"First on the menu," I said to the empty room, a smirk on my lips, "is our tragic hero, Lin Fan."
Lin Fan's main desire was simple: he wanted a chance to change his fate. His original destiny was to find a single treasure and then die for it. It's like winning the lottery but not living long enough to cash in the ticket. My aim was to provide him with a system that would not only help him find that treasure but also allow him to consume it. This would turn its essence into a refined cultivation base for me to inherit.
I started to design the subsystem, my thoughts flowing into the system interface like a programmer writing code.
[Subsystem Creation Interface]
[Enter Subsystem Name:]
I thought carefully. It needed to sound powerful, a bit overbearing, and appeal to someone at the bottom of the hierarchy who desperately wanted to consume everything to grow stronger.
Treasure Devourer System
[Enter Core Functions:]
The first function was clear. It needed a way to locate treasures. A passive ability was best, something that felt like a natural talent.
Function 1: Gives the user a sixth sense for finding valuable spiritual herbs, ores, and artifacts within a certain radius. The greater the treasure, the stronger the "pull."
It would enhance his natural luck and turn him into a supercharged truffle pig for rare items. Now for the main feature.
Function 2: The system can consume any spiritual treasure and convert its essence into refined spiritual energy for the host's cultivation base.
Normally, consuming something powerful like the thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Grass would be risky. Most of its energy would go to waste, and the user might explode if they couldn't handle it. But this system would do it for him safely. It was the ultimate convenience, the kind of cheat any struggling cultivator would kill for. It also meant my inheritance would be perfectly refined, with no impurities. It was like someone else chewing my food for me. A bit gross if I thought too hard about it, but undeniably effective.
[Enter System Personality/Interface:]
It needed to be straightforward. Lin Fan was an uneducated orphan. A complex system would just confuse him.
Interface Style: Minimalist. A single voice in the host's mind,
Tone: Encouraging consumption and growth.
[Subsystem Finalized: Treasure Devourer System]
[Ready for Deployment]
I mentally set it aside. One down, two to go.
Next was my cousin, Chen Wei. He was known for his cowardice. He wanted to be strong, but he feared getting hurt more than anything else. He wanted the reward without the risk, the strength without the effort. A classic armchair cultivator.
"How do you empower a coward without making him brave?" I pondered. The answer was simple: make his cowardice a path to power.
The original Chen Wei survived by betraying the family. My system would just... encourage that same instinct for survival. But a system that openly promoted betrayal would be too obvious. No, this one needed to be marketed as the ultimate tool for the "prudent" and "cautious" cultivator.
[Enter Subsystem Name:]
Something that sounded safe, almost divine.
Undying Regeneration System
[Enter Core Functions:]
Function 1: The host's body will instantly heal from injuries, even regenerating severed limbs and destroyed organs. Each healing act consumes a significant amount of the host's luck.
On the surface, it was a god-like ability. Immortality. Who could turn that down? Chen Wei would feel invincible. He could get into fights, suffer severe injuries, and just walk them off. He would see himself as a true powerhouse.
Each act of healing burned through a considerable amount of luck. He'd be using up his destiny every time he healed a small cut. It was the ultimate short-term loan with an interest rate that would ruin his very soul. He'd become reckless, arrogant, picking fights he couldn't handle, all because he thought there were no consequences. He would become a magnet for disasters, and I would be there to collect when his luck finally ran out.
I needed one more function, something to make him feel he was actively improving.
Function 2: A small fraction of the life energy used in healing turns into a permanent boost in the host's physical strength and resilience.
So, the more he got hurt and healed, the tougher his body would become. It was a feedback loop encouraging reckless behavior. He'd think he was mastering a powerful body-tempering technique when, in reality, he was just speeding up his own doom. It was perfect.
[Enter System Personality/Interface:]
Interface Style: A warm feminine voice. The interface displays a golden life-bar in the user's vision.
Tone: Encouraging and protective.
It would feel like a guardian angel was watching over him, urging him to "be safe" by reminding him he could heal from anything. The psychological manipulation was a masterpiece, if I do say so myself.
[Subsystem Finalized: Infinite Vitality System]
[Ready for Deployment]
Finally, it was time for the maid, Chen Yue. Her motivation was greed, but her destiny was to become a traitor. That was a waste of a good servant. I didn't care if she betrayed the family; I just wanted to use her luck before she caused any real damage.
She wanted to rise above her status. So, I would give her a path to power that seemed to be the most righteous and noble path possible. The contrast was just too amusing to ignore.
[Enter Subsystem Name:]
The Honesty System
I almost laughed out loud at that one. Giving a future traitor a system that rewards honesty was comedic genius.
[Enter Core Functions:]
The function had to be clear, an unbreakable rule.
Function 1: Whenever the host speaks a verifiable truth to someone, the system rewards them with a burst of pure spiritual energy, which increases their cultivation base.
This was diabolically simple. To grow stronger, all she had to do was tell the truth. If a senior disciple asked if she had finished her chores, and she answered "Yes," bam, a little boost of Qi. If an elder asked if she knew who broke a vase, and she truthfully said, "It was Disciple Wang," boom, a surge of power.
Function 2: If the host tells a lie, there is no punishment. However, there is also no reward.
No punishment. It wouldn't feel like a curse. It would feel like a choice. She could lie anytime she wanted, but the enticing power of honesty would constantly tempt her. It would slowly rewire her entire personality.
[Enter System Personality/Interface:]
Interface Style: Every reward is announced with a chime and the on-screen text: [Truth Acknowledged. Reward Granted.]
Tone: A male righteous voice.
It would feel righteous, as if she were serving a higher cosmic law of justice.
[Subsystem Finalized: The Honesty System]
[Ready for Deployment]