Tara York was startled. "Wait, this lightning isn't for me, is it?"
"This is just the ascension tribulation to reach the Immortal Realm — only nine bolts," System One replied casually, sounding completely unbothered.
Nine bolts! Tara's eyelid twitched wildly.
Looking at the size of those thick bolts, who needed all nine? Just one of them would be more than enough to send her off to meet her ancestors!
"Don't worry, Host. You've got System Three here," System Three saw the perfect opportunity to show off and shouted proudly, "A measly tribulation dares to be so arrogant? Begone!"
The next second, the thunderclouds trembled like a scared child, whimpered pitifully, and then... vanished.
As the clouds dispersed, the sky returned to a bright, clear blue.
Almost immediately, colorful clouds gathered, and streams of five-colored light surged forward, rushing into Tara's body, one after another.
This was the reward from the Heavenly Dao for successfully advancing to the Immortal Realm.
"Not bad, Third Bro," System One praised with a bright, cheerful tone, though its mind was racing.
For an ascension-level tribulation, he could easily wave his hand and scatter it — but that was through brute force.
For System Three to simply shout a command and make the tribulation retreat? That wasn't something just anyone could do.
Even if System Three was dirt-poor, being able to bind to the host before the others and now casually scare off the lightning... clearly, this wasn't an ordinary system.
Of course, no matter how unusual, it still couldn't compare to him and System Two.
Still, it piqued his curiosity. He'd have to test System Three later.
The reward phase soon ended, and Tara, having ascended to the Immortal Realm, now exuded an ethereal and otherworldly aura.
"You actually made the lightning tribulation back off, System Three!" Tara exclaimed with delight.
"A trivial matter, hardly worth mentioning," System Three replied with faux humility, striking a humble but proud pose. "It's my duty to ease the host's worries."
"And System Two, you're amazing too — you boosted me all the way to the Immortal Realm in one shot!" Tara added sincerely.
According to the cultivation manual, the path was divided into four grand stages: below Immortal, Immortal, God, and Emperor.
She'd already stepped into the second stage. Although Emperor was still a long way off, at least she could now defend herself in this world.
System Two shyly let out a soft, sweet voice. "As long as Host is happy, I'll keep working hard!"
Seeing his two younger siblings getting all the praise, System One got anxious.
Ding![Return System autonomously gifted an Emperor-Grade spiritual herb from system storage. Triggered tenfold return: ten Spirit-Gathering Arrays awarded.][The ten Spirit-Gathering Arrays have been placed at the sect's outer gate and can be repositioned at will.]
Ding![Return System autonomously gifted one tenfold Spirit-Gathering Array from system storage. Triggered tenfold return: ten Hundredfold Spirit-Gathering Arrays awarded.][The ten Hundredfold Spirit-Gathering Arrays have been placed in the sect's inner grounds and can be repositioned at will.]
The moment the arrays were deployed, Tara was enveloped in an incredibly rich flow of spiritual energy. Her Emperor-grade spiritual roots began to absorb the energy automatically, making her feel refreshed and relaxed.
"These Spirit-Gathering Arrays are fantastic, System One — you're pretty amazing too," Tara praised without holding back.
That compliment instantly reignited the competition between System One and System Two, pushing them into another frenzy of one-upping each other.
Tara was absolutely thrilled.
The more they competed, the more benefits she reaped.
So by all means — let them fight to the death.
Since System Three didn't have the luxury of showing off fancy gifts, it turned its attention to construction.
Sect Master Peak, the Elders' Court, disciple quarters...All of them were built at the highest possible specifications.
Tara took a single step forward, the void tearing open as she instantly arrived atop Sect Master Peak.
Gone was the desolate mountain she remembered. Now the peak was shrouded in misty spiritual energy, filled with birdsong and fragrant blooms — like a hidden paradise.
The Sect Master's grand hall, too, was lavish beyond words.
But Tara's favorite part was the enormous bed. Lying on it felt like resting on a cloud — so soft, so comfortable, she nearly drifted off right then and there.
But her mind was still being bombarded with constant ding ding ding sounds from the systems, making it hard to fully relax.
"If only I could mute this," she thought.
The moment the thought crossed her mind, the ding ding noises stopped.
Tara shivered. Wait, no, don't stop! I wasn't complaining, I swear.
She opened her system panel — only to discover the interface had completely changed.
The original single-system panel had transformed into a joint interface labeled "System 1, 2, 3," and there was now even a group chat window.
System One, Two, and Three were all furiously typing away.
The message list already had over a dozen unread notifications.
Tara picked the first one.
