Meng Lin stared at the panel, the words reflecting in her eyes.

Defeat and kill another System Host.

The room around her seemed to grow colder, and the spiritual fragrance of the opened booze bags quickly faded into the background.

Her fingers, which had been trembling with excitement moments ago, now went rigid.

"Haa?"

She sighed, her eyes narrowing.

She had long suspected the possibility of others having a system.

A heaven-defying thing like the system could not possibly belong to only one person in existence. Somewhere out there, there had to be others with something similar.

But this…

To make hunting them the Main System Mission…

A chill spread through her chest.

“What kind of sick joke is this, system?” she muttered quietly.

The system remained silent, offering no comfort, no explanation.

She forced her gaze away from the Main System Mission, her heart pounding against her ribs.

Just reading that one directive made her scared and uneasy, more uneasy than when facing enemies several realms above her.

Because unlike ordinary cultivators, she understood exactly how terrifying a system host could be.

She could use items specifically designed to kill them, but what if that was a clone? What if that other person had a system item specifically designed to resurrect endlessly?

How would she be sure she killed them?

"Haa." Once again, she sighed.

Circulating the qi within her, she quickly got a hold of herself, focusing on the panel before her.

Her hand moved as she turned back to selecting the second option, the special mission. However, this time her curiosity mixed with dread.

Her eyes lingered on the panel for several more moments before she slowly exhaled.

There was no special system mission beneath it.

Only an empty blank space.

Meng Lin stared at it silently before dismissing the interface altogether.

She remained seated by the window for a while longer, silently watching the less bustling street below before eventually closing her eyes once more.

The distracting thoughts within her mind slowly settled.

Qi circulated through her spiritual veins in smooth waves as she calmed herself, pushing away the lingering unease brought by the system mission.

Several minutes later, her eyes opened again.

With a flick of her sleeve, she pulled out all the top-grade booze bottles alongside a sacred-grade one.

Staring at the neatly arranged bottles before her, Meng Lin took a slow breath before reaching for the first one, a top-grade Crimson Bone Brew.

Opening the bottle, a thick spicy scent drifted out. Raising her head, she drank it in one swift motion, feeling warmth in her stomach almost instantly.

Her spiritual veins flooded with crimson light as she slowly circulated the foreign qi.

It was only after a few hours that Meng Lin let out a breath, her eyes fluttering briefly.

She opened up the panel and noticed an increase of 2.6 percent. She couldn't help but smile. Although it seemed small, she knew that it would take at least half a month before she could get such a result from circulating her qi.

She didn't stop. Next came another top-grade booze, a Frost Moon Spirit Wine. As soon as she opened the bottle, a cool vapor rose to her face, brushing her skin like a ghostly breeze. She tilted her head back and drank.

In an instant, she felt her body stir as the new movement of qi within her surged around her Nascent Soul like a storm swirling through her body.

She didn’t pause.

Another bottle followed, then another and another. By the time she reached the eighth bottle, a faint mist rose from her skin, lingering in the air as her aura surged upward.

Meng Lin slowly opened her eyes.

The qi surrounding her body pulsed in a rhythm. Every breath she took caused the surrounding spiritual energy to tremble faintly, as if resonating with her existence.

She was about to move on to the ninth bottle when she suddenly felt a stir in her inventory.

Meng Lin blinked, momentarily pulled from her dark thoughts. She had almost forgotten about the Golden Silkworm Cocoon.

She checked the surrounding time and realized that nearly twenty-four hours had passed since she began taking the booze bottles.

With a flick of her wrist, a golden cocoon appeared in her palm.

Cracks had already spread across its surface.

Tiny streams of golden light seeped from the openings while faint life fluctuations pulsed from within.

Then—

Crack.

A small hole suddenly appeared. A moment later, a tiny golden creature slowly crawled outward.

It resembled a worm no longer than her palm, its body covered in faint golden patterns that shimmered softly beneath the room’s spiritual light.

Two tiny black eyes dotted its head, looking sleepily toward her.

The moment it saw Meng Lin, the little creature immediately let out a soft chirping sound before inching toward her hand.

Below its eyes, a small opening appeared, revealing rows of tiny razor-sharp teeth as it tried to nibble at her finger.

Meng Lin blinked before letting out a faint amused smile.

“So that’s your first instinct…”

The little silkworm continued trying to bite her finger, though the motion looked more clumsy than threatening.

Meng Lin raised her other hand calmly.

Her fingernail slowly lengthened into a sharp point before lightly pricking the tip of her finger.

A bead of crimson blood surfaced instantly.

The moment the scent spread outward, the tiny golden silkworm suddenly froze.

