Shen Ke’er was completely dumbfounded, frozen in place, unsure of what to do.
She had some spirit stones before, but after spending most of them with Ye Kai recently, she was nearly broke.
That was precisely why she had remembered the Profound Ice Fruit in the first place.
Otherwise, this whole mess wouldn’t have happened.
At this moment, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of regret, even a hint of guilt toward Lin Mo.
[Ding! Detected someone feeling regret toward the host, absorbing 8,800 regret points.]
Oh? That much regret?
And since the system only mentioned “regret” without emphasizing “deep regret,” it seemed their relationship wasn’t entirely ordinary to begin with.
Sensing the tension in the air, Yuehua Zhenren stepped in to mediate. “Alright, Mo’er, Ke’er is your junior sister. Let’s put this matter to rest.”
As she spoke, she shot Shen Ke’er a stern look. “Ke’er, you need to listen to your senior brother. He raised you and has given you much.”
Her words were true, and Shen Ke’er had no choice but to lower her head and apologize. “Senior Brother Lin, I was wrong.”
Lin Mo replied indifferently, “I’m feeling a bit tired.”
“Then we won’t disturb your rest.”
With that, Yuehua Zhenren took Shen Ke’er and Ye Kai away.
To her, Lin Mo must have been deeply hurt by this.
After all, the junior sister he had personally raised had essentially turned against him over something as trivial as the Profound Ice Fruit. Who wouldn’t feel betrayed?
Once outside, she gave Shen Ke’er a final warning. “Ke’er, I’ll say this one last time—he is your senior brother, the one who raised you. Though he may be strict, he has always treated you well. In some ways, he has cared for you even more than I have.”
With that, Yuehua Zhenren left.
Shen Ke’er stood there, lost in thought, as the wind blew past her.
At this moment, Ye Kai spoke up to comfort her. “Senior Sister Ke’er, don’t take it too hard. If Senior Brother Lin really cared for you that much, would he have publicly demanded you repay him for those Profound Ice Fruits?”
“Besides, he was the one who chose to give them to you before. You never asked for them, did you?”
Hearing this, Shen Ke’er, who had been feeling guilty just moments ago, suddenly felt relieved.
That’s right—she had never asked Lin Mo for those fruits.
He had given them of his own accord.
So why should she have to repay him?
“Alright, Senior Sister Ke’er. Let’s head down the mountain later. I’ll take you out to relax.”
Looking into Ye Kai’s sincere eyes, Shen Ke’er leaned into his embrace. “Junior Brother Ye, only you are truly good to me.”
Ye Kai gently patted her back and spoke softly, “You are my dearest senior sister. I see and remember everything you’ve done for me. It’s only right that I treat you well.”
Inside, Lin Mo was well aware of what was happening outside, but he couldn’t be bothered to care.
“System, I think you have a bug!”
[Host, please elaborate!]
“The cost you previously mentioned for forming a Golden Core doesn’t seem reasonable!”
“A cultivator’s aptitude determines the upper limit of their Golden Core’s quality. I have never heard of a Heaven-Spirit Root cultivator forming a core lower than fifth grade. Nor have I ever heard of one failing to form a Golden Core altogether.”
“If different aptitudes are all charged starting from 500 regret points for a first-grade Golden Core, wouldn’t that be unfair?”
“Besides, I can feel it—if I attempt my breakthrough to the Golden Core stage now, I definitely won’t fail.”
Perhaps the system was processing his argument, as it took a long time before responding.
[Host’s reasoning is valid. I have now customized a personal breakthrough analysis for you. As a dual-spirit root cultivator currently at the late Foundation Establishment stage with an abundant supply of spiritual energy, your chances of success when forming a Golden Core are as follows:]
- Fourth-grade core: 20% chance of failure
- Fifth-grade core: 35% chance of failure
- Sixth-grade core: 55% chance of failure
- Seventh-grade core: 80% chance of failure
- Eighth-grade core: 100% failure
- Ninth-grade core: 100% failure
[Host may now choose freely. I will provide pricing for cores above fourth grade!]
Was there even a choice to make?
Since he had a system, there was no question—he was aiming for a ninth-grade Golden Core.
[Ninth-grade Golden Core requires 30,000 regret points.]
Thirty thousand? That was way too stingy.
[The host may choose to form an eighth-grade Golden Core instead, which only requires 8,000 regret points!]
Lin Mo frowned…
Eighth grade? That still felt a bit lacking.
“System, does my aptitude affect the regret points needed for core formation?”
[Yes. If the host had a Heaven-Spirit Root, you could naturally form at least a fifth-grade Golden Core without my assistance. You would even have a chance at forming a ninth-grade Golden Core on your own.]
Lin Mo stroked his chin.
He recalled that the system had mentioned being able to specify abstract categories when drawing rewards.
So… could he draw for a new spirit root?
[Yes, but setting the reward type to Spirit Root costs 200 regret points per draw.]
Two hundred per draw? That wasn’t too bad.
After all, he had just earned 8,800 regret points from that ungrateful junior sister.
Why not start with a ten-pull?
[The reward type has been locked to Spirit Root. Consuming 2,000 regret points. Initiating draw…]
…
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained a four-attribute spirit root: Metal, Earth, Wood, Water.]
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained a five-attribute mixed spirit root.]
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained a four-attribute spirit root: Metal, Fire, Earth, Wood.]
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained a dual-attribute spirit root: Fire, Wood.]
……
After one ten-pull, the best results were still only dual-attribute spirit roots.
Was the drop rate really this bad?
Unwilling to give up, Lin Mo did another ten-pull.
[The reward type has been locked to Spirit Root. Consuming 2,000 regret points. Initiating draw…]
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained a three-attribute spirit root: Fire, Wood, Earth.]
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained a four-attribute spirit root: Earth, Wood, Metal, Water.]
…….
This time, not even a single dual-attribute root appeared.
Lin Mo was furious.
“System, are you messing with me? Trying to scam me out of my regret points?”
[Reminder: The probability of drawing a Heaven-Spirit Root is naturally below 1%. Not obtaining one is normal.]
Damn, was the system copying those shady gacha game companies?
Lin Mo sneered.
“Do you at least have a pity system?”
[Reminder: Nope!]
Retracting his earlier statement—this system was even worse than those predatory gacha games.
He had already spent 4,000 regret points and got nothing worthwhile.
Might as well have left the draw unspecified—he could’ve gotten forty pulls instead. Maybe he’d have gotten something actually useful.
With no better option, Lin Mo reluctantly went for another ten-pull.
The new round of draws began.
Among the first eight rewards, the best he got was just a dual-attribute spirit root.
Then came the ninth pull…
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained a single-attribute spirit root: Fire.]
Holy—he actually got one!
This felt even better than pulling a five-star character before the pity system kicked in.
Just as Lin Mo was feeling satisfied, he had zero expectations for the tenth reward.
And yet…
[Ding! Congratulations, host has obtained a mutated attribute spirit root: Sword.]
Lin Mo: “???”
Damn, did his lifespan just shorten?!
