a moment’s thought, another idea occurred to him: “Increase the Butler System’s intelligence level.”

A prompt appeared: “The system creator now possesses relevant computer programming knowledge and basic skills. Butler System intelligence level upgrade initiated.”

That’s right. On July 25th, he’d acquired the latest computer science books through the Silver Chamber of Commerce, and now it was August 10th. So many days had passed, and Fan Bei hadn’t wasted a single one. Apart from cultivating, he’d diligently read books and practiced programming—far more devoted than most university students in computer science. He’d already had a foundation from years of maintaining the Shelter System, and with his additional efforts over the past two weeks, his progress had been remarkable.

After completing all these tasks, Fan Bei leaned back against the spacious sofa, savoring the whirlwind of a battle that had begun and ended in such haste.

Everything that happened today seemed like coincidence, but was in fact inevitable. Lin Zhongshi dared to come for the final battle because he had confidence. Lin Zhongqing, proud as she was, would never resort to underhanded methods in the arena.

Yet beneath that pride was a certain awkwardness—a pride that was only skin deep...

For if she were truly proud to the bone, she wouldn’t have relied on the system to push herself to the Gold Rank, nor would she have continued to invest everything right before the fight.

In contrast, Lin Zhongshi, though outwardly humble, was truly proud at his core.

Lin Zhongqing had pride; Lin Zhongshi had pride in his bones.

…

Meanwhile, in another private room.

“Big brother, Lin Zhongshi is all show and no substance. He exhausted all his cultivation for a single strike, and couldn’t even scratch his opponent,” Feng Erjin shook his head and sighed.

“Fool. You think Lin Zhongqing really won?” Lang Sheng sneered, then relaxed into the sofa. He reached for the luxury cigarette case on the coffee table, thought better of it, and set it aside.

“You don’t mean—?” Feng Erjin could hardly believe his ears.

Lang Sheng said nothing, just smiled.

He once again felt the immense power of his system. He was certain that, besides himself, no one could see through Lin Zhongqing’s condition.

Yet he could faintly sense that beneath her tough exterior, she was in extreme weakness—she probably couldn’t even defeat a Bronze right now.

Realizing this, he immediately relaxed.

The Star Chamber of Commerce had recently been buying up Spirit Cores everywhere, and he’d privately wondered if they, too, had gained a system—letting them rapidly absorb power, just as he had.

But now, it was clear that was impossible.

The reason was simple: he was confident that even Lin Zhongshi’s last, desperate Dark Gold strike would have been useless against him!

Would Lin Zhongqing, at death’s door, have chosen not to use her system?

Impossible. That woman’s pride was only a facade. He’d interacted with her a few times before, and his experience had told him as much.

As for her rapid absorption of power, her backer must have some method of transforming energy for her.

After his initial shock, Feng Erjin glanced around, then whispered, “Big brother, you shouldn’t have said that here.”

“Oh, I just noticed that Lin Zhongqing left in quite a hurry,” Lang Sheng replied seriously. “As an elder sister, she should have taken the chance to give her disobedient brother a thorough lesson. How could she leave so quickly? Clearly, something’s wrong. She may have won, but it wasn’t easy.”

“Big brother, your insight is as sharp as ever,” Feng Erjin quickly covered for him.

The two fell silent after that, and after a while, rose and left the private room.

…

At the top floor office of the Star Chamber of Commerce.

After entering, Lin Zhongqing forbid anyone from disturbing her—only allowing urgent matters by phone—then sank her consciousness into her inner world.

It was a tragic sight!

Her projection in the mindscape was so faint it was barely discernible. The once glorious castle lay in ruins, the altar before it littered with unconscious figures, and the golden fields outside looked as though a typhoon had swept through.

“Tongtong, are you there?”

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have rejected your help.”

There was a rare hint of humility in her voice.

If anyone else had heard her, they would not have believed their own ears.

“Host, you didn’t want to win against your brother by relying on luck, but you forgot—luck is also part of one’s strength. Without luck, you wouldn’t even have been born into this world. Rejecting luck is rejecting yourself…”

“Huh? Tongtong, you can talk now?” Lin Zhongqing was overjoyed, then pressed further, “Can you show your face too?”

“Sorry, this system has no need for a face.”

“Uh, never mind then. Sooner or later, you’ll understand the importance of appearances,” Lin Zhongqing grumbled. “I get your point—I was lucky to obtain you, and that’s part of my strength. Otherwise, out of the five people at the meeting, why was I the one to be chosen?”

“The reason’s simple: the other four either had festering sores on their heads or boils on their feet. Only you were clean. I’m a righteous system—I could only pick you.”

“So I didn’t get you by luck, but by strength…” Lin Zhongqing brightened instantly.

She wanted to say more, but felt her projection fading further, and cursed to herself: Stone’s strike was truly ruthless—once I recover, I’ll see to it that he pays.

She hurriedly asked, “Do you have any way to heal my wounds now?”

“Yes. You’ve just survived a life-and-death trial and proven your potential. I’m now unlocking new functions for you…”

“Attributes, shop, achievements?”

A minute later, Lin Zhongqing carefully examined the system panel before her.

She immediately opened the shop interface.

One after another, categories appeared, but curiously, only services were available for purchase—no physical items.

“Weakness Purification: Price varies depending on the target’s strength… Limitation: User must see the enemy’s weakness.”

“Stamina Recovery: Consumes a certain amount of Spirit Power to restore the user’s energy.”

“Injury Healing: Heals both soul and body; Spirit Power consumption varies with severity.”

…

She asked no further questions and immediately selected “Injury Healing.” A prompt appeared:

“Insufficient Spirit Power in shop reserves; please recharge before purchasing.”

She opened her eyes, drew a pouch of Spirit Cores from her desk drawer—all large and perfectly round—then deftly placed her hand over the pouch. The bag didn’t move, but its contents vanished entirely.

When she tried to purchase again, a new prompt appeared.

“Purchase successful.”

She watched as her entire mindscape, as if played in reverse, rapidly restored itself to its original state.

But after only reaching a tenth of its former glory, the restoration stopped.

She said nothing, simply repeated the process.

After consuming twenty pouches—a thousand top-grade Spirit Cores—her wounds were completely healed, as if she’d never been hurt at all.

“Tongtong, just how many things are you hiding from me?” Lin Zhongqing asked, her tone complex.

“Unable to answer.”

She asked nothing more, only felt a twinge of pity for the brother who’d held back nothing.

Stone, you only know how to break through human limits, but you forget that there’s something else in this world—something whose limits neither you nor I can see.

It’s called a system.

After a moment’s reflection, the phone on her desk rang.

Lin Zhongqing picked it up and replied calmly, “This is Lin Zhongqing. What is it?”

“Miss, a person named Lin Xiaohong just called. He asked me to deliver something to you.”

“Bring it up.”

Soon, an old man with silver hair knocked and entered, handing something to Lin Zhongqing. Seeing what it was, she suddenly laughed.

“Send it back to him. Tell him I don’t need it—he should use it himself.”