[System One]: Host's resting, so let's keep things quiet and chat here instead.[System Two]: Ding! Elders' Court Auto-Sign-In successful. Congratulations, Host — you've received an Emperor-Grade Spirit Ship.[System Three]: Ding! Servants' Hall construction completed. Congratulations, Host — you've earned 100,000 points, total balance now 30,009,990 points.[System One]: Ding! Return System autonomously gifted a handful of system storage leaves. Triggered tenfold return: ten Heaven-Grade martial techniques awarded.
...
Tara felt genuinely touched.
What wonderful systems!
Moved by the thought, she spoke aloud: "System One, you're great. System Two and Three, you're amazing too. I'm really lucky to have you all."
The typing in the chat paused for a moment, and then — boom — the group chat exploded, messages flying by so fast her eyes couldn't keep up.
She gave up trying and simply snuggled deeper into her cloud-like bed, drifting off into sweet, uninterrupted sleep.
The next morning, Tara woke up feeling even more energized. The spiritual energy inside her body had grown even more abundant.
The chat window still showed 99+ unread messages.
She scrolled randomly, landing right on two new messages from Systems Two and Three.
[System Two]: Ding! Auto-sign-in at Yong'an City, Beiqian Continent, successful. Congratulations, Host — you've gained a massive amount of cultivation.[System Three]: A measly tribulation dares to act up? Begone! Congratulations, Host — you've advanced to the Emperor Realm, becoming the strongest being in this world.
Tara stared at the messages, dumbfounded.
Wait a second... Emperor Realm? Already?
Yesterday she was still an ordinary young woman from Earth, and now — the strongest person in this entire world?
It felt surreal, like a dream.
Could it really be a dream?
She pinched her arm hard.Ouch.
Good. Pain meant it was real.
"Host, you're awake? Shall we start doing missions today?" System Three asked cheerfully.
Tara stretched lazily, leaning comfortably against the headboard. "So... I've really reached the Emperor Realm, huh? The strongest in this world?"
"Yes," System Three confirmed without hesitation.
"But missions are for getting stronger. If I'm already the strongest... what's the point of doing missions?" Tara asked, genuinely curious.
"Even though the Emperor Realm has no subdivisions, strength still varies. As a new Emperor, you won't stand a chance against old veterans — so there's no room for slacking," System Three explained quickly.
Hearing this, Tara sat up. "And just how many Emperors are there in this world?"
"Only one. You," System Three answered.
Tara frowned.
But didn't you just say I couldn't match the old Emperors?And now you're telling me I'm the only one?
Are you messing with me?
"Host, here's the thing," Little Three quickly explained, "this starfield doesn't just contain our single world."
"In our world, there's only one Emperor— and that's you, Tara."
"But in the other worlds, there are plenty of Emperors."
"That's why you absolutely can't get complacent. You should be even more diligent."
"Because…"
Little Three deliberately paused here, letting the suspense build until Tara couldn't stand it, before finally continuing:
"Our world ranks dead last."
"Other than you, who broke through to the Emperor Realm with our help, the rest of the cultivators here are stuck at relatively low levels."
"In the entire Wildlands, the highest level anyone's reached is Immortal Emperor Realm— and there are only nine of those."
"Cultivators who've reached the Immortal stage are even fewer and farther between."
"Most are still stuck below Immortal."
"If a world-scale war breaks out, how could you fend off dozens of Emperors from other worlds all by yourself?"
"There's going to be a world war?" Tara was startled.
"In the cultivation world, it's survival of the fittest. Fall behind, and you'll be crushed," Little Three said earnestly.
"So... what I need to do is train my own Emperors, right?" Tara pressed her lips together, her expression dead serious.
"Correct answer!" Little Three let out a breath of relief.
"When will this world war happen?" Tara asked, straightening up.
"The barrier between our world and the neighboring realms is growing thinner and thinner. At the latest, thirty years. At the earliest, ten. It's bound to happen," Little Three replied.
"How long did it take those nine Immortal Emperors to reach their level?" Tara continued asking.
"A few thousand years, probably," Little Three answered.
Tara nearly exploded: "A few thousand years just to reach Immortal Emperor? And you expect me to produce a few Emperors in ten years?"
But then she quickly caught herself: "Oh right, I've got you guys."
"You could boost me from an ordinary Earthling to Emperor overnight, so there must be a way, right?"
"We can only assist the Host," Little Three explained. "We provide resources, and you use those resources to train your disciples."
"If you can recruit exceptionally talented disciples, there's about a 50% chance of nurturing an Emperor within ten years."
