November 30th .

  At the city of Ganling, Sun Jian had sent his decree that they would dispatch their troops and attack Julu in spring . Even though they heard about the Imperial Army’s defeat at Liyang City, Sun Jian still insisted that they had to help the Emperor in this crusade .

  As the army was in the preparation phrase, Sun Fang and Li Jing were sitting face to face in their courtyard . Their faces were as pale as a white sheet .

  Li Jing returned to Ganling as Sun Fang had summoned her . They had many pressing matters which required her wisdom .

  In these past months, Julu Army and Tong had caught them off guard by force marching and occupying Ye City under their noses . Furthermore, Tong even captured Liyang City and repelled back the Imperial troops before they could even react .

  Their intelligence agents also sent back a piece of rough news about the movements in Shangdang and Jinyang . It appeared that there was another battle in the areas, but their eyes and ears could not reach that far as it was beyond their influence .

  Then, last month, they managed to grasp the result of the war as they received a notification from the system .

  Their soulmate quest had been completed! ……

  *********************************************

  **Soulmate Mission**

  Clear Condition: Dethrone Liu Ping or kill Zhang Jiao .

  Failure Condition: Time limit exceeded .

  Clearing Reward: -

  10 Shopping Tickets for completing the primary objective . -

  1,000,000 Lifespans for killing Zhang Tong, Hua Shi, Wang Li, or Liu Ping . -

  100,000 Lifespans for killing Zhang Jiao . -

  20,000 Lifespans for killing an enemy general . -

  20 Lifespan for killing each enemy soldier .

  Time Limit: Midnight, December 31st, 190 A . D .

  Mission Failure: Soulmate Contract will be nullified and one of you will die .

  ********************************************* ……

  It meant two possibilities from the completion of the quest . Either Liu Ping or Zhang Jiao had died from the battle .

  Li Jing had confirmed the news with Sun Jian’s spies . It was not hard to figure that Liu Ping had died as Zhang Jiao was still alive in Julu .

  Instead of being happy about the completed mission, they were angered by it as they could only get the useless shopping tickets as their rewards . Because they had not killed a single soldier after the quest had started, so there was no lifespan reward for both of them .

  Today, another disaster struck them as the system suddenly wiped their skills .

  The announcement from the system also followed after that, which was the reason for Li Jing’s pale faces .

  She did not have enough lifespans to buy back her skills!

  In addition, she had too many skills before the wipe . The feeling of her losses destroyed Li Jing’s morale and psych to the point that she could not regain their senses for hours .

  "I should have known …… I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! DAMN IT, SYSTEM!!" Screamed Sun Fang .

  Li Jing, on the other hand, was holding her head as if she had a headache . She had precisely a dozen skills in her arsenal, which was enough to destroy an army of a thousand men by herself even after the major nerf . Li Jing felt like she had lost everything .

  She stared at the number of survivors . The number in the system menu, which used to be [10] after Liu Ping’s death, was now [3:7] . It was changed to [0:10] after the announcement, but the number flipped after a few minutes .

  Li Jing did not like what she saw as she thought that it had a hidden meaning behind the number .

  It did not take long that the number changed again . It was now [5:5] .

  She lost her patience and questioned the system, "What is the number in the remaining survivor box? Why is it displaying like this?"

  [It indicated the number of sinners with one or more skills and the sinners without a cheat skill . ]

  Li Jing clenched her fists . She understood now that she and Sun Fang had fallen behind the other reincarnators . In terms of faction, they lost to Tong and his Yellow Turban . In terms of personal combat prowess and lifespans, she was not the top of the food chain .

  The sense of crisis loomed over her, yet Li Jing did not give up .

  "What can I do to increase my lifespans? Can I accept a mission or a soulmate mission without a skill?"

  [No . ]

  A simple answer from Lilim shattered Li Jing’s hope .

  [But I see that you are desperate . I can give you a mission if you want to . In exchange, I will cancel your soulmate contract permanently, and you won’t be able to reform it . Will you accept it?]

  \r \r \r

  "I accept!" Unhesitating girl as she was, Li Jing answered without waiting for Sun Fang’s approval .

  Meanwhile, the other party watched his wife reneged their contract with a shocked expression .

  "Wifey?"

  He was busy checking his status when Li Jing decided to cancel their soulmate contract .

  "Sorry, Fang . It’s for our future . "

  >

  >

  <because it="" was="" annulled="" by="" the="" administrator,="" you="" won’t="" receive="" a="" punishment="">>

  [Here is your mission . Thread carefully from now on . ] ……

  *********************************************

  **Main Mission No . 20**

  Clear Condition: Kill one otherworlder .

  Failure Condition: Time Limit exceeded .

  Clearing Reward: Regain one of your lost skills randomly .

  Mission Failure: You will die .

  Time Limit: End of December 31st, 190 A . D .

  Tips: You can either use assassins or subordinates to kill an otherworlder for you .