Its black eyes brightened immediately.

Without hesitation, it lunged forward and attached itself to her finger, greedily sucking at the blood.

A faint golden glow instantly spread across its body. At the same time, Meng Lin felt a subtle connection establish itself deep within her consciousness.

Looking closely, she read its description.

[Golden Silkworm.]

[A rare spirit beast carrying a rank 7 bloodline, possessing heightened sensitivity toward spiritual fluctuations and hidden treasures while producing an extremely rare spiritual silk capable of nourishing spiritual consciousness, resisting soul attacks, and stabilizing spiritual energy. Rapidly consumes spiritual resources.]

"No wonder," she said as she could vaguely sense the little creature’s emotions through the bond.

Hunger.

Excitement.

Attachment.

Then a small smile slowly appeared on her face.

“Xiao Jin,” she softly said.

The tiny silkworm immediately chirped again, seemingly pleased with the name.

Her eyes narrowed slightly in surprise.

Although it had only just hatched, the aura radiating from the Golden Silkworm already surpassed many Gold Core cultivators.

It was a rank 4 Early Stage spirit beast.

Its future potential as a rank 7 bloodline most likely played a part in its initial strength.

With another wave of her hand, several spiritual herbs and low-grade spirit stones appeared beside her.

The moment Xiao Jin noticed the resources, its eyes brightened instantly.

Without hesitation, it lunged toward the items, its small form disappearing within the several stalks of herbs.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Xiao Jin curled itself comfortably while continuing to devour the spirit stones and spiritual herbs one bite at a time.

Meanwhile, Meng Lin calmly reached toward the tenth bottle of top-grade booze.

Time began to blur as every bottle required nearly three hours to completely refine. Meng Lin could clearly feel her cultivation advancing little by little with every circulation.

Her qi became denser, her Nascent Soul more stable. Even her spiritual veins felt smoother and more unobstructed under the constant refinement.

There were several bottles within the booze collection that specifically targeted different aspects of cultivation.

Soul wines nourished and strengthened spiritual consciousness along with the Nascent Soul itself.

Qi-refining brews focused purely on expanding the density and purity of spiritual qi within the dantian.

Body-tempering alcohols strengthened flesh, bones, organs, and blood qi.

Others specialized in stabilizing meridians, cleansing spiritual impurities, or increasing affinity toward certain elemental energies.

The variety was astonishing.

Even Meng Lin had to admit that the booze bag was a complete cheat code in itself.

At the moment, the bottle in her hand was a Top-Grade Blackwater Spirit Brew.

The moment she drank it, icy black qi immediately surged through her meridians like flowing rivers.

Unlike the violent Crimson Bone Brew, this energy was strangely heavy and calm.

It slowly compressed the qi within her dantian, refining it repeatedly as though tempering metal beneath endless pressure.

Meng Lin could clearly feel the quality of her spiritual qi rising.

Even her Nascent Soul appeared slightly more condensed afterward.

Hours passed quietly.

Bottle after bottle disappeared.

At times, her room filled with crimson mist from body-tempering brews.

Other times, pale moonlight-like qi drifted around her from soul wines.

Xiao Jin occasionally lifted its tiny head curiously before returning to devouring spirit stones greedily beside her.

By the twentieth bottle, Meng Lin’s aura had already grown substantially stronger than before.

Yet the deeper she advanced into the Nascent Soul Realm, the more obvious the terrifying resource requirements became.

Even top-grade booze that once gave her nearly seven percent in the Soul Wandering Realm now only raised her cultivation by roughly one to three percent per bottle.

Still—

Twenty-seven top-grade bottles remained an overwhelming amount of resources even for Nascent Soul cultivators.

And Meng Lin intended to refine every last one of them.

Two days later.

The room was silent.

Dozens of empty jade bottles were scattered across the floor, their once-vibrant spiritual glow completely faded, leaving only dull glass-like shells behind.

At the center of it all, Meng Lin sat motionless.

A faint, oppressive aura pressed against the surrounding space, causing even dust particles in the air to drift more slowly than normal.

Her eyes slowly opened.

A faint golden-red light flickered within her pupils before fading back into calm darkness.

She exhaled softly.

The final waves of qi within her dantian settled into place.

Then the familiar system panel appeared before her.

[Meng Lin]

[Nascent Soul Realm (Early)]

[Experience Points: 30.9 >83.9%]

Looking over the gains, she was not surprised. She had calculated them.

However, she still couldn't help but be shocked.

Too fast…

Her cultivation had grown too quickly.

Even now, beneath the stable surface of her aura, she could still feel faint ripples of instability—like pressure building beneath still water.

