Prodigal System in the Flourishing City

Chapter 1838: Chapter 1841: Competing for Favor

The Spirit Realm returned to calm, and the three of them all finished their initial information exchange.

Lu Xiaobu, by first being a Host and then separating from it, grasped the basic operating procedures of the system, and at the same time reverse‑engineered the entire structure of the Spirit Realm, making it his trump card that the other two knew nothing about.

Lin Feng, through the myth of Atlantis, was pondering how to erase the consciousness of the World Tree Seed, to make that his own trump card.

And the Heavenly Lord, as the current highest Black Hand in the Spirit Realm, possessed relatively absolute ruling authority, with trump cards popping up one after another!

A battle of lion, tiger, and leopard would inevitably be bloody beyond belief!

...

After Lu Xiaobu finished estimating the size of the Spirit Realm, he exited the Spirit Realm.

After thinking for a bit, he decided to develop from two angles.

The first was to use Bu Bai and Xiao Jia to probe things, though with the current lack of intel that move was fairly risky.

And the second...

Lu Xiaobu looked at the core in front of him!

The degree of control over the core!

Although up to now he still had no concrete information proving what this was good for, his instincts told him this was definitely something important.

After all, the core was the pass to the Spirit Realm, and also the Energy Core of an island. How could it possibly be useless!

He believed that the more completely he controlled the core, the stronger he would be in future battles!

And so, Lu Xiaobu launched attack after attack on the core.

He didn’t tell anyone what had happened in the Spirit Realm—no need!

So, what he didn’t notice was that not far away, someone was muttering and scheming about something.

It was the system and system source that had renamed themselves Bu Bai and Xiao Jia.

Ever since they separated from Lu Xiaobu’s body, aside from having to cooperate with the research institute over on the Blood Continent, they were basically in an idle, nothing‑to‑do state.

After all, their very purpose for existing was to assist Lu Xiaobu; now that purpose had basically been stripped away, and they didn’t need cultivation, so all that was left was wandering around the Mainland aimlessly!

”Xiao Jia, have you felt a weird sort of feeling?” Bu Bai frowned as he looked at Lu Xiaobu, who was currently launching an assault on the core.

”You feel it too? I thought it was just me! I do feel something, but I have no idea what exactly it is!”

Xiao Jia spoke up as well.

Because the two of them shared the same body, it now felt like he was talking to himself, which was pretty weird!

But everyone here knew what was going on, and nobody disturbed them; they were all busy squeezing in time for cultivation!

”Seems like the Trading Space?”

Bu Bai’s words carried a heavy dose of uncertainty: ”I’m sensing it from the Host. That feeling is really familiar, very much like the Trading Space I used to frequent.”

”What kind of place is that?” Xiao Jia clearly didn’t know.

”Of course you don’t. Back then you barely had any Spiritual Wisdom. Every time the Host told me to find something, I would reach that place through you and look for whatever the Host needed there!” Bu Bai’s tone was gradually becoming more certain!

”You’re saying the Host went there too? That can’t be right. If it’s really like you say, the Host isn’t a system, so how could he possibly enter that place?” Xiao Jia was even more confused!

”How could we possibly know what the Host gets up to?” Bu Bai said carelessly.

At this point he paused, then his eyes rolled around: ”How about I go take a look and sound things out? It’s no trouble anyway. I’ll just follow the lottery procedure once and that’s it!”

”I don’t think that’s a good idea!” Xiao Jia was clearly hesitant: ”You know as well as I do, there’s very likely some massive power behind us. If we act rashly, what if we end up harming the Host? Then the two of us are done for!”

”I don’t think it’s that serious. Think about it: we’ve already separated from the Host. If there really was danger, could the Host have made it back?”

Bu Bai shook his head: ”If our guess is right, any danger would only befall me, and wouldn’t drag the Host in! But if I make a contribution—heh heh!”

”Really?” Xiao Jia was obviously tempted too!

Their personality framework was basically molded off Lu Xiaobu. Think about Lu Xiaobu’s crappy temper and you’d know these two clowns were not the obedient, stay‑in‑line type.

They’d had nothing to do for a while now and were bored out of their minds!

So as soon as this topic came up, both of them got excited!

”Of course! Who cares who the Black Hand behind the scenes is; we’re going through proper procedures anyway. Plus we’re only level two—if they want to harvest leeks, it’s still not our turn yet!” Bu Bai said with a cheeky grin.

”True. Then let’s do it! Hurry up and start!” Xiao Jia was convinced.

When Bu Bai heard Xiao Jia stop arguing, the corner of his mouth hooked up in a smug smile.

If he had to persuade other people, he might not manage it; but if it was persuading Xiao Jia, that was as easy as breathing.

After all, he was molded off the Host, and Xiao Jia was molded off him.

As long as he approved of something, Xiao Jia basically wouldn’t doubt it!

”What if there really is danger?” Xiao Jia spoke up again at this moment.

”What’s there to be scared of!” Bu Bai rolled his eyes: ”Of course I know it might be dangerous! But you can choke to death drinking Water—should we just never do anything?!”

”That’s true!” Xiao Jia was persuaded yet again!

”But whatever happens, we absolutely can’t let the Host find out. If he learns about it, he’ll definitely stop me from going!” Bu Bai added a reminder.

”Of course! Wait till you come back with some crucial intel and give him a good scare!” Xiao Jia said smugly.

They were parasitic on Lu Xiaobu’s body.

Toward Lu Xiaobu, they had a special and very complicated kind of feeling.

Fear, respect, worship, and so on and so forth!

And a new bit that had been added recently was—wanting to compete for favor!

When they first left Lu Xiaobu’s body, what they felt was freedom and indulgence!

But as time went on, they started to sense that something was off!

Back in the Heavenly Dynasty, they were the Host’s biggest trump cards; the Host relied on them a lot.

To the point that Bu Bai could even rely on that to secretly grumble at him, or even openly curse out the Host from time to time!

Later, as the Host grew more distant from them, that feeling of ”spoiled and proud because of favor” gradually faded!

However, since they and the Host were basically one entity, even if he neglected them, they didn’t really have any other thoughts!

But recently, things were different!

They’d been stripped away!

No longer valued!

Then, bit by bit, feelings of loss started welling up, and they began to want to compete for favor!

That was how this self‑satisfied little tacit conspiracy came to be!

And so, just like that, the two idiots successfully talked themselves into it, zipped away from the area near the core, and found a secluded spot to get started.