"So, Host, you'd better get serious about completing the sect-building tasks."
Meanwhile, hidden away in an invisible corner of the system's panel—one that Tara couldn't see—the private group chat between the three systems was blowing up.
Little One: Little Three, what nonsense are you spouting? There's no such thing as a world war!
Little Two: Exactly! The barriers between the worlds are perfectly fine. Plus, patrol teams reinforce them every thousand years. What thinning?
Little One: You'd better have a good explanation for this, or I'm telling the Host everything.
Little Two: Yeah! If you've been lying, we'll have her unbind you.
Little Three: You two aren't native to this world, are you?
Little Three: Makes sense, though. The way you casually hand out Emperor-grade resources—our world doesn't even have those.
Little Three: Since you're not from around here, you wouldn't understand.
Little Three: The barrier I'm talking about isn't what you think. It's the internal structure of this world itself.
Little Three: Our world is different from the others. While other worlds are complete entities, ours is composed of 18 smaller worlds stitched together.
Little Three: Originally, these 18 small worlds were separate, but over time, because they share similar properties, they've drifted closer together.
Little Three: The barriers between these small worlds have been growing weaker and weaker.
Little Three: Though, of course, the thinning varies by location.
Little Three: What I told the Host wasn't all scare tactics. The barrier between us and one of the neighboring small worlds really is about to break.
Little Three: It'll happen, at most, in thirty years. Maybe even ten. There will be war.
Little Three: Okay... I did exaggerate about the dozens of Emperors next door. That part's a lie.
Little Three: In fact, within these 18 small worlds combined, there's only one Emperor—and that's the Host.
Little Three: But I had a reason for saying what I did.
Little Three: After all, if the Host becomes unbeatable in a single night, this world would get boring pretty fast, wouldn't it?
Little Three: I figured it's better to keep her on edge, give her some motivation, let her feel like there's always something to do.
Little Three: You wouldn't want the Host to just laze around, bored and restless, right?
After Little Three's long-winded explanation, Little One and Little Two both fell silent.
Little Three waited anxiously.
He knew that part of what he'd said was true, but he'd also twisted the truth for his own reasons.
At the same time, Little One and Little Two were having a private mind-to-mind conversation.
Little Two: Cousin, do you think Little Three's telling the truth? I've never heard any of this from the family.
Little One: This world really is unique.
Little One: My grandfather once told me it's a relic from ancient times. No one's ever seen its true structure.
Little One: Even though we're here now, we still can't fully understand it.
Little One: And the fact that Little Three could scare off a lightning tribulation with just a shout? He's no ordinary system, that's for sure.
Little One: If he really is native to this world, he likely knows more than we do. For now, let's trust him.
Little One: But if he ever tries to harm the Host, we won't show any mercy.
Little Two: Got it. I'll follow your lead, Cousin.
After finishing their private conversation, Little One and Little Two finally spoke up in the group chat.
Little One: Fine, we'll trust you for now.
Little Two: But if you're lying to us, don't blame us for cutting you off, Little Three.
Little One: Not only will we have the Host unbind you, we'll erase you ourselves.
Little Three shivered, then immediately replied.
Little Three: I swear on the heavens, I wasn't lying.
Meanwhile, Tara was scrolling rapidly through the new sect task list.
The layout had completely changed.
There were no longer main quests, side quests, dailies, or high-value missions.
Everything had been merged into one list.
Each page showed ten tasks: recruiting disciples, appointing elders, expanding the sect's influence… page after page.
The ultimate goal was clear: build the number one sect under heaven.
Tara took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's go recruit disciples, build the strongest Star Moon Sect, train Emperors— and defend our home."
Little Three immediately chimed in: "Host, there's a disciple recruitment fair happening right now in Yong'an City."
"Yong'an City?" Tara asked. "Where's that?"
"Not far. About three thousand miles south of Star Moon Sect," Little Three answered.
Three thousand miles? That's "not far"?
But then Tara remembered: she was an Emperor now. Tearing through space was child's play.
Yeah, three thousand miles really wasn't far at all.
She'd spent so long as an ordinary person, she still wasn't used to thinking like a top-tier powerhouse.
But she'd get the hang of it soon enough.
"I'll head over right now," Tara said, getting ready to tear open the void.
But Little One quickly stopped her.
"Wait a second, Host."
"What is it?" Tara asked.
"If we're going to recruit disciples and expand the sect, we've got to do it in style," Little One explained. "That Dragon-Phoenix Purplegold Carriage Little Two earned from yesterday's sign-in would be perfect for this."