Seized by the System

Time was like a river that ebbed and flowed with the ever-changing currents.

Some time passed in this new era before the people, who were struggling to make ends meet in their daily lives, noticed a rare sight one night.

A faint, golden stream stretched out across the blue-black night sky, reaching for the infinite depths of the cosmos. No one knew where it came from and where it was headed for…

“What miracle could that be?” A number of people shared photos and statuses about this marvelous observation on WeChat, Weibo and other social media…

“Probably some Upper Realm big shot’s handiwork that has nothing to do with us anyway. Best to lay low and continue with our daily lives… I often feel that this period of stability won’t last long.”

“Don’t we still have the Eastern Pharos? No need to be so pessimistic, I think?” Someone argued.

Strange events happened ever more frequently, so the appearance of a river that extended beyond the night sky was nothing exceptionally peculiar.

That same night, Fang Ning was surfing the internet and stumbled upon the news reports and commentaries about the incident.

He pondered anxiously. “The Truth Department wants to create a backup plan, but Elder River God has caused such a commotion. Now that everyone’s aware of this, won’t this backup plan no longer be a secret?”

“You should be asking him instead of me.” Sir System snapped back indifferently.

“Ugh… I’m too lazy to ask.” Fang Ning buried his head in his novel.

“Hmph, it’s so you.” Sir System jeered, then uttered astonishedly. “Hey, speak of the devil.”

Fang Ning laid down his novel and observed through the System View. He saw the Golden River’s unannounced appearance in front of Vigilante A, who was busy patrolling the night sky.

“Really, all this fellow does is show himself in the form of a river. He doesn’t even bother to show his face. He’s even more pretentious than you, Richie.” Sir System muttered.

“Give me my body.” Fang Ning groaned.

“You ought to know we’re thirty thousand meters above ground…” Sir System replied wickedly.

“Ah, what does that matter anyway? Despite my fear of heights, I’m not worried now as I have the Earthly Monument to protect me. Free-falling won’t kill me.” Fang Ning declared.

“As you wish…” Sir System snorted.

System Notification: [The System has ceased the act of seizing.]

Fang Ning regained control of his body and asked the Golden River in front of him. “Elder River God, did something happen which made you decide to drop by?”

“Absolutely. Earlier, I worked my magic to extend the Heart River from Earth to the heavens, but occasionally, I sense someone’s trying to interfere with the Earth’s Heavenly Axiom. If my senses are accurate, someone else is trying to converge the heavens and the earth of this realm.” The Golden River’s tone was dark. Ripples formed on its surface, indicating the gravity of this matter.

This news disturbed Fang Ning, but Vigilante A’s face never twitched for millennia, thus hiding his true emotion.

He simply questioned. “What sort of person has such courage to attempt such an action? This is the Earth’s Heavenly Axiom we’re talking about, not some arcane realm’s Order.”

Fang Ning scanned “Convergence of Paths Tutorial 101” – which was given to him by the River God of Sky River – again. To a regular cultivator, the levels involved in the Convergence of Paths are extremely high and are quite possibly unattainable without an impressive Cultivation Base.

In actual fact, that was nothing. A small grotto-heaven or arcane realm did not require such a powerful Cultivation Base from a Converger, and there was nothing too unfathomable about it.

The crucial aspects were to maintain the right state of mind and to possess knowledge of the relevant secret techniques.

As long as one had mastered the technique of doing something challenging, it did not seem so challenging after all.

Just like “Advanced Mathematics” and “Linear Algebra”, when Fang Ning read many novels, lots of people said those subjects were hard. However, when he went to university, a little bit of diligence and perseverance earned him top marks in exams. The learning method was no different from high school and he only had to spend more time to study. After all, the answers were all in the textbooks.

It was the same when Fang Ning converged with the Land of Sanguinity. He reached the Lake level and followed the secret techniques step by step. Finally, he reached his goal without much difficulty…

He did not know that the hardest part had been taken over by Sir System… Apparently, being lazy had its perks.

“As of yet, I have no idea. It looks like an Upper Realm deity has shielded the Heavenly Oracle, and I can hardly guess who it is with my limited powers. I suppose that deity must be the Moon Goddess who has been getting around quite recently. Smart woman, I must say. She picked a good pawn.” The Golden River contemplated.

“According to your insight, Elder River God, what’s the success rate of this individual? What’s the most challenging aspect of this situation?” Fang Ning brought up a vital question.

“Um, this foreigner is unpredictable. The most challenging thing about this whole ordeal is not the process of convergence, but the determination to converge. Regular cultivators who want to converge need to enter a state of losing their self-consciousness. After convergence, their own awareness will gradually diminish and they will no longer recognize themselves. The point is, one has to reach a so-called state of ‘altruism’.” The Golden River explained.

“A state of losing self-consciousness? I don’t think the Convergence of Paths guidebook that you’ve given me has mentioned about this?” Fang Ning gasped.

“Ah, you followed the Path of Heavenly Punishment, Venerable One. Thus, you’ve gained protection from the Earth’s Heavenly Axiom, so you won’t face this kind of problem when merging with the arcane realms on Earth. Hence, I didn’t include this part in the book to avoid overcomplicating things and hindering your success. Whereas, regular cultivators who want to converge with the arcane realms could either cultivate a body double and let it merge with the arcane realms, or sacrifice their own consciousness and end up like a zombie, just like one of those AI robots used by humans. The Earth’s Heavenly Axiom is the axiom of the main world. Merging with it via a body double is futile and isn’t acknowledged by the Heavenly Axiom. That’s why I’m amazed that the Moon Goddess is able to find someone who’s willing to perform this sacrifice.” The Golden River explained patiently.

Fang Ning remained speechless for a long time after listening to the River God’s explanation.

He did not foresee such a huge obstacle in their path.

He understood clearly that the Path of Heavenly Punishment had nothing to do with him.

He gave a sigh of relief. “Hey, crappy System, did you understand everything clearly?”

“Crystal clear, but how dare you insult me like that?! Your cockiness is incorrigible!” Sir System flew into a fit of rage.

“What the f*ck?! Your focus is problematic.” Fang Ning gritted his teeth. “What I meant was, thanks to my laziness, I decided to hand over the Heavenly Axiom of the Land of Sanguinity to you, or else, I would have lost my self-consciousness by handling it everyday…”

“No, this could not be. Not in this lifetime. You’re such a worrywart. Supposing you were personally in charge, I would have noticed that you were mentally unsound before that kind of situation happened and I would have seized you in time.” Sir System defended himself.

“Oh, I get it now. I should thank you, then.” Fang Ning replied gratefully.

“Of course, you should know by now why I take a peek at your thoughts from time to time? I do all of this out of love. This new era’s so full of strange and mysterious events. If not for my actions, you’ll get into trouble very easily.” Sir System spoke confidently.

“…” Fang Ning could not come up with the right words to rebuke him.

At the same time, the Golden River spoke once more. “I’ve told Venerable One about this, about locating this mysterious Converger. I hope you’ll be more aware of this, Venerable One. From now on, I need to invest more attention in navigating the stars and I doubt I shall have the time for incidents happening on Earth.”

“Fine, you may leave then, Elder River God. I shall find this person, come hell or high water. Should this person be an outlaw and the Heavenly Axiom falls into his hands, it’ll be catastrophic for mankind.” Fang Ning vowed.

“Agreed. I shall excuse myself.” The Golden River then vanished.