"First on the menu," I murmured to the empty room, a smirk playing on my lips, "is our tragic hero, Lin Fan."
Lin Fan's core desire was simple: he wanted a heaven-defying opportunity. His original fate was to find a single treasure and then immediately die for it. A classic case of having the luck to win the lottery but not enough to survive cashing the ticket. My goal was to give him a system that not only ensured he found that treasure but also made him consume it, turning its essence into a refined cultivation base that would be perfect for me to inherit.
I began to design the subsystem, my thoughts flowing into the system interface like a programmer writing code.
[Subsystem Creation Interface]
[Enter Subsystem Name:]
I mulled it over. It needed to sound powerful, a little domineering, and appeal to someone at the bottom of the food chain who desperately wanted to consume everything in their path to get stronger.
Treasure Devourer System
[Enter Core Functions:]
The first function was obvious. It needed a way to find treasures. A passive ability would be best, something that felt like an innate talent.
Function 1: Treasure Sense. Grants the user a sixth sense for locating valuable spiritual herbs, ores, and artifacts within a certain radius. The stronger the treasure, the stronger the "pull."
Simple. Effective. It would amplify his natural luck and make him a super-powered truffle pig for rare items. Now for the main course.
Function 2: Devour. The system can consume any spiritual treasure and convert its essence directly into refined spiritual energy for the host's cultivation base.
This was the core of the trap. Normally, consuming a powerful herb like the thousand-year-old Blood Spirit Grass would be a risky process. Most of its energy would be wasted, and the user might even explode if they couldn't handle the influx. But this system would do it for him, safely and efficiently. It was the ultimate convenience, the kind of cheat any struggling cultivator would kill for. It also meant the inheritance I'd receive would be perfectly refined, with no impurities. It was like someone else chewing my food for me. A little gross if I thought about it too hard, but undeniably efficient.
[Enter System Personality/Interface:]
It needed to be simple. Lin Fan was an uneducated orphan. A complex system would just confuse him.
Interface Style: Minimalist. No screens. A single voice in the host's mind. Tone: Encouraging consumption and growth.
[Subsystem Finalized: Treasure Devourer System]
[Ready for Deployment]
I mentally set it aside. One down, two to go.
Next up was my dear cousin, Chen Wei. His defining characteristic was his cowardice. His greatest desire was to be strong, but his greatest fear was getting hurt. He wanted the reward without the risk, the muscle without the effort. A classic armchair cultivator.
"How to empower a coward without making him brave?" I mused. The answer was simple: you make his cowardice a path to power.
The original Chen Wei survived by betraying the family. My system would just... strongly encourage that same survival instinct. But a system that openly promoted betrayal would be suspicious. No, this one needed to be framed as the ultimate tool for the "prudent" and "cautious" cultivator.
[Enter Subsystem Name:]
Something that sounded safe, almost divine.
Undying Regeneration System
[Enter Core Functions:]
Function 1: Instantaneous Regeneration. The host's body will instantly heal from any physical injury, up to and including the regeneration of severed limbs and destroyed organs. Each act of healing consumes a significant amount of the host's innate luck.
This was a beautiful trap. On the surface, it was a god-like ability. Immortality. Who could refuse that? Chen Wei would feel invincible. He could get into fights, suffer horrific injuries, and just walk them off. He would feel like a true powerhouse.
But the fine print was what mattered. Each act of healing consumes a significant amount of luck. He would be burning through his destiny every time he healed a papercut. It was the ultimate short-term loan with an interest rate that would bankrupt his very soul. He'd become reckless, arrogant, picking fights he had no business being in, all because he thought there were no consequences. He would become a walking disaster magnet, and I would be there to collect when his luck finally ran out.
I needed one more function, something to make him feel like he was actively progressing.
Function 2: Vitality Conversion. A small fraction of the life force used in regeneration is converted into a permanent increase in the host's physical strength and resilience.
So, the more he got hurt and healed, the tougher his body would become. It was a feedback loop designed to encourage reckless behavior. He'd think he was cultivating a powerful body-tempering art, when in reality, he was just accelerating his own doom. It was perfect.
[Enter System Personality/Interface:]
Interface Style: Angelic. A warm feminine voice. The interface displays a golden life-bar in the user's vision. Tone: Gentle, encouraging, and protective.
It would feel like a guardian angel was watching over him, encouraging him to "be safe" by reminding him he could heal from anything. The psychological manipulation was a work of art, if I did say so myself.
[Subsystem Finalized: Undying Regeneration System]
[Ready for Deployment]
Finally, it was time for the maid, Chen Yue. Her motivation was greed, but her current destiny was to become a traitor. That was a waste of a good household servant. I didn't particularly care if she betrayed the family in the future; I just wanted to harvest her luck before she could do any real damage.
Her desire was to rise above her station. So, I would give her a path to power that was, on the surface, the most righteous and noble path imaginable. The contrast was just too amusing to pass up.
[Enter Subsystem Name:]
The Honesty System
I almost chuckled out loud at that one. Giving a future traitor a system that rewards honesty was a stroke of comedic genius.
[Enter Core Functions:]
The function had to be simple, a unbreakable rule.
Function 1: Truth's Reward. Every time the host speaks a verifiable truth to another person, the system will reward them with a burst of pure spiritual energy, directly increasing their cultivation base.
This was diabolically simple. To get stronger, all she had to do was tell the truth. If a senior disciple asked if she had finished her chores, and she said "Yes," bam, a little bit of Qi. If an elder asked if she knew who broke a vase, and she truthfully said, "It was Disciple Wang," boom, a surge of power.
Function 2: The Sound of Silence. If the host tells a lie, there is no punishment. However, there is also no reward.
No punishment. It wouldn't feel like a curse. It would feel like a choice. She could lie whenever she wanted to, but the allure of easy power would be a constant temptation to be honest. It would slowly rewire her entire personality.
[Enter System Personality/Interface:]
Interface Style: Judicial. A male voice. Every reward is announced with a satisfying chime and the on-screen text: [Truth Acknowledged. Reward Granted.].
It would feel righteous, like she was serving a higher cosmic law of justice.
[Subsystem Finalized: The Honesty System]
[Ready for Deployment]