System Only Gives Me Useless Gifts

Li Yun called Rouxi to bring the Tao Te Ching from the storage room to the police station. He didn’t think Zhang Shuyi was dangerous, but he didn’t know much about the guy so he had to be on guard. There was a strange fluctuation in Zhang Shuyi’s shen, but his overall jing and qi were underdeveloped like a child. 

“So this is the missing person?” Bu Tao asked as Li Yun and Shang Shuyi arrived to the station. “Why did you find him?”

“I didn’t, he came to me about my calligraphy,” said Li Yun. Bu Tao wasn’t informed of Zhang Shuyi’s connection to the dead monk. There were certain things that were best kept from police captains like Bu Tao. “He’s a bit obsessed with calligraphy.”

“I can see, your girlfriend dropped this scroll for you,” said Bu Tao.

Zhang Shuyi grabbed onto the scroll first before Li Yun could reach for it. He unrolled the scroll impatiently, but with great care. His eyes devoured the content with utmost fascination.

“How were you able to create the fluid motion of the word path and still maintain its structural integrity?” Zhang Shuyi asked. It was the most he had said throughout the entire time with Li Yun.

“I don’t remember,” Li Yun replied. When he wrote the Tao Te Ching, he was in elementary and couldn’t remember the exact feeling back then. “You can hold onto it until you figure it out.”

Li Yun reluctantly gave Zhang Shuyi his scroll. He didn’t need it anymore and he doubt that Zhang Shuyi was willing to let go even if Li Yun wanted it back.

After a bit of investigation, Bu Tao said that they were going to collaborate with H-providence to officially charge Chi Ling with attempted murder, homicide, and conspiracy. Although they hadn’t determined the exact motive, it was only a matter of time.

Li Yun left Zhang Shuyi with Bu Tao in protective custody and returned to the laboratory. Luckily, the cat was still alive. However, there wasn’t any trace of the substance inside the cat. He didn’t understand how a substance known as the golden elixir could break down so easily into harmless substances. He also wasn’t sure if he should continue feeding the cat or stop.

“To be determined,” Li Yun wrote down in his notebook. He’ll test out the formula on himself after a month of observation. Li Yun tapped on the table impatiently. “Should I enter the compass again and ask the Queen Mother? She might not tell me everything, but her reaction to the reaction would let me know whether there really is an immortal elixir.”

If there was anyone who could help him out, it would be the Queen Mother. He had been training in his own dream realm and occasionally revisited the compass to challenge her.

It was easy to access the compass after Shang Cang recovered and started working at the Shennong Factory. Li Yun had placed him on probation as a regular night custodial. Shang Cang would drop off the compass before his evening shift, which consisted of mopping the dining hall and employee areas.

“Are you really just okay with cleaning?” asked Li Yun before Shang Cang headed out of the office.

“Yeah, it’s relaxing,” Shang Cang replied. He dropped out of high school, so he wasn’t picky about the type of jobs he was doing. Even when Li Yun offered him other jobs, he still preferred to clean. There wasn’t much thinking involved and he rather liked it. In the meantime, Li Yun had taught him ways to navigate the snow mountain. “I’m still stuck at the base of the mountain.”

“It’ll take some time to get used to it,” replied Li Yun. In the dream world, it was possible to perform unimaginable tasks like flight and invulnerability. However, in the compass, there were certain rules that restricted some improvement. It wasn’t as stringent as Earth’s physics, but it was still difficult for anyone to practice. 

After a brief conversation with Shang Cang, Li Yun focused on entering the compass. His movement wasn’t like before. After countless attempts, Li Yun could breeze through the beginning stages with his eyes literally and metaphorically closed.

“Here for another challenge?” The Queen Mother asked cooly sitting underneath her pavilion for her iced cold tea. She had sensed his arrival the moment he had entered the compass.

“Before that, can you tell me what you know about the golden elixir?” asked Li Yun.

“Hm… The golden elixir?” asked the Queen Mother. “Is that a human creation to attempt immortality?”

“So you don’t much about it?” Li Yun asked judging from her disinterested tone.

“I only know what I have seen, and I have never seen a successful golden elixir in your world,” said the Queen Mother. “However, there are many types of golden elixir in the Spirit Realm."

No matter how much he had improved, the Queen Mother was simply too fast and too strong. Li Yun didn’t think it was fair to go against someone who had millions of times more experience than him.

“You don’t believe that I’m at the sixth-step seed level?” the Queen Mother asked him after he failed his latest attempt.

“If my travel speed is 500 kph, then yours is at 2000 kph,” said Li Yun. “The power scale isn’t equivalent.”

“Oh ho ho, you don’t think the fight is fair?” said the Queen Mother.

“The challenge is unfair to begin with. A five-years old kid, no matter how hard he trained could never top a 21-years old Olympiad champion.”

“The fault lies not with the challenge, but with your perception that this realm restricts your silly concept of time and space. I am not traveling faster than you, but the same speed.”

Something in Li Yun’s mind clicked. She was right. Based on their previous conversation, the passing of time in the compass was different from the real world. Whenever he entered, no matter how long time had passed, only thirty minutes would have passed in the real world.

Li Yun bent down to stretch his knees, getting ready for the boss fight. With a plan formed in his head and the sword out, he looked up at the icy woman. “I’m ready.”