THE SYSTEM IS NOT MINE

The burning of the grain had shaken the enemy, but it did not end the war.

Chen Yu’s name had spread through the camp in the months after the raid.

But at the moment.

”Chen Yu.”

”Here... take the bread.”

Guda handed the bread to him.

”You are a big name now, you are definitely an expert hiding behind the fear,” Guda proclaimed.

”Fatty, I told you many times.....”

”I am not the expert.” Chen Yu threw the bread to the ground.

”I know, I know.”

”But don’t throw the poor bread away.” Guda said and picked the bread from the ground and handed it to Chen Yu and said, ”Eat.”

”Fatty..”

Chen Yu shouted...

Guda stuffed another bread into Chen Yu’s mouth.

”Eat...eat..”

Guda patted Chen Yu.

”Chen Yu, come with me to my home, my wife wanted to see the hero,” Guda said.

Chen Yu completed swallowing the bread and looked at Guda.

Guda did not look away, his eyes were earnest.

”Fine, it’s off days for me anyway due to soldier rotations,” Chen Yu agreed.

And that day, Guda and Chen Yu left the camp and arrived at the familiar Golden Eagle City.

Guda led Chen Yu through the poor district.

”Give it to me, that uncle gave this to me.”

”No, it’s mine.”

Children with torn and dirty clothes fought over a piece of broken toy.

”Chen Yu, when I was a child, I was not able to eat bread.” Guda said.

Chen Yu sighed and did not say anything as they continued walking.

A malnourished woman, wearing torn and old clothes, was sitting on the ground and breastfeeding a fourth child while her other children played around in the dirt.

Chen Yu looked around and felt more pity for Guda.

They walked further and further, the scenes of poverty were played everywhere.

Then they halted. In front stood a big luxurious house with a personal park and multiple servants.

Chen Yu then looked at Guda again.

”Chen Yu, we are at home.”

”Guda, are you joking? Is this really your home?” Chen Yu asked.

The guards opened the gate and they entered the big garden with a defined path leading to the big mansion.

”Ha..ha.. surprised, right? It’s mine,” Guda admitted.

”Fatty, did you just say it’s your home?”

Guda jumped up as the voice came from beside him.

And looked over.

”No... no... dear wife, it’s yours...” Guda trembled.

Chen Yu opened his mouth wide. He could not see her arriving at all, all he felt was a gust of wind.

”That’s good, as far as you know,” she said.

”And it seems like we have guests.” Guda’s wife looked over.

Now only Chen Yu was able to see her properly.

”Beautiful,” words escaped his mouth unknowingly.

When Mimi looked at him, his legs trembled.

”No... I didn’t...mean..” Chen Yu was saying something.

”Thank you, thank you.” She smiled cuting him off immediately.

”By the way, my name is Mimi, and he is my husband.” Mimi pointed to Guda.

”And you must be Chen Yu, the student of my husband that he mentions often in his letters,” Mimi smiled.

This story originates from NovelFire. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Chen Yu was still frozen in place for a few moments, and said, ”Yes, I am the stu...” And then he glared at Guda, who was looking somewhere else.

”Chen Yu, come in, come in.” Mimi led Chen Yu and Guda inside.

The mansion was much more decorative from the inside, the walls were made of colorful marble, the ceiling had multiple big chandeliers, each powered by candles under the glass.

Chen Yu sat on a sofa, Guda sat next to him while Mimi was on another sofa opposite them.

In front of them, a table was placed, and it was full of bread.

”Chen Yu, have the bread,” Mimi said.

Chen Yu was looking over the table full of bread while Guda already grabbed one and put it inside his own mouth.

”Wife, your bread is, as always, great.”

”Chen Yu, don’t be shy, eat.” Guda patted Chen Yu.

Mimi looked over at Guda and said, ”Guda, eat slowly, you won’t leave anything for the guest.”

Guda looked back.

”Wife, what can...kurum.. I do..kurum.. when you are this good...kurum.. at making bread?” Guda devoured the bread.

Mimi smiled and looked away.

Chen Yu stayed silent and grabbed bread and started eating it.

After some time, she looked over and saw Chen Yu struggling to eat a single bread.

So, she asked, ”Is the bread bad?” Her eyes seemed moist.

Chen Yu felt as if his heart was in pain.

”No, no.” He grabbed multiple breads and stuffed them into his mouth.

He swallowed some, and said, ”It’s good, really good.”

Then she smiled.

”That’s great to hear, let me bring more.”

Her slim figure stood up and left, Chen Yu just stared.

”Why did I do that?” Chen Yu thought as he put his right hand to his head.

By evening, Chen Yu and Guda left the mansion, Mimi came outside to bid farewell to them.

”Bye, my dear wife, I will be back, and your bread, I cherish it all the time,” Guda shouted while he carried a heavy bag full of bread.

Chen Yu stared and looked at Mimi, somehow leaving this place made his heart ache.