  ********************************************* ……

  Li Jing received her mission with a grim look . She did not have any skill, but she had to kill an otherworlder which was impossible for her .

  "Wifey? What did you do?"

  After hearing her husband’s voice, a temptation stimulated her decision . An inspiration appeared in her mind as she glanced at her husband-in-name .

  "Fang, do you have enough lifespans to buy back a skill?"

  "Err, no? Why do you ask?"

  "Nothing . Just asking . Say, can I sleep together with you tonight? I feel bad for marrying you, and we haven’t done anything yet . "

  "…… Okay?"

  Receiving Sun Fang’s doubtful confirmation, Li Jing left him alone in the courtyard as she went to prepare herself . ……

  Sun Fang, however, did not look joyous or happy on this occasion . On the contrary, he frowned as he watched the leaving woman .

  In the system menu, he had bought back his skill . ……

  *******************************

  **Status**

  Name: Sun Fang

  Age: 17

  Lifespan: 1,337,213 Years

  Shopping Pass: 10

  *Skill List*

  [Cultivator] LV . 5 (2,103,191/16,000,000) -

  The host can absorb life essence from environments and the surroundings . -

  The host can absorb life essence from materials . -

  The host can absorb life essence from living beings . -

  All absorbed life essence will be converted into lifespans or EXP of this skill . -

  All attributes of the host are multiplied by 30 . -

  The active skill [Self-Heal], [Qi Blast], [Flight], [Clone], [Qi Shield] will be applied to the host once the skill is equipped .

  Skill Cost: None

  Skill Upkeep: 5,000 Lifespans

  Skill Restriction: -

  The host has to sit cross-legs and meditate to cultivate .

  ******************************* ……

  Sun Fang had more than enough lifespans to share with Li Jing . Although he shouted in frustration, he accepted his fate and bought back his primary skill, which contained other attached skills he needed .

  This [Cultivator] skill was his lifeline . It could absorb the life essence of nature to increase either his lifespans or his skill EXP, which he diligently cultivated it in his free times .

  A pity that before he could utter a word, Li Jing decided everything by herself without consulting him .

  He wanted to protest and reform the soulmate contract with her again, yet he decided not to as he detected something from her .

  A killing intent!

  For some reason, Li Jing locked her killing intent on him .

  In a reflex, when she asked him if he had gotten a skill back, he replied her with a "No . "

  Sun Fang had probed her as he did not trust her at this moment .

  Then she suddenly said she wanted to bed with him despite the fact that she had never slept with him even once in the past year .

  Even a school grader could tell that something smelled fishy! It was so apparent that she planned to betray him at night!

  Sun Fang shook his head in disappointment .

  "Females are men’s downfall . From today’s onward, I shall concentrate on the cultivation and forget about my worldly desire . I shall pursue the immortality and ignore all worldly matters . This conflict and civil war don’t matter to me anymore . "

  >

  > ……

  *********************************************

  **Main Mission No . 20**

  Since you have a skill, living free is no longer an option for you . You will work for me as long as you are using the skills .

  Clear Condition: Join Sun Jian in his campaign against the Yellow Turban .

  Failure Condition: You did not participate in this campaign .

  Clearing Reward: 10,000 years of lifespans .

  Mission Failure: You will die .

  ********************************************* ……

  A bitter smile appeared on Sun Fang’s face . Had he chosen not to buy back his skill, Li Jing probably would have killed him tonight . Since he had decided to regain his essential ability, he became a slave to the system .

  No matter what choice he picked, the immortality goal with his [Cultivator] skill in this life was impossible .

  Sun Fang closed his eyes and muttered, "Should I just commit suicide right now? Everything is as hopeless as it is . My wife somehow wanted to kill me, and the system also wanted to enslave me . What’s the point of living when I knew I’m going back to Hell after I died?"

  "You are be hasty, youngster . "

  A voice stopped Sun Fang thought .

  Sun Fang stopped his thought and looked at the source of the voice . An old man in a Daoist robe was behind him .

  Zuo Ci was doing his job, spreading his blood to the local cities in the northern regions . He accidentally heard Sun Fang’s complained and decided to encourage this young man .

  "Who?"

  "As your senior cultivator, I suggest you not giving up on yourself and your goal . True that you will be ordered around by the system for a while, but I guarantee you this . In the next 20 years, there will be a massive change in this world again . That time will be your chance to break free from the system . Do not give up until then!"

  Done with his advice, Zuo Ci flew away to another town, leaving the confused Sun Fang behind .

  When Sun Fang came back to his sense, his gloomy thought had dissolved from his mind .

  "There’s really a cultivator in this world ……"

  A new hope grew in his heart . Sun Fang clenched his fists . His dream was still possible as a cultivator existed . If that old man could speak in such a tone, then there might be a way for him to live free in the future .

  Sun Fang took a deep breath to focus his mind .

  "First, I have to solve a problem one at a time . Wifey, please don’t disappoint me . "