Even after entering the Nascent Soul Realm, the Top Grade Spirit Booze still possessed terrifying effectiveness.

Although the gains were no longer as monstrous as before, twenty-seven bottles had still pushed her cultivation forward by over fifty percent in merely three days.

For ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, such progress was simply unimaginable.

Then—

Her gaze landed on the final bottle.

The Sacred Grade Bottle, Heavenly Dream Nectar.

For the first time, Meng Lin hesitated slightly. Her thoughts couldn't help but turn back to when she last drank a sacred-grade bottle.

For a moment, she didn't move.

However, thinking about the new system directive that appeared, a determined expression appeared on her face.

After a brief silence, she finally opened it.

The moment the seal loosened, dense spiritual qi burst outward like flowing moonlight.

The liquid within shimmered brilliantly inside the bottle, almost appearing alive.

Meng Lin raised it and drank.

Boom.

The instant the liquor entered her body, violent spiritual qi exploded throughout her meridians.

Unlike the earlier wines, this energy was overwhelming.

It surged like collapsing rivers through every pathway within her body, slamming against her dantian in endless waves. Even her Nascent Soul trembled faintly beneath the influx.

Her aura fluctuated violently before stabilizing under the circulation of the Elemental Qi Convergence Method.

Her spiritual veins greedily absorbed the berserk energy, and her dantian churned faster and faster.

But then—

The sensation changed.

The violent surge of qi did not settle into circulation as expected. Instead, it dissolved.

Meng Lin’s vision blurred as she felt something different instantly. The room did not vanish, yet it also did not remain.

The scattered jade bottles, the faint golden light of Xiao Jin, the quiet circulation of her Nascent Soul—all of it twisted like a reflection on disturbed water.

For a moment, she felt weightless, then she realized something even more unsettling.

Her body was still sitting in place.

But her awareness had been pulled elsewhere.

A dream state.

Meng Lin’s expression darkened slightly.

Around her, the flow of spiritual energy became visible—not through sight, but through comprehension. Threads of qi stretched endlessly through the void-like perception, twisting, folding, and collapsing into her dantian from all directions.

And within that boundless awareness, she felt afloat.

Her Nascent Soul trembled violently.

For a brief moment, even her control over circulation wavered. Meng Lin’s eyes sharpened within that formless space.

“No.”

Her will snapped downward like a blade. The Elemental Qi Convergence Method activated at full strength.

Her Nascent Soul flared brightly, anchoring her awareness like a star in collapsing darkness.

The drifting sensation resisted.

Bit by bit, the drifting sensation was forced into structure. The chaotic influx of Sacred Grade qi was dragged into her dantian, where her Nascent Soul seized it and began grinding it down into pure, stable essence.

Outside perception faded.

The room returned in fragments, and Xiao Jin’s faint chirping echoed in her ears.

Meng Lin’s eyes finally opened fully, and she exhaled a shocking blue ray of light that dissipated in the room.

Then the familiar system panel appeared before her.

[Meng Lin]

[Nascent Soul Realm (Early)]

[Experience Points: 83.9 >95.7%]

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"So a single sacred-grade booze is worth nearly twelve percent," she murmured, her voice carrying a rare note of satisfaction. "At this rate, I will break through to the middle stage soon."

She flexed her fingers, feeling the refined spiritual energy coursing through her meridians with renewed vigor. The Sacred Grade Qi booze had been a gamble—one that could have shattered her dantian if her will faltered for even a breath during that dream state.

Xiao Jin fluttered and nudged at her leg, his golden scales dimmed to a soft glow as he let out a series of concerned chirps.

"I'm fine," Meng Lin said, reaching up to stroke his head. Her fingers traced the warm ridges of his scales. "The booze was stronger than I anticipated. It almost triggered a qi deviation. That was false enlightenment."

She fell silent, her eyes narrowing as she recalled the sensation of floating in that formless space.

However, her gains were abysmal. Many would spend decades in secluded cultivation without advancing even ten percent.

Yet through the system and overwhelming resources, Meng Lin’s cultivation advanced at a horrifying pace.

Still—

The smile on her face slowly faded.

She could feel instability beginning to appear within her foundation.

The qi inside her dantian had become overly active.

Even her Nascent Soul felt slightly restless after absorbing such an enormous amount of external energy in a short period of time.

Her cultivation had risen too quickly.

Although the system directly transformed refined qi into stable experience, her body itself still needed time to adapt to the sudden growth.

If left unchecked, it could damage her future breakthroughs.

Meng Lin exhaled slowly before opening the System Market once more.

Within the system recommendations, her eyes quickly landed on a familiar item.

[Realm Stabilizer Token]