And when they started leaving, Chen Yu looked back twice.

After walking some steps, Chen Yu looked at Guda with respect.

”Guda, how come you got her to like you?” Chen Yu asked.

Guda halted his steps and looked at Chen Yu seriously.

”My wife liked me first, she found me handsome...” Guda waved his hair, ”I liked her bread.”

Chen Yu stared at his tummy and did not say anything.

Then they returned to the camp, the next day, they both ate the bread and returned to the battlefield.

The battles continued for months without decisive victory.

Today, the cultivator units gathered along the eastern mountain slope.

From this height, the battlefield stretched endlessly.

Yan stood among thousands of cultivators, and for the first time since arriving at the front, he truly understood the scale of the war.

Below them, two armies collided like grinding tides of steel.

Infantry lines clashed and broke apart. Cavalry thundered across open ground, horses crashing into formations while spears shattered and blades flashed. Dust rose thick into the sky, turning the entire battlefield into a haze of movement and noise.

Even from the mountain, the sounds of war were carried clearly.

Metal clashed against metal.

”Kill!”

Men shouted.

”Neigh!”

Horses screamed.

Yan observed silently.

Roughly forty thousand infantry on each side.

Thirty thousand cavalry scattered along the flanks.

Among them moved cultivators, hidden among the soldiers, like blades inside cloth.

Behind Yan stood the thousands of cultivators.

Only now did he realize how large the cultivator unit truly was.

Eight thousand.

Perhaps nine.

The small group of thirty he had marched with before was nothing more than a fragment of this force.

At the front of the formation stood the commanders.

Their auras were heavier.

Some were at the peak of the Spiritual Qi Foundation.

A few had already stepped into Core Formation.

Yan and Chen Yu stood much farther back in the ranks.

Chen Yu stared down at the battlefield with pale eyes. His breathing was uneven.

”...This war...”

His voice shook.

”...we might lose.”

Yan did not answer.

His gaze remained fixed on the battlefield.

Below, the allied infantry lines were already struggling under the pressure of Shin cavalry.

Then a voice echoed across the mountain slope.

”Prepare!”

The commander of the cultivator unit raised his arm. Thousands of cultivators tightened their grips on their weapons.

Below them, enemy archers had already noticed the movement.

Rows of bows lifted toward the mountain.

Yan watched calmly.

The commander’s arm dropped as the mountain wind blew dust across the slope.

Thousands of cultivators waited in silence.

”Charge!”

The slope erupted.

Thousands of cultivators rushed down the mountain.

Seeing the Noir cultivators, the enemy archers reacted instantly.

A storm of arrows filled the sky.

Cultivators raised shields.

Yan and Chen Yu both were among the group.

Then suddenly, Yan did something no one expected.

Instead of raising his shield, he threw it to the ground.

Then stepped onto it.

He dropped his body low and let gravity take him.

The shield slid down the mountain as Yan lay flat against it.

The slope pulled him downward like launched arrow.

He moved far faster than the others.

Arrows screamed through the air above him, but none struck him.

Yan did not even use any cultivation, just the power of gravity and the strength of his body.

Behind him, several cultivators noticed.

”...Wait!”

One of them copied the motion.

Another followed.

Soon dozens began sliding down the slope the same way.

Some failed.

Some stumbled.

A few were struck by arrows before they adjusted.

But the result was clear, far fewer were hit.

The archers had expected a running charge, but not this.

Their initial aim collapsed, but by the time they tried to adjust their volleys,

the cultivators had already reached the bottom of the slope.

The impact was immediate as thousands of cultivators crashed into the western flank of the Shin army.

”Kill!”

The cultivators raised their weapons, their swords cut through infantry ranks like a knife cutting through butter.

The enemy line bent under the sudden attack.

Shin cultivators rushed forward to intercept. But the damage had already begun spreading.

From the battlefield center, a tall armored figure watched the collapse.

General Han Hian of the Kingdom of Shin. He studied the shifting battlefield for several moments.

Then he raised his hand.

”Retreat.”

War horns immediately sounded across the field.

The Shin army began withdrawing in disciplined lines. Cultivators pulled back first and then the other soldiers.

The battlefield slowly quieted as the armies separated.

At the edge of the mountain, the cultivators gathered again.

”Ha..ha..ha.”

”We won.”

The cultivators cheered.

”...Did you see that?”

”The sliding trick.”

One of them asked.

”I saw someone do it first,” another answered.

”Who was it?”

Several cultivators looked around.

No one answered.

”I couldn’t see his face,” he replied.

”Neither could I,” another said.

Chen Yu glanced toward Yan briefly, who was also seriously looking toward the speakers.

Then Chen Yu looked back toward the battlefield where the Shin army continued retreating.

The war had ended for the day.

But Yan understood something now.

This battlefield was far larger than the small world he had stepped into months ago.

And this war had only begun.